Boston Public Library
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The Boston Public Library was established in 1848. It was the first publicly supported municipal library in the United States. It was also the first public library to allow people to borrow books and other materials. The Boston Public Library is also the library of last recourseDeclared in 1970 by law. Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 78, Section 19C, paragraph 4. of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; all adult residents of the state are entitled to borrowing and research privileges, and the library receives state funding.
Collections
By volume count, with 14.9 million volumes, the Boston Public Library is the third largest library in the United States.According to the American Library Association [link], the Library of Congress has 29.6 million volumes, Harvard University 15.2 million. In addition to its extensive circulating library, which includes works in many languages, the Boston Public Library's collection has special strengths in art and art history (available on the third floor of the McKim building) and American history (including significant research material), and maintains a depository of governmental documents. There are large collections of prints and works on paper, photographs, and maps, rare books and incunabula and medieval manuscripts.
History and Architecture
The library was initially located in a former schoolhouse located on Mason Street, and was opened to the public on March 20, 1854. Later that year, the construction of a new building was authorized by the Library Commission, to be located at the corner of Boylston Street and Dartmouth Street on Copley Square.
In 1888, Charles Follen McKim, of the architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White, was engaged to design the new building, opened in 1895. This building included a children's room, the first in the nation and a sculpture garden in its central courtyard surrounded by an arcaded gallery in the manner of a Renaissance cloister. To Copley Square the library presented a façade reminiscent of a 16th-century Italian palazzo (illustration, right). The arcaded windows of its façade owe a debt to the side elevations of Alberti's Tempio Malatestiana, Rimini, the first fully Renaissance building. McKim did not simply imitate his model, however; the three central bays are subtly emphasized without breaking the rhythm.The pediment of the main building has three inscriptions, one on each face, which read:
- MDCCCLII founded through the munificence and public spirit of citizens / The public library of the city of Boston built by the people and dedicated to the advancement of learning A.D. MDCCCLXXXVIII / The commonwealth requires the education of the people as the safeguard of order and liberty
Boston Globe writer Sam Allis identified "Bates Hall, the great reading room of the BPL, vast and hushed and illuminated with a profusion of green lampshades like fireflies" as one of Boston's "secular spots that are sacred." Allis, Sam (2005): "Holy Hub's hot spots: Fenway Park and other secular spots that are sacred." Boston Globe, December 4, 2005, p. A3
The library also represents one of the first major applications in the United States of thin tile vaults by the Catalan master builder Rafael Guastavino. Seven different types of Guastavino vaulting can be seen in the Boston Public Library.
A modernist addition designed by Philip Johnson was completed in 1972; the Johnson Building now houses the circulating collection, while the research library is located in the McKim Building.
Art, Rare Books and Exhibits
Murals include recently restored paintings by John Singer Sargent on the theme of Judaism and Christianity; Edwin Austin Abbey's most famous work, a series of murals which depict the Grail legend; and paintings of the Muses by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
It is the home of several large collections, including first edition folios by William Shakespeare, and the personal library of John Adams.
The library regularly exhibits its rare works, often in exhibits that will combine works on paper, rare books, and works of art. Several galleries in the third floor of the McKim building are maintained for exhibits. Rooms are also available for lectures and meetings.
Branch library system
The main branch is located on Boylston Street in Boston. Facing the library from across Copley Square stands Henry Hobson Richardson’s Trinity Church.In 1870, the first branch library (geographically distinct facility of the same organization) in the United States opened in East Boston. The library currently has 27 branches serving diverse populations in the city's neighborhoods.
Technology
One of the features that the Boston Public Library offered first is Free Wi-Fi wireless internet. It is offered throughout the entire library and at all 27 branches, giving access to anyone who has a wireless enabled laptop and a library card to access the Internet. Plug-in ethernet access is also available in Bates Hall. The Boston Public Library also maintains several internet databases providing either catalogue or full text access to different parts of its collections, as well as to a number of proprietary databases. Public Internet access is also available to those without laptops, though this is in high demand and will be limited in duration if there are other patrons waiting.References
External links
- [The Boston Public Library]
- [A Tribute to the Boston Public Library]
- [Boston Public Library]: architectural images
- [Great Buildings on-line]
- [Photos of the Boston Public Library]
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