The oldest private membership library in the United States — the Library Company of Philadelphia — owes its establishment in the mid-1700s to Benjamin Franklin and the genesis of a small book club called the Junto. In terms of historic membership libraries around the country, the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla is virtually a “new kid on the block,” established in 1899 and celebrating its 110th birthday this month. Unlike its East Coast relatives, which usually were organized by male leaders of the community, La Jolla’s Athenaeum owes its creation primarily to a group of women who had an infinite love of reading and books. In the sleepy, isolated seaside village of the late 19th century, they incorporated as the Library Association of La Jolla on June 19, 1899. (It remains today the Athenaeum’s legal name.) The foundation for the association actually had been put down five years earlier by some of the same group forming the La Jolla Reading Club to discuss literary works and periodicals of the time at the new La Jolla Park Hotel, a Victorian-style building on the cliffs overlooking the Cove. Soon to join the local ladies were two visiting hotel guests: Florence Sawyer and Catherine Howard Spear. When the hotel burned to the ground, Ms. Sawyer soon decided the group should have its own Reading Room. She donated land, a small building, $1,000 worth of books and furnishings for the endeavor. In August of 1899, the land and facility was donated to the new library association. The beginnings of La Jolla’s Athenaeum involving community literati — including the very well-read Ellen Browning Scripps — was not unlike other earlier membership libraries around the country. The history of membership libraries is the history of a tradition of culture and civility in both large and small communities. They were basically gentlemen’s — and gentlewomen’s — pursuits to establish an intellectual life in the New World through the reading and sharing of books. In fact, public libraries as we know them did not take shape in this country until the 1850s. Until then, membership or “social” libraries were the primary form of experiencing books, continuing into the later 1800s before the public library system became more entrenched. In 1876 there were an amazing number of membership libraries all over the United States — 3,296! The number dwindled with the approach of the 20th century, with many of the organizations merging with other institutions or becoming part of the new public libraries arriving on the block. Today, there are only 16 functioning membership libraries remaining. In La Jolla, the Athenaeum proceeded along a course of mixed history, remaining a private institution but also intermingled at times with the public library system. As early as 1909, the San Diego City Library considered making it a branch but decided on a deposit station instead. The La Jolla Library Association sold its old Reading Room (now on The Bishop’s School campus), and in 1921 a new library building was built, designed by William Templeton Johnson. Like a traditional membership library, the Athenaeum continued to build on its collections, including a significant bequest in 1938 of a 48-volume collection of Johann Sebastian Bach compositions. The Athenaeum also shares a special link with the La Jolla Historical Society. In 1942, under the chairmanship of local historian Howard R. Randolph, it began to accumulate papers on La Jolla history. That collection was given to the historical society when it was founded in 1963 and remains the foundation of the historical society’s extensive archives of the present day. — “Reflections” is a monthly column written for the La Jolla Village News by the La Jolla Historical Society’s historian Carol Olten. The Society, dedicated to the preservation of La Jolla heritage, is located at 7846 Eads Ave. and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.