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

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
Friday 13 March 2026
Music: The Connie Chamber Collective

BOOKING INFORMATION HERE

Splendid: Art Songs through the Ages From Medieval Scottish kingdoms and the court of Queen Elizabeth I, to Australian beachscapes and stories, join us for over five hundred years of...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
Fierceland / Omar Musa
General Fiction
Lost and found / Liz Byrski
General Fiction
Season of migration to the north / Tayeb Salih
General Fiction
Might cry later / Kay Kerr
General Fiction
The bell and the blade / Paullina Simons
Crime Fiction
A killer in paradise / Tom Hindle
Crime Fiction
Spider woman's daughter / Anne Hillerman
Crime Fiction
Twenty-one days / Anne Perry
Crime Fiction
Evil bones / Kathy Reichs
Crime Fiction
Death of a lesser god / Vaseem Khan
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
Murder Bears Fruit / Rosie Sandler
Ebooks
Reading Between the Lies / Lynn Cahoon
Ebooks
Yesterday's Spy / Tom Bradby
Ebooks
Death in the English Countryside / Sara Rosett
Ebooks
Oxford Soju Club / Jinwoo Park

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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