Public libraries have provided clean and safe learning environments for people at no direct cost for two centuries now. Benjamin Franklin inaugurated the Free Library in Philadelphia in the late 1700's. His vision allowed poor children and families to encounter the pleasures of the written word at a time when adult literacy was rare. Libraries extend the benefits of information to the poor and dispossessed. Placing access points to the global information infrastructure in libraries can be a way of teaching respect for the person and property of others.
Public libraries tend to be quiet places where study is encouraged.
The art of quiet behaviour, of courtesy to strangers can be learned at the public library. For some library patrons, libraries may be the place they first experience the kindness of another human being. The social graces a library offers are immense, particularly in our time when popular culture rewards disrespect and confrontation. Libraries offer a place of refuge, a way of regaining some of the manners of past generations. Schools have historically been places where children encountered new ideas as well as imbibed the standards and culture of their home communities.