Mt. Pleasant Library At A Glance
Today
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM Currently Closed
Address:
315 Academy Avenue
Providence, RI 02908
Phone:
(401) 272-0106
Fax number:
(401) 272-0852
Hours:
Monday
9:30 am - 8:00 pm
Tuesday
9:30 am - 8:00 pm
Wednesday
9:30 am - 8:00 pm
Thursday
9:30 am - 8:00 pm
Friday
1:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Saturday
9:30 am - 5:30 pm
Sunday
Closed
Services Available:
Upcoming Events At Mt. Pleasant Library
Family Storytime! (Ages 0—5)
Mt. Pleasant Library - Children’s Area 1 315 Academy Avenue, Providence, RI, United StatesThis storytime features stories, songs, and fingerplay for children and their parents/caregivers! Open playtime will occur after storytime! This six-week session will run from September 11 to October 23, not […]
Maker Workshop for Adults: Tapestry Weaving
Mt. Pleasant Library - Adult Area 1 315 Academy Avenue, Providence, RI, United StatesIn this three-part workshop (September 11, 18, and 25), learn different weaving techniques such as plain weave and tapestry. Materials provided: no experience necessary. Space is limited, so please register […]
Knitting Club
Mt. Pleasant Library - MakerSpace 315 Academy Avenue, Providence, RI, United StatesSocial group for knitters, crocheters, and fiber crafters of all sorts! Any experience level welcome, but no formal instruction provided. Bring your own supplies, or use those provided by the […]
Canceled Expressionism Art Workshop
Mt. Pleasant Library - Children’s Area 1 315 Academy Avenue, Providence, RI, United StatesIn this interactive workshop AS220 Resident Artist, Teiko Calhoun, will introduce participants to the art style of expressionism. Create your own work of art and display it on the library […]
Makerspace Open Studio for Adults
Mt. Pleasant Library - MakerSpace 315 Academy Avenue, Providence, RI, United StatesDo you have your own creative project in mind? We have makerspace equipment that might be useful! We offer access to Silhouette and Cricut cutting machines, sewing machines, sublimation printing, […]
Providence Talks Playgroup
Mt. Pleasant Library - Children’s Area 1 315 Academy Avenue, Providence, RI, United StatesJoin this free language development and school readiness program for parents/caregivers and their children ages 0 to 3 1/2 years. This playgroup meets for ten weeks and includes playtime, stories, music, […]
Highlight: Little Free Food Pantry @ Mt Pleasant Library
Mount Pleasant Library facilitates the free exchange of food between neighbors. Please take what you need from our Little Free Food Pantry shelf, open during library hours. We also accept donations of shelf-stable, undamaged, unexpired food at the circulation desk. Are you in need of additional food? Find your nearest food pantry through the Rhode Island Community Food Bank’s Food Assistance List.
Spaces
Staff


Dhana Whiteing
Systems Coordinator
401-272-0106
dwhiteing@clpvd.org


Lee Smith
Adult Services Librarian
401-272-0106
lsmith@clpvd.org


Karina Veras
Youth Services Librarian
401-272-0106
kveras@clpvd.org
Hablo Español


Cassidy Mills
Teen & Adult Services Librarian
401-272-0106
cmills@clpvd.org


Duongrattha Siv
Lead Library Clerk
401-272-0106
dsiv@clpvd.org


Anna Parello
Circulation Clerk
401-272-0106
aparello@clpvd.org




Kristen Haines
Program Clerk
401-272-0106
khaines@clpvd.org


Yanderis Cirino
Circulation Clerk
401-272-0106
ycirino@clpvd.org
Hablo Español


Youth Services Librarian
gstokes@clpvd.org
History
In the early twentieth century, the Mount Pleasant area of the city was rapidly being developed into a neighborhood of predominately middle-class single-family homes. In 1906, the Sprague House Association opened a library in a wooden building owned by the Association. Eight years later, the Sprague House Association "combined with the Federal Hill House Association and gave the building to the Providence Public Library."Â 1Â For the next thirty-five years PPL would continue to use this building to provide library services to local residents in Mount Pleasant.
Sprague House
According to PPL's branch library building program, a new building for the citizens of Mount Pleasant was slated for construction by the early 1940s. However, work on the building was delayed until after the Great Depression and World War Two. In 1940,
a citizen of another section of Providence, who desires to remain anonymous, gave the Trustees of the Providence Public Library $10,000 in War Savings Bonds for the purpose of helping to replace the present inadequate library on Armington Avenue with a modern building. It was then estimated that the new branch, with furniture, would cost about $50,000. The benefactor offered to make an additional gift of $15,000, if the balance of the sum required were raised within five years. 2
Given the slow progress on fund-raising due to the war, the benefactor extended the deadline by another five years, but eventually "other gifts from individuals and corporations, together with appropriations from library reserves PPL "reserves" were those allocated for "Central Library repairs and improvements." 3, provided a total of $100,000" which was spent on the building's construction and furnishings. The last $6,000 of the sum was raised by a "house-to-house canvass" of Elmhurst residents. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Harkness and Geddes and built by Lawrence O. Ahlborg. It opened on June 28, 1949. 4
Nearly twenty years later PPL added an annex to the building which more than doubled the size of the library. The $200,000 cost of the addition was paid by city and state grants, with the city providing half the funds and the rest shared by the state and federal governments. 5
- 1."A New Branch Library for Mount Pleasant," Reader's Guide to Books, Vol. 11, No. 5 (May 1944): 2.
- 2.See above.
- 3."The Mt. Pleasant Branch: Its Past and Present," A Reader’s Guide to Books, Vol. 16, No. 7 (July 1949): 4.
- 4."New Mt. Pleasant Library Formally Opened to Public," Providence Journal (June 29, 1949): 15.
- 5."Ground Broken for Library," Providence Journal (July 14, 1967): 30, and "Mount Pleasant Library Addition Dedicated," Providence Journal (March 26, 1968): 34.