Annual report

DOCUMENT 15 — 1976

ANNUAL REPORT

of the

ROSTON PURLIC LIRRARY

For the Period Endmg June 30, 1975

CITY OF BOSTON

PRINTING SECTION

TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

EDWARD G. MURRAY
President

AUGUSTIN H. PARKER
Vice-President

FRANK B. MAKER

SIDNEY R. RABB

PATRICIA H. WHITE

PHILIP J. McNIFF
Director, and Libraritin

City Document No. 15

To the Board of Trustees of the Boston Public Library:

As Director, and Librarian, T have the honor to submit
my report for the year July 1, 1974, to June 30, 1975.

Highlighting this year's activities were the events
honoring the nation's Bicentennial. Poet Archibald
MacLeish delivered a Bicentennial commemorative poem,
"Night Watch in the City of Boston," to an audience
in the Lecture Hall. It was the first event of "Literary
Boston," a program jointly sponsored by the Library and
Boston 200, consisting of exhibits, special publications,
and a series of programs. Other events included in the
Literary Boston series were a poetry reading by David
McCord; a discussion, "The Articulate Adams Family,"
by Lyman Butterfield and Daniel Aaron; and a discus-
sion on publishing in Boston with Edward Weeks,
Richard McAdoo and Ellen Ballon. Special exhibits also
continued the Bicentennial theme. "Boston: A State of
Mind, a 300-Year Dialogue Between Author and Audi-
ence," the central exhibit is housed in a 16-foot diameter,
plexiglass drum in the Great Hall. "Going Down to
Boston: Some Writers and Their City," a fifteen-minute,
slide-tape show on literature in Boston, is being screened
at regular intervals in the Lecture Hall. A series of
portable panels. "Contrasts," on various Boston literary
figures is also on display.

In celebration of the Bicentennial the Boston Public
Library proclaimed freedom from fines on overdue
material if the material was returned between April 16
and May 31, 1975. The "amnesty" resulted in the
return of hundreds of overdue books.

GENERAL LIBRARY SERVICES

Services to patrons in branch libraries and in the
General Library continued actively for all age levels,
both in direct guidance of individuals as well as through
group activities. Circulation of books in the Central
Librarv continued on an upward trend; circulation in
branch libraries, which in past years has been showing a
downward cuive, dropped in 1974-75 for total branch

Boston Public Library 5

libraries less than one-half of one percent; in eleven of
twenty-five branches there was actually an increase in
books circulated.

Attendance at library programs proved substantial. It
is estimated that more than 75,000 patrons participated
in or attended group activities and programs in branch
libraries. Many thousands more attended Central Li-
brary events. Approximately 5,000 people entered the
Central Library through the Bovlston Street entrance
each day.

Mobile services of the Boston Public Library con-
tinued to provide extensive outreach to two groups of
patrons: those whose residences are not convenient to
branch library locations were served by Bookmobiles;
and homebound individuals or residents of nursing homes
were served by a Homesmobile. These services resulted
in a circulation of more than 129,000 books during this
fiscal year, more than 10 percent of the total branch
circulation.

For children, activities included film programs, story
hours, activities for pre-school children, summer reading
events, and special observances for Children's Books
International.

Young adults were offered film programs, book discus-
sion experiences, and participation in the Library's pub-
lication program. A group calling themselves CYAM
(Concerned Young Adults of Mattapan) constructed an
ingenious crossword puzzle, "Black Profiles," as part of
the Mattapan Branch Library's young adult program.

For adults, several activities and programs were
offered, and film screenings remained popular with adult
as well as other age-level audiences. Never Too Late
groups were sponsored in ten branch libraries. The
Especially for Women and Parents Discussion groups
continued to draw enthusiastic attendance.

Three branches (Charlestown, South Boston, Faneuil)
mounted popular arts and crafts festivals which exhibited
the works of neighborhood artists and drew large numbers
of viewers.

Other activities and programs held at the Charlestown
Branch Library included an exhibit of eight historical

6 City Document No. 15

colonial flags illustrating the evolution of the first Stars
and Stripes. The Central Library and the Roslindale
Branch Library hosted a preview of the Metropolitan
Opera's Verdi Festival in Sight and Sound by William
D. Miranda, opera columnist and lecturer.

The twenty-seventh annual awarding of the Mary U.
Nichols Book Prizes was held at the North End Branch.
Rafaela Fabrizio and Anthony Sirignano were the award
winners, and David McCord, poet and essayist, gave the
address at the ceremony.

The first annual American exhibition of children's
books from abroad, Children's Books International, took
place from May 27 to June 27, at the Boston Public
Library. The exposition promoted the acquisition and
use of foreign-language books as a necessary dimension
for libraries. The exhibit items were gathered by the
Combined Book Exhibit, Inc., of New York from pub-
Kshers and publishers' associations abroad. Children's
Books International opened with a reception on June 1,
followed by a two-day program on June 2 and 3 com-
prised of symposia, lectures, panel discussions, slide-tape
presentations, and films. Experts in many facets of
children's literature around the world participated. In
attendence at the symposia were representatives from
several hbrary journals and children's departments in
Wge pubKc Ubraries.

In addition to the two-day symposium, numerous
special programs took place including storytelling in
original languiages, noontime screenings of international
films, games, and puppet shows at both the Central
Librai'y and branches. The exhibit itself included more
than 3,000 books from more than forty nations; the
Boston Public Library acquired a copy of each of the
books on display. A slide-tape, guided tour facilitated
independent viewing of the displays. An unusual poster,
designed by staff" artist Rick Zonghi, was produced and
on sale in the Pubhcations Office.

In another special program for children in the Central
Libraiy an hour-long sequence of films entitled "Magic
and Fantasy" was presented. The films shown were
both animated and Uve action. This event was part of

Boston Public Library 7

the Magic Lantern Children's Fihn Program, a project
of the University Fihn Study Center, and was partially
supported by the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and
Humanities. In February and March the Children's
Room of the General Library held celebrations every
Saturday featuring story houis — Pan African stories;
tales for Valentine's Day; musical performances: City
Mouse-Country Mouse, and Musical Adventures of Jack
and Jill; film showing of "National Velvet" and slides
about the Black heritage; and a "plant-in" presented by
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Every Tues-
day, combination programs featuring storytelling and
crafts were held in the Children's Room.

In recognition of the fiftieth anniversary of the Horn
Book Magazine, the Library presented a month-long ex-
hibit of rare children's books and books for children
created by local poets, authors, and illustrators. In a
series of lectures Paul Heins, editor of The Horn Book,
spoke on the fifty-year history of the magazine; Sinclair
Hitchings, keeper of prints, spoke on illustrations for
children and "The Art of the Picture Book;" and Au-
gusta Baker, coordinator emeritus of Children's Services,
New York Public Library, gave a lecture on, "The
Changing Image of the Black in Children's Literature."

The Young Adult Department sponsored a creative
writing workshop for young people. Guest speakers
were David Macaulay, author of Cathedral and City;
John Keller, children's book editor at Little Brown and
Company; David Moran, managing editor of the Boston
Phoenix, and Louis Sasso, contributor to several poetry
magazines and assistant to the director here at the
Librai'y.

The Never Too Late Group conducted a number of
notable programs this year in the weekly calendar of
activities. They included a lecture by William Pierce
Randel, author of The American Revolution: A Mirror of
the People, in celebration of National Library Week and
another lecture, "India and Her Art," by Henry A.
Tate, head of adult programs. Department of Public
Education, Museum of Fine Arts. The Great Decisions
discussion group held regular meetings throughout the

8 City Document No. 15

year. Among their topics of discussion were foreign
affairs questions based on background information in
booklets published by the Foreign Policy Association.

One of the most extensive programs initiated by the
Library was the Music Americana series. This well-
attended program illustrated through lecture-recitals the
development of music performance and publishing in the
United States with particular emphasis on New England.
The monthly series opened with a concert by the Chorus
Pro Musica. Alfred Nash Patterson was the conductor
for the program which included the works of William
Billings and Charles Ives. Other concerts included:
Michael Boriskin, pianist; Bill Billings: Boston tune-
smith; Sideroads of American Music by the Multiphonic
Guild; The Cambridge Chamber Quartet; Joe Yal and
the New England Blue Grass Boys; The Gospel Singers,
Twelfth Baptist Church, Roxbury; Max Morath; Vir-
ginia Eskin, pianist; and Julia Sutton: Music and Dances
of Colonial America.

Black History Month was celebrated again in February
with a series of films, lectures, and special events. The
program at the Central Library featured a lecture by
Jean M. McGuire, executive director of METCO; a dis-
cussion by Dr. Adelaide Hill Gulliver, director of Afro-
American Studies at Boston University; and an exhibit
titled "New England Blacks in the American Revolu-
tion." At the South End Branch Library a unique five-
man jazz ensemble played the compositions of a local
community composer, Leo Whitlarge, entitled "Sound-
Spaces." "Artists and Art Talk," a discussion and
demonstration on the use of varied materials and methods,
was presented in celebration of Black History Month at
the Egleston Square Branch Library.

The Library and the Irish American Cultural Institute
cosponsored a program, "Irish Fortnight," in March.
The program consisted of various lectures focusing on
such topics as Irish politics, music, literature, and the
Irish in America. A notable event in the Italian-Ameri-
can community of Boston took place at the Library
when the Italian Culture Commission of the Grand
Lodge of Massachusetts, Order of Sons of Italy in Amer-
ica, presented the Boston Public Library the first of a

Boston Public Library 9

series of forty-eight commemorative medals which honor
Italians and Italian-Americans who have made a major
contribution to the welfare and progress of America over
the past 200 years. The Marchese Franco Faa Di Bruno,
Italian Consul General; the Bight Beverend Edward G.
Murray, president of the Board of Trustees; and Mrs.
Josephine Tanner of the Italian Culture Commission,
were part of the program at which Adolph Caso, educator
and author, presented the medals to the Library.

Contemporary Jewish folk music, performed by a
three-member group of Brandeis University students,
was presented by the Library during a Chanukkah con-
cert. The group performed popular Israeli songs, new
works by young American composers, and original
material.

In addition to its extensive services in the area of
print materials, the General Library Services Division
administers a growing collection and service center for
audio-visual materials. Over the past twelve-month
period there has been a 10 percent increase in film circu-
lation in the Audio-Visual Center. Statistics for fiscal
year 1975 follow:

Film Circulation — Community, 12,398; Library,
21,321; School, 4,768; Church, 1,525; Total, 40,012.
There has also been a remarkable increase in record
circulation: from 121,329 in fiscal year 1974, to 139,560
in fiscal year 1975, and an increase in the use of record-
and tape-listening facilities by the public.

In 1975 the video taping of major programs within
and outside the Central Library began in earnest. Along
with these new operations, new programming (during the
first six months of 1975 a total of 570 hours of program-
ming took place in the Central Library) necessitated
audio and video recording and duplicating for preserva-
tion. In order to implement these changes the procedures
of the department and the duties of the staff have been
reorganized.

"The Golden Age of German Cinema" was one of the
many film programs organized by the Audio-Visual De-
partment. This series was cosponsored with the Library
by the Goethe Institute of Boston.

10 City Document No. 15

The Boston Public Library was chosen as a recipient
for a humanities fihn program from the National Project
Center for Film and Humanities which consisted of five
films on freedom and responsibility. The films explored
the conflicts man faces with those powers seeking to
govern his activities (man vs. state, conscience vs. duty,
individuality vs. common good) from the time of Socrates
to modern-day America.

The publications program of General Library Services
continued to be responsive to the needs and interests of
all age levels. Notable among publications of General
Library Services was the new edition of the Program
Resources Directory, invaluable for its listing of organ-
izations and groups which provide speakers, films, ex-
hibits, and other program resources. Publications for
children included a booklist, "Stepping Stones to Better
Reading," and for voung adults, "Listen to Me" and
"And Ain't I a Woman."

The fifth edition of the Film Catalog was published
during the past year. The 227-page catalog has a new
format and lists over 3,500 16mm films and 8mm tech-
nicolor cartridges and was produced by a computer.

Conditions of the Central Library building (parts both
old and new) and the branches have been conscientiously
improved over the past twelve months. A "skyhook"
was installed in the Great Hall to facilitate bulbing and
to permit repainting of the skylight area, from which
paint had been peeling. To provide independent air
conditioning in the Rare Book and Manuscripts Depart-
ment a separate unit was installed. Efforts to improve
the conditions in the staff cafeteria were aided with a
questionnaire sent to all members of the staff. Service
Systems, Inc. is under contract to supply and maintain
the vending machines located in the cafeteria. The
former staff lounge, located between the courtyard and
the Johnson building has been painted in preparation for
the opening of the new publication and sales area.

CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training
Act) employees, working under the Public Facilities De-
partment, cleaned and painted the exterior iron and
metal work of the McKim building; painted various
areas of the McKim building under the supervision of

Boston Public Library 11

Library staff; worked in the carpenter's shop repairing
furniture, fabricating bookcases, and erecting storage
bins for the city Building Department plans and blue-
prints. Replastering large areas of deteriorated plaster
was done in all stacks and corridors of the McKim
building.

The interiors and exteriors of Adams Street, Faneuil,
North End, Parker Hill, South End, and West End
branches were painted by CETA employees. CETA
carpenters made necessary repairs at the Connolly
Branch, Hyde Park Branch, and Parker Hill, and CETA
plasterers removed and replaced deteriorated plaster at
the Connolly, Faneuil, and Parker Hill branch libraries.

A fire broke out at the Allston Branch Library in
October. The Allston Branch is in a second-floor loca-
tion, access to which is inconvenient for the handicapped
and elderly; new rental quarters are continually being
sought. Considerable damage resulted from a fire at the
Lower Mills Branch Library caused by an outside elec-
trical wire; the Library's maintenance staff is to be
praised for their fine response to the emergency.

Other building activity among branches includes:
much vandalism — particularly window breakage — at
Brighton and Charlestown branches; transfer of the old
Charlestown Branch Library to the custody and control
of the Public Facilities Department; installation of a new
roof on Grove Hall Branch ; installation of a new sprinkler
system at the Washington Village Branch, closed because
of fire damage since 1972. Several other items are still
awaiting the attention of the Boston Housing Authority
before the Washington Village Branch can be reopened.

Plans for the branch building program progressed well.
A site was chosen for the new Codman Square Branch
Library on Washington Street in Dorchester; this is the
area occupied formerly by the Pierce School. The new
Codman Square Branch will be larger in size than the
regular neighborhood branch; the collection size will be
70,000 to 80,000 volumes, and parking for the branch
will be provided. It is hoped that the branch will be a
focal point for the entire Dorchester area. The architect
chosen for the project, Eco Tecture, Inc., has made
rapid progress on the drawings.

12 City Document No. 15

In September of 1974, the first group of bids for the
new Dudley Street Branch Library were opened; they
exceeded estimates b\ $500,000. In April, 1975, the
plans were rebid and, because of the change in the eco-
nomic climate in the construction field and the cost of
materials having gone down, the low bid was much
lower than the 1974 bids; the contract for construction
was awarded. In June the ground was broken for the
new branch.

The new Lower Mills Branch Library will be con-
structed on an old school site which has been turned
over by the School Department. Paul Carroll is the
architect chosen to design the branch.

Following the sudden death of John M. Carroll,
assistant director for General Library Services, the review
of General Library Services undertaken by Mr. Carroll
continues. The total branch organization is being
studied and evaluated with particular attention to
staffing patterns and to restoration of more responsibility
and decision-making at the branch level. Plans are
under way to fill the position of Supervisor of Branches.

RESEARCH LIBRARY SERVICES

The renovations necessary to complete relocation of
departments within the Research Library were accom-
plished over the past year. In July the reference and
reading room for music and fine arts opened for service
in their new quarters in the West Gallery. A new ele-
vator was opened to facilitate accessibility of these de-
partments. The quarters that had previously been used
by the Music Department were refurbished and estab-
lished as the Charlotte Cushman Room. The Charlotte
Cushman Room houses materials on the theater and was
set up as a result of a gift from the Charlotte Cushman
Club in Boston. The Government Documents Depart-
ment was also relocated in July to the area which housed
the old Newspaper Room. The area was freshly painted
and the terrazzo floor cleaned and polished; the brick
fireplace, covered over for so long, has been exposed.
The two adjacent rooms, formerly the Periodical Read-
ing and Reference Rooms, have been converted to work
and stack space for Government Documents.

Boston Public LtBRARY 13

In March Rare Books and Manuscripts opened its
new quarters to the pubHc in the Johnson building. The
only entrance to this department is at the end of the
West Gallery. An exhibition area was opened adjacent
to the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department and
this area also includes the William Addison Dwiggins
Room and the Serge Koussevitzky Exhibition Area. Also
in March, the Science Reference Department occupied
its new quarters in what used to be the Lecture Hall,
and the corridor connecting the second floors of the Re-
seEUch and General Libraries was opened to the public.
In June Social Science Reference moved into the area
vacated by the Science Reference Department; after that
area had been completed by the end of the summer of
1975, the transfer of the Research Library Catalog from
the Chavannes Gallery and the Abbey Room into the
EJliot Room (which formerly housed the Government
Documents Department) will take place. With the com-
pletion of this move, the Puvis de Chavannes Gallery
and the Abbey Room will be restored to their original
state and the planned departmental relocations within
the Research Library concluded.

The Patent Collection, which has long been housed at
Emmanuel College and Newton College, was moved to
the Central Library and shelved in the seventh-floor,
stack area on steel shelving which had previously been
installed at the Long Island facility. The Boston Public
Library is one of the eighteen libraries in the United
States currently receiving United States patents on de-
posit from the Patent Office. The Patent Collection
dates back to 1790.

Within all departments of the Research Library there
has been much activity related to programming, exhibits,
special services, or publications.

The Library's exhibits and programs dealt with a
variety of cultural and historic topics. "An Evening
with Charles Bulfinch" honored the architect Bulfinch,
who as a boy witnessed the British occupation in 1775.
The symposium was organized by Charles Hammond,
Sinclair Hitchings, and Paul Swenson. The format included
Bulfinch drawings and manuscripts, Pendleton and
Buford lithographs, and photographs by Samuel Cham-
berlain.

14 City Document No. 15

Among the exhibits in the Wiggin Gallery were
"Micossi: Graffiti," and "Back Country and Sea's Edge"
featuring the works of Thomas Nason and Stow Wengen-
roth. An exhibit titled "The Graphic Art of George
Bellows" included the artist's portraits, landscapes, and
figures. Other exhibits were: Landscapes by Conley
Harris; Drawings by Barbara Swan; David McCord —
The Poet as Collector; Fine Art Lithography in Boston;
North End Forever.

In addition to the Wiggin Gallery exhibits, there were
also exhibits in the Sargent Gallery, among which were
"Victorian Boston: Links in Arts and Letters" and
"Mexican Medley."

A panorama of clay sculpture was displayed in the
Boston Room of the Library during the month of March.
The artist was a young local woman named GOGO.
Her collection consisted of a group of stark white figures,
most of which were made especially for the exhibit.

The Library hosted two archaeological lectures this
year. Dr. Maria Guiseppina Cerulli spoke on "New
Archaeological Research in the \ esuvian Area," and Lily
Kahil presented a lecture on the "Images of Artemis"
with illustrations accompanying the lecture including
artistic representations and interpretations of Artemis,
the Olympian Goddess of the Hunt.

The third annual Maury A. Bromsen Lecture in
Humanistic Bibliography was titled "New Englanders in
Nova Albion: Some Nineteenth Century Views of Cali-
fornia." Dr. James D. Hart, an authority in the field
of American Literary History, was the speaker. The
second annual Cushman lecture was given by William
Morris Hunt on "Where Have All the Theaters GoneP"
This lecture is the result of a gift to the Trustees of the
Library in 1973 of the assets of the Charlotte Cushman
Club. In June of 1975 the Charlotte Cushman Club
donated four volumes of guest books of the Charlotte
Cushman Club of Boston, which contain the names of
several hundred actresses and actors and other persons
associated with the theater, from 1927 through 1959, and
the titles of plays and musical shows in which they
participated, often with the home address of the regis-
trant given.

Boston Public Library 15

"Two Hundred Seventy Years of Monumental Letter-
ing" was the topic for the second annual, William Addi-
son Dwiggins Lecture. The speaker, John Benson, is a
member of the Society of Printers and Managing Partner
of The John Stevens Shop in Newport, Rhode Island.
His talk dealt with the history of monumental lettering
and its present state as an art form.

In February the Boston Public Library was designated
as the first "N.E.H. Learning Library" by the National
Endowment for the Humanities and was awarded a grant
in support of its "Boston: An Urban Community" pro-
gram. This educational program is aimed at a diverse
audience of prospective learners and present and former
students; it includes group and individual learning
sequences of lectures, discussion meetings, film showings,
interpretative demonstrations, and individual study guid-
ance sessions and is of great value to citizens throughout
the Boston community. An advisory committee was
appointed to oversee the program by selecting the topics,
and for evaluation and recruitment. Members of the
advisory committee are David J. Hall, director of Ameri-
can Studies Program at Boston University; Douglas
Jones, lecturer in History at Lowell State College; David
H. Fischer, chairman of History Department at Brandeis
University; Thomas O'Connor, professor of History at
Boston College; Barbara Miller Solomon, senior lecturer
in History and Literature at Harvard University; Sam
Bass Warner, professor of History and Social Sciences at
Boston University; and Alan Weinblatt, professor of
-English at Boston College.

Paul M. W^right was appointed the program director
of the NEH Learning Library in February when the
series were first offered. Thomas O'Connor taught a
sequence entitled "Bibles, Brahmins, and Bosses: Leader-
ship and the Boston Community;" the other sequence
offered in February and March featured Gerald Bern-
stein, professor of Art History, Brandeis University and
was entitled "Boston's Architecture: From First Town-
house to New City Hall." Two of the lectures in the
sequence on Boston's architecture were open to the pub-
lic. James O'Gorman, an authority on Richardson spoke

16 City Document No. 15

on "Richardsonian Boston" and Geihart Kallman, who
designed the new Boston City Hall, spoke on the new
City Hall.

For April and May of 1975 the following courses on
the emergence of Boston were offered. "Family Life in
Boston: From Colonial Times to the Present" with
Nancy F. Cott. professor of History, Yale University;
and "Shaping the Boston Landscape: Drumlins and
Puddingstone" with George K. Lewis, Department of
Geography, Boston University.

The Print Department was very active in making
loans of prints to museums, universities, and the media,
a partial listing of which is: Fogg Art Museum; Currier
Gallery, Manchester, New Hampshire; Boston Globe;
Channel 7; Channel 56; Indianapolis Museum of Art;
Smithsonian Institution; Yale University Art Gallery;
Museum of Afro- American History; French Library;
Boston 200; Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, Linds-
borg, Kansas; Metropolitan Museum of Art; National
Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Amon Carter Museum
of Western Art, Fort Worth, Texas. The important
purchases made by the Print Department include three
original color etchings "Colloredo and North Italian
Alps," "Gulf of Trieste," and "Leukos Mountains, from
the Sea" by Mario Micossi; three original pen and wash
drawings "New Growth of Freedom," "Punch Autumn,"
and "Honest John" by Leslie G. Illingworth; two char-
coal drawings by Conley Harris — "Broken Fence" and
"Grey Day, Brave Boat Harbor, Maine;" portfolio —
Erasmus "In Praise of Folly"; ten signed prints by
Fritz Eichenberg; and four posters by Clementine Dufau,
Georges de Feure, Jean Pal, and Henri de Toulouse-
Lautrec purchased from Lords Gallery in London,
England.

The Boston Public Library received a LSCA grant for
1974 in the amount of $100,000 to further the "discovery
and exploration of the history of Massachusetts cities and
towns through the preservation and study of local news-
papers." The grant was used to purchase and microfdm
nineteenth-century, Massachusetts newspsipers, to pre-
serve these records of local history which might otherwise
be lost.

Boston Public Library 17

On January 13 the Boston City Council passed a
resolution "to create an archive for the records of the
City of Boston." The majority of the records of the
city have been transferred to the Library; these include
city assessor's records and building plans and blueprints
of Boston, the records of which are in the Boston Build-
ing Department. With the aid of personnel employed at
the Library under the Comprehensive Employment and
Training Act (CETA) these blueprints were organized
and housed in the seventh-floor, stack area. CETA
personnel were also involved in a project to revise and
edit the Research Library catalog.

Beginning January 1, the Library was assigned as
recipient of PL480 Arabic materials. The PL480 pro-
gram, administered by the Overseas Operations Division
of the Library of Congress, provides for the purchasing,
servicing, and distribution to selected libraries and re-
search institutions in the United States of current publi-
cations from countries in which the United States gov-
ernment has local currency funds derived from the sale
of surplus agricultural products. This assignment was
transferred from Boston College to the Boston Public
Library, and with it came the transfer of the Arabic
materials, some 15,000 volumes, which Boston College
had acquired under the program. Khalil Mahmud,
deputy librarian of Ibadan University Library in Nigeria,
joined the administrative staff of the Library for six
months to organize the PL480 material and review the
Arabic holdings of the Boston Public Library and the
consortium libraries.

The Kirstein Business Branch at 20 City Hall Avenue
is a specialized subject reference department of the Re-
search Library which has long served the downtown
business and financial community with its extensive col-
lection of directories, reference books, journals, and docu-
ments. In order to broaden its resources and strengthen
its services, the Kirstein Business Branch acquired sev-
eral major reference tools in microfilm: complete lOK
and annual reports of all companies listed in the New
York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange
from 1967 and the D-U-N-S Account Identification Ser-
vice. To better meet the specialized needs of the com-
munity it directly serves, the Kirstein Business Branch

18 City Document No. 15

ceased to maintain a circulating collection of books for
home reading purposes in order to concentrate on its
subject reference function.

The archives and collection of old music owned by the
Ilandel and Haydn Society of Boston. Inc. were given
to the Trustees of the Library to be maintained and
preserved as part of the permanent research collection.
Under the will of the late Samuel Chamberlain, artist,
etcher, photographer, and author — and longtime friend
of the Boston Public Library — a group of forty original
drawings were bequeathed to the Boston Public Library.
This bequest includes brickwork pencil drawings as well
as pen and ink drawings of various scenes.

Mr. and Mrs. John Holt of Honolulu, Hawaii, pre-
sented the Library with an outstanding collection of
prints, drawings, and maps from Northern Africa,
Gibraltar. Turkey, and India.

The Library was the recipient of gifts from approxi-
mately 475 donors; these donations included 17,751 vol-
umes, plus 142 cartons of books, and fifty bundles of
periodicals.

A number of booklists and other publications were
produced by the Library. The Boston Public Library
compiled and published a series of reading lists pertaining
to the television series, NOVA. The Library also co-
sponsored a NOVA program this year which included
, thirteen films follow ed by discussions. The thirteen bibli-
ographies were compiled and annotated by members of
the Science Reference staff. Suzanne K. Gray, head of
Science Reference, prepared the material for publication
in book form.

A pamphlet reprinted by the Library was "Postal
Service in Boston 1639-1893" by Carol Wihelm Ernst.
This includes a commentary by John Alden, keeper of
rare books.

The Lithographs of Stow Wengenroth by Ronald and
Joan Stuckey, with essays by Albert Reese; Sinclair
Hitchings, keeper of prints; and Paul Swenson; and a
foreword by Philip J. McNiff is the most recent art book
to be published by the Library. The book contains
numerous illustrations of the artist's work, including
materials which have been exhibited in the Library.

Boston Public Library 19

In commemoration of the Bicentennial, the Library
pubhshed a broadside of Archibald MacLeish's poem,
"Night Watch in the City of Boston," which was written
for the opening event of Boston's Bicentennial celebration.

Also published was the second Bromsen lecture, "The
Delights of a Rare Book Librarian," by Frederick R, GofF.

Two new members have been added to the Greater
Boston Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries:
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was voted a
full member, and the University of Massachusetts Medi-
cal School in Worcester was admitted as an affiliate
member. Throughout the past year the Board of Direc-
tors has been at work on a constitution and bylaws for
the consortium. A user handbook has been prepared and
distributed to all registered consortium borrowers to
provide users with a brief introduction to each con-
sortium library. It includes such basic information as
the address and phone number of the library, hours of
service, regulations for borrowing, and a list of depart-
ments or branch libraries. The special subject strengths
and unique collections of each library are mentioned
briefly. Volume 1, Number 1 of the Consortium News-
letter was published in November of 1974; two subsequent
issues were published prior to June of 1975, and this
Newsletter will now be produced regularly.

Other topics of discussion concentrated on by the
Board of Directors were photocopying policy, joint pur-
chase of various materials, the Boston Public Library's
newspaper project, Arabic holdings in consortium librar-
ies, and membership policy. The committees of the
consortium — Cataloging, Goals, Reader Services, and
Selection /Acquisitions — have been meeting throughout
the year to discuss various aspects of consortium activity.
One project undertaken by the Reader's Services Com-
mittee focuses on improved access to the major microform
collections at the consortium libraries as part of an effort
to improve service by providing in-depth descriptions of
large, important, microform collections. Several com-
mittee members of the Selection/Acquisitions Committee
assisted the Boston Public Library on a German mono-
graphic series project, the main purpose of this review

20 City Document No. 15

was to provide a means to gauge the general collecting
profile of the several libraries, rather than any specific
evaluation of individual titles.

The consortium sponsored a symposium on Libraries
and Resources for African and Afro-American Studies in
March. Featured speakers were James Armstrong, li-
brarian of the African Studies Library at Boston Uni-
versity; J. O. Dipeolu, university librarian at the Univer-
sity of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; Khalil Mahmud, Deputv
librarian. University of Ibadan, Nigeria; and Dorothy B.
Porter, curator (1930-1973), Moorland-Springarn Col-
lection, Howard University, Washington, D. C.

The Union List of Serials Currently Received was
published in two formats : an alphabetical title listing and
a subject arrangement by Library of Congress classifica-
tion; this represents the combined current serial holdings
of all consortium member libraries, except the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology. This publication was
accomplished with Library Services and Construction
Act (LSCA) funds.

An important factor in increased cooperation among
consortium libraries is the regular exchange of materials.
This year a daily delivery truck from the Boston Public
Library to all Boston area consortium members has been
established. In addition, there is a courier service be-
tween the University of Massachusetts/ Amherst and the
Boston Public Library.

The expanded facilities of the Boston Public Library
are of interest to librarians both foreign and domestic.
Representatives from major public libraries throughout
the country were given tours of the Central Library
complex ; some of which were the Chicago Public Librar;y ,
the Public Library of Los Angeles, and the Dallas Public
Library. From abroad thirt>' members of the Japan
Library Association toured the Central Library and
branches for two da>s while on a trip to study the activi-
ties of American libraries; twenty-five architects from the
Soviet Union stopped by for a brief tour; a group ot
librarians, architects, and the Minister of Public Works
of The Hague, Netherlands, toured the new building in
preparation for a new royal library ; other librarians were

Boston Public Library 21

from England, Ireland, Mexico, Iran, Nova Scotia,
Quebec, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, India, Malta, and
Nigeria. Of particular note was a visit hy a group of
about thirty librarians in November from Europe, Asia,
and Africa en route to the 1974 Conference of the Inter-
national Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) in
Washington, D. C.

ASSOCIATES OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

Bruce A. Beal was elected chairman of the associates
of the Boston Public Library on December 12, 1974, and
Mrs. Frances H. Howe was elected vice-chairman. The
size of the executive committee increased from five mem-
bers to nine; the committee met regularly. Four sub-
committees of the executive committee of the associates
were established: Membership — to concentrate on pro-
motion of membership ; Program — to plan programs of
the associates; Publicity — to provide information to the
public about the resources and activities of the Library;
and Special Projects — to explore voluntary service to
the Library by members of the associates.

At the March 3 meeting of the executive committee,
three members of the staff of the Library made presenta-
tions on their areas of activity. Y. T. Feng, assistant
director, explained the function of the Research Library
and emphasized the importance of the Boston Public
Library's relationship to the rest of the library commu-
nity and also the interrelationships between its special
departments and disciplines. Mary Heneghan, regional
administrator, discussed the plan of service of the Eastern
Massachusetts Regional Library System, its purposes,
organization, services, and financing. Sinclair Hitchings,
keeper of prints, described some of the special collections
of the Library and suggested that a project group of
associates volunteers, under staff guidance, could carry
out surveys that would describe and report on the Li-
brary's diversified children's book collections or the vari-
ous theater collections. Mrs. Eldredge and Mrs. Howe
began visiting the special collections departments to see
the kind and variety of the collections, before such a
volunteer group is established.

22 City Document No. 15

The associates and members of the Charlotte Cushman
Club celebrated the opening of the Charlotte Cushman
Room on November 8, 1974, with talks by Mrs. Charles
Innes, president of the club, and William Morris Hunt.

One of the major events sponsored by the associates
in the past year was the Serge Koussevitzky dedication
program consisting of a lecture followed by a reception.
Speakers, honoring the famed Boston Symphony Con-
ductor, were Mr. Richard Burgin and Mr. Aaron Cop-
land. The dedication program formally opened the
Serge Koussevitzky Exhibition Room. Mrs. Olga Kous-
sevitzky, who was present, was appointed honorary
curator of the Koussevitzky collection. The Kousse-
vitzky Collection, donated by the widow of Serge Kous-
sevitzky, consists of his honorary degrees from eleven
colleges and universities, twenty awards and citations,
caricatures of Dr. Koussevitzky, programs, recordings,
books, and musical scores, as well as gifts of bowls,
vases, and other memorabilia presented to Dr. Kousse-
vitzky throughout his lifetime.

EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS REGIONAL
LIBRARY SYSTEM

The Eastern Massachusetts Regional Library System
provides service to the region's member libraries in adult,
young adult and children's services through its staff of
regional service librarians and operates with a plan of
service developed and approved by member libraries. As
a result of meetings held throughout the year to discuss
the plan of service, the regional office staff now also
provides services and resources in the areas of adminis-
trative and technical services. Michael Dygert, formerly
director of the Winthrop Public Library in Winthrop,
Massachusetts, joined the Eastern Regional staff as
regional services librarian for Administrative and Tech-
nical Services.

The EMRLS received LSCA (Library Services and
Construction Act) funds for additional programs as fol-
lows: $75,000 for reference collections; $100,000 for books
to strengthen circulating collections of the headquarters

Boston Public Library 23

Library with an emphasis on ethnic materials; and
$150,000 for audio-visual materials with an emphasis
placed on children's films. During the year there have
been improvements in regional audio-visual, film service.
Personnel provided by Eastern Regional staff and mem-
ber librarians conducted reference workshops on choosing
and ordering the reference books which were obtained
with LSCA funds.

PERSONNEL

Staff members have been primarily concerned with
professional duties within the context of regular library
programs and services ; yet some of the staff participated
in extracurricular professional activities. Lloyd Jameson,
coordinator of Government Documents and Newspapers,
participated in a panel presentation of the Federal Docu-
ments Conference held in Storrs, Connecticut, and Ellen
Eisenstein served as a Boston Public Library liaison per-
son and regularly attended the NELINET Task Force
on Government Documents. Theresa Cederholm at-
tended a seminar on Art Exhibition Catalogs in New
York City. Edwin Sanford attended the meetings of the
Organization of American Historians in Boston. Paul
McCallion attended the Institute on Library Services to
the Business Community, sponsored by the federal gov-
ernment. Y. T. Feng, assistant director, was awarded
an honorary degree. Doctor of Humane Letters, from
New England College.

John J. Connolly, associate director of the Library,
retired on December 31, 1974, after over fifty years of
dedicated service. On January 10, 1975, the Trustees
appointed Mr. Connolly as honorary keeper of the
Trustees' Library "as a pledge of our affection and
memory." A fund was also established in Mr. Con-
nolly's name to provide a lasting memorial of his many
contributions to the Boston Public Library.

On September 24, 1974, Alice E. Hackett, coordinator
of processing, retired from the Library after forty-six
years of service. Branch Librarian Geraldine Altman of
the Jamaica Pledn and Connolly Branch Libraries retired
on December 20, 1974, after many years of service to the

24 City Document No. 15

Library. Mildred C. O'Connor, coordinator of social
sciences, retired on June 18, 1975, after forty years at
the Library.

The Library was saddened by the death of Frank W.
Buxton, former trustee. Mr. Buxton was on the Board
of Trustees of the Public Library from 1928 to 1961, and
served longer than any other trustee. He died at the
age of ninety-six. Former Trustee Erwin D. Canham
and Trustee Sidney R. Rabb participated in the funeral
service ceremonies for Mr. Buxton.

A John M. Carroll Fund was set up in honor of the
late John M. Carroll, assistant director, to acquire ma-
terials relating to the history and culture of Boston.

At the eighth annual recognition ceremony for Library
employees who have completed twenty -five years of ser-
vice, the following staff members were honored: Arthur
Burke, Clifford L. Fay, Jeanne M. Hayes, William R.
Lewis, Ruth V. Marshall, Ellen M. Oldham, Euchd J.
Peltier, Sadie M. Rotondo.

PHILIP J. McNIFF,

Director, and Librarian.

Boston Public Library

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

Table 1. Circulation

BOOK CIRCULATION

25

Fiscal

Fiscal

Fiscal

1973

1974

1975

Central Library

787,046

1,047,926

1,122,148

Kirslein Business Bran

ch . 8,509

6,997

4,525*

Adams Street .

94,844

78,549

77,383

Allston

35,589

36,677

35,857

Bookmobile Service

237,188

160,581

129,072

Brighton

113,755

109,403

105,912

Charlestown .

44,704

43,004

44,677

Codman Square

52,169

41,258

35,566

Connolly .

40,660

38,397

39,433

]']ast Boston .

39,768

33,966

37,526

Egleston Square

27,403

25,066

28,004

Faneuil

38,633

35,373

35,940

Fields Corner .

102,801

90,879

90,604

Grove Hall

39,646

28,336

31,795

Hyde Park .

103,100

95,647

101,682

Jamaica Plain

58,355

52,619

52,387

Lower Mills .

44,507

39,084

36,754

Mattapan

34,602

34,551

31,308

Mt. Pleasant

18,500t

17,342

13,078

North End

30,656

25,582

28,214

Orient Heights

33,148

29,031

28,614

Parker Hill .

36,309

31,641

27,226

Roslindale

119,528

110,895

100,088

South Boston .

78,343

74,164

72,681

South End

32,333

31,708

31,138

Upharas Corner

54,641

50,245

51,736

Washington Village

2,573t

— t

— t

West End

62,360

53,755

56,656

West Roxbury

138,837

127,411

129,400

Hospital Library Servic

e 24,985

22,067

20,127

Multilingual .

18,148

17,043

24,821

Total, Branch Libraries

1,477,744

1,373,693

1,368,607

Total, Entire Library .

2,510,487

2,589,197

2,624,352

♦Ceased circulation of materials May, 1975.

tEstimated

JBrauch closed due to fire, August 12, 1972.

26

City Document No. 15
NON-BOOK CIRCULATION

Calendar
1973

Fiscal
1974

Fiscal
1975

Films and lilm strips
Recordings ....

33,891
135,608

36,414
121,329

40,012
139,560

Totals ....

169,499

157,743

179,572

VOLUMES SENT ON INTERLIBRARY LOAN

Fiscal
1973

Fiscal
1974

Fiscal
1975

Interlibrary loans

15,827

14,924

15,625

Table 2. Growth of the Library
BOOKS

Calendar
1973

Fiscal
1974

Fiscal
1975

General Library:
Volumes added .
Volumes withdrawn .

164,234

156,128
6,376

148,699
16,561

Total on hand

1,384,607

1,445,079

1,577,137

Research Library:
Volumes added .
Volumes withdrawn .

61,986
842

71,164
568

103,943
^10

Total on hand

2,137,946

2,182,736

2,286,649

Total book stock .

3,522,553

3,627,815

3,863,786

Boston Public Library
NON-BOOK MATERIALS

27

Calendar

Fiscal

Fiscal

1973

1974

1975

Films 5,267

5,416

5,623

Filmstrips

401

577

577

Recordings

169,255

179,371

196,787

Cassettes

4,366

11,945

14,352

Lantern slides

14,884

14,884

14,884

Negatives

2,130

2,130

2,130

Pictures .

426,426

426,426

426,426

Postcards

133,805

133,805

133,805

Prints and drawings

56,527

56,897

57,559

Projected books

178

178

178

Microcards

11,589

11,843

11,851

Microfiche (sheets)

221,714

237,719

268,522

Microfilm (reels) .

54,736

58,157

73,884

Microprints (boxes)

3,764

3,91Q

4,140

Aperture cards .... — ■

10,151

10,151

Table 3. Cataloging Statistics

Calendar
1973

Fiscal
1974

Fiscal
1975

Volumes processed
New titles cataloged

226,220
47,595

227,292
52,002

252,642
71,769

Original cataloging .
NUC cataloging
LC cataloging
Rare book cataloging

11,567
5,181

28,661
1,793

11,518

6,272

32,572

1,640

14,518
5,341

61,998
1,912

Films

Recordings ....
Cassettes ....

922
4,671
4,366

400
7,484
5,054

259
9,381

2,407

Table 4.

Binding

Calendar
1973

Fiscal
1974

Fiscal
1975

Volumes bound

55,500

54,500*

57,200*

^Estimate

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

28

3 9999 06315 049 2

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