In 1638, John Harvard donated (捐赠) some money and about 400 books to a (新的) university. This was the (开始) of the library at Harvard University. The gift was so (重要的) that the university was named after John Harvard.
Thomas Bray began the first free lending library in the late 1600s. He set up more (比) 30 libraries in the American colonies (殖民地). (然而), the idea for this kind of free library ended when Bray (死亡) in 1730. In 1731, Benjamin Franklin and some (朋友) started the first subscription (收费的) library in the United States. In a subscription library, people pay money to become members, and they may (借用) books without paying again.
In the United States, every child had a free (教育). This idea soon (带领) to free libraries. One of the first free libraries that used tax money (税款) to buy books was a library in Peterborough, New Hampshire. This library was set up in 1833.