#americanlibraries

At the Library Company of Philadelphia, it doesn’t get more #VintageLibrary than our original Lion’s Mouth Suggestion Box. 

Benjamin Franklin drafted the Library Company’s plans, rules, and articles of agreement in 1731, after he and a group of like-minded individuals conceived the idea of a subscription library in which all members would pool their financial resources in order to afford a larger and finer library than any one of them could have amassed individually.

The first book order was sent to England on March 31, 1732. The list of books ordered was representative of the kind of books that could be found in any good colonial American, or even English, private library. The largest portion included titles on history and travels, followed by literature. Small segments dealt with the sciences, theology, philosophy, economics, and linguistics. The works were useful because the desire for the books stemmed from the readers themselves as evidenced by the suggestion box, which reads:

Gentlemen are requested to deposite in the lion’s mouth the titles of such books as they may wish to have imported.

Franklin’s ingenious solution to the problem of access to books, the subscription library, was copied up and down the Atlantic seaboard from Salem, Massachusetts, to Charleston, South Carolina.

Net neutrality is the basic principle that protects our free speech on the Internet. "Title II" of the Communications Act is what provides the legal foundation for net neutrality and prevents Internet Service Providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T from slowing down and blocking websites, or charging apps and sites extra fees to reach an audience (which fees are then passed along to consumers).

The Internet has thrived precisely because of net neutrality. It's what makes it so vibrant and innovative—a place for creativity, free expression, and exchange of ideas. Without net neutrality, access to Internet content, and that content, will become decisions made by your provider. Libraries are committed to equal access to information and, of course, support creativity and open exchange of ideas.

Let’s look at management from a business franchise-to-library perspective.  In the latest issue of American Libraries, Jimmie E. Epling compares management at places such as Walmart and McDonalds to those of libraries. Epling states that leadership tends to be more fractured at the local level of libraries because of factors such as llack of funding and interest.  A manager at one library may need to deviate from standards to accommodate their community.  Local mangers of corporations tend to be unified in goals.