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Mission
| "Library
of Last Recourse"
| Collections
| Departments
and Services
| Obtaining
Materials
The Library also provides quick reference over
the telephone. If you have further questions,
please call 617-536-5400.
Mission
Through its Research Library Services Program, the
Boston Public Library seeks to acquire, make
available, preserve, and service significant
research materials in all fields of knowledge. In
order to ensure that highly specialized research
collections and information are available, the
Library maintains professionally skilled staff and
in-depth resources in a variety of fields.
"Library
of Last Recourse"
As the only public research library in the
Commonwealth, the Library provides to residents a
host of services which are unavailable anywhere
else in Massachusetts. In 1972, the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts officially recognized the Boston
Public Library's unique role within the state and
designated the Library to serve as Library of Last
Recourse. As Library of Last Recourse the Library's
legal mandate includes the following objectives: 1)
to develop, maintain, and preserve comprehensive
collections of a research and archival nature to
supplement the library resources of the
Commonwealth, and 2) to provide to all citizens of
the Commonwealth access to the reference and
research collections of the Boston Public
Library.
Collections
These reference and research services represent a
variety of services and materials that include - in
addition to the basic book collection of over
6,000,000 volumes - microforms, electronic
databases, special collections, business
information services, research publications, and
other materials from around the world. The Library
maintains significant monograph and serial
collections in virtually every subject category;
special manuscript and archive collections in many
of these fields enhance general research
collections.
Departments
and Services
All Departments
of
the Research Library respond to telephone,
in-person, and mailed reference requests. In
addition to answering questions from individuals
and showing people how to use the resources of the
Library, Research Library staff regularly give
tours of their departments to school groups, other
librarians, and other organizations. Staff are also
responsible for the development of the collections
in their subject areas. This requires reading
publishers' announcements, review journals, looking
through Library of Congress galley cards, and being
familiar with the needs of the collections in order
to make selections of materials to be
purchased.
Obtaining
Materials
The Research Library collections are in closed
stacks and are non-circulating. Users fill out call
slips for materials they wish to see; staff
retrieve the materials and deliver them to the
users in the reading rooms. Anyone may use
materials in the Research Library by obtaining
either a library card (if a resident of
Massachusetts) or a courtesy card (if a
non-resident). There is no charge for either
card.
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