People of Boston

Statement made by Felix Arroyo, At-Large City Councillor: “Clearly, there is something pretty important happening in our city as it relates to libraries. I want to state as clearly as possible; the more and more I think about this, I am at the position where I cannot support the closing of libraries without understanding why [...]

Editorials from Bill & Ed Forry

Trouble balancing the books THE BOSTON Public Library’s proposal to close as many as 10 neighborhood branches, causing much anguish among residents, is not really new. Back in 2006, well before the present economic meltdown or state budget cuts, Mayor Tom Menino told the Globe editorial board: “We have too many branches.’’ The library’s projected [...]

Make book on these cuts As friends of libraries go, John McGrath is a standout. A habitué of the Fields Corner branch of the Boston Public Library, McGrath took to the floor Tuesday afternoon at an overflow gathering of people worried about cuts to the library system. And his words lit up the room. McGrath, [...]

Private help for public library There’s still time. The City Council doesn’t even get Mayor Tom Menino’s budget until Wednesday, and then the fireworks begin. The four branches of the Boston Public Library slated for extinction can live. All of the 26 branches can remain as they are. The only question is where the $3.3 [...]

Original Letter of Support from Boston City Council Signed by 9 out of 13 Councillors Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post

The proposed closings of neighborhood branch libraries are much in the news recently (Trouble Balancing the Books, Loth and Make Book on These Cuts, Walker, 03/13/10). As librarians at the Boston Public Library and members of the Boston Public Library Professional Staff Association, we are writing to let you know that we join with the [...]

Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post

Its Time to Plan, Not Close Chuck Tuner, City Councillor All systems evolve over time. As a philosopher once said, “The only constant on the earth is change”. Thus, we want and need leaders who have vision; who dare to gaze into the future in order to understand what needs to be done today. From [...]

Chinatown Looking at the Future of Libraries Amidst the debate over branch library closings, people should remember the experience of Chinatown. Chinatown once had a library. It opened in 1896 and served the Syrian, Greek, Jewish, Italian, Chinese and other immigrant residents of the neighborhood. The library was located on Tyler Street, and—as in every [...]

March 25, 2010 – Gates Foundation Press Release First-Ever National Study: Millions of People Rely on Library Computers for Employment, Health, and Education PORTLAND, Ore. — Nearly one-third of Americans age 14 or older–roughly 77 million people–used a public library computer or wireless network to access the Internet in the past year, according to a [...]

James Carroll c/o Boston Public Library 700 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116 April 7, 2010 Dear James: From one member of the Paulist Center community to another, I extend to you my warmest Easter greetings. From one Catholic of conscience to another, I am writing to express my concern for the Boston Public Library and [...]

April 7, 2010 – Full remarks of Peter Golden, forming the basis of a brief speech delivered at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Boston on the proposed closing of various Boston Public Library branch locations. Peter is a native Bostonian, former BPS teacher, former resident user of the library, and current non-Boston resident user [...]

And I can remember this: wandering over to the El Paso Public Library on one of those scorching West Texas days, and stumbling down into the dusty basement of that building, and finding — most unexpectedly — that my life meant a lot more than I thought it did. This was the late 80s and [...]