A Libr’y Experiment

July – October 2026

In 1753, 23 years before the Declaration of Independence was signed, a library was established in Providence. This library and its collection bore witness to America’s founding in 1776 and would go on to help form the Providence Athenæum as we know it today.

On view are materials relating to the Providence Library Company of 1753 and books from its early collection. These items offer a glimpse into the operations of an early American subscription library, provide a snapshot of the reading taste of 18th-century Providence residents, and help illuminate what may have inspired readers during such a formative period of change for the nation.

The exhibit title is a play on the phrase “a lively experiment,” included in the Royal Charter of 1663 granted by King Charles II of England to the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The Charter guaranteed that the colony would “hold forth a lively experiment, that a most flourishing civil state may stand and best be maintained…with a full liberty in religious concernments.”