Alexandria Library Company (Alexandria, Va.)

Variant names

Dates:

Establishment 0024-07-1794

History notes:

The Alexandria Library Company was founded on July 24, 1794, at the house of John Wise for the purpose of providing reading material on a subscription basis. On January 9, 1799, the Alexandria Library Company was chartered by the General Assembly of Virginia. That year, the first catalog was published, which listed holdings in the hundreds.

The Company's first address is thought to have been Mr. Stabler's Apothecary Shop on Fairfax Street. The Rev. James Muir was the first president of the organization, Samuel Craig treasurer, and Edward Stabler secretary and librarian, all prominent Alexandrians of the time. The Library Company moved locations several times over the years. The 1801 catalog of the library company totaled 450 books and grew to 5,063 titles by 1858. More than 1,000 holdings were lost during the Civil War.

In 1937, the Alexandria Library Company entered an agremeent with the Alexandria City Council, donating its colelctions to the city for the establishment of a new public library. A Library Board was established, which included three members of the Library Company, two members appointed by the Mayor, two members of the City Council, and an appointed transitional librarian.

The Alexandria Library Company remains an active organization. The Library Company maintains their three seats on the Board of the Alexandria Library. They fund an annual summer internship program at the Alexandria Library, Local History / Special Collections. They also an annual speaker series, the Alexandria Library Company Speaker Series, featuring a notable author, historian, or journalist invited to address topics of regional or national interest.