Membership libraries in the US were originally modeled after the athenaeums and lyceums of England, which increased access to books at a time when most collections were private. By 1876, more than 3,000 dotted the country. Today, they’re one of the missed sets of cultural treasures. But these private libraries can still be found clustered in the Northeast and throughout the South. The youngest, founded in 1899, is the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library in La Jolla, Calif., which costs $40 per year. The Boston Athenaeum, dating back to 1807, is the country’s largest such institution, with 600,000 books.”