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Tuesday 10am - 6pm Wednesday 10am - 6pm Thursday 10am - 6pm Friday 10am - 6pm Saturday 10am - 6pm

The Providence Athenæum

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The Providence Athenæum

A 19th-century library still going strong! All welcome. You can check out the latest bestseller, enjoy a musical performance, and bring the kids to movie night.

For nearly two centuries, the Athenæum has been at the center of intellectual and cultural life in Providence. Each year we welcome dozens of writers, historians, scholars, artists, and leaders to converse with our members. Inside this special library, you’ll gain access to amazing collections, remarkable history, and a community of curious, interesting, and spirited people. You can linger in the

alcove where Edgar Allan Poe courted his Providence fiancé and sit in the Reading Room where generations of members have read and researched.

07/18/2026

A reminder that the Athenæum will be closed next week (Tuesday 7/21 - Friday 7/24) for building repairs! We’ll reopen at 10am on Saturday as usual.

07/01/2026

Due to extreme temperatures and the July 4th holiday, please note the following hours updates:
Wed 7/1: closing at 3pm
Thurs 7/2 - Mon 7/6: closed
Tues 7/7: reopening as usual at 10am

As temperatures heat up this summer, it’s possible that library’s interior will become too warm for normal functions. If we do need to adjust our hours or services due to the weather, we’ll update our website, social media, and phone voicemail. Please give us a call or check one of these resources before you visit on hot days. Thank you!

05/15/2026

As we barrel towards summer, we have a few hour changes on the horizon!

Sat 5/16: closing at 2pm for a private event
Sun 5/24: closed due to Brown University graduation

SUMMER HOURS
(starting after Memorial Day)
Tues - Sat: 10am-6pm
Sun - Mon: closed

04/03/2026

A reminder that the Athenæum will be closed this Sunday! We’re still in awe of these 2025 flowers by 💐

And in case our last post had you worried, no, our beloved Rare Books Room, Children’s Library, and staff offices are not being demolished to build the Matt Burriesci Vehicular Port complete with the world’s slowest elevator. At least not anytime soon.

04/01/2026

I’m pleased to report that after many years of intensive study, outrageously expensive consultants, reams of detailed reports, schematics, concepts, focus grouping, means testing, fundraising, more fundraising, and community listening sessions, we’ve finally solved our parking deficit at the Athenæum.

Starting next month, we will begin demolition of the Platner Wing of the building, which was only being occupied by priceless books, small children just learning how to read, and staff. This previously underutilized space will be used to construct a new, state-of-the-art, multi-level parking facility. Naming opportunities are still available! You can still sponsor our fully automated attendants, electric car charging ports, or even those fun automatic gates that go up and down through the miracle of modern science. (And also, the excruciatingly slow elevator!) We anticipate being able to accommodate ten additional parking spaces—tripling (or, let’s be honest, quadrupling) our existing parking.

This will not only be a benefit to the Athenæum, but for all our wonderful cultural partners on College Hill, whose patrons can make use of the garage on Sunday mornings between the hours of 6-11am.

The new Matthew Burriesci Vehicular Port is scheduled to complete construction by 2043, and it should be revenue-positive by 2065. At that time, it will perpetually subsidize the Athenæum’s mission of enriching the mind, inspiring the spirit, and elevating the public discourse.

We are thrilled to share the news about this exciting new chapter with you all. Future generations will thank us. If you have any questions or concerns about this exciting project, please direct them to Robin Wetherill, Director of Engagement.

Matt Burriesci
Executive Director

02/18/2026

Executive Director’s Log, Adrift in the Frozen North

Feb. 16- First mate reports sighting a squirrel in the staff quarters. How the creature infiltrated our defenses I cannot say, but, having now entered, it seems unwilling (or unable) to depart. All attempts at capture prove fruitless. A man knowledgeable in such affairs is summoned, but by the time he arrives the creature is gone. Every square inch is scoured, but apart from some errant papers dislodged by its skittering claws, no evidence of it can be found. I begin to question the first mate’s sanity, but he is a godly man and not prone to drink. For the crew’s safety the room is sealed; there can be no escape!

Feb. 17- The creature is spotted again, this time atop a filing cabinet. Strenuous efforts are made to capture it, but again it vanishes—to where I cannot say, as the room is soundly sealed. Traps and mechanical contraptions are laid, with bait so tempting I nearly crawl in myself—peanut butter, chips of chocolate—surely, upon this night the creature’s decadence will prove its undoing!

Feb. 18- What moderation! The beast resists all temptation, e’en when it is laid before its tiny feet! It has not taken the bait, yet evidence of its presence surrounds us—it has been gnawing on the windows, knocking over stacks of binders, and there—a flash of its bushy tail—there! He tasks me! He tasks me, and I shall have him! I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and ‘round perdition’s flames until I give him up!

….

I have recovered my faculties. The squirrel is now trapped. He will be taken to Boston-town, to live amongst the brahmins there. I have given the trapper the address of the Boston Athenaeum, so that this most temperate and curious of squirrels may not be deprived of the culture and learning it so clearly craves.

Matt Burriesci
Executive Director

01/28/2026

Please note the Athenæum will be open 11am-5pm daily through Sunday, February 1. Regular hours will resume Tuesday, February 3.

Parking is rough around here right now, so just give us a call if you’d like a curbside book delivery (401-421-6970)! We’d be happy to run some essential reading materials out to your car.

12/22/2025

Tomorrow is the last day before our winter break to stop in and stock up on memberships and merch for everyone on your list and (most importantly) copious amounts of reading material for yourself! We’ll be here 10-6.

This year, more than ever, we wish you a wonderful holiday season and a bright new year!
- Matt, Drew, Ken, Juli Anna, Ivy, Mecca, Vanessa, Stephanie, Maeve, Amelia, Lindsay, Chris, Robin, Kate, Lily, and Jenny

12/10/2025

The staff is closing up shop a little early this Friday to celebrate the holidays at ! The library will also be closed 12/24-1/1, but there’s still plenty of time to stop by to stock up on Ath merch and memberships!

12/04/2025

Our members are so talented! Thanks to for this charming capture of one of our favorite alcoves 🤩

Address

251 Benefit Street
Providence, RI
02903

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 6pm
Wednesday	10am - 6pm
Thursday	10am - 6pm
Friday	10am - 6pm
Saturday	10am - 6pm

Website

http://www.providenceathenaeum.org/

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