Next to Independence Hall, the museum of the country’s first learned scientific society, the American Philosophical Society, houses an ever changing exhibition of the sciences and humanities with the current exhibition featuring Thomas Jefferson as a scientist. While this exhibition is relatively small, it is absorbing and well worth your time, especially when waiting to enter Independence Hall.

My wife and I visited Library Hall while walking through the historical section of Philadelphia. This was the first library in the country open to the public. It was the forerunner of the Library of Congress. Founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin and his friends, the Library Company established a collection that was available for use on the premises and off by interested members of the community. Before this, books were owned by the wealthy and kept in private collections. During Colonial Days, the delegates to the Continental Convention were encouraged to use the resources at the Library, and as such it can be correctly considered the forerunner of the Library of Congress.