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Boston Public Library
Boston Public Library Documents

Online Collections

• Annual Reports
  • 1852/3-1880
  • 1881-1898/9
  • 1901-1930
  • 1931-1958
  • 1961-1998
• Trustees' Documents
  • Proceedings, 1852-1878
  • Records, 1878-1939
  • Corporation Minutes, 1940-1997
  • Administrative Minutes, 1950-1997
  • Index to Records
• The Question Mark
• Handbooks of the Art and Architecture
• Miscellaneous Titles

Annual Reports

• 1852/3
• 1853/4
• 1854/5
• 1855/6
• 1856/7
• 1857/8
• 1858/9
• 1859/60
• 1860/1
• 1861/2
• 1863
• 1864
• 1865
• 1866
• 1867
• 1868
• 1871
• 1872
• 1873
• 1874
• 1875
• 1876
• 1877
• 1878
• 1879
• 1880
• 1881
• 1882
• 1883
• 1884
• 1885
• 1886
• 1887
• 1888
• 1889
• 1890
• 1891
• 1891/2
• 1892/3
• 1893/4
• 1894/5
• 1895/6
• 1891-1896
• 1896/7
• 1897/8
• 1898/9
• 1901
• 1901/2
• 1902/3
• 1903/4
• 1904/5 (and 1904/5)
• 1905/6
• 1906/7
• 1907/8
• 1908/9
• 1909/10
• 1910/1
• 1911/2
• 1912/3
• 1913/4
• 1914/5
• 1915/6
• 1917/8
• 1918
• 1919/20
• 1920/1
• 1921/2
• 1922/3
• 1923/4
• 1924/5
• 1925
• 1926
• 1927
• 1928
• 1929
• 1930
• 1931
• 1932
• 1933
• 1934
• 1935
• 1936
• 1937
• 1938
• 1939
• 1944
• 1945
• 1946
• 1947
• 1948
• 1949
• 1950
• 1951
• 1952
• 1953
• 1954
• 1955
• 1956
• 1957
• 1958
• 1961
• 1962
• 1964
• 1965
• 1966
• 1967
• 1968
• 1969
• 1970
• 1971
• 1972
• 1973/4
• 1974/5
• 1975/6
• 1976/7
• 1977/8
• 1979/80
• 1980/1
• 1981/2
• 1983/4
• 1984/5
• 1985/6
• 1986/7
• 1987/8
• 1988/9
• 1989/90
• 1990/1
• 1991/2
• 1994/5

Boston Public Library 1848-1998: Our 150th Anniversary (technically not an annual report, but the last report published)

Proceedings of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library

• 1852-1870
• 1871-1878
• Index

Records of the Corporation

• 1878-1890
• 1890-1895
• 1895-1901
• 1901-1908
• 1908-1917
• 1917-1934
• 1934-1939
• Index, 1878-1892

Corporation Minutes

• Jan. 2, 1940- Dec. 16, 1955
• Jan. 6, 1956- Aug. 20, 1984
• Jan. 21, 1981- Dec. 16, 1990
• Jan 24, 1975- Nov. 24, 1997

Administrative Minutes

• Apr. 21, 1950- May 17, 1968
• May 17, 1968- Sep. 25, 1979
• Jan. 14, 1975- May 19, 1997

Index to the Trustees Records- there is no date range stated in this set, but it begins in 1852.

• A-K
• L-Z
• Miscellaneous

The Question Mark

This was a publication of the Boston Public Library Staff Association.  This was not a collective bargaining organization, but it could be seen as a predecessor of the Professional Staff Association and AFSCME Local 1526 currently active in the library.

• 1946
• 1947
• 1948
• 1949
• 1950
• 1951
• 1952
• 1953
• 1954
• 1955
• 1956
• 1957
• 1958
• 1959
• 1960 (and 1960)
• 1961
• 1962
• 1963
• 1964
• 1965
• 1966

Handbooks of Art and Architecture of the Boston Public Library

• 1895
• 1916
• 1921
• 1930
• 1939
• 1977

Miscellaneous Titles

• As built with second thoughts, reforming what was old! : reflections on the centennial anniversary of the Boston Public Library, by David T.W. McCord
• The working of the Boston Public Library : an address (Josiah Benton, 1909)
• Handbook of the New Public Library in Boston (1895)
• Proceedings on the occasion of laying the corner-stone of the Public library of the city of Boston, 17 September, 1855
• Catalogue of a collection of early New England books made by the late John Allen Lewis and now in the Boston Public Library
• Catalogue of the Galatea collection of books relating to the history of woman in the Public Library of the City of Boston
• Catalogue of the public library of the city of Boston (1854)
• Catalogue of the John Adams library in the Public library of the city of Boston
• A catalogue of the Allen A. Brown collection of books relating to the stage in the Public Library of the City of Boston- Volume 1 and Volume 2
• Catalogue of the collection of books and manuscripts which formerly belonged to the Rev. Thomas Prince, and was by him bequeathed to the Old South Church, and is now deposited in the Public Library of the City of Boston
• Exercises at the dedication of the tablet in honor of those men of the Library who served in the World War. In the Court of the Central Library, Armistice Day, 1924

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