The Boston Public Library (BPL) is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth (formerly library of last recourse),Declared in 1970 by law. Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 78, Section 19C, paragraph 4 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, 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. The Boston Central Library in Copley Square was designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 2000.
Overview 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. In fiscal year 2025, the total circulation of the BPL was 7.6 million, split between a digital circulation of 5.4 million and a physical circulation of 2.2 million. 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.
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.
History Founding and expansion
19th century In the mid-19th century, several people were instrumental in the establishment of the Boston Public Library. George Ticknor, a Harvard University professor and trustee of the Boston Athenaeum, proposed establishing a public library in Boston beginning as early as 1826. At the time, Ticknor could not generate enough interest.
In 1839, Alexandre Vattemare, a French philanthropist, suggested that all of Boston's libraries combine into one institution for the benefit of the public.McCrann, Grace-Ellen (2005): "Contemporary Forces That Supported the Founding of the Boston Public Library." Public Libraries, Vol. 44, no. 4, July/August 2005. The idea was presented to many Boston libraries, however, most were uninterested in the idea. At Vattemare's urging, Paris sent gifts of books in 1843 and 1847 to assist in establishing a unified public library. Vattemare made yet another gift of books in 1849.
Josiah Quincy Jr. anonymously donated $5,000 to begin funding a new library. Quincy made the donation while he was mayor of Boston. Indirectly, John Jacob Astor, businessman and philanthropist, also influenced the establishment of a public library in Boston. At the time of his death, Astor bequeathed $400,000 to New York to establish a public library there. Because of the cultural and economic rivalry between Boston and New York, this bequest prompted more discussion of establishing a public library in Boston.McCrann, Grace-Ellen (2005): "Contemporary Forces That Supported the Founding of the Boston Public Library." Public Libraries, Vol. 44, no. 4, July/August 2005. In 1848, a statute of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts enabled the creation of the library. The library was officially established in Boston by a city ordinance in 1852.For context, see: List of libraries in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts Mayor Benjamin Seaver recommended to the city council that a librarian be appointed. In May 1852 the city council adopted the recommendations of the mayor and Edward Capen was chosen to become Boston Public Library's first librarian.International Dictionary of Library Histories, Volume 1
Eager to support the library, Edward Everett collected documents from both houses of Congress, bound them at his own expense, and offered this collection to help establish the new library. At the time of Everett's donation, George Ticknor became involved in the active planning for the new library.McCrann 2005. In 1852, financier Joshua Bates gave a gift of $50,000 to establish a library in Boston. After Bates' gift was received, Ticknor made lists of what books to purchase. He traveled extensively to purchase books for the library, visit other libraries, and set up book agencies.
To house the collection, a former schoolhouse located on Mason Street was selected as the library's first home. On March 20, 1854, the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library officially opened to the public. The circulation department opened on May 2, 1854.
The opening day collection of 16,000 volumes fit in the Mason Street building, but it quickly became obvious that its quarters were inadequate. So in December 1854, the library's commissioners authorized the library to move to a new building on Boylston Street. Designed by Charles Kirk Kirby to hold 240,000 volumes, the imposing Italianate edifice opened in 1858. Eventually the library outgrew that building as well; in 1878, an examining committee recommended replacing it with a new one at another location.
In 1870, the library opened the East Boston branch, the first branch library in the United States. With the aim of increasing its reach throughout the city and providing services to residents everywhere, the library opened 21 more branches in Boston neighborhoods between 1872 and 1900.
By 1880, the Massachusetts legislature authorized construction of an even grander library building. A site selected was in Back Bay on Copley Square, the prominent corner of Boylston Street and Dartmouth Street, opposite Richardson's Trinity Church and near the first Boston Museum of Fine Arts. After several years of debate over the selection of the architects and architectural style for the new library, in 1887 the prestigious New York firm of McKim, Mead, and White was chosen to design the new library. In 1888, Charles Follen McKim proposed a Renaissance style design based on the Bibliothèque Ste-Geneviève in Paris. The trustees of the library approved, and construction commenced. The vast new reading room was called Bates Hall.
20th century In 1972, the Boylston Street Building, previously referred to as the Johnson Building, opened at the central Copley Square location, adjacent to the McKim Building. The Boylston Street addition was designed by American architect Philip Johnson. In 1986, the National Park Service designated the McKim Building as a National Historic Landmark.
21st century , the Library has had staffing and funding levels for conservation below that of its peers: the BPL's staff of two full-time conservators is significantly less than the thirty-five employed at the New York Public Library. Many colonial records and John Adams manuscripts are brittle, decaying, and so in need of attention that the Library's acting Keeper of Rare Books and Manuscripts said that "they are falling apart."
In 2011, the library completed a strategic plan, the BPL Compass, which featured eight community-identified "Principles for Excellence". The principles in the plan and all of the related outcomes were the result of a two-year community engagement process for which Boston Public Library received national recognition.
In 2012, the city of Boston spent 1.26% ($27,836,648) of its budget on the library, or $43.74 per person.July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013; cf.
In 2013, the library unveiled its Collections of Distinction, an initial group of 18 collections that represent the most outstanding, expansive, and renowned of its holdings. Boston Public Library gives priority to Collections of Distinction with respect to public access, acquisition, digitization, preservation, and staff development.
In fall 2013, the city, in coordination with the library, began a renovation of the Central Library's Boylston Street Building. In February 2015, the first phase of renovation opened on the Boylston Street Building's second floor, including the new Children's Library, Teen Central, a community reading area, and the Adult Reference area. The renovated second floor cost a total of $18 million. The second phase of the Boylston Street Building renovations opened in the summer 2016 and included the first floor, mezzanine, and exterior.
In 2017, the Boston Public Library received joint awards from both the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Library Association (ALA) for the Central Library Renovation of its Boylston Street Building, and for the East Boston Branch."Mayor Walsh Announces Jamaica Plain Library Grand Opening; New and Ongoing Capital Library Funding" , Press Release, Boston Public Library, May 1, 2017; access date 8 September 2019
In 2017, the library had 3,818,883 visitors to all locations; 4,933,786 items borrowed; and 9,839,461 visits to its website. The library also gained 82,911 new library card holders.
In 2019, supporters of the library established a new philanthropic fund: The Fund for the Boston Public Library, announced by Mayor Marty Walsh. It began with a $2.8 million investment by "Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Barr Foundation, The Boston Foundation, Liberty Mutual Foundation, State Street Foundation, Inc. and an anonymous donor."
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all branches of the library temporarily closed starting on March 16, 2020. The library began offering limited in-person services in June of that year and reopened to the public in June 2021.
Presidents +Presidents of the Boston Public LibraryPresidentTermLengthRef.Bernard A. Margolis19972008Amy E. RyanOctober 1, 2008July 3, 2015David LeonardJune 14, 2016Present
Central Library
The Boston Central Library is located in Copley Square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. The central library consists of the McKim Building and the Boylston Street Building, which are attached and interconnected with interior passageways. The Central Library as a whole with the two buildings combined contains of space and houses 21 million items in its collections as of 2015.