The world's oldest known library was founded sometime in the 7th century B.C. for the “royal contemplation” of the Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal. Located in modern day Iraq, the site included some 30,000 cuneiform tablets organized according to subject matter.
The first public library in the U.S. is contested, but there are a few generally accepted answers. Two of which are:
The first is the Library Company of Philadelphia which was founded in November 1731 by Benjamin Franklin. It was a subscription library and supported by members.
Another is Phillips Episcopal Church Parsonage Provincial Library in Charleston, South Carolina founded in 1698. It was the first public lending library in the American Colonies.
The Woodland Public Library is the oldest in California and one of the last functioning Carnegie-funded libraries in California. – built 1905. Although this library’s history began in 1874 with book donations and ice cream socials to raise funds for the building
The Sacramento Free Public Library opened on June 14, 1879, with a collection of around 6,000 volumes to serve a city of 21,000. The city and library flourished and in 1908, the city library system became the first in California to open service to the entire county.
This neighborhood library serves patrons within a nine-square-mile area. It opened in 1989, replacing the Mabel Gillis, Fruitridge and Oak Park libraries. The building is 12,000 sq. feet and houses about 60,000 physical titles. The original location has shifted from "High in the Sky" to a much lower level where no TOTT is needed... Between the Storms, Winds, and Homeless encampments that come and go... this cache has had a VERY "Rocky Start"...