As explained at Quartz:
Public libraries are a relatively new phenomenon. Before the 1880s, when Andrew Carnegie started funding the more than 1,600 library buildings that bear his name, most libraries in America were subscription-based, with members funding and shaping the collections. As free public libraries sprouted up across the United States, membership libraries mostly died off, but 19 non-profit membership libraries still exist, and are reinventing themselves as cultural centers and the coolest coworking spaces you could dream of.I’m an itinerant freelance writer and work most of the year in Cincinnati, where I discovered the Mercantile Library a few years ago, when it was hosting a small concert. The majestic space immediately appealed to my aesthetics, but I had no idea of its history. The Mercantile was founded in 1835 as a young merchants’ association library—the collection is generalist, though early on there was a ban on novels that has since been reversed. The original cast iron and walnut newspaper reading desks remain in the building that the association secured with a 10,000-year lease for $1 annually.
Membership in the Mercantile Library is $55/year. Even with that incredible lease, there is no way that such dues can cover maintenance and staff expenses. They must have an immense endowment.
There is a list of other membership libraries at the link; check there to see if one is available near you.
we have two in my state, and both are on that list, too.
ReplyDeleteI-)
One of the more famous is not on that list: the Newberry Library in Chicago.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newberry.org/
Looks like a very nice privately-funded library, but its website says "The Newberry is free and open to the public," unlike the ones on the other list that are open only to paying members.
DeleteYou can physically enter the building for free and look around, even sit down for a while, but you cannot take out any books or access most of the services unless you are a paying member.
DeleteThank you, Chris.
DeleteWho writes 10,000 year leases? This seems very strange to me. 100 year leases make sense in a "you can have it for the foreseeable future" kind of way. But 10,000 is somewhat ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThis inflation calculator seems to indicate that the 1 USD per annum would be less than 30 USD per year at this point. Calculated another way: the dollar was backed by about 1.5 grams (23.22 grains) of gold at that time. At todays price of gold (about 36 USD / gram) that is still less than 60 USD per year of rent. So even then it couldn't have been that someone thought they were making a profit from the lease.
But if you aren't making a profit it must be a charitable arrangement, so why not simply donate the land to the library and be done with it? The only thing I can find online that makes any sense is that it creates a property tax dodge for the library. They don't own the land and therefore don't pay the tax. Obviously someone owns the land and pays the tax (because the government hasn't seized it). So I guess it is a way to promise to pay the property taxes for the organization in perpetuity.
I wonder what happens if a descendant wants nothing to do with it or the foundation that holds the land goes bankrupt.
I found some additional history here -
Deletehttp://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3PMM
The lease may be owned by the local government, in which case taxation concerns would be nullified. It may be a matter of retaining control over how the space is used.
The link mentions in passing that "The 10,000 year lease is not the longest lease in the world there is one in Ireland for 10 million years."
Yes. It would make things a lot clearer if we knew who and what type of entity was the lessor.
DeleteI am part of a group of individuals who started a new library in rural southern Illinois. The state of Illinios has rules that you have to meet to call yourself a public library, the benefit of that is basically to participate in interlibary loan. The requirements are a minimum property taxation rate as well as employment requirements (must pay someone to work 15 hours a week and cannot be all volunteer). Currently we are membership based, while we build membership and momentum. We are probably going to try to pass a referendum to see if the public finds value in our services.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to you for your success. Our suburb here on the fringe of Madison worked for years to get funding for and build a public library. It's the best thing that ever happened to the community. We got a lot of financial support from local businesses that wanted to have an educated populace nearby.
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