The library will close at 12 noon on Monday November 18 for our 185th birthday afternoon tea and not reopen for general library services until 10 am on Tuesday November 19.

The library will close at 12 noon on Monday November 18 for our 185th birthday afternoon tea and not reopen for general library services until 10 am on Tuesday November 19.

News and Events

Friday 6 December 2024
La Descarga

BOOKING INFORMATION HERE

On 6 December, La Descarga will make a welcome and colourful return to the Athenaeum. Join us for a night where literature meets music, as iconic Colombian-tropical band La Descarga will...read more
Friday 13 December 2024
Phil Manning and Peter Beilharz

BOOKING INFORMATION HERE

One of Australia's best-known guitarists, Phil Manning has single handedly turned more Australians onto the Blues than any other performer. Many Australians know him as a member of Chain, the...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
We'll prescribe you a cat / Syou Ishida
General Fiction
Highway 13 / Fiona McFarlane
General Fiction
Creation Lake / Rachel Kushner
General Fiction
The good soldier / Ford Madox Ford
General Fiction
The safekeep / Yael van der Wouden
Crime Fiction
When one of us hurts / Monica Vuu
Crime Fiction
Everybody knows / Jordan Harper
Crime Fiction
D is for death / Harriet F. Townson
Crime Fiction
The ledge / Christian White
Crime Fiction
The death of Dora Black / Lainie Anderson
Non Fiction
Otherland : a journey with my daughter / Maria Tumarki
Non Fiction
Courting : an intimate history of love and the law / Alecia Simmonds
Non Fiction
The schoolgirl, her teacher and his wife / Rebecca Hazel
Non Fiction
A periodic tale : my sciencey memoir / Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
Non Fiction
Three wild dogs and the truth / Markus Zusak
Other Genres
An indiscreet princess / Georgie Blalock
Other Genres
The best witch in Paris / Lauren Crozier
Other Genres
All the bees in the hollows / Lauren Keegan
Other Genres
Here lies Arthur / Philip Reeve
Other Genres
The galaxy game / Karen Lord
Ebooks
The Trust / M.H. Eccleston
Ebooks
The Picture House Murders / Fiona Veitch Smith
Ebooks
Antiquities and Tangibles and Other Stories / Tim Pratt
Ebooks
The Stranger She Knew / Rosalind Stopps
Ebooks
The Knife and the Serpent / Tim Pratt

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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