Today in the New York Times: an article and slideshow on the athenaeums - private libraries - of New England, complete with pronunciation guide for the local dialect:

(A note to those who visit: While “athenaeum” is commonly pronounced ath-eh-NEE-um, in New England ath-eh-NAY-um is acceptable.)”

Last semester I had occasion to visit the Salem Athenaeum during the course of writing a paper. I’d like to visit the others as well - I think such visits would make an excellent series of day trips.

N.B. - link from Cronoca