History

In  1757 The Library Company of Burlington  was chartered by British  monarch King George II for founder Thomas  Rodman and John Reading as  chief officer. It is the oldest library in  continuous operation in New  Jersey, and has the distinction of being the  seventh oldest in the  United States. The founding members paid both a  membership fee to join  and annual dues, and donated over 700 of their  own books to start the  Library. The Library Company of Burlington was  the first library in the  U.S. to publish a catalogue of books (1758). 

Originally  the library was housed in a  rented room in the home of Thomas Rodman  on High Street. The first  circulated book was The Invisible Spy,  borrowed by Thomas Robinson. The  last Royal Governor of New Jersey,  William Franklin (son of patriot  Benjamin Franklin) was a library  patron during his tenure as royal  governor, beginning in 1763. 

The  library moved several times, always  renting rooms in local houses,  before acquiring its own land and  building in 1789. Prominent resident  Joseph Bloomfield donated land near  the southeast corner of High Street  and East Broad Street (Library  Street) for the construction of a  building solely to house the Library’s  collections. This wooden  structure was the first library building in  the state, and was in  continuous use until 1864. 

Through  the vision and generosity of  James Sterling and the efforts of the  citizens of Burlington, a new  library building opened on West Union  Street in 1864.  As a Director of  the Library for many decades and the  head of its Building Committee,  Sterling saw the need for a new  facility to replace the crowded older  building. He bequeathed $5000 to  the Library on the provision that a new  library building be obtained -  bought or built - within 2 years of his  death. The citizens of  Burlington, including Mrs. Julia Grant, wife of  General Ulysses S.  Grant, rallied around the institution. A suitable  property was  purchased, plans were drawn, and subscriptions and  fundraisers were  organized to help pay for construction of the beautiful  brownstone  structure which still houses our collections. 

In 1957, the Library Company expanded this building, and the Children’s Room was added behind the original 1864 room. 

Today,  the library continues its  uninterrupted service to the public, serving  patrons with historical  volumes dating back as far as 1521, current  bestsellers, CDs, DVDs, fast  broadband worldwide web access  workstations, and personalized service.