Providence Athenaeum director resigns

This has not been an easy year for the Providence Athenaeum (full background story here). The 250-year-old library's leadership has been struggling to safeguard the institution's financial future, only to be blindsided by a small group hoping to exploit discontent over a proposed deaccession to mount a hostile takeover.

The whole episode is a disturbing illustration of how vulnerable smaller nonprofits are to well-financed litigants, however weak the case. The Athenaeum has only a handful of full-time employees, and the ongoing lawsuit has been taking up a large amount of their time and energy, not to mention the impact (direct and indirect) on the institution's finances.

Now the Athenaeum's executive director, Jonathan Bengtson, has announced he will be accepting the post of chief librarian at St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto. Sad news, but quite understandable: slanders, constant ad hominem attacks, and baseless lawsuits may be par for the course for some professions, but not for those who have devoted themselves to old books.

Today's NY Times Arts Briefing notes:

In his letter Mr. Bengtson cited "lingering elitism among a small, but active, group of individuals" whose "disdain for those who seek to secure the institution's survival seems to know no bounds." He pledged to stay on through mid-February to help with the litigation

Incidentally, if you have any doubts about where the so-called Save the Athenaeum group is coming from, take a look at their website: www.savetheathenaeum.com. By their own words you shall know them.

UPDATE: A few days late, the Providence Journal picks up the story.

Posted by David on December 9, 2003 12:14 PM