The Nantucket Atheneum was incorporated as a private literary institution in 1834 and became the island's free public library in 1900. In 2009 we celebrate the 175th anniversary of an extraordinary island institution.

The centerpiece of the celebration is the Anniversary Time Capsule.
One hundred capsules (metal cylinders measuring 17"x 6") will be placed in a large vault that will then be buried in the Atheneum garden on October 10th
to be opened on the Atheneum's 200th anniversary in 2034.

The time capsules will be available for purchase for $200 each through out the summer. We invite all families, businesses and organizations participate and preserve a bit of their own history.

Please join us for these special anniversary events:

Monday, June 29, 7 p.m.
Great Hall Performance
Ghosts of the Great Hall: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great Transcendentalist poet and orator, is special to the Atheneum having spoken in the Great Hall several times. Most notably, he was the the first to speak at the library when it opened its new building in 1847, after losing the orginal structure in the Great Fire of 1846.

Emerson returned to the Atheneum in May of 1853 when he delivered a series of six lectures over a two week period titled "Representative Men."

Wendell Refior, an Emerson Scholar, brings Mr. Emerson to life once again and will recite portions of Emerson's original lectures.

Tuesday, June 30, 4 p.m.
Great Hall
Annual Meeting & Gam
Stories From The Nantucket Atheneum

Following a brief annual meeting, the Atheneum invites everyone to share their memories and stories of the library. Emceed by Nat Philbrick, the gam will also feature some of the treasures from our collection of Nantucket-related manuscripts and artifacts.

Saturday, August 22, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Atheneum Garden
Community Celebration

The Atheneum will be throwing a "birthday" party for the community.

The festivities start with a children's book parade from the Pacific Bank to the Atheneum; a salute to the townspeople who in 1847 carried books to the newly reconstructed library from the Pacific Bank where they had been put for safekeeping during the Great Fire that razed the original Atheneum.

There will be live music, a puppet show, storytelling, food, and craft stations for making scrapbooks, bookmarks and bookplates.