Library News & Events

Join us on Saturday December 6th for a movie night in the Library’s Rockefeller Hall. We’re bringing the outdoor movie vibes inside with a big screen and a double feature open to the entire PEA campus community.

With the help of our Instagram followers, we picked Pixar’s Ratatouille for the 3pm showing and the action-packed Interstellar will start at 6pm.

A free concession stand with drinks, candy and popcorn will be available in the Library Commons while supplies last. Bring your own blanket or camp chair and enjoy the show.

During the 2006 E/A weekend, Andover students released 300 live crickets in the Academy Library. Visiting artist Britt Ransom used this prank as inspiration for the work she created for the Strange Kin exhibition at the Lamont Gallery.

Students - Join Ransom on Thursday November 6th, 3:50 - 4:50, for a game of cricket hide and seek in the stacks of the Academy Library! For every 3D printed cricket found during the game, you will be entered into a drawing to win one of three Door Dash gift cards!

This year's Lamont Poetry Series opens on Wednesday, November 5th with a reading by Lisa Russ Spaar.  Lamont Poet readings begin at 7:30pm and are followed by a book signing. The readings are free and open to the public. With the Assembly Hall undergoing renovation, the reading will be held in Phillips Church and Multi-faith Center.

About Lisa Russ Spaar

Lisa Russ Spaar is the author of six acclaimed collections of poetry, including Madrigalia: New & Selected Poems (2021), Orexia (2017), Vanitas, Rough (2013), Satin Cash (2008), Blue Venus (2004), and Glass Town (1999); plus two poetry chapbooks, Blind Boy on Skates (1986) and Cellar (1983),and a novel, Paradise Close (2022).

She is also the author of The Hide-and-Seek Muse:Annotations of Contemporary Poetry (2013) — collection of poetry history and criticism — editor of four poetry anthologies, and she was a 2014 finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Citation for Excellence in Reviewing.

Spaar has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Library of Virginia Award for Poetry, and a Rona Jaffe Award, among other honors and awards. She is a professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Virginia, where for many years she directed the MFA program.

Learn More

• Bio from Poetry Foundation

• Works by Spaar

Do you read banned books? To raise awareness of censorship and to celebrate freedom of expression, the English Department, in partnership with the Academy Library, is hosting its second annual Banned/Challenged Books Reading at the Library. The event will be held Friday October 17th from 7-8 pm in the Library’s Rockefeller Hall.

Come listen to faculty, staff, and students read passages from their chosen banned or challenged book. Enjoy some book themed cupcakes and enter our raffle.

Would you like to be a reader? Email Todd Hearon. All readers will receive a ‘Read Banned Books’ tote bag. Visit our Banned Books Week display prior to the event for inspiration.

This event is open to members of the PEA community.

Want to learn more about Banned Books?

• Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2024, American Library Association
• Banned Books List 2025, PEN America

Last updated September 30, 2025.

We look forward to welcoming new and returning students and their families to campus for the fall term. On Wednesday September 3^rd we’ll be holding an open house from 8:00am – 4:00pm as part of the Registration Day programming. 

Take a self-guided tour of our internationally renowned building and the many services and resources within. In the Library Commons get creative at our craft table – make a scratch-art bookmark or decorate a pinwheel.  View the archival exhibits on the ground and first floor, Visualizing Values: Symbols through Time, Louis Kahn’s Library and Exeter Memorabilia. Find used textbooks in the Book Exchange on floor 1M. Inquire about study carrels at the Service Desk on floor one and introduce yourself to our wonderful Librarians. 

Last updated September 2, 2025

In response to students’ requests, we will now be staying open later on Saturdays.  Last year we asked students “If you could change one thing about the Library, what would it be?”  Out of all of the responses, the most repeated request from students was an extension or shifting of the Library’s open hours on Saturdays.   

So we listened and then we got to work.  We looked at our overall building hours schedule in comparison to our peer schools and learned that we were already open more hours per week. We also looked at our headcount data—counts of the number of people in the building at different points in the day. Consistently, Exonians were not coming to the Library on Friday evenings to study, nor first thing Saturday mornings, and thankfully so (you all need time for rest and relaxation). In closing a bit earlier on Friday evenings, we can now shift these hours to Saturday instead and accommodates students’ request to stay open past the original 4pm close.  We hope students will welcome and make use of this change.

The new Library building hours for the Academic Year will now be:

• Monday - Thursday 7:30am - 9:30pm

• Friday 7:30am - 7:00pm

• Saturdays 11:00am - 7:00pm (open at 7:30am on class Saturdays)

• Sundays 11:00am - 9:30pm

Last updated August 28, 2025

Welcome (back) Exonians! Here are the top 5 things to know about the Library to start your fall term off right.

1. Library Hours - You asked, we listened! In response to students' requests, we will now be open later on Saturdays. Our new building hours for the school year are as follows:

   Monday through Thursday 7:30am - 9:30pm
   Friday 7:30am - 7:00pm
   Saturday 11:00am - 7:00pm
   Class Saturday 7:30am - 7:00pm
   Sunday 11:00am - 9:30pm

    

2. Classrooms in the Library (4th floor) - Does your class schedule list the Library as your meeting location? If so make your way to the Library's 4th floor where you'll now find 5 classrooms. Many of the classes in Religion, Ethics & Philosophy will meet here during the next two academic years while the Academy Building is under renovation.

    

3. The Book Exchange - Your fellow Exonians donated over 55 boxes of books during dorm cleanout to help you save money on course textbooks this fall. Use Find Course Materials on the bookstore website to look up the books required for your course. Then stop by the Book Exchange to see if we have the books you need before spending $$ at the bookstore (tip: knowing the book's ISBN lets you be sure it is the same edition). See our Book Exchange FAQ for more info.

    

4. Library Study Carrels - Wednesday September 3rd through Wednesday September 10th new and returning day students can stop by the Library Service Desk to request a library study carrel. Upper and senior boarding students are welcome to add their name to our carrel wait list. We'll begin drawing from this list on Thursday September 11th.

    

5. Get Help from a Librarian - Our librarians are ready to answer questions big and small. Students can text, chat, email, call, make an appointment or stop by the Library Service Desk on floor 1.

Last Updated August 28, 2025

The Friends of the Academy Library is pleased to announce the dates for its 2025 Summer Concert Series which will be held on Wednesday evenings in July. All concerts will take place in the Library’s Rockefeller Hall at 7pm, and are free and open to the public.

Last Updated June 16, 2025.

The Library offers students, faculty and staff access to apps for ebooks, audiobooks, comics, digital magazines, movies/documentaries, and the New York Times online.   

Leisure Reading & Viewing Apps

Use your PEA credentials (the username and login given to you for your exeter.edu email account) to gain access to these resources.

• Sora - Borrow popular ebooks and streaming audiobooks from our library's collection. Read anywhere on your phone, tablet, or computer. Use this brief guide to get you started.
• Comics Plus - Thousands of digital comics, graphic novels, and manga. You must create your own account to access this resource. Use this brief guide to get started. 
• Flipster - A collection of popular magazines with flip-able pages.  Read current and back issues of The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic and Consumer Reports.   View the Flipster guide for more info.
• New York Times - Register for your library-sponsored New York Times pass.
• Kanopy Videos - Provides streaming access to thousands of documentaries, feature and independent films. 

For questions or help with using these resources, please email us or visit our Get Help page.

Last Updated June 2, 2025