[LIB3253]In 1889, the city of Scranton decided it was ready to start a public library. The city council stipulated that $25,000 be raised by the citizens of Scranton in order to ensure interest in having a public library.
The Citizens' Subscription Fund was started. 141 people contributed over $25,000, ranging in donations of three dollars to over a thousand.
At the same time, as good fortune would have it, a former Scranton resident was looking for a way to memorialize his parents. His name was John Joseph Albright, and he was a resident of Buffalo, NY. His parents, Joseph Jacob and Elizabeth Sellars Albright, had recently passed away.
Mr. Albright and his brother and sisters donated the land on which the Library would be built. It was the site of the old family homestead, on the corner of Vine Street and North Washington Avenue. The building itself was a gift of Mr. Albright, and he asked that it be named after his parents. [SOURCE]
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