Free Library of Philadelphia
Parkway Central Library in 2024
39°57′34″N75°10′16″W / 39.9595°N 75.1710°W /39.9595; -75.1710
Location	1901Vine Street,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Established	1891
Branches	55
Collection
Items collected	Chamber Music Collection Children's Literature Research Collection Drinker Choral Music Library Early American Children's Books Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music Map Collection Print and Picture Collection (largest in the U.S.A) Rare Book Collections Sheet Music Collection Theatre Collection
Size	4,240,304
Access and use
Population served	1,560,297[1]
Other information
Director	Kelly Richards
Website	http://www.freelibrary.org/

TheFree Library of Philadelphia is thepublic library system that serves the city ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania.^[2] It is the 16th-largest public library system in the United States.^[3] The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the City of Philadelphia governed by an independent Board of Trustees as per the Charter of the City of Philadelphia.^[4]

The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation is a separate 501(c)(3) non-profit with its own board of directors and serves to support the mission of the Free Library of Philadelphia through philanthropic dollars.^[5]

The Free Library of Philadelphia waschartered in 1891 as "a general library which shall be free to all", through efforts led byDr. William Pepper, who secured initial funding through a $225,000bequest from his wealthy uncle, George S. Pepper. However,several libraries claimed the bequest, and only after the courts decided the money was intended to found a new public library did the Free Library finally open in March 1894. Its first location was three cramped rooms inCity Hall. On February 11, 1895, the library was moved to the old Concert Hall at 1217-1221Chestnut Street.

Library officials criticized their new home as "an entirely unsuitable building, where its work is done in unsafe, unsanitary and overcrowded quarters, temporary make-shifts". On December 1, 1910, the Library was moved again, to the northeast corner of 13th andLocust Streets.

In 2025, a study by A.H. Poole using archival research explored how between 1903 and 1916, concluding that the Free Library of Philadelphia’s story hours and its children’s work represented a crucible of community building.^[6]

The Free Library of Philadelphia system, comprising 54 neighborhood library locations and theRosenbach, advances literacy, guides learning, and inspires curiosity with millions of digital and physical materials; 28,000 yearly programs and events; free public computers and Wi-Fi; and rich special collections. With more than 6 million in-person visits and millions more online annually, the Free Library and the Rosenbach are among the most widely used educational and cultural institutions in Philadelphia and boast a worldwide impact.

On June 2, 1927, the Parkway Central Library opened for service at its present location at 1901 Vine Street onLogan Square. The building had been in planning since 1911; various obstacles, includingWorld War I, held up progress. The grandBeaux-Arts building was designed byJulian Abele, chief designer in the office of prominent Philadelphia architectHorace Trumbauer, and first opened its doors in 1927. Its design, that of the adjacentPhiladelphia Family Court building, and their placement on Logan Circle closely follow that of theHôtel de Crillon and theHôtel de la Marine onParis'sPlace de la Concorde.^[7]

The mission of the Free Library of Philadelphia is "to advance literacy, guide learning, and inspire curiosity."^[8]

The Free Library of Philadelphia hosts more than 25,000 events each year, including job-search workshops, small business programming, English as a Second Language conversation groups, and computer classes. Many of these programs and services are funded in whole or in part by The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, a not-for-profit which exists to supplement the funds available through the City of Philadelphia for activities at the Free Library of Philadelphia. The Free Library's Culinary Literacy Center,^[9] which opened in the spring of 2014 at the Parkway Central Library, offers culinary classes for children, teens, families, and adults to teach literacy skills through cooking as well as math, chemistry, nutrition, and health. The Library hosts a renowned Author Events Series produced through its Foundation, which brings more than 100 writers, politicians, scientists, researchers, and musicians to the Free Library annually.^[10] The Library Foundation also supports the Library in hosting the citywideOne Book, One Philadelphia program, which encourages all Philadelphians to read and discuss the same book, fostering community and connection; the Summer Reading program, which engages some 50,000 Philadelphia school children each summer; and the Literacy Enrichment After-school Program (LEAP). In addition, the Free Library hosts months-long celebrations of literary milestones, from the birthdays of influential writers like Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare to the publication anniversaries of groundbreaking titles likePride and Prejudice andAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

The Free Library Foundation also manages READ by 4th,^[11] a citywide effort of public and private organizations aiming to significantly increase the number of students in Philadelphia entering the 4th grade at reading level by 2020. READ by 4th's comprehensive strategy includes improving early learning, providing parents with resources to teach their children reading skills, emphasizing summer reading and other strategies to prevent learning loss, decreasing absenteeism by addressing behavioral and health concerns, and enhancing reading instruction in schools.

The Free Library's digital offerings include nearly 300,000 streaming or downloadable ebooks; 1,000 public computers; 1,700-plus author event podcasts; 150 online databases; daily homework and computer literacy classes online; Hot Spot community computer training centers; and the roving Techmobile.

In March 2011, the library launched Free Library Hot Spots, placing new computer labs and computer trainers in existing community centers in low-income areas of the city. The initiative was funded by theJohn S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. Each Hot Spot provides computers, internet access, printers, and a small selection of Free Library materials. (These are in addition to the 650 public-access computers and free WiFi throughout the Free Library's 54 branches.)

In April 2012, the Free Library added The Techmobile, a Hot Spot on Wheels, which brings service to neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia.^[12][13] The Techmobile has six public laptops.

According to a study conducted by Penn'sFels Institute of Government, in 2017 nearly 25,000 people learned to read or taught someone else to read solely because of the resources of the Free Library. In addition, nearly 1,000 people found jobs based on the career resources of the Free Library, and some 8,600 entrepreneurs were able to start, grow or improve their small businesses because of programs and resources available free of charge at the Library.^[14]

Located at theParkway Central Library, the Free Library's Special Collections^[15] span genres and generations, from ancient cuneiform tablets to historic photographs of Philadelphia.

The Free Library of Philadelphia's Children's Literature Research Collection houses an extensive research collection of children's literature published after 1836.

The Rare Book Department features one of the world's most renownedCharles Dickens collections, with first editions, personal letters, and Dickens’ stuffed pet raven, Grip, as well as extensive collections ofilluminated manuscripts, Americana,Beatrix Potter, early children's books,Edgar Allan Poe, Pennsylvania German folk art, and more. The collection includes over 50Books of Hours and numerous bibles, liturgical texts, and psalters, including the Lewis Psalter (Lewis E M 185), a masterpiece of Parisian illumination from the reign ofSaint Louis.^[16]

The Free Library's music collections include the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music, the largest lending library of orchestral performance sets in the world.

Additionally, theRosenbach Museum & Library is a subsidiary of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation.^[17]

In addition to the Parkway Central Library and the Rosenbach in downtown Philadelphia, the system operates 54 neighborhood and regional library locations throughout the city. Many of these locations were funded byAndrew Carnegie, who donated US$1.5 million to the library in 1903.^[18] The Parkway Central Library and twenty extant Carnegie-funded branch libraries were documented by theHistoric American Buildings Survey in 2007, as noted in the HABS column of the table below.^[19]

• List of Carnegie libraries in Philadelphia
• Philadelphia Reading Olympics

Wikimedia Commons has media related toFree Library of Philadelphia.

• Official website
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-6749, "Free Library of Philadelphia, Central Library, 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA", 41 photos, 36 data pages, 3 photo caption pages

• 1891 establishments in Pennsylvania
• Carnegie libraries in Pennsylvania
• Culture of Philadelphia
• Education in Philadelphia
• Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia
• History of Philadelphia
• Library buildings completed in 1891
• Libraries in Philadelphia
• Logan Square, Philadelphia
• Public libraries in Pennsylvania
• Tourist attractions in Philadelphia
• Vine Street (Philadelphia)
• Federal depository libraries

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