The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves Philadelphia. It is the 16th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the City of Philadelphia governed by an independent Board of Trustees as per the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation is a separate 501c3 non-profit with its own board of directors and serves to support the mission of the Free Library of Philadelphia through philanthropic dollars.

William Pepper Jr., was an American physician, medical educator, and the eleventh Provost of the University of Pennsylvania from 1881 to 1894. He was an advocate for the establishment of a university affiliated hospital and led the finance and building committees for the construction of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in 1874. As provost, he oversaw a major expansion of the University including the construction of 13 campus building, the addition of the Wharton School of Business, and eleven new departments. In 1891, he founded the Free Library of Philadelphia.