Boston Public Library
The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848.[4] The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth[5] (formerly library of last recourse),[6] meaning all adult residents of the state are entitled to borrowing and research privileges, and the library receives state funding. The Boston Public Library contains approximately 24 million items,[7] making it the third-largest public library in the United States behind the federal Library of Congress and New York Public Library, which is also privately endowed. In 2014, the library held more than 10,000 programs, all free to the public, and lent 3.7 million materials.[8]
Boston Public Library
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Public
1852
24
24,079,520
3.69 million (FY 2013)
6,547,629
$31.2 million, plus $8.2 million from trust fund (2013)[1]
This building was designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 2000.[9]
Overview[edit]
Boston Public Library has a collection of more than 23.7 million items, which makes it one of the largest municipal public library systems in the United States. The vast majority of the collection—over 22.7 million volumes—is held in the Central Branch research stacks.[10] Between July 2012 and June 2013, the annual circulation of the BPL was 3.69 million.[11] Because of the strength and importance of its research collection, the Boston Public Library is a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), a not-for-profit organization comprising the research libraries of North America. The New York Public Library is the only other public library that is a member of the ARL, and it also has a private endowment. The library has established collections of distinction, based on the collection's depth and breadth, including subjects such as Boston history, the Civil War, Irish history, etc. In addition, the library is both a federal and state depository of government documents.
Included in the BPL's research collection are more than 1.7 million rare books and manuscripts. It possesses wide-ranging and important holdings, including medieval manuscripts and incunabula, early editions of William Shakespeare (among which are a number of Shakespeare quartos and the First Folio), the George Ticknor collection of Spanish literature, a major collection of Daniel Defoe, records of colonial Boston, the personal 3,800 volume library of John Adams, the mathematical and astronomical library of Nathaniel Bowditch, important manuscript archives on abolitionism, including the papers of William Lloyd Garrison, and a major collection of materials on the Sacco and Vanzetti case. There are large collections of prints, photographs, postcards, and maps. The library, for example, holds one of the major collections of watercolors and drawings by Thomas Rowlandson. The library has a special strength in music, and holds the archives of the Handel and Haydn Society, scores from the estate of Serge Koussevitzky, and the papers of and grand piano belonging to the important American composer Walter Piston.[12]
For all these reasons, the historian David McCullough has described the Boston Public Library as one of the five most important libraries in the United States, the others being the federal Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and the university libraries of Harvard and Yale.
Current services[edit]
Public programs[edit]
The Boston Public Library hosts thousands of free public programs each year, including Author Talks, Local and Family History lectures, the Lowell Lecture Series, Concerts in the Courtyard, and art and history exhibitions.[29][30] The Boston Public Library also offers many daily events for children, teens, adults, and seniors, including story times, therapy dog story times,[31] book discussions, film showings, ESL conversation groups, and research and technology classes.[32][33][34]
Computers and Internet access[edit]
The Boston Public Library offers desktop computers with pay-for-print services for public use and free wireless internet at the Central Library all 24 branches for anyone who has a wireless-enabled mobile device and a library card. Plug-in Ethernet access is also available in the McKim building's Bates Hall and the Honan-Allston Branch's Adult Reading Room for up to 2 hours. Library-card holders can also borrow laptops for in-library use for 2 hours at any location.[33][35][36]
Digital services[edit]
The library offers a variety of digital services and collections. The online catalog, also available for mobile devices, allows users to browse and place holds on materials including books, audiobooks, DVDs, and CDs. Users can also download ebooks, e-audiobooks, music, and video through BPL's OverDrive site and check out Zinio magazines for the computer, tablet, or smartphone. Library card holders and e-card holders can also stream movies, television shows, music, and audiobooks through Hoopla Streaming Media.[37]
Many of the Boston Public Library's collections are available to the public online, including rare books and manuscripts, the anti-slavery manuscript collection, historical children's books, the John Adams Library, historic maps from the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, historical images, prints, and photographs, sound archives, and silent films.[33][38] Many of the library's digitized works can be found either through the Boston Public Library Flickr page[39] or through their collections on the Digital Commonwealth.[40]
List of databases[edit]
As of August 2017, the library arranges for its patrons access to digital content from several providers:
North End, Boston
In the latter half of the 19th century, the library worked vigorously to develop and expand its branch library system. Viewed as a means to extend its presence throughout the city, the branch system evolved from an idea in 1867 to a reality in 1870, when the first branch library in the United States was opened in East Boston. The library currently has 25 branches serving diverse populations in the city's neighborhoods.[46]
Temporary building, Mason Street, 1854-1858
Exterior of Kirby Building, Boylston St., 1858–1895
Lower hall stacks, Kirby Building, Boylston St., 1858–1895
Upper (Bates) hall, Kirby Building, Boylston St., 1858–1895
Lower hall indicator, Kirby Building, Boylston St., 1858–1895
Lower hall reading room, Kirby Building, Boylston St., 1858–1895
Engraving of exterior, Kirby Building, Boylston St., 1850s
McKim Building construction 1889
McKim Building courtyard, soon after opening, c. 1895.
Dartmouth Street facade of McKim Building during the holiday season, December 2015
