None of the photos in this post are my own. Click through for complete credit.
Yesterday, Eva and I led a tour of graduate students to the Boston Public Library. The plan was to arrive on time to catch one of the free, guided tours, and we were actually a little early, so we had some time to explore on our own. I was particularly taken with their current map exhibit, Boston & Beyond: A Bird’s Eye View of New England, which includes some fantastic historic maps of Boston and the surrounding area. It was really nice to track down my current address on old maps, and to notice how the neighborhood has changed.
I really enjoyed the tour of the library. It turns out that the majority of the building is very much as it was when it was first built, and a recent renovation and restoration means that this is even more true today than it was, say, 10 years ago. For example, the lamps that hang in front of the museum are the originals (for a long time these lamps were used as the logo for the library):
As are the lamps and desks in the incredibly nice reading room:
I have visions of my thesis being written here! I’d never been through the entrance of the Boston Public Library during the day time (I’d been through it once before, at night), and it turns out it’s quite spectacular:
Light streams through the windows at the top of the stairs (yesterday was beautifully sunny), and the marble of the entrance positively glows. The lions at the top of the stairs look incredibly regal. My favorite part of the library, though, was the depiction of physics in one of the many murals.
Physics is in the left-hand panel in this photo
From the Boston Public library web page:
By the wondrous agency of Electricity, Speech flashes through Space and swift as lightning bears tidings of good and evil.
I have every intention of returning to the library on my own with a camera on a day when I have time to explore on my own. The place is full of interesting nooks and crannies, and, while I suspect it’s a nightmare for the architecture and art history purists out there (it really is a mish-mash of styles), it has some moments of great beauty.
the zak said
The tours run by the library are about the art and architecture of the library. The library should run tours about how to use the library, about how to navigate the campus of buildings, floors, departments with respect to usability.
A guide to problematical library use is needed !
Katie said
It is true that the tours run by the library are about its art and architecture. I’m not actually a resident of Boston, so I couldn’t use the library if I wanted to, but I definitely agree that, in general, guides on how to use the libraries are useful.