The Berkshire Athenaeum is a public

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

(1872) based on a previously private

athenaeum Athenaeum may refer to: Books and periodicals * ''Athenaeum'' (German magazine), a journal of German Romanticism, established 1798 * ''Athenaeum'' (British magazine), a weekly London literary magazine 1828–1921 * ''The Athenaeum'' (Acadia U ...

, and now at 1 Wendell Avenue,

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

the Berkshires The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that ex ...

, United States. Like many

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

libraries, the Berkshire Athenaeum started as a private organization. A private Public Library Association was founded in 1850. The name was later changed to the Berkshire Athenæum. Later still, Thomas F. Plunkett, Calvin Martin and Thomas Allen, were "instrumental in forming it into a free library." "In 1874, by means of a bequest from Phinehas Allen, and the gift of he 1876building from

Thomas Allen Thomas Allen may refer to: Clergy *Thomas Allen (nonconformist) (1608–1673), Anglican/nonconformist priest in England and New England *Thomas Allen (dean of Chester) (died 1732) *Thomas Allen (scholar) (1681–1755), Anglican priest in England * ...

, the Berkshire Athenaeum was placed upon a firm foundation."The Bay State Monthly: A Massachusetts Magazine. Volume II, Number 4. January, 1885. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14131 In 1903, the Berkshire Athenaeum assumed the responsibility for the newly created

Berkshire Museum __NOTOC__ The Berkshire Museum is a museum of art, natural history, and ancient civilization that is located in Pittsfield in Berkshire County, Massachusetts ( United States). History The Berkshire Museum, founded by local paper magnate Zenas ...

, and was both a public library and museum until the museum spun off in 1932. The Berkshire Athenaeum is now Pittsfield's public library and contains a collection of more than 150,000 items. The library's special collections on

local history Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history. Local history is not merely national history writ small bu ...

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

, local author

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...

, and other Berkshire authors are some of the best in the northeast.

Design

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

William Appleton Potter William Appleton Potter (December 10, 1842 – February 19, 1909) was an American architect who designed numerous buildings for Princeton University, as well as municipal offices and churches. He served as a Supervising Architect of the Treasury ...

, the original Berkshire Athenaeum building was erected in 1874-1876 as a gift from

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

magnate and native son Thomas Allen. It is in the

High Victorian Gothic High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right. Promo ...

style, constructed of dark blue

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

from Great Barrington, red freestone from

Longmeadow Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, in the United States. The population was 15,853 at the 2020 census. History Longmeadow was first settled in 1644, and officially incorporated October 17, 1783. The town was originally farm ...

and red

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

from

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. The 1876 building became the Berkshire County Registry of Deeds in 1975 when the Berkshire Athenaeum moved to the current library building two doors away.

Special collections

Local History Collection

The collection is geared to those with historical interest in the City of Pittsfield and its residents. With close to 4,700 square feet, the department is located at the east end of the main floor of the Athenaeum, with additional closed stack space located in the storage room on the lower floor. The Local History Collection provides historical and genealogical information primarily about the Berkshires and greater Berkshire area, but it also includes New England, eastern New York State, and Southern Canada to showcase the origin of Berkshire families.

Local History Department

It is a storage room located on the basement level and has 1,800 linear feet of shelf space housing an overflow collection of historical materials less in demand by the public, or replacement copies of highly used materials. This area is not accessible to the public.
Genealogy Resources
The collection totals 71,000 reels of film, books, and finding aids, which were formerly held by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Pittsfield facility. All researchers must fill a request form to gain on-site access.

Berkshire Authors Room

The Berkshire Authors Room houses a collection of books and other materials by and about authors with a connection to the Berkshires.

Herman Melville Memorial Room

The Herman Melville Memorial Room collection includes first editions of writer

's works, manuscripts, family letters, and annotated volumes from his personal library. Paintings. prints, and photographs of him are also available. In addition, the collection showcases biographies and critical studies works produced by Melville scholars. The Herman Melville Memorial Room was mainly planned and funded by Dr.

Henry Murray Henry Alexander Murray (May 13, 1893 – June 23, 1988) was an American psychologist at Harvard University, where from 1959 to 1962 he conducted a series of psychologically damaging and purposefully abusive experiments on minors and under ...

of Harvard University. Melville’s relatives have donated other primary sources, such as his books and memorabilia.

References

* Joseph E. A. Smith, ''The History of Pittsfield, Massachusetts''; Clark W. Bryan & Co., publishers; Springfield, Massachusetts 1876

External links

Berkshire Athenaeum — Pittsfield's Public Library
{{Coord, 42.4476, -73.2514, display=title Public libraries in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Pittsfield, Massachusetts Libraries in Berkshire County, Massachusetts William Appleton Potter buildings 1872 establishments in Massachusetts Library buildings completed in 1876