In the 1870’s, the U.S. government used to ship these amazing boxes of books to Michigan’s lighthouse keepers.

In 1876 portable libraries were first introduced in the Light-House Establishment and furnished to all light vessels and inaccessible offshore light stations with a selection of reading materials. These libraries were contained in a portable wooden case, each with a printed listing of the contents posted inside the door. Proper arrangements were made for the exchange of these libraries at intervals, and for revision of the contents as books became obsolete in accordance with suggestions obtained from public library authorities.

The dove-tail constructed boxes were heavy duty, set with big brass fittings. Some of the shipped titles include Paul du Chaillu’s “My Apingi Kingdom: With Life In The Great Sahara”, R.W. Fraser’s “British India”, and Bella Duffy’s “The Tuscan Republics”.