C-Span2 recently visited Providence to film several segments for its BookTV and AmericanHistoryTV features. Seen here is the interior of the Providence Athenaeum on Benefit Street.
Other BookTV segments take you inside the John Hay Library, the Rhode Island Historical Society Library, Cellar Stories Bookstore; there are also talks from local authors and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse expounding “On Virtues.”
The AmericanHistoryTV segments cover topics ranging from the Gaspee Affair to The Mob.
Writer Phil Eil — member of the RISD English Department, frequent contributor to the Providence Phoenix, and committed bibliophile — avoiding the sun in the Athenaeum stacks.