Explore PPL in pictures through the years!
Butler Exchange Building: the original home of PPL
The Great Hall in 1915
Murals in 1935
Three women walk down the stairs of the Washington Street entrance in 1943
PPL's new addition seen here in 1954
WJAR TV recording in 1963
PPL Bookmobile in 1967
Black Heritage Dinner at the Smith Hill Branch in 1977
A book sale in 1986
Teens use the computer at Knight Memorial in 1988
Scruff The Crime Dog takes a bite out of crime at PPL
Story hour at PPL in 1994
Santa visits PPL in 1999
Computers looked a bit different in 2000
"Unicorns in Residence: Providence" exhibit in 2015
An event in PPL's renovated Farish Auditorium
Originally the Standard Library, seen here in 1903, is now the Gallery Walk
The Children's Department is seen here in 1925
A woman plays the piano in 1938
A 1946 window display at PPL
The Art. and Music Department in 1958
A 1966 photo of the card catalog
Children doing crafts in the Wanskuck branch in the 1970s
Russian Collection at Rochambeau in the 1970s
The 1986 Central renovation
A lamb visits PPL
Story Hour at Rochambeau in the early 1990s.
PPL covered in snow after a 1996 snowstorm
Funda Festival in 1999
James Earl Jones visits Knight Memorial Library in 2006
PPL's new makerspace Workshop
The Seminar Room
Outside PPL on Washington Street in 1913.
Reference Room in 1925
The reference desk seen here in 1942
The Circulation Desk in 1947
New Books section seen here in 1958
The Art and Music Department in 1966
Children reading at the South Providence branch in 1971
Children enjoy the Washington Park Branch in 1976
Central Circulation Desk
Event in PPL's Auditorium in 1989
The stacks in the 1990s
Kids Connect Day in 1997
Kids plant flowers at the Mt. Pleasant Branch in 1999
Ben Franklin (impersonator) visits PPL during Exhibit & Programs in 2007
A woman uses a computer in one of PPL's new classrooms
The Nicholson Whaling Collection on display in the Reading Room
The Foreign Dept, now the Special Collections Reading Room, in 1915
PPL begins raising money for an addition in 1931
WPRO's Once Upon a Time recorded in 1943
The Cornerstone Ceremony took place in 1952
This 1962 photo shows the Central Circulation Desk
A 1967 photo of the Microfilm Reading Room
Circulation Desk in the 1970s
New lawn planted at the Rochambeau Branch in 1978
Grand Opening in 1988 concludes the renovation
Kids play with balloons in 1988
Children at the Fox Point Branch in 1993
Julia Child visits PPL
PPL Bookmobile in 1999
Mt. Pleasant Branch Cradle to Crayons Story Time in 2007
Patrons explore an exhibition in the Boghossian Gallery
The Auditorium Lobby