Ben Franklin believed that people volunteering together in a spirit of cooperation could accomplish great things. Driven by a strong sense of civic duty, he involved himself in his community and his nation. Always mindful of the “greater good,” Franklin helped establish or improve institutions such as circulating libraries, public hospitals, mutual insurance companies, volunteer fire departments, agricultural colleges, and intellectual societies. Creating "Poor Richard: An Almanac" and writing for the Pennsylvania Gazette he provided all readers with useful information. One of the reasons we know so much about Franklin today is because he wrote about what he thought and how he lived. And he wrote volumes! He penned letters, journals, essays, books, newspaper articles, ballads, almanacs, and a celebrated autobiography.