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Levenger puts treasures from America's libraries
back into circulation
DELRAY BEACH, FLA · November 10, 2006 – Ben Franklin's fire bucket, George Eastman's reading table, the Boston Athenaeum's 128-year-old bookends, the Boston Public Library's century-old bookbag: where to find these treasures? In the Levenger catalog. And quite possibly, in your living room.
Levenger, the purveyor of high-end "tools for serious readers," is checking out more than books at America's historic libraries. The company is reprising some of the objects tucked away in their archives, creating faithful reproductions of them and helping out the libraries in the process. Each institution receives a portion of every sale.
'National treasures'
"I consider libraries to be among America's national treasures," says Steve Leveen, the CEO of Levenger. "It's been rewarding to rediscover them and to find ways to share the excitement with customers."
Leveen's own epiphany occurred when he was researching his book, The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life, and realized that library shelves had more to offer than even the best-stocked bookstore. Finding useful artifacts to bring to life again was a logical next step. Levenger, which Leveen co-founded with his wife, Lori, is the first company in America to design products specifically with readers in mind.
Still useful after all these years
The leather fire bucket, which is from the library that Ben Franklin founded, the Library Company of Philadelphia, makes an attractive magazine holder. The Levenger version of the Eastman reading table draws from the original in the George Eastman House in Rochester, a national landmark and an international library of photography and film.
The Boston Athenaeum's bookends are so simple, they're timeless. And the Boston Public Library's heavy canvas bookbag, which Leveen spied in a basement corner, makes an excellent gym bag. (The library still uses it to shuttle books between its branches.)
Recognition that's long overdue
"We like to think that we're bringing a bit of these libraries into homes across America," says Leveen, who devoted one of his Well-Read Life columns to the love of libraries. "And who knows—it just may inspire people to rediscover their own library."
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