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The Boston Public Library's
Research Services include vast non-circulating collections and professional staff.
All departments of the Research Library respond to telephone, in-person, email, and mailed
reference requests.
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Research
Services
Book Delivery and Periodical Desk
Books and periodical titles (indicated in the catalog by a location of Book Delivery) can be requested with a library or guest card at the Book Delivery and Periodical Desk. These materials are for in-library use only. Requests are taken up to the last 25 minutes before closing time. Magazines over five years old are in remote storage and may take at least 24 hours to retrieve. You may also call ahead to request a title. |
Fine Arts
The Fine Arts Department services reference and non-circulating
books about art history, architecture, painting sculpture, drawing,
design, illustration, decorative arts, and antiques, as well as
magazines, journals, and microforms in these subject areas. The department also holds some City of Boston Building Department records of Boston Buildings, c.1879 to 1966. The department houses many special materials focusing on the art and architecture of New England that are viewed by appointment only. |
General
Reference
(Washington Room)
The General Reference Department provides reference services on all subjects as well as in-depth reference in the sciences and humanities. General Reference also accepts requests for interlibrary loan materials (items not owned by the library). Librarians also assist with the microfiche catalog, which covers materials collected by the library before 1974, as well as the many online catalogs and electronic databases. |
Government
Documents
The Government Documents Department collects and houses publications from all levels of government including federal, state and city, as well as select publications of foreign governments. The department is also a depository for patents and trademarks as well as for many United Nations publications. Some legal materials such as case law, statutes, and regulations can also be found. |
Kirstein Business
Kirstein Business Branch is a specialized business reference and research service of the
Boston Public Library located in a building near Boston's financial district. |
Microtext
The Microtext Department has the majority of the library's
microfilm, microfiche, and microprint research collections. The
department also houses the historical newspaper collections. Access
to newspaper print indexes, city directories, and genealogy and
obituary resources is also available here. |
Music
The Music Department services reference and non-circulating books
about musical study including biography, ethnomusicology, history
and criticism, music education, and theory and composition, as well
as the collected editions of all the major composers, many musical
first editions, and other rare items. Music periodicals and
microforms are also available. |
Newspapers
The Newspaper Room receives over 260 national and international
newspapers. It keeps the latest three months for viewing. Older
newspapers can be viewed in the Microtext Department across the
hallway. |
Norman B. Leventhal Map Center
The NBL Map Center seeks to preserve, catalog, study, and exhibit the BPL's historically significant collection of 350,000 (World, European, and United States) maps.
Please visit our new, expanded website.
If you would like more information regarding the map center, please contact us at 617-859-2506 or e-mail to maps@bpl.org |
Prints
The Print Department has built collections that today total over
100,000 prints and drawings and 650,000 photographs, making it one of the
largest public collections
of prints in the United States. Among the outstanding holdings are
works by Rembrandt, Durer, Rowlandson, Goya, Daumier,
Toulouse-Lautrec and Boston Artists. Service is by appointment only. |
Rare Books and Manuscripts
The Rare Books and Manuscripts Department houses more than 600,000
printed items and 1 million manuscripts. Among the important holdings
are large collections on Colonial and Revolutionary Massachusetts,
The Presidential Library of John Adams, Anti-Slavery Manuscripts,
the Barton Collection of Shakesperiana, The Theodore Parker Collection,
the William Addison Dwiggins Collection, and the Galatea Collection
on the History of Women. In addition there are many important examples
of medieval manuscripts, incunabula, and fine printing. |
Social Sciences
The Social Sciences Department maintains a reference collection covering
topics as diverse as anthroplogy, business and economics, coins, and
medals, criminology, education, family studies, history, political
science, social history, sociology, transportation, and women's
studies. Among the many highlights of the department are the
genealogy and local history resources. The department houses the
Foundation Center Cooperating Collection for those researching
foundations, grants, and grant writing. |
Special
Collections
The Boston Public Library holds special collections in a
wide variety of subjects. Special collection material does not
circulate and must be used under staff supervision within the
Research Library. Titles from the Alice M. Jordan Children's
Literature Collection can be requested at Book Delivery to be viewed
in the Rare Books Reading Room.
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Special Services
There are many library-wide services
available.
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Booklists for Adults
Need a good book to read? Visit our booklists for ideas.
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Booklists for Teens
Find books for teens in a variety of subjects.
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Booklists for Children
Find books for kids in a variety of subjects.
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Interlibrary
Loan
If the Boston Public Library does not own a particular book or publication, we can get it
for you through our Interlibrary Loan services.
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Kids Page
Just for Kids! Fun links and homework help.
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Literacy Services
The Boston Public Library offers a wide range of materials for adults learning to read,
and those learning to speak English.
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Publications
The Boston Public Library is also a publisher. See a list of our titles and the
souvenirs we have available. |
Teen Lounge
Teen Stuff! MCAS help and College Advice.
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Did You Know?
That the Print Department has a selection of prints and paintings that you can look at
under special conditions? Call 617-859-2280
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