Becket
Massachusetts
Becket Athenaeum
In 1887 a small group of people from Becket met "to maintain a library, reading room, and to promote education, temperance, morality, good citizenship and the general welfare". The incorporation papers were signed by the secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on March 8, 1888, establishing the Becket Athenaeum, Inc. A board of trustees has governed the Athenaeum since that time.
About this time Miss Blanche Perkins purchased a building used in Becket as a saloon and gave it to the library, "to remove from the community a source of evil and to substitute a fountain of good". However, on November 4, 1927 a tragic flood destroyed a portion of Becket Village and the records of the library from 1888 to 1927 were lost. After this tragedy, Miss Cerelia Snow donated her Pleasant Street home to the library and it remained there until 1965. This building was somewhat isolated from the rest of the town so when the trustees were offered the Becket Grange, formerly the First Congregational Church built in 1849, they hired an architect to redesign the interior so it could be functional as a library. The library remains in this building today and serves the people of both Becket and Washington.
Recent News
Becket Athenaeum News - January 2024
Happy New Year! 2023 brought much change to the Athenaeum, including a new library system and catalog, a new resource sharing community (CW MARS), and a new leader at the helm. Though it's been a solid and consistent community presence since 1888,…
Read More »Becket Athenaeum News - August 18, 2023
Good afternoon, Everyone! We have updates on the Athenaeum's shift over to the CW MARS network - please read below for Ellen's information on how to work with the new system. And, as always, staff is available during all open hours to help you…
Read More »Becket Athenaeum Programming Updates and News - July 29, 2023
Hi Everyone! Today's "director's words" are written with such a mix of emotions as I have upcoing changes at the Athenaeum to announce. I have accepted a new job position elsewhere and will no longer be the Executive Director here at the library…
Read More »Becket Athenaeum News - May 24, 2023
See an exhibit of Destin’s work at Becket Arts Center July 13 to July 31, as well as his talk on night sky photography as part of BAC's Speaker Series, on July 16, 4pm. For families of Becket Washington School students, we are excited to let…
Read More »Becket Athenaeum News - November 22, 2022
The Athenaeum will be closed November 23 & 24. Thank you for understanding. Final six days of our 2022 Online Silent Auction Fundraiser open for bids 24/7 through November 28, 6pm. Do some holiday shopping and support your local community…
Read More »October At The Athenaeum
The Athenaeum will be closing at 6pm on Wednesday, October 19th. Thank you for understanding. Community members gathered recently for the dedication of the Purr McEwen Educational Garden. This educational garden was installed with the help of…
Read More »Upcoming Programming at the Athenaeum - August 2022
Becket Athenaeum Book Club- Tuesday, August 2, 1:30pm. Beheld by TaraShea Nesbit. Digital copies available on Libby and OverDrive. Email [email protected] for a physical book or for details regarding the Zoom meeting or an off-site meeting. Join us…
Read More »Upcoming Programming at the Athenaeum - July 2022
Director's Words We are loving the looks of our new garden beds around the library and hope you have stopped by to check them out! Special thanks to Cathy & Ron DeFoe for sprucing up our picnic table! For those of you who expressed interest in…
Read More »Becket Athenaeum - Additional Programming in June
Director's Words Please join us in welcoming our new library assistant, Faith Bailey! Her arrival and ability to hit the ground running allowed a couple of us to enjoy already planned vacations. I know some of you have already had the pleasure…
Read More »Upcoming Programming At The Athenaeum In May And June
Becket & Washington's Community Library Staff and trustees have been FOCUSED the last couple of months, organizing for spring and summer programming, as well as a huge library yard beautification project! You may have noticed that we…
Read More »