Boston PL Opens First New Branch
in Two Decades
The Boston Public Library cut the ribbon June 16 on the first new branch it has built in more than 20 years—and the neighborhood of Allston got its first public library since 1981, when the previous branch fell victim to a state tax–limiting initiative.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino did the honors, saying, “Libraries are the life of a community. . . . I am proud to open this branch today knowing the benefits it will bring to the Allston neighborhood for generations to come.”
The new 20,000-square-foot, one-story library cost $6.85 million to build and furnish and is the BPL’s 27th branch. One of its striking features is the Children’s Reading Garden, in an open-air courtyard beneath a 75-year-old beech tree that was protected during construction. The site was donated by Harvard University.
In the June 21 Boston Globe, architecture correspondent Robert Campbell called the new library “a delight . . . the best new public building in Boston in years.” The library was designed by Machado and Silvetti of Boston.
Posted June 25, 2001.
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