[1][4] In 1869, the library's growing membership and book collection prompted a move to another location on Tenth Street.

[5] By the 1880s, the Mercantile Library had long since become considerably popular outside its original membership base of merchants, and the librarians chose to lean into this and curate expanded novel collections to match public demand, though they were especially selective to enforce public morality at the time.

[7] In 1989, after 168 years of operation, the Mercantile Library was forced to close after asbestos was discovered in the building.

[10] The library was converted out of a disused market building[10] and was renovated by Furness twice, first in 1873 (with George W. Hewitt) and again after the fire in 1877.

[6] The third and final Mercantile Library building is still standing at 1021 Chestnut Street, but remains vacant and boarded up.