The second floor will be closed to the public in October in order to facilitate the necessary moves. The book collections will either be temporarily relocated elsewhere at the Central Library or transferred to the Archival Center, remaining available to circulate by request. There will be a brief period during the move when some of the second-floor collections may be unavailable.

Planned locations are as follows:

• the second-floor nonfiction collection will be moved to the first floor with a pair of exceptions:
  • second-floor nonfiction business books are now located in the Central Library’s Kirstein Business Library, located on the concourse level of the Johnson Building
  • second-floor nonfiction arts books will be moved to the Arts Department, located on the third floor of the McKim Building
• smaller collections already on the first floor — such as travel, romance, DVDs and CDs, and new fiction — will be shifted to new first-floor locations
• the second-floor Johnson reference desk service and reference collection will be relocated to the Boylston Room on the second floor of the McKim Building
• the microtext desk and service, currently on the second floor of the Johnson Building, will be moved to the Washington Room, on the second floor of the McKim Building.

One special note: the microtext department and the reference desk may be unavailable on the day they move.

We will continue to post continuing updates to this blog, on our project display, and during our public roundtable meetings. Most importantly, staff at the library are available to answer questions and provide directions during this transition. The Central Library’s comprehensive wayfinding system is also nearing its installation phase, which will provide additional assistance in finding materials.

The first phase of construction is scheduled to be complete in the fall of 2014. Subsequent phases are still in the early planning stages.

A few things have changed since the summer, mainly the orientation of the Children’s Library which is now planned to occupy two quadrants of the second floor along Exeter Street. This will allow for dedicated space for toddlers, school-age kids, and tweens; a large program space within the room, stroller parking, and collections and computers for all ages.

The Teen Room is also progressing in the design stage as we look at different options for the shape of the room as well as developing ideas for a digital makerspace for teens. The Teen Room will be on the second floor of the Johnson Building as well.

Over the summer, library administration met with youth services staff and gathered feedback from teens who use current Central Library Teen Room. We have also used the recommendations from our system-wide programming report to help inform decisions.

You can be part of the conversation in a number of ways: post comments on this post, visit the project exhibition now at the Central Library in Copley Square, attend a roundtable meeting, send an email at compass@bpl.org, or mail a letter to Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Boston MA 02116.

In July 2012, the Boston Public Library Foundation put out a request for proposals to assist the BPL in reviewing systemwide youth programming, program spaces, and gathering best practices from peer libraries across the country. The team from Wondercabinet Interpretive Design process included a staff survey, site visits, staff meetings and a public survey. Hundreds of comments were gathered over several months and the final report (PDF), published in June 2013, is now available.

The new East Boston Branch was designed by William Rawn Associates Architects and is a capital project of the City of Boston. The new branch is approximately 15,000 square feet in size, more than double the combined public space of the current branches in East Boston. The new library will have onsite parking, a dedicated teen space, multipurpose room, early literacy resources, and a variety of other user-friendly features. The project budget is $17.25 million. Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners supported the project with a grant of $7.25 million.

During the next few months, collections and service points currently on the second floor will be located to other spots in the Central Library. While it is clear that  a major renovation is not “business as usual,” it is our goal to provide the very best service we can during construction and to communicate changes in a timely fashion. We’ll strive to keep not only our maps and website updated, but also to be present for you, our users, and provide assistance in locating materials and navigating the building.

The library’s collection development team, the group that is responsible for ongoing management of Boston Public Library’s collections, continually evaluates the books and other materials that circulate (available for checkout to take home) throughout the Boston Public Library system, which includes the Central Library and 25 branches. With this particular construction project in mind, the team is devoting their thoughtful attention on materials currently in the Johnson Building. All materials will be reviewed and will be organized in to three general categories:

1. Books most in demand and with the highest use will be moved to the first floor
2. Nonfiction books that support historical reference or research or are used less frequently will be moved to the Johnson Building stacks or the City’s state-of-the-art Archival Center in West Roxbury. Books in the stacks or at the Archival Center can be requested, placed on hold, and checked out just as any other book can in the BPL system.
3. Books in poor physical condition – i.e., torn covers, pages missing – and those that are part of a large set of duplicates, will be removed from the collection.

Microtext and reference services will be moved from the second floor of the Johnson Building to new locations and will continue to provide public service during the construction and renovation period.

Books that leave Boston Public Library’s collection go through multiple steps. Dependent upon several factors, a book may be reviewed by friends of the library for friends’ book sales, selected by the Internet Archive’s Open Library program for potential digitization, given to an online company for possible sale, donated to literacy-based charitable organizations, or lastly, carefully recycled.

 Not only will the public have more convenient access from the front door, but the staff workspace will include a new layout to make circulation and shipping access more efficient. A large part of Boston Public Library collections travel from branch to branch to respond to user requests. All of these books and DVD’s pass through the Library’s Loading Dock as they are borrowed and returned. Instead of crossing a busy public hall way, the books will be moved through doorways directly to the loading dock. The Loading Dock will be upgraded to improve workflow and the conditions in the area.
Adjacent to Borrower Services is a redesigned section for Movies and Music. Audio/visual media such as CDs and DVDs is the most popular collection at the BPL, accounting for about 40% of all circulation. This collection is expected to grow and shelving will be selected to allow for both display and high density arrangements.

Tech Central is the most highly used area in the Central Library. It is one of the Library’s most important programs to address the digital divide and provide computer access and computer help to those who do not have personal computers. The Johnson Building Improvement Project plan has designated a larger area for services and will be expanding the number of computers available to the public. In addition to the current computer work stations, the area will include bar seating with power outlets for people with laptops and other mobile devices along the length of the Exeter Street window.

The possible themed collections may include:

• Philosophy, Psychology, Religion
• History
• Politics and Law
• Education
• Literature and Fiction
• Science and Health

These collection groups vary in size, but each has a cohesive themed display to define its zone.

The images below show the possible layout for the adult fiction and nonfiction collections.  Your responses and suggestions are welcome. Please feel free to comment directly on this blog, send an email to compass@bpl.org, or send a letter to Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Boston MA 02116.

The diagrams below depict a view of the first floor as it exists today and what it could look like should the interior walls be taken down and portions of the mezzanine floor be lifted out. The result would be a double-height space all the way across the front of the Johnson Building facing Boylston Street. What do you think of opening up the lobby in this manner?

The Boylston Lobby would become a place for orientation and where the library could interactively display content and information about programs and services. It might also be a place where an art or lighting installation would be possible. In the open area to the left of the Boylston Lobby would be a New Books area. The New Books area is envisioned as a place for readers, browsers, and visitors, where new and popular books, magazines, and newspapers would be readily available. Bringing books and library activity directly to the street, so to speak, is a tangible way to show what the building is all about and supports the project goal of enriching library services and user experience.