John Thomson (librarian) explained

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Known For:	first head librarian of the Free Library of Philadelphia

John Thomson (1835 - 1916)^[1] was the first head librarian of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Thomson was born in Norfolk, England and attended St. Paul's School, London. He emigrated to the US in 1881.^[2]

Before the Free Library of Philadelphia, Thomson was the private librarian of Jay Gould and Clarence H. Clark.

When the library opened in March 1894, Thomson's mission statement was "Free Books for All".^[3]

He compiled a bibliography of all the incunabula in the US and purchased a number of rare books for the library, including Walter Arthur Copinger's collection of 500 incunabula and fourteen Portuguese antiphonaries given to the College of Saint Jerome by King John III.^[4]

He was married to Mary Ann Thomson (1834 - 1923), writer of Protestant hymns.^[5] They had a dozen children.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Web site: LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress). id.loc.gov. The Library of Congress. 2018-02-21.
2. Book: Public Libraries. 1909. Library Bureau. en.
3. Book: S., Nelson, Sandra. Strategic planning for results. 2008. American Library Association. Nelson, Sandra S., Public Library Association.. 9780838935736. Fully rev. . Chicago. 80. 435528660.
4. Shaffer. Ellen. 1970. The Rare Book Department, Free Library of Philadelphia. 24301791. The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. 64. 1. 1–11. 10.1086/pbsa.64.1.24301791. 163504886. 2142/36960. free.
5. Web site: Mary Ann Thomson - Hymnary.org. hymnary.org. en. 2018-02-21.
6. Book: Buenting. Ruth M.. Gloria! : letters from the hymnwriters. 1999. CSS Pub.. 9780788015267. 28.