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“Once I get to know someone and their reading interests, I make direct recommendations as soon as they come in,’’ said Procious, director of the Salem Athenaeum, which celebrates its 200th anniversary with a fund-raiser on Saturday. “I’m cultivating the community if I get people excited about what they’re reading.’’
Since 1810,
Salem-area residents have paid for subscriptions to the athenaeum - one
of only about 16 membership libraries left in the United States - and
have welcomed nonmembers to read free of charge. A 50,000-volume
collection testifies to the membership’s evolving, idiosyncratic
passions for topics from theology to botany and world travel.
Now
as the athenaeum enters its third century, this historic institution
faces sobering challenges to its venerable traditions. A $20,000
deficit is the athenaeum’s largest ever, representing 15 percent of its
annual budget of about $130,000. Officers strive to recruit new
subscribers, but persuading people to pay $90 per year per household
for the privilege of checking out books and sustaining a Salem icon
isn’t an easy sell in a tough economy. Meanwhile, rare volumes dating
to the 16th and 17th centuries are gradually decaying in the absence of
funds needed for preservation.
“They’re going to turn to dust,’’ said Francie King, president of the board of trustees. “We just can’t afford to do what it takes to preserve them, unless someone were to give us millions.’’
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