Providence Athenaeum
The Providence Athenaeum is an independent, member-supported subscription library in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. The building is open to the public, but only members can check out items from the collection. The library was established in 1836 as a merger between two earlier subscription libraries: The Providence Library Company, founded in 1753, and the Providence Athenaeum, founded in 1831. It became "The Providence Athenaeum" by amendment to its charter in 1850. History In 1753, a group of private citizens started The Providence Library Company to gain access to a collection of books that they could not afford individually. Members paid a small subscription fee to the library to purchase books which all members could share. Stephen Hopkins, signatory of the Declaration of Independence, was a leading member of the early organization. Many of the early books had to be purchased from England. In 1758, a fire destroyed the majority of the first collection of books, which were then housed at the Providence court house. 71 of the 345 titles held by the Providence Library Company were in circulation at the time of the fire and survived. The surviving volumes now make up the Founders' Collection. Brown