Imagine a world where you had to buy every book you ever read. For most of American history, that was the reality. Books were expensive, and only wealthy families could build personal collections. Some towns had small lending libraries, but members had to pay a fee to join. On May 11, 1833, the town of Peterborough, New Hampshire, tried something new. The townspeople voted to use their tax money to create a library that was free and open to everyone. This was the first tax-supported public library in the United States. The idea was simple but radical: everyone in the community deserved access to books, regardless of how much money they had. The Peterborough library was small, with just a few hundred books. But the idea spread quickly. Within decades, cities across the country began opening their own public libraries. In the late 1800s, a wealthy businessman named Andrew Carnegie donated millions of dollars to build over 1,600 library buildings across America. Today, the United States has more than 17,000 public libraries. They offer not just books but computers, programs, and a quiet place to learn. Every one of them can trace its roots back to one small town that believed reading should be free for all.