Boston Public Library
Community

Programs & Partnerships

Community

 

The Boston Public Library partners with many organizations to deliver programs throughout the community. Some examples of partnerships appear below.

Tierney Learning Center | Outreach Efforts

Tierney Learning CenterBoston Public Library + Boston Housing Authority
Tierney Learning Center Pilot Project

125 Mercer Street, 2nd Floor
South Boston, MA 02127
617-268-0180

 

For more information on programs at The Tierney Center, please contact Kate at the South Boston Branch of the Boston Public Library at 617-268-0180.

  • Homework help and out-of-school time programs:Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30pm – 5:30pm
  • Monday Storytime: Monday’s at 10:30am

 

Outreach to Adults

Boston Public Library's Outreach Librarian provides monthly visits to the following organizations:

  • Rosie's Place, a sanctuary for poor and homeless women which offers emergency and long-term assistance to women who have nowhere else to turn. The monthly visits include library card sign ups, promoting Boston Public Library services, and programs and technology workshops.
  • Compass on the Bay, a senior living facility for those living with Alzheimer's disease and memory loss. The monthly visits include library card sign ups, book/poetry group discussions, and refreshing the facility's book deposit.
Note: Book deposits are small collections of library books left at a facility for a short period of time, then exchanged for new books.

Outreach to Teens

Since 2011 Boston Public Library (BPL) Youth Services has been a partner with the Department of Youth Services (DYS), the juvenile justice agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Each month, three Teen Librarians visit DYS schools bringing in book deposits, talking about the books, and promoting Boston Public Library services and programs.

Outreach to Children

  • Since May 2012, Boston Public Library (BPL) Youth Services have partnered with the Boston Medical Center's (BMC) bWell Center - a healthcare start-up that aims to provide an innovative approach to educating and supporting families of the Boston Medical Center Pediatrics Department. The BMC is known as a 'safety net hospital': they provide a significant level of care to low-income, uninsured, and vulnerable populations.

    The outreach effort focuses on reaching families through monthly BPL library card sign ups, connecting families to library services and programs in any of the 26 BPL locations, and connecting families to literacy through monthly book deposits of BPL books at bWell, focusing on health and wellness topics.
  • At a few family homeless shelters – Crossroads, Project Hope and ReVision – the BPL's Outreach Librarian provides library card sign ups, book deposits, story times, and technology workshops, and promotes BPL services and programs.
  • Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the health and safety of children through direct services to children and families and public advocacy on their behalf. A BPL Children's Librarian provides monthly visits to MSPCC and brings a book deposit, offers story times, and promotes BPL services and programs.