Shipboard Reading...

This plaque pictured here is affixed to the door of what is known as a loan library. Beginning in the mid-19th century, the American Seamen's Friend Society supplied three-shelved boxes fitted out with inspirational and practical books for use by sailors aboard ships. Volume 3, Number 1 of the journal CORIOLIS features an article about the thousands of libraries that went to sea and the handful that remain. The library described on the plaque is is one of three such libraries that reside in the Collections Research Center at Mystic Seaport.