The Mercantile Library is a membership library. It is a non-profit institution supported by members' annual subscriptions, gifts, and income from an endowment fund. The Library receives no tax support. The name refers not to the collection but to the Library's founders who were young merchants and clerks. Organized in 1835, it is the city's senior library and one of the oldest cultural institutions in the midwest.
Be sure to visit Stacked, the Library's web blog.
The Mercantile Library
The Mercantile Library Building
414 Walnut Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: (513) 621-0717
Fax: (513) 621-2023
Web: mercantilelibrary.com
E-mail: mercantileinfo@mercantilelibrary.com
The Mercantile Library is affiliated with the Membership Libraries Group. These predecessors of today’s public libraries possess collections of immense interest and are often housed in buildings of architectural and historic importance. Most of these institutions welcome visitors.
The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
La Jolla, California
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
www.PhilaAthenaeum.org
The Boston Athenaeum
Boston, Massachusetts
www.bostonathenaeum.org
The Charleston Library Society
Charleston, South Carolina
The General Society Library
New York, New York
www.generalsociety.org
The Institute Library
New Haven, Connecticut
The La Jolla Athenaeum
www.ljathenaeum.org
The Lanier Library
Tryon, North Carolina
The Maine Charitable Mechanic Association Library
Portland, Maine
The Mechanics’ Institute Library
San Francisco, California
www.milibrary.org
The Mercantile Library
New York, New York
www.mercantilelibrary.org
The Minneapolis Athenaeum
Minneapolis, Minnesota
www.minneapolisathenaeum.org
Nantucket Athenaeum
Nantucket, Massachusetts
The New York Society Library
New York, New York
www.nysoclib.org
The Portsmouth Athenaeum
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
The Providence Athenaeum
Providence, Rhode Island
www.providenceathenaeum.org
Redwood Library & Athenaeum
Newport, Rhode Island
www.redwood1747.org
St. Johnsbury Athenaeum
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
www.stjathenaeum.org
The St. Louis Mercantile Library Association
St. Louis, Missouri
www.umsl.edu/services/library
The Salem Athenaeum
Salem, Massachusetts
www.star.net/people/
Timrod Literary and Library Association
Summerville, South Carolina
