As the rain pattered on the pavement leading up Beacon Street, a line of people filed into the red doors of the Boston Athenaeum. Umbrellas were tucked away and jackets were shed as people dispersed to explore five floors of books, art and music.
The Boston Athenaeum opened its doors to the public on Sept. 21 for its second annual Community Day open house. Established in 1807, predating the Boston Public Library system, the Boston Athenaeum has evolved into a unique blend of a library, museum and cultural center.
“We’re a library first and foremost, with over half a million books in the collection, as well as newspapers and circulating magazines,” said Kate Smails, member program coordinator at the Athenaeum. “We are here to preserve the collection that we have.”
Samantha Levine, events manager at the Boston Athenaeum, said about 1,700 people registered for the event on Saturday.
“Boston has such a rich culture and people of all walks of life,” Levine, a lifelong Boston resident, said. “People have come here from everywhere, and I think what makes the city so unique is that it’s such a melting pot.”
The vibrant, bustling atmosphere fostered connection and a sense of community among guests of many ages and backgrounds, all enjoying the artwork and books.
“It’s a very diverse population, which I love,” said Mary Piecewicz, a nurse who visited the Athenaeum for the first time at the open house. “People are just interacting with each other. It’s a comfortable space to do that without being judged.”
The open house might have garnered 1,700 registrants, but first-time Athenaeum guest Bruce Kilgallon said a lot of Bostonians likely do not know about the Athenaeum. Having worked in Boston for over 40 years, Kilgallon’s curiosity finally led him to explore the space.
“I’ve walked past it many times in my life,” Kilgallon said. “I know it’s an old-time building, and I just wanted to see the inside of it. [I] never knew it was a museum.”
Emerson Wright, another first-time attendee, said he had wanted to visit the Athenaeum since he started at Berklee College of Music last year. His interest in the museum stemmed from his love of Greek mythology.
“I love reading mythology, and I definitely love the goddess Athena,” Wright said. The word “athenaeum” means “place of Athena,” according to the Boston Athenaeum’s website.
There are not many athenaeums left, Smails said. Still, the origin of the word means learning. The Boston Athenaeum upholds the origin of its name by encouraging exploration in the “central tenets of life and curiosity, engagement and community,” Smails said.
“Everyone who’s coming here today has an interest in something bigger than themselves and has an intellectual curiosity and wants to see the beauty of the building that you explore,” Levine said. “There is a story to tell in every crevice of this building.”
The Boston Athenaeum’s influence reaches national and global heights, with members in locations from California and Texas to Hong Kong and Italy, Smails said. For its distant members, the Atheneum streams most of its events, mails books, offers online database resources and conducts remote discussion groups.
At the heart of the Boston Athenaeum, Smails said, are the people. She highlighted the inherent diversity in its visitors, noting that what brings everyone together is not demographic or walk of life, but rather their excitement to be there.
“We’re all, at the end of the day, intrigued by this idea of an athenaeum and we all come for different reasons,” she said. “But we stay for pretty much the same reason, which is that we love the place and get a lot out of it.”