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Pembroke, Maine

Reversing Hall Agrarian Library

An agricultural research library housed in a former Odd Fellows Lodge.
During his lifetime, Thomas Edison received more than one thousand patents. But when asked which of his many inventions was his favorite, Edison said, "I like the phonograph best. Doubtless this is because I love music."
objects of intrigue

Saving the Sounds of the Early 20th Century

Some recordings in the New York Public Library’s wax cylinder collection haven’t been heard in generations—until now.
Sarah Durn April 14, 2022
Franklin Public Library, front entrance.
Franklin, Massachusetts

Franklin Public Library

America's first public lending library began with a gift from Benjamin Franklin.
Main Gallery of RLS Museum
St. Helena, California

Robert Louis Stevenson Museum

This California museum is home to one of the largest collections related to the 'Treasure Island' author.
The Blue Palace
Warsaw, Poland

The Blue Palace

Once home to some 250,000 volumes and priceless art artifacts, this Polish estate was a target of bombing during World War II.
Shepherdstown Public Library
Shepherdstown, West Virginia

Shepherdstown Public Library

The "All-Seeing Eye of God" symbol on this library is a clue to one of the many former lives of this building.
Gordon Parks captured this image of protest on the streets of Harlem in 1963. It is among 222 pictures by the famed Black photographer recently acquired by Yale University.
libraries

A New Home for Hundreds of Photographs by the Legendary Gordon Parks

Yale has acquired some of the Black photographer’s best-known images.
April White February 2, 2022
'The Domes of the Yosemite' at St. Johnsbury Athenaeum
St. Johnsbury, Vermont

St. Johnsbury Athenaeum

A 150-square-foot masterpiece of American landscape art is the crown jewel of this library and art gallery in Vermont.
Emmaus Mosaic Mural
Emmaus, Pennsylvania

Emmaus Mosaic Mural

A fascinating community art piece created by students, teachers, and noted Philadelphia artist Isaiah Zagar.
Kenneth Dike Library
Ibadan, Nigeria

Kenneth Dike Library

Not only does this library house unique Arabic manuscripts, but it was also designed to keep the building cool during warm days.
Soriano and Beto, one of his two burros, set out into the Magdalena countryside with books for children who live on isolated farmsteads.
libraries

Luis Soriano Had a Dream, Two Donkeys, and a Lot of Books

The schoolteacher’s long-running Biblioburro program delivers reading materials to children in Colombia.
Jordan Salama November 17, 2021
The buzz on Broughton
Savannah, Georgia

Jen Library Bee

You’ve heard of bookworms, but this small sculpture at a university library may be the world’s first bookbee.
libraries

The Famous Fight Over the Turn-of-the-Century Trend of Spirit Photography

In one corner: Harry Houdini. And in the other: Arthur Conan Doyle.
April White October 29, 2021
libraries

Podcast: Sourdough Library

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team October 12, 2021
Two siblings—Aiko and her brother Isamu—pose in their masks in the yard of their family home on Los Feliz Boulevard near Griffith Park, where their parents ran a flower nursery. This photo, taken in 1925, was collected as part of Shades of L.A., an outreach program the library conducted in the 1990s to diversify its photo collection.
libraries

Explore a Century of Halloween in L.A. Through Vintage Photographs

An eerie/fun glimpse into the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection.
April White October 8, 2021
Millicent Library
Fairhaven, Massachusetts

Millicent Library

Some big-name visitors have patronized this small-town library named for an oil man's daughter.
This unusual artifact—now housed at the Columbia University Libraries—is part comic collection, part journal of life in the 1930s.
objects of intrigue

The 36-Pound Comic Scrapbook That Chronicles the Great Depression

How the collection went from a small-town barbershop to a big-time library.
Amadea Tanner August 16, 2021
Caldwell-Lake George Library
Lake George, New York

Caldwell-Lake George Library

Of all the unique artifacts inside this library, a mummified hand stands out among the others.