Main Reading Room, now Social Science and History Department of the Central Library of the Free Library of Philadelphia

Historical Images of Philadelphia Free Library Departments and Branches

Main Reading Room, now Social Science and History Department of the Central Library of the Free Library of Philadelphia

75th Anniversary

Step 11. In the Main Reading Room of the Central Library of the Free Library of Philadelphia, a member of the library staff charges the requested book to the patron's account. The entire process took only two to four minutes

75th Anniversary

Step 10. In the Main Reading Room of the Central Library of the Free Library of Philadelphia, a library staff member retrieves the requested book from the dumbwaiter and hands it to patron

75th Anniversary

Step 2. After finding the call number in the card catalog for a book the patron wishes to borrow, she requests the book from the library staff member in the Main Reading Room in the Central Library of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

75th Anniversary

Detail of the decorative plaster ceiling in the Main Reading Room of the Central Library of the Free Library of Philadelphia

75th Anniversary