Redwood Library, Newport, RI

The Redwood Library and Athenaeum is America’s first purpose-built library and the oldest continuously operating library in its original location. As a result, it is the only remaining secular public cultural institution in this country with an unbroken link to the colonial period and the United States' founding. The original collection of 751 books—purchased in London—reflected the intellectual interests of educated people in the mid‑18th‑century. Subjects included religion, philosophy, law, agriculture, history, and medicine. Despite losses during the British occupation of Newport in the Revolutionary War, the library has restored 92% of its original titles through later acquisitions.