BOSTON, MA – August 28, 2025 – The Boston Public Library (BPL) is celebrating Library Card Sign-Up Month this September with the relaunch of its BPL Passport Program, now featuring new prizes. The BPL Passport encourages community members and visitors to explore BPL’s 26 locations and their surrounding neighborhoods, experiencing the city through the lens of its treasured local libraries.
Participants receive a physical booklet outlining routes to walk, run, or bike between BPL’s 26 locations. At each stop, they can collect a unique stamp featuring that library’s logo. Passport holders who collect 10 stamps will receive a branded magnet, and those who collect all 26 stamps will earn a deck of custom playing cards.
Patrons can pick up a Passport at any neighborhood branch or the Central Library in Copley Square and begin their journey – or kick it off at the upcoming Book it Around Boston event on October 4.
Book it Around Boston, held on Saturday, October 4, 2025, at 9:30 a.m., offers the perfect way to launch a Passport adventure. This community walk, run, and bike event, run by the Heartbreak Hill Running Company, invites participants to explore Boston’s neighborhoods, collect their first stamps, and connect with fellow library supporters. Passports will be available at the Shaw-Roxbury Branch, the event’s starting location, and patrons are encouraged to begin collecting stamps as they travel along the routes.
Depending on how participants would like to travel, they can choose from one of five routes. All routes start and end at the Shaw-Roxbury Branch except the walking route, which ends at the Grove Hall Branch. The routes are:
- Route 1 - 4 miles – Shaw-Roxbury >> Egleston >> Grove Hall >> Shaw-Roxbury
- Route 2 – 6 miles – Shaw-Roxbury >> Egleston >> Jamaica Plain >>Connolly >> Parker Hill >> Shaw-Roxbury
- Route 3 – 9.5 miles – Shaw-Roxbury >> Grove Hall >> Codman Square >> Jamaica Plain >> Connolly >> Parker Hill >> Shaw-Roxbury
- Bike Route – 12 miles - Shaw-Roxbury >> Grove Hall >> Codman Square >> Lower Mills >> Mattapan >> Jamaica Plain >> Connolly >> Parker Hill >> Shaw-Roxbury
- Walking Route – 2.5 miles – Shaw-Roxbury >> Egleston >> Grove Hall
To register or learn more about the event, visit bpl.org/book-it-around-boston/. More information on the BPL Passport Program can be found at bpl.org/passport/.
##
ABOUT THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library is a pioneer of public library service in America. It was the first large, free municipal library in the United States; the first public library to lend books; the first to have a branch library; and the first to have a children’s room.
The Boston Public Library of today is a robust system that includes the Central Library in Copley Square, 25 neighborhood branches, the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center, the Kirstein Business Library and Innovation Center, and an archival center, offering public access to world-class special collections of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and prints, along with rich digital content and online services.
The Boston Public Library serves nearly 4 million visitors per year and millions more online. All of its programs and exhibitions are free to all and open to the public. The Boston Public Library is a department of the City of Boston, under the leadership of Mayor Michelle Wu. To learn more, visit bpl.org.