The Melbourne Athenaeum will be closed for the public holiday on Friday 26 January.

Normal hours will resume on Saturday 27 January.

The Melbourne Athenaeum will be closed for the public holiday on Friday 26 January.

Normal hours will resume on Saturday 27 January.

News and Events

Friday 15 March 2024
Emilie Collyer
Members are invited enjoy a work by the library’s 2023 Playwright-in-Residence, Emilie Collyer, on Friday 15 March. Emilie will present her new work-in-progress, The Grateful Shade, which will be directed...read more
Friday 22 March 2024
Sally Ford and the Idiomatics
Novelist, short story writer and playwright Wayne Macauley will join Sally Ford and the Idiomatics for a special music and literary experience on Friday 22 March. Wayne will be reading...read more
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Library

A range of cultural activities are held in the beautiful surrounds of the subscription library.
The library holds a 30,000 strong collection and hosts regular music performances, talks, book and screen clubs, and artist and writer-in-residence programs. Members enjoy the historic atmosphere and quiet haven in a bustling city.

Browse the collection

New Acquisitions

General Fiction
A shining / Jon Fosse
General Fiction
Serengotti / Eugen Bacon
General Fiction
Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society / Sophie Green
General Fiction
Judas boys / Joel Deane
General Fiction
Why we are here / Briohny Doyle
Crime Fiction
Violet Kelly and the jade owl / Fiona Britton
Crime Fiction
Needless alley / Natalie Marlow
Crime Fiction
13-point plan for a perfect murder / David Owen
Crime Fiction
All that's left unsaid / Tracey Lien
Crime Fiction
Disappearance of a scribe / Dana Stabenow
Non Fiction
The Indi way / Voices for Indi
Non Fiction
A record in bone / Michelle C Langley
Non Fiction
My journey to the World Cup / Sam Kerr
Non Fiction
Many things under a rock / Laurel 'Yoyo' Scheel
Non Fiction
The art thief / Michael Finkel
Other Genres
It's the sound of the thing / Maxine Beneba Clarke
Other Genres
The housemaid's secret / Freida McFadden
Other Genres
The city we became / N. K. Jemisin
Other Genres
Borderland / Graham Akhurst
Other Genres
Fanatic heart / Tom Keneally
Ebooks
The Lovers / Yumna Kassab
Ebooks
Shapers of Worlds / edited by Edward Willett
Ebooks
The Power of the Dog / Thomas Savage
Ebooks
The Expert System's Brother / Adrian Tchaikovsky
Ebooks
The Sun Walks Down / Fiona McFarlane

About us

The Melbourne Athenaeum enriches Melbourne’s cultural and educational life by fostering public engagement with the arts and culture, and supporting creativity.
A Management Committee of volunteers is responsible for the organisation’s governance. Every member joining the Melbourne Athenaeum becomes a custodian of a rich part of the city’s living history.
history image
State Library Victoria, www.slv.vic.gov.au, Alfred Martin Ebsworth, June 29, 1885.

History

The story that unfolds here is about a unique organisation that continues to contribute to the city’s culture in a building first completed in 1842.
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