Providence Public Library collection

Chartered by the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1875, the Providence Public Library (PPL) is a privately governed and supported library with a public library mission. The PPL was chartered in 1874 and opened in 1878 on the second floor of the Butler Exchange building in Exchange Place. In 1880, it moved to a larger, street level location on Snow Street below the Mowry and Goff School. The Library quickly required more space and in 1896 ground was broken for the Renaissance building at 225 Washington Street. The building was made possible by a large gift from John Nicholas Brown. The branch library system began c. 1906 with branches at Federal Hill House, Sprague House in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, and a North End branch on Orms Street. Over the next three decades additional branches were created in buildings owned by PPL: Wanskuck, Rochambeau, Smith Hill, South Providence, Mount Pleasant, Tockwotton, Washington Park and a Business Branch downtown. Independent libraries were later merged into the PPL system in Olneyville and at Knight Memorial Library in Elmwood. In 1954 an addition to the central library on Washington Street was added, enlarging the building to take over the entire block between Empire and Greene Streets. Major building renovations took place from 1986-1988 and from 2018-2020. In 2009, the City of Providence assumed responsibility for the branch libraries and formed the Providence Community Libraries (now Community Libraries of Providence). Since 1877, the PPL has had only seven library directors including William E. Foster (served 1877-1930), Clarence E. Sherman (served 1930-1957), Stuart C. Sherman (served 1957-1967), F. Charles Taylor (served 1968-1978), Annalee Bundy (served 1978-1988), Dale Thompson (served 1988-2014) and H. Jack Martin (served 2014 to present).