Info

Providence Public Library is an essential agency of public education and crucial to the infrastructure of our community. We partner with schools, parents preparing their children for school, and community organizations that seek to make our neighborhoods better places to live. We are one of the few major libraries in the United States that is a private not-for-profit institution governed by a Board of Directors, giving us the flexibility to respond to community need rapidly and effectively. One of our key issues is addressing the lifelong learning needs of those in educationally and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. We do this through an extensive array of free, literacy-based programs and services. As an urban library, we provide service to an expanding numbers of individuals in our community each year. In recent years we have seen a rapid influx of new Americans who speak little or no English and to the hundreds of at-risk children who flock into our libraries to take part in our after-school programs. Since our founding in 1875, Providence Public Library has served as the public library for the City of Providence. In addition to free, municipal services, we provide the City with innovative and effective community programs, as recognized by our receipt of the National Award for Library Service in 2001. However, our support from the City lags behind cities with comparable populations. While other cities spend an average of $43 per person, Providence allots only $17 for each city resident. As a private organization with only partial City and State funding, Providence Public Library depends on the generous support of friends like you so that we can continue to create, preserve and maintain our award-winning array of collections, programs and services. For further information, please call Nancy Ponte, Development Manager, at (401) 455-8003 or at nponte@provlib.org.