An article in the Local Affairs section of the Harford Democrat for March 6, 1885, throws an interesting light on the history of lending libraries in Harford County.
In 1885, the Bel Air Circulating Library was organized by "members of a Shakespeare Club, composed of young men and women." The library and reading rooms were on Main Street near the Court House. The reading rooms were sponsored by the St. Andrew's Society of Emmanuel Church, and the Circulating Library, behind the reading rooms, was run by the Ladies' Auxiliary, which may have also been known as the Bel Air Library Association.
According to the article in the Harford Democrat, the Bel Air Library Association's collection numbered 200 "choice books" and was open on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Most of the books were "by standard authors," with Dickens, Thackeray, Irving, Mark Twain and George Eliot "liberally represented in the catalog."
In 1885, the subscription was $5, but it was reduced to $1 in 1889. It may be that the cost of membership was reduced after actor Edwin Booth gave a gift of $500 for the building fund, the interest from which paid the rent.
Other community libraries were organized around this time; for instance, the Fallston Library of Harford County in November 1889, Darlington library around 1887, and Wilna in June 1890.
Source: "A One-Hundred Year History of Libraries in Harford County from 1885." Harford Historical Bulletin, Number 67. Winter 1996
Compiled by the staff of the Harford County Public Library