Did You Know the Nation’s First Free Public Library Was Established in New Hampshire?

If you're like this writer, you love learning random fun facts about where you live.

It teaches you something new to energize that brain of yours, while also serving as a nugget of wisdom to share with friends.

New Hampshire is the subject of all sorts of fun facts. For instance, you probably knew that the state bird is the purple finch, and that Alan Shepard – the first American in space – was born in East Derry (you can test more of your trivia knowledge here).

But did you know that the nation's first free public library was established in New Hampshire?

According to the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), back in 1790, Benjamin Franklin donated a collection of books to the small town of Franklin, Massachusetts. Citizens wanted the novels to be available for members of the town, and thus, the first public lending library was born.

But what's that got to do with New Hampshire?

The DPLA and Sturgis Library explain that the nation's first tax-supported, free public library was founded in Peterborough, New Hampshire, in 1833, after a town vote was conducted by the Reverend Abiel Abbott. Unlike the Franklin Public Library, Abbott wanted to create a library that was accessible to everyone, and "owned and funded by the people through taxation."

60 years later, the Peterborough Town Library's collection of over 6,000 books would move to a new location at 2 Concord Street, where it still stands today.

To learn more about the US' first free public library, click here.