Boston Public Library, Central Library - A Grand, Historic Site

The Boston Public Library, formerly known as the Library of Last Resort, is a well-known private and federally financed public library within Boston, MA. Boasting of approximately 24 million books, including novels, research materials, and history. It is the third-largest public library in the United States, with over 6 million citizens of the Commonwealth in Boston, Massachusetts, having access to it for free. The Library is also acknowledged by the Association of Research Libraries, a distinction earned in recognition of the high quality of research resources contained in its Central Branch research stacks.

Many notable pioneers of knowledge and study are responsible for the founding of Boston's Public Library. In 1826, Harvard professor George Ticknor proposed the construction of a public library for Commonwealth inhabitants. Due to a lack of interest and funding, this was not accomplished that year. Alexandra Vattemare, a prominent French benefactor, revived the concept in 1839, but this time suggested that all Boston libraries be merged. The Library was accepted and established in 1852 with Edward Capen as the Librarian, thanks to gifts from notable businessmen and philanthropists such as Josiah Quincy, John Jacob Astor, and even Alexander Vattemare.

Today, the Library not only exists as the first library to lend books, have a branch, and have a particular space for children, but it has also obtained a Collection of Distinctions and currently has a central library with 24 branches dispersed over the city. Thanks to renovations and advancements, it now hosts over 9.8million online visitors with over 3.8 visiting physically in a year.

Just a few blocks from the Prudential Tower, the Central Library located in Copley square along Boylston Street, Boston, consists of two buildings. The magnificent Mckim building and its Bate Hall reading room and the Johnson's building. The Mckim building was named after its famed designer and architect, Charles Follen McKim . This landmark building with windows designed to represent the emblem of historic booksellers and printers, was inaugurated in 1895 and the Library's notable research and special collections are contained and maintained in it. Mckim building's exterior was architecturally designed to both replicate the 1850 Bibliotheque Sainte-Genevieve status of Paris library and to pay homage to the city of Boston and its institutions. The metaphoric sculpture bearing a globe on its left hand and a palette and brush on the other at the entrance, symbolizes Science and Art respectively.

The Vestibule, which displays Frederick MacMonnies' sculpture of Sir Henry Vane, the sixth Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, at its south end, is accessed through a triad doorway in the arena. The lobby leads to a staircase which features historic structures such as the pair of lion statues and the Puvis de Chavannes Gallery. The Bates Hall named after the library's first benefactor, Joshua Bates spans through the length of Dartmouth street of Mckim building with the Abby's room serving as a waiting room for book collectors.

The Johnson's building was built in 1972 and since then has become the home of the Boston Public Library's major circulating collection, which contains works in a variety of languages. It also acts as the headquarters for its 24 branches.