• 1638 — First permanent library in America is founded at Harvard University.

• 1800 — U.S. Library of Congress is founded.

• 1814 — British forces burn the first Library of Congress. Thomas Jefferson sells his library to Congress as the basis of a new collection.

• 1876 — Melvil Dewey publishes the Dewey Decimal System.

• 1881 — Andrew Carnegie funds his first library - in his hometown of Dunfermeline, Scotland. He will proceed to fund over 2,800 libraries worldwide.

* These factoids are courtesy of the back of the box containing the “Nancy Pearl Librarian Action Figure.” Moveable plastic librarian action figures may be purchased online at http://www.accoutrements.com.