The Redwood Library of Newport.
Newport,
of course, being the home of the rich and famous- folks different
from you and me. Probably the best way to catch the ambience of
Newport is to rent the movie High Society, and watch Grace Kelly,
Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Louis Armstrong do their thing. But I
digress.
The Redwood Library is "An educational and cultural institution chartered in 1747 for propagating Virtue, Knowledge and useful Learning." according to their page. There is some excellent historical background on the page, which I will not reproduce here. They appear to still be in the building illustrated below, which certainly lends credence to their claim to be the oldest operating library building in the country.
The 1876 Report has two pages of text (15-16) about the library, noting that the original plans were by Peter Harrison, assistant architect at Blenheim Palace, which explains the columns and portico. The building was constructed 1748-1750, and was enlarged in 1858, and again in 1875. The 1875 expansion was not complete when the Report went to press. The statistical portion of the report indicates that at that time the Redwood was a subscription library, holding 20,634 volumes, growing at an average of 1,003 volumes a year. The collection makes it the third largest in Rhode Island, with only Brown University and the Providence Atheneum having larger collections.
The Redwood Library
