History of athenaeums
As weird as it sounds, athenaeums from Ancient Greece were the original “21st century library.” Athenaeums — dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom & strategy (and owls) — were the place for people to debate, learn, share ideas, read poetry and yes, pick up a book. Libraries now are one and the same, an essential space for people to explore, engage & connect with their community. Our work is to provide custom support to you & your library (or community organization) so that it is both resilient & innovative in these changing times.
Our History
Wouldn’t it be nice if someone could seamlessly step in to improve your library’s outcomes?
Our communities’ demand for libraries’ programs, resources, and collections is at odds with the constant pressure to “do more with less.” It’s a systemic pattern in our field. And it’s exactly where Athenaeum Consulting comes in.
From helping alleviate your over-stretched staff and systems to amplifying your stalled-out projects, Athenaeum can help.
Our founder knows this struggle for increased efficiency first-hand. After supporting her library system in operationalizing big ideas — especially around equity, diversity, and inclusion — on top of her regular library job, she realized there has to be a better way to overcome this pervasive pattern.
Athenaeum was created for and by library staff and community helpers, and will always be about supporting library staff and community helpers.
If your staff is spending more and more of their work hours on “other duties as assigned” and trying to fit 60 hours’ worth of work into a 40-hour work week, Athenaeum can help. Whether you need temporary staffing coverage, project management, program implementation, or staff curriculum development, put Athenaeum’s expertise to work maximizing your resources and delivering meaningful, impactful results.
Athenaeum Consulting 