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States. In 1904, the Ray family donated the current Ray
Memorial Building which was dedicated as the first permanent building for the library collection. The Franklin Library Association was in charge of the library until 1981 when town of Franklin began running the Franklin Public Library directly as a department of the town.
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Benjamin Franklin, and Franklin donated 116 books to the town in lieu of a requested church bell. Franklin's town meeting voted to lend the books to all Franklin inhabitants free of charge in 1790, and this small collection can therefore be considered the first public library in the United
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In 1790 the citizens voted to lend the books to all
Franklin inhabitants free of charge. The vote established the Franklin collection as one of the first public libraries in the United States.
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http://www.franklinma.gov/franklin-public-library/pages/history-americas-first-public-library-franklin-ma
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A History of
America's First Public Library at Franklin, MA Bicentennial Commemorative Edition (1990)
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in continuous existence in the United States. It was founded in 1790 in
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Rear view of the
Franklin Public Library with contemporary addition
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Benjamin
Franklin statue at Franklin Public Library
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271:"Sense Is Preferable to Sound"
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233:. Chronicle Books.
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
