The Melbourne Athenaeum Library will be closed on Monday 9 March for the Labour Day public holiday.



NOTICE OF MEETING

The 2026 Annual General Meeting for the Melbourne Athenaeum Inc. will be held in the library at 1 pm on Monday 13 April.

For more information please speak to library staff.

The Melbourne Athenaeum Library will be closed on Monday 9 March for the Labour Day public holiday.



NOTICE OF MEETING

The 2026 Annual General Meeting for the Melbourne Athenaeum Inc. will be held in the library at 1 pm on Monday 13 April.

For more information please speak to library staff.

News and Events

Thursday 5 March 2026
Talk: Gary Morgan Oration - Two Great Showmen

BOOKING INFORMATION HERE

Members are warmly invited to attend the 2025 Gary Morgan oration, which will be delivered by Simon Plant, a Melbourne writer and researcher with a special interest in Australian performing...read more
Saturday 7 March 2026
An afternoon with David Astle.

BOOKING INFORMATION HERE

CRYPTIC CLUES UNLOCKED – a 75-minute interactive session where the 8 basic formulas of cryptic clues are explained, then solved by participants via a sample puzzle. Q&A throughout, this session...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
The underworld / Sofie Laguna
General Fiction
What we can know / Ian McEwan
General Fiction
After the fall / Kirsten Alexander
General Fiction
The long road from Kandahar / Sara MacDonald
General Fiction
The champagne war / Fiona McIntosh
Crime Fiction
Dark desert road / Tim Ayliffe
Crime Fiction
Appointment in Paris / Jane Thynne
Crime Fiction
The last days of Kira Mullan / Nicci French
Crime Fiction
Cold truth / Ashley Kalagian Blunt
Crime Fiction
No one would do what the Lamberts have done / Sophie Hannah
Non Fiction
The dark prince of Melbourne / Ian W. Shaw
Non Fiction
100 diaries that chronicled world events / Colin Salter
Non Fiction
Full corset and stockings / Craig Horne
Non Fiction
Unapologetically Ita / Ita Buttrose
Non Fiction
This way up / Mark Cooper-Jones and Jay Foreman
Other Genres
I am Nannertgarrook / Tasma Walton
Other Genres
The invocations / Krystal Sutherland
Other Genres
The oracle code / Marieke Nijkamp and Manuel Preitano
Other Genres
The lost bookshop / Evie Woods
Other Genres
Revelation Beach / Susan Francis
Ebooks
The Concierge / Abby Corson
Ebooks
The River Is Waiting / Wally Lamb
Ebooks
The Perfect Cornish Murder / Fiona Leitch
Ebooks
Heated Rivalry / Rachel Reid
Ebooks
Crisis / Frank Gardner

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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