Charleston Library Society – Overview

Now located at 164 King Street, the Charleston Library Society was established in 1748 by a group of 17 young men who earned their livelihoods in professions as diverse as planting to peruke (wig) making. These men wished not only to keep abreast of the intellectual issues of the day but also to "save their descendants from sinking into savagery."

Charleston Library Society: Former Home at 50 Broad Street Library of Congress

The society was "in a large measure, a social club" and by 1750 had about 160 members (Catalogue). It continues to be a membership library to this day, but guest memberships can be purchased per diem for five dollars.

The Charleston Library Society was either the seventh or eighth library to exist in South Carolina, and the second library to exist in Charleston. The Charleston Provincial Library, established in 1698, preceded it by a half century.

Charleston Library Society – History, Pictures

• Charleston Library Society - society website
  
  
• Detailed history of the Charleston Library Society - original text of the Catalogue of the books belonging to the Charleston Library Society - hosted by USC's School of Library and Information Science
  
  
• History of Charleston Library Society locations - National Park Service
  
  
• Photographs of the Charleston Library Society's early location at 50 Broad Street - Library of Congress
  
  
• Oldest SC libraries - Princeton University