July 7, 2010 will mark the 161st anniversary of the passage by the State of New Hampshire of the first general free public library law in the United States. The passage of this law in 1849 marked a major milestone in the development of the American public library. The New Hampshire law said in part: "Every public library ... shall be opened to the free use of every inhabitant of the town or city ... for the general diffusion of intelligence among all classes of the community ...".
This law was by no means the start of libraries in New Hampshire however. In 1833 in Peterborough the first Free Public Library in the world to be supported by taxation was established and the New Hampshire State Library dates back to 1717.
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