The Loganian Library of Philadelphia.
The Loganian, by the time of the Report was part of the Library Company of Philadelphia, discussed elsewhere on this site. There are two sections in the Report which discuss the Loganian. Horace E. Scudder's opening chapter "Public Libraries a Hundred Years Ago" (1-37) starts with Ben Franklin, which leads, inevitably, to Philadelphia libraries in general. Later, in the article about "Public Libraries of Philadelphia" by Lloyd Smith (952-977) there is more material. What follows is drawn from these two sources.
James Logan was apparently an already established figure when Ben Franklin and his young chums started in the library business. Logan had a large private library which he had been collecting for about fifty years. He decided to make this into a "public" library and erected the building pictured below in 1745. The editors of the Report state that the Loganian is the first building in the country used exclusively as a library. An interesting part of Logan's will stipulates that the librarian of the Loganian shall be his descendents "preferring the male line to the female..." (page 6) The editors note that this "...is the only case in America where a public office is hereditary." They hadn't been to Chicago.
Time goes by and by 1776 the Logan line was running thin and the library had come on hard times and closed down. Eventually in 1792, at Franklin's suggestion the last of the Logans passed ownership of the library to the Library Company, with the proviso that the collection be kept separate, and that a Logan descendent sit on the board of trustees. The fate of the building, as of this writing, is not known.
According to Lloyd Smith (page 954) the Loganian receives income from the rents on 596 acres in Bucks County, PA. Logan leased the land for 114 years. The lease was renewed in 1861 for a period of 121 years. Smith says that "In 1983 another revaluation will take place, and so on...for ever." (page 954)
As of this writing I don't know if the 1983 revaluation took place and things will proceed on "for ever." Somehow, one doubts it. In any case what you see below was the first building constructed specifically as a library in the territory now occupied by the United States. After working through this site you will know the identity of the second such building.
The Loganian Library, 1745-1792(?)
