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        The Salem Athenæum Bicentennial Ball

                On March 6, 2010 at historic Hamilton Hall in Salem, Massachusetts, Athenæum subscribers,

                proprietors and members of the community celebrated the library's bicentennial in gala

                fashion as shown in the photos below.

                        The Salem Athenæum, one of only a few remaining membership libraries in the U.S.,

                has its roots back in 1760. Although the Athenæum's charter and name date from

                1810, its history actually begins in 1760 with the founding of the Social Library, one

                 of the two institutions that merged to form today's Athenæum. The other predecessor was

                the Philosophical Library, formed in 1781. When the Athenæum was founded there were

                more libraries in Salem than in Boston.