Providence Athenaeum

The Providence Athenaeum was one of the highlights from our long weekend trip to Providence. This is a stunning library with a rich history conveniently located in the heart of the city. Stop along a walking tour of the canal area or Brown University.
I was able to wander the main hall, the second floor walkways, all the hidden corners, and the lower level reading room to my content. This place is a bibliophile’s dream or even the perfect place for a student to study. It’s a great stop to capture some great photos and aborb the history that surrounds you in Providence. Tip: Easy street parking is availble in front for free up to 2 hours if the back lot is full. Highly recommend!

This is the 4^th oldest library in New England and the 7^th oldest in the country.
It has a unique history and famous writers were also fans. Edgar Allan Poe frequented the library and courted Sarah Helen Whitman here, a poet, who also regularly visited this library.
It’s full of charm and would make a great place to study as many do in the lower level. It’s free to visit (donations are welcome); be sure to do the self guided tour through the library to learn additional interesting facts.

If you ever get the chance please stop by this beautiful library. It seriously is like stepping into history. The set up is beautifully designed and being in the middle of all these books is like being in the middle of history, fairy tales, love stories, and life stories all at the same time.

As an old building with a lot of history and a Latinized Greek name, the Athenaeum could easily feel exclusive and austere. On the contrary, the two librarians were super welcoming and nice about letting me have my mug of tea (unlike the John Hay…).
If you want to actually borrow books or take part in the classes/​programming, you must have a paid membership (which is only $ 35 for students!), but anyone can walk in and enjoy the beautiful architecture. For a 180 year-​old building, it has plenty of modern amenities, including free wifi, a bathroom in the basement, outlets at some of the desks, and lights (once candles) in every nook. There’s also plenty of natural light coming in through the windows.
I also really enjoy the way this library is set up. If you want privacy, you can retreat to a nook in the corners of the upper stacks, but if you prefer to see and be seen while you work, you can head to one of the nooks facing out from the balcony or on the first floor. There’s also a good ratio of desks to armchairs for all your reading vs. writing needs. Then there’s the basement level, which seems to have been renovated recently and sports a giant leather couch!
Overall, the Providence Athenaeum is the perfect place to come if you want to study somewhere with coziness and character, but don’t want to spend money at a coffee shop.

I had to Google ‘athenaeum’ before my visit — turns out it’s a place designed for learning, or a fancy way of saying library. Any book lover would go gaga at this beautiful little structure with its high ceilings, great natural light, and endless cozy spots to get some studying or pleasure-​reading done. From big leather chairs downstairs to little tiny desk nooks upstairs by the windows, you’re sure to find the perfect place to curl up with your latest read. Not sure how their book selection is but honestly to me the beauty is more about the space than the inventory. I’d be happy bringing my Kindle here with my latest book to be surrounded by wonderful old books and architecture.

Take a deep breath when you walk in, that’s the smell of History.
The history of the building is amazing and hard to believe something like that exists in our own backyard.
It is a nice place to quietly sit down to read or study.

A little tidbit to start this review off right: Edgar Allen Poe used to come to the Providence Athenaeum. How’s that for a tone-​setter!!!
I love this library. It smells of history with it’s ancient creaking floors, plethora of old books and a beloved row of card cases that still cling to the Dewey Decimal System. Quaint? Quite. Precious? You betcha. Special — well, nothing quite compares.
As the 4^th oldest athenaeum in the country, this place is an absolute treasure. I love that you can meander in, take a seat at any one of the old colonial-​style student tables and crack a book. Getting lost isn’t an issue — the place isn’s all that big, but every available inch of space is covered in books.
One thing to keep in mind is how silent it is here. No buzz of the internet, no clacking of keyboards and no whispering among friends. This place is carved out of some serious need for quiet time, alone time, time to zip your lips and get lot in the world of literature.
Another adorable tidbit: every Tuesday at 10:30am it’s children’s hour. Bring your kids into the nook especially for kids, and they’ll be treated to what was one of my favorite activities as a kid: being read to. It’s precious.

Edgar
Allen
Poe
The Providence Athenaeum is one spooky looking place. Built in 1838 in a blocky Greek Revival style it just sort of sits there looking imposing and unwelcoming.
But once inside things change. Still spooky but in a cool way. This library is one of the very oldest in the country and was a favorite hangout of Edgar Allen Poe. Easy to imagine ol’ Edgar prowling around this place thinking up weird stories to write.
This is not a typical public library and is supported by private membership. Anyone can go in and look around and fondle the books but you need to pay for a membership to take out books and to access certain collections.
Don’t except to find the latest best sellers and trashy novels. This library has some really, really, old and classic books. Original editions that were written centuries ago. Some go back to medieval times.
The décor is definitely old and spooky, no attempts to turn this into a modern and convenient library, which is a cool thing. Very narrow aisles in places and weird statues of old dead guys everywhere. Some tables and chairs and some funky old desks that look like they were taken from some ancient school combined with an occasional Victorian looking piece.
A unique library that is one of the most special ones in the country. I’ve been to a whole lot of libraries and this is one that really stands out because there really is nothing else like it. Easy to see why Edgar Allen Poe loved this place

One of the most wonderful, beautiful, and historic libraries in our country. The Athenaeum is the 4^th oldest library in the country. Edgar Allan Poe was a regular. They have books that were printed a few decades after the invention of the (western) printing press. That’s 1450, people! Before Columbus sailed the ocean blue!
There are countless stories of rich history at this place. And, there are countless stories of rich history in this place. (See what I did there?)
The nooks and crannies in this place are adventurous. The silence is often deafening. The history is refreshing. The structure is beautiful.
Great spot to sit and read, study, or just walk the floors where a history of others have walked.
I really want to check out the rare book room. I feel like it might be my heaven.
Visit it. If you can, donate a buck or two. If you’re daring, become a member.

The Providence Athenaeum is a beautiful space and is one of Providence’s treasures of architecture and culture, but like most libraries right now, it is having some growing pains.
One doesn’t typically belong to a membership library just for the access to books. Certainly they do buy popular and new materials, but the bulk of the collection is older books that might look good on a shelf, but are likely only used by researchers, if at all. So the Athenaeum focuses on programs instead, which is admirable and makes a lot of sense for both the city of Providence and the neighborhood where the library is situated. Also, that’s what an Athenaeum actually is, a space with books, art and intellectual conversation.
I’ve been to numerous Salons since moving to Providence, and am always fascinated when I get the monthly email detailing what is coming up both at the Athenaeum and around the neighborhood. The issue that I have, and that friends and I have discussed, is that we don’t feel particularly welcome at the Athenaeum.
I am a professional, educated woman in my early 30s who enjoys history, literature, conversation, books and all the things that one can expect to find at the Athenaeum. What I’m less interested in is pretension and attitude. I suspect that this has a lot to with my age and the age of my friends as an older, retired friend of mine told me that when he moved to Providence he immediately hooked up with the Athenaeum crowd and made all kinds of friends.
So what’s to be done about this? I had a long chat with the membership coordinator a while ago and she said that it’s crucial for the future of the Athenaeum to attract people my age, but every time I go to a Salon, I feel like a dirty-​faced urchin. I used to work at a different membership library – The Redwood Athenaeum in Newport, where you think I would have felt this subtle disdain much more keenly, but everyone was incredibly warm and welcoming.
I certainly can’t blame the staff, who have never been anything but courteous and friendly, but the crowd of regulars do not seem to want to add any new blood to the mix unless it’s slightly younger, equally stuffy folks. It’s unfortunate since I chose to work in libraries in large part because I always saw them as a refuge and a place with something for everyone, but I’ve just never felt very welcome at the Athenaeum.

Absolutely beautiful library, well worth a visit, even if you’re not a bibliophile. The building is a great example of Greek Revival architecture and has so much character. There are also a number of treasures that have been gifted to the library over the years.

The Athenaeum is so cute, quaint, old-​fashioned, it’s overwhelming! I absolutely adore the 2 levels and the stairs leading up to them! They have ladders up to the higher shelves!!! Not something you see in every library! I would totally give this place 5 stars, if 2 things weren’t bothering me.
1. The membership prices are pretty darn high. They should really give family discounts!
2. Even when you become a member, at least with the $ 60 membership I got, you can only take 8 things TOTAL out! The librarian was really nice the first time I took out my books and let me take 16 out, but after that I’ve only been able to take out 8 things every time. Keep that in mind if you’re planning to take out a ton of books to read/​study.

very cool small library. It took me ten years to finally check this out. I like the downstairs area, the kind of place I would want to study. definitely worth a look

The first time a library has brought me to tears in the middle of the day.
(For the record, I have cried in many a college library before, usually late at night, with approaching paper deadlines and other consequences of poor time management, etc.)
But please, if you like/​love/​think you might like:
1) History
2) Full bookshelves
3) Architecture
4) Ghosts
5) Ladders
6) Feeling like anything is possible
Do yourself a favor and step inside the unassuming building that is the Anthenaeum. This a treasure, and I hope membership rates and donations are enough to keep its programming rich. If I were more gainfully employed, I’d be a member in an instant. I love sitting in the nooks of this library, facing a stone bust of some long-​gone literary giant, thinking about the value of literacy and of storytelling.
I visited when the cheerful staff were setting up for their annual halloween toddler party! Lots of streamers and decorations being hung up; quite a contrasting sight next to the century-​old volumes.

What a hidden treasure in Providence. I love libraries and this one happens to be the 4^th oldest one in America. What a cool vibe inside. I don’t know of many libraries where you can grab a 120 year old book off the shelf and just sit down at a table and enjoy it. Very cool.

I had the pleasure of attending a PVD Lady Project event at the Providence Athenaeum and what a NEAT place! You can become a member of the Athenaeum for a nominal fee and have use of the space and all the books and artifacts there within.
The VERY old building dates back to Edgar Allan Poe (well, before his time) and is rich with history, books, artifacts and so much more. When you walk in, just the Ora of the building exudes its past… and from floor to ceiling, wall to wall filled with old, historic books!
As I said, I went to an event here and you’re even allowed to bring in catering (yup, food in a library) and use this gorgeous, rich space for whatever suits your needs!
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

As a lifelong bibliophile who’s been known to shed a tear upon entering a library of impressive proportions (I recall a particularly embarrassing visit to the Prunxhall in Vienna), I can attest to the Providence Athenaeum’s uncanny ability to take your breath away.
This library is so much more than dusty books and dead poets (with all due respect to the purists). The fourth oldest library in the United States, it is a rich time capsule filled with centuries of literature and Providence’s history. But the Atheaneum, so filled with ghosts and remnants of days long gone by, is also a living, breathing space. It is is staffed by an unbelievably smart and friendly group of people who are the Athenaeum’s modern-​day stewards; they will fascinate you with their boundless knowledge of all things popular and downright arcane.
The exterior of the Athenaeum on the city’s historic Benefit Street is the first thing that beckons you to come inside; but that is merely a shell for something so much greater inside — it defies description.
The very best of the old world and the new meet here: walk along the creaky floorboards in this magical place, and you’ll see grand wooden card catalogs filled with listings etched in spidery script; a team of ravens pointing the way through the highlights of a self-​guided tour (this was after all, a favorite hangout of Edgar Allen Poe during his Providence days); the latest in fiction and non-​fiction, as well as all of the beloved classics; and an incredible collection of art house, foreign and critically acclaimed films and television series on DVD.
This is the only place in the city where you can feel the presence of prominent spirits while chatting with the city’s current, foremost champions of the arts, culture and history.
The Atheanaeum is a private library; so in order to enjoy the full Athenaeum experience, you must be a member. Members enjoy a robust series of salons and reading clubs, fantastic children’s program offerings for young families, a popular and phenomenally challenging pub trivia night, and an annual gala that stands alone on the social calendar in terms of all-​out literary fabulousness.
Is membership worth it? Yes, dear reader, a thousand times yes.

I had walked by this stone building a million times and had always just assumed that it was a creepy cult — I mean no windows and a sinister water fountain? I couldn’t have been more wrong. This place is utterly delightful — a treasure trove of Providence history.
The self-​guided tour is perfect for the library novice who worries about strict librarians shushing at their insubordination. Every corner hosts amazing pieces of this time capsule — marble busts of stodgey old men, maps of the city in the 1800s, tiny bookshelf ladders, and the secret room of original printings. You can almost feel the anguish of Edgar Allen Poe’s ghost rising out of the stacks, sense the frustration in the perfectly scripted card catalogue. The cozy downstairs addition is the perfect place to curl up with a *free* coffee and thumb through dusty old Russian literature.
Free to the public for a quick visit, but a hefty pricetag for membership or to check out items. Perks for the intelligencia include salons, book readings, and the knowlege that you’re supporting one of the oldest and best-​kept libraries in America.

This small, beautiful library has tons of character, from its Greek
Revival architecture (circa 1838), to its busts of stern-​looking dead
men, to its colorful shelves, stuffed with classics like Audubon’s
Birds of America. The books are shelved in cozy nooks, with lots of
spots to sit and read by a window. When we stopped in to take refuge
on a recent rainy Saturday, it felt bright and inviting, with
occasional giggles coming from the children’s room. Recommended for
book lovers or anyone with an appreciation for history.

«Woohoo! As good as it gets!» — for a library, Athenaeum is as good as it gets.
Being a Providence visitor, going in there was more of a sightseeing experience for me. There was a self-​guided tour of the library by following the Raven sign, and it was quite easy to follow. I learned that this is one of 17 member-​sponsored libraries in the country, and a lot of history retained within the library such as 19^th century handwritten catalog cards. Downstairs is an even quieter studying area with a locked room of literature relics (Walt Whitman’s and Poe’s works were in there). I would absolutely support this library with a membership if I live in Providence.