Boston Public Library
FY11 Accomplishments
July 2010 – June 2011
For more than 160 years, the Boston Public Library has pioneered public library service in America.
Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library was the first publicly supported municipal library in
America, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library, and the first to have a
children’s room. Today, the Boston Public Library has more than 20 million items in its collection, and 27
neighborhood locations, including the Central Library in Copley Square. Each year, the Boston Public
Library hosts nearly 12,000 programs, answers more than one million reference questions, and serves
millions of people. All of its programs and exhibits are free and open to the public.
Transition
The Boston Public Library is moving ahead with a systemwide approach to proactively reach residents
with programs, services, collections, and access to technology. FY11 was a year of transition as the
library implemented changes in the face of reduced resources, including a significant reduction in
positions at the Central Library and in back-of-house operations.
One of the BPL’s top priorities in FY11 was to manage the change process necessitated by these budget
reductions. Careful consideration was given to the employees whose positions were eliminated along
with the successful transition of staff who were reassigned as a result of the position eliminations.
A staff support committee was formed to assist employees of the Boston Public Library whose jobs were
eliminated or who were displaced. The committee offered opportunities for affected staff to meet with
City representatives to learn about the Employee Assistance Program, unemployment insurance, and
financial assistance. In addition, using trust funds approved by the Board of Trustees for this purpose,
the committee contracted with service providers who offered individual and group assistance on career
training, resume writing, interview coaching, and emotional counseling on dealing with stress, anxiety,
fear, and anger.
Rising Demand
Since 2006, there has been a 37% increase in books, CDs, and DVDs borrowed from the Boston Public
Library. Over the same time period, visits to the Boston Public Library website have nearly doubled –
from 3.9 million in FY06 to 7.7 million in FY10. That means the Boston Public Library averages more than
28,000 visits to www.bpl.org every 24 hours.
Other facts:
 More than 3.5 million books and audiovisual materials were borrowed and downloaded from
the Boston Public Library in FY10. In FY11, the BPL’s circulation of materials crossed the 1.7
million threshold by the end of Q2, breaking the FY10 Q2 record by more than 12,000.
 The number of teens using their Boston Public Library cards crossed the 30,000 threshold in
FY10, an increase of 26% since FY07.
 In FY11, the Boston Public Library saw more than 20,000 Boston residents sign up for new library
cards in Q2 .This is the 3rd consecutive year that the BPL has crossed this threshold.
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Top Innovations
1. Norman B. Leventhal Map Center. For the first time in the organization’s history, the Map
Center will have a highly-visible public space on the first floor of the Central Library in Copley
Square. The new location will have interactive exhibitions, research areas, and map storage
space.
2. Mobile Laptop Classrooms. 250 laptops were recently deployed across the Boston Public Library
system for public use and for use in formal computer training in conjunction with the public
computing center project funded by a $1.9 million NTIA grant.
3. Commemoration of 150th Civil War Anniversary. The American Civil War is one of the defining
events in American history. Beginning in May 2011, the Boston Public Library will commemorate
the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with eight months of system-wide programming,
including four unique exhibitions, guided tours, lectures, film series, family events, educational
outreach, and more.
4. Sharing Neighborhood History. Through its online image collection on Flickr, which surpassed 2
million individual views, the Boston Public Library shares images from its vast collections. There
are more than 20,000 images on the BPL’s Flickr page. One of the most popular collections is the
Boston Pictorial Archive, which contains pictures from Boston in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
5. New User Catalog. This new, interactive catalog allows users to keep lists, write and publish
rankings and book reviews, and communicate with other readers and lifelong learners about
what they are reading and listening to.
Board of Trustees
 Massachusetts State Representative Byron Rushing was named a Trustee by Mayor Thomas M.
Menino in September 2010.
Strategic Planning – the BPL Compass: Principles for Excellence
 The purpose of developing principles is to establish a strategic framework that guides the BPL’s
overall direction for success within the context of financial sustainability. The system-wide
strategic framework will inform library services—in turn guiding priorities, staff development,
resource allocation, capital plans, building programs and space allotments, collection policies,
technology initiatives and support, and partnerships and fundraising.
 Phase I was launched in December 2009 with the naming of a Trustee Compass Committee.
Meetings were held with staff, the public, and affiliates including branch Friends groups, the
Foundation, Map Center, and Associates. Significant information was collected via community
conversations, committee meetings, staff convenings, and online blogs.
 Phase II began in summer of 2010 and ran through the fall. The BPL engaged the community
through meetings, discussions, blogs, surveys, and activities in the neighborhoods that informed
the crafting of a set of Compass Principles for Excellence which were adopted by the Board of
Trustees at the December 2010 meeting. Library users from across the City were active
participants in discussing the principles, offering opinions and ideas during interactive,
feedback-gathering exercises.
 The current phase, which includes additional community and engagement, began in March
2011, and will result in a written strategic plan. A Strategic Planning Committee has been
established. The goal is to have a Trustee-approved document in place for the start of calendar
year 2012.
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Community Input & Communication
 The BPL launched an online user survey during October and November 2010 that gathered
more than 15,500 responses. The survey collected information on library services, desired
hours, website use, and more.
 In conjunction with the online survey, the BPL also initiated a grassroots awareness campaign to
increase the number of nonusers who participated in the survey. By placing promotional
postcards in more than 200 non-BPL locations, staff were able to increase nonuser participation
from 9% of surveys completed in October to 13% of surveys completed in November.
 The BPL launched a budget and finance blog and hosted two rounds of in-person budget
roundtables in the community to share information about the library’s annual budget process.
Specific topics covered include revenue assumptions, trust funds, capital budgeting, enterprise,
and the budget planning timeline.
 The library created a new “BPL by the Numbers” web page as the repository for usage data and
other library statistics for staff and the public.
 The library created its first-ever social media page on the BPL website, listing all the BPL
locations and departments utilizing social media. Nearly 50% of BPL branches are now using at
least one social media tool.
 The Boston Public Library’s Facebook page has more than 4,400 “likes” and its Twitter handle
has more than 3,400 followers. The library’s eNewsletter, “Free to All” reaches nearly 120,000
subscribers each month.
Partnerships
 A pilot partnership with Perkins School for the Blind was developed to convert BPL books
through digitization into a format accessible for the visually impaired. The order of digitization is
determined through an on-demand process.
 The City’s Community Learning Initiative (CLI) continues at 8 branches – Codman Square, Grove
Hall, Honan-Allston, Mattapan, Parker Hill, Adams Street, Jamaica Plain, and Roslindale. The BPL
teams up with Boston Centers for Youth and Family and the local Boston Public School in order
to align programming with curriculum and learning standards. CLI also piloted a new program
via the Boston Children’s Museum partnership at the Dudley and Jamaica Plain branches called
“Museums and Libraries are for Families.” Families can attend programs and activities at the
local branch or BCYF and also receive discount coupons to visit the museum.
 Through a partnership with UMass Boston, the BPL continued its Guys Read, pre-teen book
clubs for boys, and launched GRLS (Girls Reading Literature Society) at five branches for girls.
More than 30 girls participated in the pilot.
 The Riffs & Raps: Jazzin’ the Generations program, a partnership with Jazz Boston, continued in
2011 with stops at 8 more BPL locations bringing free, live jazz concerts to neighborhoods across
the city.
 The Boston Public Library served as a key venue for the second annual Boston Book Festival
which doubled the previous year’s attendance to 25,000. The BPL played an active role in the
“One City One Story” program with public discussion groups held in five neighborhood branches
and all adult literacy group members at the Central Library receiving copies of The Smile on
Happy Chang’s Face.
 Teen Services at the Central Library has expanded its outreach to at-risk teens in foster care and
group home settings in addition to implementing an outreach and lending program of the
newest and most popular books to young patients in long-term care at the Shriner’s Hospital.
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Staff at the Central Library have been collaborating with 25 American History teachers who are
part of the TriTec organization, which offers professional development to guide teachers in the
use of primary source documents in their history classes.
Services & Programs
 BPL Treasures were featured in a series of exhibitions at the Central Library and online.
Completed exhibitions include Away We Go!, a six-month exhibition at the Central Library,
which showcased vintage travel posters from the BPL’s print collections and welcomed more
than 62,000 visitors (funded by Merrill Lynch). The BPL also developed an exhibition of vintage
Boston postcards, Greetings from Boston, in August 2010 which ran through April 2011 in the
Johnson Lobby (funded by two anonymous donors). Additional exhibitions included The Private
Life of Poetry and The Charles Playhouse: A Boston Landmark in the Rare Books Lobby.
 The Central Library’s Microtext Department relocated to the second floor of the Johnson
building, offering a larger customer service space and improved access to the collection. Digital
access to electronic newspapers was enhanced through an oversized computer monitor, and a
state-of-the-art microform reader/scanner now provides improved access through high
resolution viewing, scanning, printing, and e-mailing capabilities.
 The Lowell Lecture Series in 2010-2011, titled “Boston’s Best,” celebrated some of the city’s
most distinguished contributors in the arts, journalism, cuisine, literature, and business.
Celebrated speakers included Keith Lockhart, Jim Koch, Ellen Goodman, Jonathan Kozol, Jody
Adams, Barbara Lynch, Lydia Shire, and Malcolm Rogers.
 The Author Talk Series in the fall and spring brought more than 40 authors to the Boston Public
Library – ranging from Sarah Vowell to Michael Cunningham to Jessica Harper – who frequently
drew capacity audiences in the Rabb Lecture Hall, where there is seating for 342 people.
 The Local and Family History Family History Lecture Series expanded and grew in popularity,
offering bi-weekly lectures that have attracted more than 1,000 attendees.
 The most recent theme of the BPL’s Drop-in Science Program was “Creations and
Constructions” which allows young people to explore science through hands-on activities in BPL
locations. This year, students created the building of their dreams by exploring architecture and
the fundamentals of structural engineering in four separate challenges.
 The BPL’s Never Too Late Group (NTLG) is one of the country’s oldest, continuously running
groups for seniors. The BPL created a dedicated NTLG webpage and launched an NTLG email
list, moving many subscribers from paper schedules to electronic ones. BPL Green Action 
 Digitization and description of the entire Leslie Jones collection, over 35,000 glass and film
photographic negatives documenting Boston, Massachusetts, and New England events and
landscapes over the first half of the 20th century, was completed (36,516 images). Upload to
Flickr began in April under a Creative Commons license authorized by the rights holders. A front
page Boston Globe article coincided with the Boston Red Sox 2011 home opener and reached
readers across the Commonwealth. On the day the article ran, the BPL saw more than 76,000
Flickr views. An average daily view amount is between 6,000 and 7,000.
 In a groundbreaking partnership with the Internet Archive, the BPL began a digital lending
program. In-copyright, genealogy books were digitized and made available to users on a oneperson-at-a-time loan model, allowing an increase in the number of volumes available through
this collaborative program.
 Ongoing digitization of the John Adams Library continued. To date, nearly 2,700 volumes from
the historical collection of more than 3,500 volumes have been scanned with the support of the
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Sloan Foundation and the Internet Archive. The online volumes have been downloaded more
than 700,000 times.
The NEH-funded traveling exhibition, John Adams Unbound, a facsimile panel exhibition
featuring the personal library of President John Adams, continued its three-year, 20-city tour. In
FY2011, the exhibition made stops in Portland, OR; Watertown, SD; Kansas City, MO; Boca
Raton, FL; Jasper, AL; and Martinsburg, WV.
Three Tech Goes Home classes were offered at BPL locations in during FY11. Graduates
complete 15 hours of computer and internet training and may choose to purchase Dell NetBook
PCs for only $50. They may also benefit from affordable home internet access through an
agreement reached this year between Comcast and the City of Boston.
The volunteer tour program launched new, web-based technology to enable online scheduling
and organization of the 30+ guides for the popular public Art & Architecture tours of the McKim
Building.
A comprehensive effort was launched to evaluate the collection size and density at all
locations. Where necessary, collection management teams weeded collections to remove out of
date, damaged, and unused materials. Over 200,000 items were removed from the collection,
which freed up space for new materials and displays, and helped to provide a more spacious and
welcoming atmosphere.
In preparation for an application for a National Digital Newspaper Project grant, a
comprehensive inventory of master microfilm was completed of BPL-held newspapers and
periodicals. This inventory will be used as the basis for determining which titles to include in the
grant proposal as well as an internal model for intellectual control of certain other collections
throughout the library.
The Retrospective Conversion project, transcribing old catalog cards and creating MARC
bibliographic records that are discoverable in the library’s online catalog, was rejuvenated with
Library of Last Recourse funding in FY11. The BPL’s online catalog does not include millions of
the library’s older titles. In FY11, nearly 17,000 of these older items were added.
Capital Projects & Facilities
 The Brighton Branch Library renovation was completed in December 2010 and the branch
opened on December 11 of the same year. This is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) certified branch of the Boston Public Library. With low volatile organic
compound (VOC) paints, recycled and sustainable products used in everything from the
carpeting to the furniture, energy efficient lighting and (HVAC), and a "living wall" complete with
an ecosystem that can thrive in an urban environment, the Brighton Branch has proven to be a
“green” paradise in the middle of the Brighton neighborhood. BPL Green Action 
 The new East Boston Branch Library is currently in the design phase. This branch will be a LEED
certified building, incorporating the latest in environmental and operational efficiencies. The BPL
is working with award-winning architects William Rawn and the community to design an
innovative, forward thinking, community gathering space that fosters reading, thinking, creating
and community. BPL Green Action 
 All library materials at the Charlestown Service Building and at another temporary storage
facility were decontaminated and delivered to the City of Boston Archival Center (COBAC). This
facility is located in West Roxbury and is designed to provide high density, climate controlled
offsite storage for BPL collections as well as other City archival materials
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A wayfinding and signage project was initiated at the Central Library, one of the last remaining
activities under the McKim IIC renovation. The goal of the wayfinding project is to develop and
implement a signage system that will be of maximum benefit to library users, increasing selfnavigation opportunities throughout the public space in both the McKim and Johnson buildings.
In addition to the installation of an accessible entry to the Boylston Street entrance to the
Central Library, a safety railing has been installed in the Sargent Gallery to enhance accessibility
to the historic Cheverus Room in the McKim Building.
Construction on Harvard University’s Library Park project in Allston is underway. The park will
be located directly behind the Honan-Allston Branch and is being designed by Michael Van
Valkenburgh Associates. The park, primarily on Harvard-owned land, will be available for use by
library staff for public programming.
Central Library infrastructure projects are complete, including engineering investigation of the
water infiltration in the basement and an assessment of the condition of the original piping
systems.
Technology
 In conjunction with the City of Boston’s MIS department, BPL executed several data center
improvements and migrated to a virtualized server and storage environment, reducing the
number of physical servers and bringing each server and application to a current supportable
revision, avoiding regular system outages and potential critical failures. The result is a smaller
data center footprint, requiring less power and cooling. BPL Green Action 
 Systemwide WIFI upgrades were completed. This project was 89% federal e-Rate funded.
 A new VOIP phone system replaced an obsolete telephone system, and runs over the existing
computer data network instead of over a costlier dedicated phone network among the
branches. The project eliminates some telecommunication charges completely and reduces
others. The project was approximately 75% federal eRate funded, the balance being funded
through the City’s capital budget.
 The Everbridge staff notification system was implemented. BPL staff were enrolled in
automated notification system used to inform staff of emergency situations.
 The current Integrated Library System (ILS) was stabilized. Database, index, and catalog
components were migrated to a state of the art virtual environment. Additional coordination
with the vendor has yielded improvement in performance during peak usage.
 Interlibrary Loan software, “ILLiad,” went through a long-delayed upgrade along with related
training for staff improving efficiencies exponentially as BPL contracted with the Massachusetts
Library System to provide journal article delivery to libraries across the State. This upgrade has
streamlined the steps needed to fulfill requests thus reducing turnaround time and increasing
volume.
 The implementation of an electronic ID & badging access system moved forward with the
purchase and setup of a new system, including a new workstation for processing.
 The PC replacement project progressed in technical services, Central Library circulation, branch
workrooms, the renovated Brighton Branch, and the City of Boston Archival Center.
 An open-source, web-based archives management system (Archon) is now being used to author
and store finding aids for the Library’s special collections. Once this is publicly available, it will
allow users to search across collections and link directly to any digitized content.
 Dynamic web applications that sense the IP address of branch library computers now allow the
BPL to filter content presented to a library user based on the location in which he or she is
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standing. Materials that are currently on the shelf in the location visited are notated in search
results and can be easily recognized among entries for items that may take more time and effort
to borrow.
A public webform was created for the Interlibrary Loan department to provide the public with
an easier interface to request books that the BPL does not own. BPL Green Action 
Recognition
 A November Staff Recognition Ceremony honored 19 Boston Public Library staff members who
achieved 25 years of service to the BPL.
 George Hulme, Coordinator of Shipping, Receiving & Security, received a 2010 Henry L. Shattuck
Public Service award.
 Sean Monahan, Supervisor of Accounting, was awarded the James Kelly “Shamrock Award”
from the South Boston Citizens Association for his efforts to provide outstanding service to the
citizens of South Boston.
 David Leonard, Chief Technology Officer and Acting Director of Administration & Finance,
received a certificate of completion from the center for collaborative leadership at UMass
Boston, having participated in the year-long Emerging Leaders Program.
 President Amy E. Ryan was asked to serve on the steering committee of the Digital Public
Library of America, established by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard
University.
 A census award was presented to the staff of the Codman Square Branch for their contribution
in graciously accommodating census staff, and helping residents participate in the census.
 The Fields Corner Branch library window display received an honorable mention in the Boston
Main Streets “Deck the Windows” contest.
 The Boston Public Library received five Massachusetts Library Association Public Relations
Awards at the 20th biennial awards ceremony. The BPL received first-place awards in the
categories of coordinated advocacy campaign, event, and advertisement.
 The Mattapan Branch Library, designed by William Rawn Associates Architects, received one of
five 2011 AIA / ALA Library Building Awards. The award, sponsored by the American Institute of
Architects and American Library Association/Library Administration and Management
Association, was created to encourage excellence in the architectural design and planning of
libraries.
 Branch Design Honors were given to the Brighton Branch by American Libraries. The branch was
featured in the “Community Living Rooms” section of an Online Design Showcase.
 The Boston Society of Architects (BSA) honored the Boston Public Library with its
Commonwealth Award in recognition of the long and remarkable role the Library has played in
Boston's civic life.
Staff
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A new job description providing increased flexibility among library assistants in Technical
Services has been initiated based on an operations study performed by Aaron Cohen Associates
suggesting workflow improvements. In the new job description, all Library Assistants in the
department are able to perform any of the Technical Services tasks at their level.
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Enterprise & Fundraising
 Year-over-year private event bookings increased from 70 to 120 (71%) and weddings from 24 to
58 (141% increase), from FY10 to FY11.
 The Boston Public Library Foundation completed its search for a new Executive Director,
naming David M. McKay as its new leader. Mr. McKay begins work in early May and will work
closely with the BPL President to raise funds for library priorities.
 Donation boxes to enable people to donate directly to the BPL have been installed in both
entrances to the Central Library.
Updated May 31, 2011
For further information, contact Gina Perille, Boston Public Library Chief Communications Officer, at
[email protected] or 617.859.2273.
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