Creations of cities and states rather than the federal government, public libraries have been beacons of knowledge and refuges for generations of Americans, from children to the elderly immigrants and the homeless. Libraries also have been sites of struggle over materials—censorship remains a constant threat—and social division, as segregated libraries scarred cities of the South. Some, like those of New York City, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Chicago, IL and Los Angeles, CA, have become international resource centers and architectural monuments to a vision of the city as well as important public spaces. Others serve towns or small neighborhoods with books, meeting places, educational and career guidance and, increasingly Internet access. Public libraries have earned the deep love of many Americans who treat them as a right to knowledge even as demands of service, finances and use challenge many systems to maintain their integrity Libraries vary in origins and extensions. The oldest circulating library in the US, the Library Company of Philadelphia, for example, was founded by the Junto Society and Benjamin Franklin in 1731; a public free library was chartered by the city 160 years later (1891). New York’s Astor Library founded by a merchant philanthropist, merged with others to constitute the New York Public Library in 1895. New Orleans assembled a public library with the help of nineteenth-century commercial lenders, while San Francisco, CA’s Board of Supervisors appropriated $24,000 for 6,000 books the public might read (but not borrow) in 1878–9.

Other libraries grew out of state initiatives: Vermont provided $100 to towns that would provide a matching $25 in 1896, and the Georgia Public Library there grew up in stores and homes of a small capitalist town.

Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) patronized the construction of more than 2,500 library buildings—solid marble palaces with memorials to Western sages constitute an enduring image of “the library” These buildings housed children’s facilities, reference services and government documents, as well as public spaces. Their growth has been linked in turn to the ongoing professionalization of librarians and definitions of knowledge within an American community; libraries created a symbolic Bill of Rights against censorship in 1939. Many have faced constant flare-ups about materials on race, sex and gender that may be found on children’s and adults’ shelves.

By the 1990s, libraries number over 8,000 nationwide and offer electronic services, audio-visual materials and reference assistance. This does not mean all are served well.

While some older suburbs have strong systems, others have developed beyond existing rural facilities and do not find increasing state or local support. In the past, bookmobiles served outlying communities but now students may rely on schools rather than community spaces. Urban libraries face constant threats to budgets for staff as well as books; hours were severely curtailed in the New York system during the city’s financial crisis.

Libraries also must respond to multiple constituencies in terms of language and interests: romance readers, civic advocates and high schoolers all have different demands that may entail scores of items checked out to each client. Books for the blind and foreign-language collections speak to other visions of citizenship. Electronic resources constitute a major issue in planning for the future, as they do in college and research libraries. More debates over censorship have been ignited by potential Internet access to objectionable sites.