Boston Public Library - Boston, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 20.975 W 071° 04.644
19T E 328896 N 4690681
Boston Central library is located in the Back Bay section of Boston in Copley Square at 700 Boylston Street.
Waymark Code: WMVQ5Q
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 05/17/2017
Views: 4
The Central Library is consists of two interconnected buildings. The oldest building, which opened in 1895, is the McKim Building which was designed in the Renaissance Revival, Beaux-Arts style by noted architect Charles Follen McKim. It contains the Boston Public Library research collection, exhibition rooms, and administrative offices. It opened in 1895. The two large statues in front of the entrance to the McKim Building were created by Bela Lyon Pratt and represent Art and Science. They were installed in 1912.
The along the top of the building is the inscription:
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF THE CITY OF BOSTON BUILT BY THE PEOPLE AND DEDICATED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING A.D. MDCCCLXXXVIII
The newer Johnson Building was added in 1972. It was designed by Phillip Johnson and constructed so as to join to the older building and is connected by passageways. It contains four levels of book stacks, and the procession area and maintenance area.
The Central Library has 930,000 sq. feet of space and maintains 21,000,000 items in its collections. In 2013 the building began a major $78,000,000 renovation. The first phase was open in February 2015. It included a new Children's Library, Teen Central, a community reading area, and Adult Reference area. The second phase opened in the summer 2016. It included a business innovation center, business library, a radio broadcasting studio for WGBH (FM), a 3D printer, and a café.