San Francisco Mercantile Library Association ( est. 1852 ) was a civic group organized in San Francisco , California , to " stimulate a generous rivalry in mental culture , by rendering it the fashion to read and converse on literary topics . " Its founders J.B. Crockett , F.A. Woodworth , and F.C. Ewer aspired to " make our infant city as distinguished for literature and science as it already is for its commerce and wealth . " By 1854 the group had collected for its library some 3,000 volumes . The library grew to 14,000 volumes by 1861 , and to 36,000 by 1874 . Holdings included travel writing , essays , plays , California history , American history , and literature by Chaucer , Shakespeare , and Sainte-Beuve . In 1906 the association merged into the San Francisco Mechanics ' Institute . Later the same year an earthquake disaster ruined the combined collections . The Institute constructed a new Mechanics ' - Mercantile Library building in 1910
earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Mercantile Library Association of San Francisco