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DISTINCTIVE
ASPECTS OF THE COLLECTION
The North End Branch Library's adult fiction collection offers the latest
best-sellers, romances, mysteries, classics, large-print fiction, books-on-tape and
more. The reference collection includes encyclopedias, college catalogs,
foreign-language dictionaries etc. The Branch maintains a popular non-fiction
collection, with lots of books on cooking, health, literature, personal finance and
computers. A small Italian-language collection is also available. The
children's collection includes a variety of books and media for all ages: picture books,
first readers, mysteries, fiction, non-fiction, biographies, reference and audio- and
video-cassettes. The North End Branch maintains a local history collection which is
mainly comprised of published monographs. The Branch recently acquired the archives of the
North End Union as a supplement to this collection, this collection has been moved to the Rare Books Department. The Branch also has a large
selection of popular magazines for adults, children and Italian-language readers. The Branch maintains subscriptions to several daily newspapers.
RECURRING
PROGRAMMING OFFERED
Preschool films are shown weekly throughout the year. Regularly scheduled preschool
story hours are offered from September to May. Please call or stop by for dates and
times. A Children's Summer Reading Program is offered every July and August. A
weekly lecture series for adults, as well as a monthly meeting of the book discussion
group, are offered during the period of October through May. During the summer
months, a weekly film festival is offered for adults. Internet orientations are
offered once a month, October through May.
SPECIAL
PROGRAMMING OFFERED
Lecture programs are typically offered in the fall or spring; lectures focus on topics of
local interest, including North End history. Summer reading programs are offered for
children. The Branch hosts the annual Mary U. Nichols Book Prize ceremony at which
book prizes are presented to graduating eighth-graders from St. John's School.
HISTORY
Originally established at 3A North Bennett Street in 1913, the North
End Branch was relocated to its present site in May 1965. The building
was designed by Carl Koch and Associates and was constructed by Peabody
Construction Company. The building is a simple, one-story structure
modeled after a Roman "villa". A courtyard, located
in the center of the building, is complemented with plants and a small
pool. The building's exterior is of red brick, and a wrought-iron
fence marks the perimeter. One of the outstanding features of the
building is a scale model of the Ducal Palace in Venice. Largely constructed
by Henrietta Macy before her death and completed by Louise Stimson
of Concord, Massachusetts, the diorama was donated to the Boston Public
Library by Nina C. Mitchell of Sheperdstown, West Virginia. The North
End Branch also boasts a white marble bas-relief of Dante Alighieri,
which was donated to the Central Library in 1913 and later removed
to the Branch.
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