The Philomenian Debating Society was organized in 1828 and the members agreed to pay one dollar a year toward a fund to start a library. That library and another lending library on Conanicut Island were combined in November 1874 to create the Jamestown Philomenian Library. The Library moved from private homes, to the back of the town hall, to an empty school. In 1971, a building to house the Library was erected on the present site. In l993, a 1.4 million dollar addition was erected to house our collection of 35,000 volumes. It includes a meeting hall which seats 125 people.