Annual report

1968

Annual

Report

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

[Document 15 — 1969]

ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

For the Year Ending December 31, 1968

TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

ERWIN D. CANHAM

President
Term expires April 30, 1973

SIDNEY R. RABB

Vice President
Term expires April 30, 1974

EDWARD G. MURRAY
Term expires April 30, 1972

LENAHAN O'CONNELL
Term expires April 30, 1971

AUGUSTIN H. PARKER
Term expires April 30, 1970

PHILIP J. McNIFF
Director, and Librarian

Boston Public Library

To the Board of Trustees of the Boston Public Library:

As Director, and Librarian, I have the honor to submit
my report for the year January 1 to December 31, 1968.

The reopening of the West End Branch Library on
January 26 in a new building at 151 Cambridge street
marked the completion of the first unit in an approved
building program which encompasses a major addition
to the Central Library and eight branch libraries.

Branch library service was first established by the
Trustees in the West End in 1894, when they converted
the Old West Church, designed by Asher Benjamin in
1806, to branch library uses. Neighborhood changes due
to urban renewal resulted in the suspension of service in
1960.

The new building was designed by Maginnis & Walsh &
Kennedy and constructed by the Charles Logue Building
Company. The landscaping was done by Olmsted As-
sociates, Inc. Plantings are by Jay M. Berkson Land-
scaping, Inc. The building cost approximately $320,000.
Furnishings and equipment cost an additional $22,000.
It provides approximately 10,600 square feet of space,
and includes open shelving for more than 22,000 volumes,
seating facilities for 110 people, and an all-purpose room
accommodating 75 persons.

The exterior of the building is finished in red brick,
concrete, and glazed aluminum frames of light color.
The building is completely air-conditioned. An informal
flagstone path leads to the entrance porch. The new
library building looks out upon the historic Harrison
Gray Otis House and turns its back to the modern eight-
story office building that abuts it to the west, creating
an interlude of campus-like quiet in the New West End.
Government Center workers and hospital staff members
as well as residents of Beacon Hill and the West End
have made good use of the services provided by the new
library.

The year 1968 also saw groundbreaking for the Brigh-
ton, Fields Corner, and Charlestown branch Hbraries.
These three buildings, which will replace existing units,

4 City Document No. 15

are expected to be completed in 1969. The Brighton
Branch Library has been planned, not as a neighborhood
branch library, but as a larger facility to serve the
Brighton-Allston-Faneuil district. It will have a book
collection three times the size of a typical neighborhood
branch and will provide reference service in correspond-
ingly greater depth. An extensive book selection pro-
gram is mider way to provide the enriched resources.

Last year's report noted that cost estimates for the
South End Branch indicated the need for a restudy of
the design. This redesign has been pushed forward and
construction should get under way in 1969. Working
drawings for the Grove Hall Branch had reached the
point where one could anticipate a construction start
early in 1969. However, the Dudley Branch, which was
ready to go out to bid in the spring of 1968, has been
held up pending the resolution of proposals made by the
Roxbury Library Committee relative to incorporating
in the library project educational, community, and art
components. Action is awaited on the selection of an
architect for the Lower Mills Branch.

Preliminary to the demolition of the annex, which
completed the clearing of the site for the Central Library
addition, a contract for relocating the utilities was let
and arrangements made to house the books and the
service units which had to be displaced. Temporary
space had to be found for the bindery operations, the
duplicating section, the shipping and stock room fa-
cilities, book receipts and preparation units. The
officials at Emmanuel College and Newton College of
the Sacred Heart have made available in their new
libraries substantial space to house our extensive foreign
and domestic patent collections. Arrangements have
been made for the recall and photocopying of patents
and a program of reference service has been established.

The Trustees acquired from the Connnonwealth of
Massachusetts the Charlestown Armory. This will be
used as a Service Building to relieve overcrowded condi-
tions in the Central Library and to provide additional
book storage space. Starting in October the Service
Building became the headquarters for the receipt and

Boston Public Library 5

processing of materials for the General Library, the
branch libraries and the Eastern Massachusetts Regional
Library System. In addition both the Boston and the
Eastern Regional bookmobiles operate from here and the
Service Building will serve as a staging area for the en-
larged Brighton Branch book collection.

Plans and specifications prepared by the architects
for the Central Library addition were ready for con-
tractors to pick up on November 20, 1968. The opening
of bids for this project will take place early in 1969.

General Library Services

Two major additions to the services of the Library
took place this year. The first was the opening, on
March 14, of the Biblioteca Latina, and the second was
the establishment of a special mobile library service
for the Roxbury-North Dorchester area.

The Spanish-American Center was set up under a grant
from the Federal Library Services and Construction Act
to serve some 8,000 new Spanish-speaking residents of the
area who came mainly from Puerto Rico and Cuba. In
planning for this facility other agencies in the community
were consulted and close cooperation with tutoring pro-
grams has been established.

The collection will include popular books, magazines,
newspapers as well as Spanish language classics. Audio-
visual materials, including films, recordings, slides, and
tapes will be used to further understanding between those
who use Spanish as their first language and those who
use English. Bilingual story hours have been presented
as well as film and lecture programs for children and
adults.

Mrs. Laura Reyes, who had been serving as Branch
Librarian, Connolly Branch Library, will administer both
the Biblioteca Latina and the South End Branch Library.
Mrs. Reyes had lived and taught school for a number of
years in Puerto Rico prior to joining the Boston Public
Library staff.

The Roxbury-North Dorchester bookmobile service,
funded with a grant from the Committee of the Perma-

6 City Document No. 15

nent Charity Fund Incorporated, was designed to provide
intensive neighborhood coverage, develop innovative pub-
licity techniques, utilize close consultation with com-
munity organizations and to explore the possibility of
placing book collections in a variety of community loca-
tions.

The bookmobile service operates under the Memorial-
Mt. Pleasant Branch Libraries. Community agencies
were invited to participate in the selection of materials,
to identify prospective stops and to discuss programs. It
was agreed that the collection should be heavily Black-
oriented with a heavy emphasis on juvenile materials.

In our request for funding it was noted that "changing
times and changing needs call for changing techniques in
achieving the purposes of the Library in serving certain
neighborhoods and age groups.

"In some areas reluctance to allow children to travel
beyond certain boundaries unless under parental super-
vision creates new limitations on access to normal library
resources. In other neighborhoods lack of awareness of
library resources creates the need for reducing this avail-
ability gap. In certain neighborhoods lack of previous
profitable experience in the use of libraries; lack of in-
come or space to encourage reading habits; and lack of
meaningful and pleasurable understanding of the role of
the informed printed or spoken word as a key to indi-
vidual and comnmnity growth all suggest the need for
establishing a service technique to make it possible to
militate against these lacks. This nmst be done without
emasculating the basic services and resources that must
serve as the source from which these bridge services are
developed and which are also continuously needed for
those for whom the distances have lessened, the lacks
have been remedied, and the acceptance of free exchange
of ideas in a free society has become operative."

The initial success of these two programs reflects the
need for improved library service in the South End,
Roxbury, and North Dorchester areas. It is our hope
that these special programs can be continued at least
until adequate branch library facilities can be provided.
The experience gained in these programs has been of

Boston Public Library . 7

assistance in identifying special requirements for the
South End, Grove Hall, and Dudley libraries which are
on the present capital budget schedule.

A 2,6 percent increase in circulation reflects the impetus
given to library use by the opening of the West End
Branch. The staff of the General Library Services con-
tinues to play an active role in community affairs. The
branch library programs include film, lecture, and slide
presentations for Never Too Late Groups; their book
discussion groups; young adult councils, friends of the
library and parents' groups all made good use of the
resources and services of the Library. The staff prepared
a third edition of a "Program Resources Directory" to
assist library and group program planners. The directory
contains entries from some sixty organizations which offer
assistance in this field. In some cases an organization
provides speakers, in others, films, discussion leaders,
exhibit materials, or advice on how to plan a program.

The Central Library's 1967-1968 special series for the
Never Too Late Group had as its theme "About Boston."
Among the speakers were the poet and author David
McCord; Walter Whitehill, Director of the Boston
Athenaeum; John Thompson, Chairman of the Finance
Commission of the City of Boston; and Robert Sheehan,
Acting Dean, College of Criminal Justice, Northeastern
University.

Programs were arranged for National Library Week,
Jewish Book Month, Catholic Book Week, Negro His-
tory Week, etc. This year a special exhibit, "Negro
History and the Fourteenth Amendment, 1868-1898,"
was prepared by Mr. Marcus Mitchell, Curator of the
American Museum of Negro History and Executive Secre-
tary, Boston Negro Artists Association. Dr. Alvin
Poussaint, Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts Medical
School, and Thomas Atkins, Member of the Boston City
Council, were the speakers at the Negro History Week
program.

Three branch libraries cooperated in the WGBH-TV
High School Project. This was an experiment in TV
education designed to give dropouts a chance to receive
the equivalent of a high school diploma. Other branches

8 City Document No. 15

contributed to tutorial programs for the disadvantaged
and all units provided regular children's preschool, and
young adult programs. An annual feature is the Li-
brary's cosponsorship with the Boston Herald Traveler
and the Bureau of Library Extension of the Children's
Book Fair.

The first New England Book Festival, held at Suffolk
Downs on September 27, 28, and 29, was sponsored by the
Boston Globe, the Boston Public Library, the Eastern
Massachusetts Regional Library System, and the Bureau
of Library Extension. Some 40,000 visitors swarmed
through the Exhibition Halls and the Library's film
showings and story hours had standing room only signs
out.

Research Library Services

The demolition of the annex building further accentu-
ated the already acute space shortage in the Central
Library. More books had to be moved to storage and
some additional service curtailment had to be introduced.
However, out of the necessity for maximum use of
minimum space, several relocations of subject reference
services resulted in a better integration of the total
reference system. Science Reference was relocated
at the north end of Bates Hall and Government Docu-
ments in the Elliot Room. This brought these units
closer to other subject reference areas, thus facilitating
a better integrated multifaceted reference service to the
general public.

Microtext services have been greatly expanded with
the purchase of twelve additional microfilm readers and
two more microprint readers. The former projection
booth space in the Lecture Hall has been converted into
working headquarters for the Sound Archives, where a
rapidly growing collection of records and tapes is being
systematically inventoried and processed. A commit-
ment was made to acquire aU microfilm publications
issued under the auspices of the National Historical

Boston Public Library 9

Publications Commission, thus making the Boston Public
Library a central repository for this region. In addi-
tion, a long-term program has been initiated to micro-
film and/or acquire on microfilm copies of all Boston
and important Massachusetts newspapers. This latter
program is for preservation as well as reference purposes.

Expanded coverage of current publications from major
United States publishers was supplemented by retrospec-
tive purchases of serials and monographic publications
which filled in lacunae in the collections. Significant
current publications from England, France, Germany,
and Latin America are being acquired. It is expected
that comprehensive coverage of Italian, Spanish, and
Portuguese materials will be undertaken in the near
future.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation presented the
Library with six hundred volumes for the Portuguese
collection. In addition to major reference tools such as
the 40-volume Grande Enciclopedia Liiso Brasileira, the
collection included representative works by 19th and
20th century writers, including Almeida Garrett, Eca de
Queiros, Augusto Gil, Antonio Correla de Oliveira, and
Aquilino Ribeiro.

Gifts play an important role in the development of
resources. This year the contributions to the music
holdings were largely in the field of sheet music and
recordings. Operatic recordings were received from Mr.
Frank Bruno, a library staff member; classical albums
were donated by Mr. Israel Shindler; Yiddish and
Roumanian recordings were given by Mr. Samuel New-
man; other recordings were contributed by Mr. and Mrs.
Alec Breed, Mr. Freeman Towers, Professor Francis
Worrel of Tufts University, and Professor Richard Koch
of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Miss Mabel
Daniels, Boston composer, presented to the Library
her music library which included standard textbooks
and musical scores, her own compositions and those of
her colleagues, her manuscripts, notebooks and memora-
bilia.

Radio Station WRKO has contributed 420 sixteen-
inch platters representing programs covering some

10 City Document No. 15

historical events between the years 1941 and 1960.
Speeches by world leaders, Mutual News broadcasts
during the days immediately following Pearl Harbor,
the celebration of YE-Day and YJ-Day and the UN
special sessions in the Hungarian crisis of 1956 are of
particular note. Station WHDH's recordings of its
"Profile" program on prominent Bostonians are useful
additions to the local history resources.

The National Commemorative Society's 39th com-
memorative medal, honoring the Boston Tea Party, was
designed by Boston sculptor Joseph Coletti. The first
of the three proofs in platinum struck by the Society
was presented to the Library; the other two are for the
Society's own collection and the Smithsonian Institution.

The Keeper of Rare Books reports the addition of a
number of very scarce or unique broadsides in the Defoe
period, as well as a dozen items by him, including three
first editions. Some hundreds of books and manu-
scripts pertaining to the West Indies, including works by
Francisco Lopez de Gomara, Charles de Rochefort,
Nicolas Monardes, Eric Williams, and four letters of
Toussaint Louverture strengthened the Caribbean col-
lections. Substantial additions were made to the Bow-
ditch Collection of astronomy, mathematics and naviga-
tion and to the Codman Collection of landscape archi-
tecture. Among the useful additions to special collec-
tions in the Rare Book Department were the first edition
of Lope de Yega's La Dorolea (Madrid, 1632), King
James the First's scarce 1603 Proclamation for the Au-
tliorizing and Uniformitie of the Booke of Common Prayer,
and an illustrated edition of Aesop's fables printed at
Lyons, France, in 1540.

Publications and Exhibits

Exhibits, both general and special, play an important
role in publicizing tlie Library's resources, in furthering
the cultural interests of the comnmnity, and in com-
memorating significant events. The Central Library's
general exhibits included the New England Book Show,
sponsored by The Book Builders of Boston; the American
Institute of Graphic Arts" Fifty Books of Typographical

Boston Public Library 11

Excellence Published in 1967; Tobacciana, an exhibit of
tobacco jars and pipes from the David P. Ehrlich Com-
pany in celebration of its centennial year; and The
Golden Age of Ragtime, 1897-1917.

Among the special rare book exhibitions were "Books as
Gifts: A Selection of Presentation Copies"; "Irish The-
atrical Heritage"; "Birds for Spring"; and "The Sins of
Our Fathers, early books and manuscripts on crime and
misbehavior in Colonial New England".

Exhibitions in the Wiggin Gallery feature both the old
masters and outstanding young artists. This year shows
included Albrecht Durer prints from the Wiggin Col-
lection; drawings and prints by Barbara Westman; prints
by Bernard Childs, a contemporary master; Print Col-
lecting Today, a six-year survey of the Library's print
collecting; "Working Drawings", made by a group of
twentieth-century British artists; and "Books from
Czechoslovakia" commemorating the fiftieth anniversary
of Czech independence.

Among the reading lists prepared for General Library
and Eastern Regional use were Books Current, Books for
Christmas Giving, Books for Business, Cities in Crisis,
Law and Order, Negro in America, White House Fever,
and Youthquake.

The year saw the publication of Etched in Sunlight:
Fifty Years in the Graphic Arts by Samuel Chamberlain;
an exhibition catalog Working Drawings prepared by
Ian Lowe, Assistant Keeper of Western Art at the
Ashmolean Museum and first participant in the Print
Department's Visiting Scholar Program; Bibliotheca
Barhadiensis: A Catalog of Material Relating to Barbados,
1650-1860 in the Boston Public Library; and Books as
Gifts, an exhibition catalog.

As a byproduct of a review of the Library's holdings in
philosophy and theology Richard Tetreau compiled a
preliminary list of the theological and philosophical serials
currently received by theological schools in the Boston
area. This work will serve as the basis for a union list
of serials in the institutions comprising the Boston Theo-
logical Institute.

12 City Document No. 15

Eastern Massachusetts Regional Library System

There are 208 independent hbraries in the 180 cities
and towns which make up the Eastern Regional Library
System. Fifteen more hbraries joined the system in 1968;
there are now 191 members or 92 percent participation.

Seminars were held in twelve different centers. The
twenty-eight programs drew an attendance of 1,025 li-
brarians and covered such topics as business reference
services, audio- visual programs, genealogy and heraldry,
programs for the new leisured adults, evaluating and im-
proving book collections and children's and young adult
services.

Advisory services were provided to more than 35 li-
braries and plans were drawn up for a book deposit
service to 43 public libraries in towns in the metropolitan
Boston area with a population of under 25,000 inhabitants.
Some 30,000 volumes were selected and processed to serve
as the nucleus for this service which is to begin in January
of 1969.

Interlibrary loan activity in the subregional centers and
at the headquarters library increased substantially over
the previous year. In cooperation with the Bureau of
Library Extension a manual of instructions for the use of
teletypewriters was prepared. The teletype service which
had connected the three state regional headquarters in
Boston, Worcester, and Springfield is to be expanded to
the ten subregional centers. The film loans increased
over 50 percent with one half of the circulation going to
communities outside Boston.

Personnel

The year 1968 saw the retirement of a nmnber of long-
term members of the Library Staff. In June, Mr. Milton
E. Lord, Director-Emeritus of the Library, reached his
seventieth birthday. Mr. Lord had served as Director,
and Librarian, from February 1, 1932, to September 30,
1965.

Boston Public Library 13

Staff retirements include :

Mrs. Mary D. Farrell, Chief Cataloger.

Dorothy P. Shaw, Reference Librarian, Periodical and
Newspaper Department.

Kathleen M. Wood worth, Reference Librarian, Fine
Arts.

Tynne Saari, Children's Librarian, AUston Branch.

Mrs. Elinor D. Conley, Branch Librarian, Charlestown
Branch.

Mary F. Daley, Curator of Government Documents.

Catherine E. Flannery, Branch Librarian, Orient
Heights Branch.

Sarah M. Usher, Chief of Records, Files and Statistics.

Mrs. Alice M. Cray, Junior Library Assistant, Proc-
essing.

Mrs, Lydia A. Palladino, Professional Library As-
sistant, General Library Services.

Warren Madden, Electrician, Buildings Department.

Helen Kellett, Bindery Sewer, Bindery Department.

William P. Murray, Senior Building Custodian, Parker
Hill.

Catherine M. Baxter, Senior Library Assistant, Mt.
Bowdoin.

Lillian M. Belzer, Adults Assistant, Roslindale.

Charles D. Povah, Special Library Assistant I, Peri-
odicals and Newspaper Department.

Chester R. Walsh, Bindery Foreman, Binding De-
partment.

Ruth M. Wall, Principal Library Assistant, Mt.
Bowdoin.

The following staff promotions were made:

Katherine K. Dibble, from Adults Librarian to Branch
Librarian, Hyde Park Branch.

Pasquale A. Vacca, from Adults Librarian to Book-
mobile Librarian.

14 City Document No. 15

William A. Lewis, from Curator of Periodicals and
Newspapers to Research Library Specialist responsible for
the development of the Afro-American collection.

Charles Longley, from Reference Librarian to Curator
of Periodicals and Newspapers.

Dorothy J. Flood, from Adults Librarian to Branch
Librarian, Washington Village.

Appointment to Officer Rank

James Lawton, Curator of Manuscripts, Rare Books
and Manuscripts.

On May 24, 1968, the Trustees held the first of what is
to be an annual awards ceremony honoring employees
with twenty-five years of service. The presentation
ceremony was held in the Wiggin Gallery and was fol-
lowed by a collation for the participants. Each long-term
employee was presented a certificate from the Trustees
which reads "with their respect and appreciation for
twenty-five years of service in the Boston Public Library,"
and each one had the choice of a Nantucket armchair or
a Paul Revere bowl. Each gift bears the seal of Library.

Staff members honored this year were:

52 Years of Service
Palmira Piciulo, Professional Library Assistant.

^.9 Years
Mary A. Brennan, Professional Library Assistant.

^8 Years
Catherine E. Flannery, Branch Librarian.

46 Years
Ruth M. Hayes, Coordinator of Children's Services.
Helen L. Lambert, Adults Assistant.
Grace B. Loughlin, Chief.
Mary M. McDonough, Chief.

45 Years
Lillian M. Belzer, Adults Assistant.
Elizabeth R. Cosgrove, Bindery Sewer.
Mary F. Daly, Curator of Government Documents.

Boston Public Library 15

hh Years
Kenneth C. Barnes, Reference Assistant.
Julia J. Miller, Bookmobile Librarian.

4.? Years
Christiana P. Jordan, Branch Librarian.

42 Years
Geraldine Altman, Branch Librarian.
Mary L. Dennison, Adults Librarian.
Thomas J. Manning, Chief.

Michel Pappoutsakis, Professional Library Assistant.
Russell A. Scully, Coordinator of Book Selection.
Minna Steinberg, Reference Librarian.
Sarah M. Usher, Chief.

4f Years
Anne F. Coleman, Branch Librarian.
John J. Connolly, Associate Director.
Bertha S. Keswick, Professional Library Assistant.
John J. Mealey, Junior Building Custodian.
Francis G. Myers, Special Library Assistant L
Sarah Richman, Branch Librarian.
Pauline A. Walker, Branch Librarian.

40 Years
Mary G. Chipman, Special Library Assistant L
Helen A. Council, Professional Library Assistant.
Henry A. Fahey, Chief.
Madalene D. Holt, Branch Librarian.
Etta Kessell, Adults Assistant.
OUie J. Partridge, Adults Librarian.
Pauline R. Murphy, Special Library Assistant H.

39 Years
Francis W. Fichter, Professional Library Assistant.
Harry C. Fletcher, Special Library Assistant HL
Alice E. Hackett, Coordinator of Processing.
Grace M. Marvin, Professional Library Assistant.
Patrick 0. Murtagh, Special Library Assistant IV.
Dorothy P. Shaw, Reference Librarian.
Alice M. Waters, Professional Library Assistant.
Kathleen M. Woodworth, Reference Librarian.
Elizabeth L. Wright, Assistant to the Director (for
Library Matters).

16 City Document No. 15

38 Years

Max Anapolle, Reference Assistant.

Mary C. Aylward, Working Forelady of Bindery
Sewers.

Gerald L. Ball, Curator of Engineering Sciences.

Elizabeth B. Brockunier, Assistant to the Director and
Secretary to the Trustees.

Margaret Donovan, Children's Librarian.

Etta Lasker, Adults Assistant.

Veronica C. Lehane, Children's Librarian.

37 Years

Harry Andrews, Adults Librarian.
Mary O'G. Cahill, Cataloger and Classifier.
Mary E. Connor, Professional Library Assistant.
Charlotte R. Cooper, Professional Library Assistant.
Frances G. Lepie, Branch Librarian.
Margaret A. Morgan, Branch Librarian.
Mary A. Rea, Catalog Information Officer.
Chester R. Walsh, Bindery Foreman.

36 Years

Henry F. Barry, Special Library Assistant IV.

Geraldine T. Beck, Branch Librarian.

Helen A. Brennan, Adults Librarian.

Laurelle W. Cole, Adults Librarian.

Dorothy J. Flood, Adults Librarian.

Margaret W. Haverty, Professional Library Assistant.

Ethel E. Lindquist, Children's Librarian.

35 Years

Beatrice P. Frederick. Children's Librarian.
Geraldine S. Herrick, Branch Librarian.
Milton E. Lord, Special Assistant for Library and
Regional Development.

Leonard J. Macmillan, Special Library Assistant IV.
Grace G. McCarthy, Principal Library Assistant.
Bridie P. Stotz, Branch Librarian.
Gladys R. White, Inter-Library Loan Officer.

Boston Public Library 17

3^ Years

Frank P. Bruno, Chief.

Elinor D. Conley, Branch Librarian.

Mary D. Farrell, Chief Cataloger.

Ruth Michelson, Book Selection Assistant.

Frances R. O'Hare, Principal Accountant.

Mildred E. Presente, Children's Librarian.

33 Years

Anne E. Armstrong, Professional Library Assistant.
Ruth S. Cannell, Chief.

John M. Carroll, Assistant Director (for General
Library Services).

Alice M. Cray, Junior Library Assistant.
Rose Karaian, Professional Library Assistant.

32 Years

Esther J. Leonard, Reference Librarian.
Mary B. Bennett, Adults Assistant.
Evelyn C. Billman, Branch Librarian.
Mildred Kaufman, Branch Librarian.
Mildred C. O'Connor, Coordinator of the Social
Sciences and Curator of the Social Sciences.

31 Years

Eleanora N. Chaplik, Branch Librarian.
Nura Globus, Branch Librarian.
Marcella G. McConville, Cataloger and Classifier.
Louis Polishook, Assistant Supervisor of Readers
Services.

30 Years

Mildred R. Adelson, Children's Librarian.

Martha C. Engler, Children's Librarian.

Rosalie A. Lang, Coordinator for Humanities.

Louisa S. Metcalf, Readers Advisor for Adults.

Mary J. Obear, Book Selection Librarian.

B. Joseph O'Neil, Supervisor of Readers Services.

Mary C. Robbins, Chief.

Martin F. Waters, Curator of Geography and Maps.

18 City Document No. 15

29 Years

Lillian E. Gallagher, Professional Library Assistant.
Eleanor F. Halligan, Reference Librarian.
Elvira G. Lavorgna, Reference Assistant.
Paul E. Nagle, Special Library Assistant I.

28 Years
Miriam P. Hannon, Principal Library Assistant.

26 Years
Claire P. O'Toole, Senior Library Assistant.

25 Years

Helen E. Colgan, Professional Library Assistant.
Anne P. Crowley, Professional Library Assistant.
Bernard F. Doherty, Bindery Forwarder.
Catherine M. MacDonald, Library Personnel Officer.
Beryl Y. Robinson, Readers Advisor for Children.
Gilda 0. Rossetti, Reference Librarian.
Gertrude E. Stuhl, Special Library Assistant I.
Dorothy K. Becker, Branch Librarian.
Marjorie M. Gibbons, Branch Librarian.
Rita M. Dinneen, Business Branch Librarian.
Florence Connolly, Curator of Fine Arts.

Professional Activities

This year members of the professional staff took an
active role in the work of national, regional, and state
library organizations. In addition the Library was
represented at the meetings of learned societies. Mrs.
Ruth Bleecker attended the combined congress of the
International Music Council and the International
Association of Music Libraries; Sinclair Hitchings served
on the Board of Directors of the Print Council of America;
Euclid Peltier served on a Special Advisory Committee
to Study Film Services in the Commonwealth; Carolyn
Kirkham and Michelina Vaccaro attended the High
John Workshop at the University of Maryland Library
School — a program designed to explore library services
to disadvantaged communities; Edward J. Montana
served on the Executive Board of the Massachusetts

Boston Public Library 19

Library Association and was Executive Director of
National Library Week; James Ford continued to serve
as compiler of the Eire Society's booklist.

To maintain and expand programs of library service in
light of the present severe space limitations is possible
only with the cooperation of the staff. I wish to express
my appreciation to the staff for their assistance and to
thank the members of the Board of Trustees for their
continuing support.

Philip J. McNiff,
Director, and Librarian.

20 City Document No. 15

Table 1. Circulation
BOOK CIRCULATION

1967 1968

Central Library 521,346 535,492

Kirstein Business Branch 7,884 8,512

Adams Street 130,918 124,571

AUston 49,040 48,505

Bookmobile Service 287,581 351,577

Brighton 66,758 55,929

Charlestown 57,362 54,980

Codman Square 122,207 102,541

Connolly 71,193 58,757

Dorchester 62,280 64,034

East Boston 50,168 50,050

Egleston Square 62,318 57,929

Faneuil 51,683 50,228

Hyde Park 116,771 119,648

Jamaica Plain 77,572 74,863

Lower Mills 62,932 63,011

Mattapan 96,426 91,246

Memorial 28,452 19,522

Memorial Bookmobile — 13,893

Mt. Bowdoin 34.863 28,866

Mt. Pleasant 27,834 25.830

North End 42,048 56,151

Orient Heights 38,059 37,664

Parker Hill 40,078 40,119

Boslindale 174,897 173,453

South Boston 99,694 94,310

South End 35,256 34,126

Uphams Corner 70,409 61,882

Washington Village 64,439 53,211

West End — 58,290

WestRoxbury 164,473 173,847

Hospital Library Service 27,270 29,585

Biblioteca Latina — 1,659

Total, Branch Libraries 2,212.981 2,270,277

Total, Entire Library 2,742,211 2,814,281

NON-BOOK CIRCULATION

1967 1968

Film and Film Strips 12,923 18,954

Recordings 65,041 54,505

Pictures 24,588 22,172

Totals 102,552 95,631

Boston Public Library 21
volumes sent on interlibrary loan

1967 1968

Interlibrary loans 6,407 9,584

Table 2. Growth of the Library
BOOKS

1967 1968

General Library:

Volumes added 69,525 116,426

Volumes withdrawn 53,674 61,735

Total on hand December 31 ... . 802,096 856,787

Research Library:

Volumes added 49,958 58,197

Volumes withdrawn 2,654 511

Total on hand December 31 ... . 1,613,045 1,670,713

Total Book Stock 2,415,141 2,527,518

22 City Document No. 15

nonbook materials

1967 1968

Films 1,787 2,355

Filmstrips 113 113

Recordings 17,411 21,389

Lantern Slides 14,884 14,884

Negatives 2,130 2,130

Pictures 405,068 407,188

Postcards 133,805 133,805

Prints and Drawings 38,779 39,836

Projected Books 178 178

Microcards 5,456 11,283

Microfiche (sheets) 16,158 38,991

Microfilms (reels) 20,317 25,664

Microprints (boxes) 1,851 2,428

Table 3. Cataloging Statistics

1967 1968

Volumes processed 128,550 235,236

New Titles cataloged 50,330 50,209

Original cataloging 8,977 7,347

LC cataloging 36,069 41,182

Rare Book cataloging 1,715 1,680

Films 326 568

Recordings 3,329 3,978

Microprint — Titles 5 19

— Boxes — 49

Microfilm —Titles 154 31

— Reels 3,525 3,110

Microfiche — Titles 4 —

— Sheets (in boxes) .... 12 —

Boston Public Library 23

Table 4. Binding

1967 1968

Volumes bound 36,429 40,823

TABLE 5. LIBRARY EXPENDITURES

1967 1968

Salaries and Wages:

City Appropriation $3,439,055 06 $3,714,147 13

Eastern Regional Public Library System . . . 87,374 82 144,442 78*

Trust Funds Income 2,174 50 2,916 65

Total $3,528,604 38 $3,861,506 56

Books and Other Library Materials:

City Appropriation $478,190 07 $601,405 00

Eastern Regional Public Library System . . . 171,258 61 456.493 94*

Trust Funds Income 87,685 58 74,214 27

Gifts for Current Use 2,847 57 15,657 35

Library Services and Construction Act Book Credits 274,961 33 312,498 84

Total $1,014,943 16 $1,460,269 40

All Other Expenses:

City Appropriation $550,496 62 $597,104 75

Eastern Regional Public Library System . . . 38,430 37 119,097 75*

Trust Funds Income 18,222 86 15,428 02

Total $607,149 85 $731,630 52

GRAND TOTAL $5,150,697 39 $6,053,406 48

* Increase due to full state funding of the Eastern Regional Library System.

City of Boston "i^S»»' Printing Section

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

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