Boston Public Library
The Boston Public Library is the largest municipal public library in the United States . It was the first publicly funded facility of its kind open to the US public and the first library to allow visitors to borrow books and other materials and use them at home. The Boston Public Library has been the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' library of last recourse by law since 1970 ; all adult residents of this state have access to borrowing and research in the library, and the library receives state funding. According to the American Library Association , the Boston Library is the second largest library in the United States in terms of the number of volumes archived (only the Library of Congress has more books ). It is one of the largest libraries on earth . The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since May 6, 1973 . The Boston Public Library has been a National Historic Landmark since February 24, 1986 .
History, Architecture and Collections
Several people were essential for the establishment. Harvard professor and trustee of the Boston Athenæum , George Ticknor , considered establishing a public library in Boston in 1826, but failed to arouse sufficient interest at the time.
In 1841, Frenchman Alexandre Vattemare suggested that all Boston libraries could be merged for the public benefit. This idea was presented to the Boston libraries, but most were not interested. At Vattemare's request, Paris donated books in 1843 and 1847 to support a unified public library. Vattemare made such a donation in 1849.
Josiah Quincy, Jr. anonymously donated $ 5,000 to start a new library when he was mayor of Boston. John Jacob Astor also indirectly influenced the founding, as he donated 400,000 US dollars to the city of New York City on his death in order to establish a public library there. Because of the cultural and economic rivalry between Boston and New York City, this foundation sparked a lot of discussion in Boston about establishing a library. In 1848, an edict from the Great and General Court of Massachusetts enabled the creation of the library, which was officially established in 1852.
Endeavoring to support the library, Edward Everett collected documents in both chambers of Congress and had them bound at his own expense. Then he made this collection available to the new library. George Ticknor took an active part in planning the library at this point. In 1852 Joshua Bates donated $ 50,000 to help found the Boston library. Ticknor then made lists of what books to buy and traveled extensively to buy books.
A former schoolhouse on Mason Street was chosen to be the first public library home. The reading room opened to the public on March 20, 1854. The lending department began operations on May 2nd of the same year.
The initial 16,000 volumes went to the building on Mason Street, but it became clear early on that the premises were inadequate. In December 1854, the move to a building on Boylston Street was approved. Eventually the library became too big for this building too. In 1878 a committee recommended a new library building elsewhere.
In 1880, state legislation authorized the construction of a better and larger library building. The central corner of Boylston Street and Dartmouth Street on Copley Square opposite the Trinity Church built by Henry Hobson Richardson was chosen as the location . After a few years of discussion about the architecture and style of the new building, the well-known New York architects McKim, Mead, and White was commissioned to plan the new library building in 1887 . In 1888 Charles Follen McKim presented a design based on the Renaissance style and approved by the library's trustees, so that construction could begin.
The McKim Building
When the new Boston Public Library opened in 1895, it was called a "palace for the people." The building also includes a children's room - a first in the United States - and a sculpture garden surrounded by an arched gallery in the style of a Renaissance cloister .
Facing Copley Square , the facade is reminiscent of the Palazzo della Cancelleria , a building from the 16th century in Rome . The arched windows show features of the side views of Leone Battista Alberti's building Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini , the earliest building entirely in the Renaissance style. McKim, Mead, and White were also inspired by the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève in Paris , which was built between 1845 and 1851. The architects did not simply imitate the buildings of their predecessors. The three central arches are highlighted without breaking the rhythm of the facade. The library building is also one of the first major structures in the United States to use the brick shell technique by Spanish builder Rafael Guastavino . Seven different types of Rafael Guastavino's Catalan arches can be seen on the Boston Public Library building.
Monumental inscriptions
Architect Charles Follen McKim opted for some monumental inscriptions, similar to those found on basilicas and monuments in Rome, placed on the main cornices of the building's three main facades. On the south side it reads: "MDCCCLII • FOUNDED THROUGH THE MUNIFICENCE AND PUBLIC SPIRIT OF CITIZENS" ("1852 - founded by the generosity and community spirit of citizens"), on the east side "THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF THE CITY OF BOSTON • BUILT BY THE PEOPLE AND DEDICATED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING • AD MDCCCLXXXVIII ”and the north facade announces,“ THE COMMONWEALTH REQUIRES THE EDUCATION. The Boston Public Library - Erected by the People and Dedicated to Promoting Learning OF THE PEOPLE AS THE SAFEGUARD OF ORDER AND LIBERTY ”(“ The common good requires people to be educated to ensure order and freedom ”).
This last saying is attributed to the Library's Board of Trustees. An inscription above the keystone at the main entrance declares: "FREE TO ALL". Across the street from the main entrance is a 20th-century monument dedicated to Lebanon- born poet and philosopher Khalil Gibran , who studied at the Boston Public Library as a young immigrant. The inscription on the monument is a response to the inscriptions on the library building: "IT WAS IN MY HEART TO HELP A LITTLE, BECAUSE I WAS HELPED MUCH" ("It was a big concern of mine to help a little because I was helped a lot") . The text is taken from a letter accompanying Gibran's generous donation to the library.
Bates Hall
Bates Hall is named after the library's first great beneficiary, Joshua Bates (1788–1864). Boston Globe journalist Sam Allis describes "Bates Hall, the BPL's great reading room, overwhelming and silent and lit with an abundance of green lampshades like fireflies " as one of Boston's "secular dots that are sacred." The floor plan of Bates Hall is rectangular, but bordered at both ends by a semicircular apse , reminiscent of a Romanesque basilica. A series of robust double cassettes on the ceiling gives the room a sculptural firmament. The eastern side forms a series of arched windows, with the incidence of light from the outside being dampened by overhanging aprons. The heavy green velvet curtains, which were installed in 1888 and renewed in the 1920s and 1930s, were not brought in during the last reconstruction in 1993. They had contributed to the noise reduction and reduced the brightness of the room.
Johnson Building
The modern building by Philip Johnson that a little postmodern architecture anticipates, was built in 1967-1971 and inaugurated 1,972th The Johnson Building has similar proportions and is constructed from the same pink granite as the McKim Building. Critics have compared it to a mausoleum because the proportion of windows is very small and these are lost in the massive outer facade.
Since the opening, the main part of the circulating collections has been in this building, which includes works in several foreign languages. The headquarters of the branches are also located here. The research department has since been housed in the McKim Building.
The library today
According to the information on the website, the Boston Public Library collection has grown to 7.5 million volumes, making it one of the largest urban libraries in the United States and the world. More than 15 million volumes are turned over every year. The library is a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), a not-for-profit association of research libraries in North America. The only other "public" library that is also a member of this association is the New York Public Library .
The BPL's research collection includes more than 1.7 million rare books and manuscripts. This includes first editions of William Shakespeare's works , Boston colonial records, and the 3,800 volume personal library of John Adams . The focus is also on art and art history, as well as American history. The library maintains a repository of government documents and large collections of prints, loose-leaf publications, photographs, maps, rare books, incunabula and medieval manuscripts .
The murals now include restored works by John Singer Sargent on the subject of Judaism and Christianity, Edwin Austin Abbey's best-known work in a series on the legend of the Grail and the paintings of the Muses by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes .
The library regularly shows rare copies of its collections in exhibitions that combine loose-leaf works, books and works of art. For this purpose, there are exhibition rooms on the third floor of the McKim Building that are reserved for such exhibitions. There are also rooms for lectures and meetings.
For these reasons, historian David McCullough has named the Boston Public Library one of the five most important in the United States; the others are therefore the Library of Congress , the New York Public Library , and the University Libraries of Harvard and Yale .
In recent years this library has suffered from insufficient funding that does not match its status. The level of funds for conservation in 2006 was well below the level of comparable institutions; the BPL employs two curators versus 35 professionals from the New York Public Library. Many records from the colonial era and the manuscripts of John Adams are brittle, faded and in need of conservation measures, which led those responsible for precious books and manuscripts to say that "they are falling apart".
Branch system
In the second half of the 19th century, the BPL librarians worked feverishly to develop and expand a branch system. With a view to spreading the library's presence throughout the metropolitan area, the branch system evolved from an idea in 1867 to a reality in 1870 when the first branch of a library in the United States opened in East Boston . The library currently has 27 branches, which are spread across the various districts of the city.
Modern technology
One of the first services offered by the Boston Public Library is public wireless Internet access. Throughout the library building and in all 27 branches, anyone with a reading card can access the Internet with a laptop in this way. There are (wired) Ethernet connections in the Bates Hall .
The Boston Public Library maintains various Internet databases that allow access to the catalog or full-text research in parts of the collection. Public Internet access is also possible for users without their own computer. Due to the high demand, the useful life of these workstations is limited if other interested parties are waiting.
gallery
In the main staircase
Map of the first floor
Historic postcard
Main entrance side
See also
- List of entries on the National Register of Historic Places in northern Boston
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Boston
Web links
- Official website (English)
- A Tribute to the Boston Public Library : Library history website
- Great Buildings Boston Public Library (English)
- Description, Documents and Images of the Boston Public Library (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 78, Section 19C, paragraph 4
- ^ American Library Association : The Nation's Largest Libraries: A listing by volumes held . October 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2015. ALA Library Fact Sheet Number 22.
- ^ Entry Boston Public Library in the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed May 13, 2017
- ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Massachusetts. National Park Service , accessed August 6, 2019.
- ↑ a b c McCrann, Grace Ellen (2005): ". Contemporary Forces That Supported the founding of the Boston Public Library" Public Libraries , Vol 44, No 4, July / August 2005.. ISSN 0163 to 5506 .
- ↑ Sam Allis Holy Hub's hot spots: Fenway Park and other secular spots that are sacred. In: Boston Globe , Dec 4, 2005, A3, ISSN 0743-1791 .
- ^ Brian MacQuarrie: Library lacks means to repair old tomes , The Boston Globe . October 6, 2006. Accessed February 14, 2015.
Coordinates: 42 ° 20 ′ 56.8 " N , 71 ° 4 ′ 43.5" W.