Featured
BPL Celebrates National Native American Heritage Month
Oct 31, 2024
BPL’s observance of National Native American Heritage Month includes new booklist and special events
Native Lives, Native Stories 2024
This list is part of the Boston Public Library's annual observance of Native American Heritage Month, since 2021.
Charlestown Book Group: The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Nov 14th | 6:30pm - 7:30pm
This month, we’re reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich.
Radical Reads: A Grandmother Begins the Story
Nov 14th | 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Online Event
Radical Reads is an online book club focusing on literature that critiques and challenges current feminist topics.
Popular at the BPL
Newspapers Available Online
Explore our collection of online newspapers, historical and current, local and international, specific and wide-interest.
Genealogy at the Boston Public Library
We have many resources including databases. guides, events, and newspapers to help you research the history of your family.
Job & Career Success!
We've compiled all of our resources for finding a job, developing career skills, education and certification programs, and more.
Your Library Card
Your library card is your passport to technology, literacy, fluency, community, and so much more.
Revolutionary Music
Revolutionary Music will use a combination of programs from BPL's collections to celebrate music's rich history of catalyzing social change.
“Portrait of Purpose”: Artist Photographer Don West
Nov 6th - Nov 25th | All day
The “Portrait of Purpose” exhibit encompasses 30 years of Boston’s most celebrated leaders.
Library Exhibition Examines the Rise of Computer Mapping
Aug 20, 2024
Processing Place: How Computers and Cartographers Redrew our World opens at BPL's Leventhal Map & Education Center on September 13, 2024.
Dale Savit — Photography and Painting: Crossing Over
Nov 4th - Dec 20th | All day
Dale Savit began his artistic journey doing a jewelry apprenticeship in his hometown of Chicago.
Get a Boston Public Library Card Today
Your library card is your passport to technology, literacy, fluency, community, and so much more.
LOTE4Kids App
Kids can enjoy thousands of picture books in more than 70+ languages, including sign language, with English translations.
SkillMill
SkillMill offers maintenance & skilled trades training courses online in HVAC, plumbing, solar, and electrical and appliance repair.
LawDepot
LawDepot allows you to create your own personalized legal documents specific to your state/province and personal situation.
LinkedIn Learning
Take business, tech, and creative courses online, taught by recognized industry experts.
Crane Museum of Papermaking
Dartmouth St. and Boylston St. sides, construction of the McKim Building
BPL McKim Building Construction Photos
Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts
Two leaves from the Beauvais Missal
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts
In memory of Mrs. Phebe Parker
American Revolution Gravestone Rubbings
WHDH Collection
WHDH Local News from the 1960s
Finding Comfort & Strength: 16 Fiction Titles
Borrow one of these titles today and find comfort in the strength of these characters to keep going through the darkness.
Fighting Fascism
Check out these books examining history of fascism and resistance to it, as well as how these movements manifest today.
Having Tough Conversations
These books will show you how to have empathetic conversations focused on curiosity and learning about our fellow humans.
Blog Posts
Folk music star and activist Joan Baez
The folk music star and activist Joan Baez was born on January 9, 1941, in Staten Island, New York.
Libby by OverDrive
eBooks, audiobooks, & magazines available for download to your computer or mobile device. To read on your tablet or phone use the Libby app.
hoopla
Movies, TV shows, music, eBooks, and comics for online streaming or download to mobile devices, with no waiting lists. 7 items per month.
biblio+
With biblio+, library card holders have unlimited access to an ad-free catalog of movies, TV shows, and documentaries on many devices.
Kanopy
Kanopy includes acclaimed movies and documentaries on-demand from award-winning filmmakers. Each month BPL patrons receive 18 tickets.
For Kids
Find content for kids of all ages. The Boston Public Library has many resources, events, and much much more.
Kids Carousal
Join a Story Time!
Check out our upcoming Story Times for your little ones on the events calendar!
Literacy
Your BPL card opens doors for kids to learn to love reading. Children from birth to kindergarten can join the Future Readers Club.
Online Resources for Kids
Discover our online resources for kids. We have encyclopedic resources, resources for reading and for language learning. Learn more here.
For Teens
Find content for teens of all ages. The Public Library has many resources, events and much much more.
Teens Carousal
BPL Teen Galahad Creative Writing Contest
This contest is open to teens ages 12-17, grades 6th to 12th grade. The deadline is Monday, January 20, 2025.
Browse Boston Public Library's New Zine Collection
Come check out our new collection of more than 945 zines (300+ unique titles)! A zine is a small, independently-produced publication.
Gale Presents: Peterson's Test Prep
Search thousands of college and graduate schools, identify scholarships, take practice tests, and use test prep eBooks.
Business & Career Success
BPL offers many resources and events for job seekers, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, investors, makers, and more.
Business & Career Success Carousal
Kirstein Business Library & Innovation Center Alcoves
Patrons and groups of up to 6 can book a KBLIC Alcove for work or other tasks which may not be accomplished in other areas of the library.
Business Online Resources
Explore our many business online resources including databases, newspapers, periodical indexes, and directories.
Community Learning
The Community Learning Center can help with citizenship, immigration, English classes, adult education, technology, job success, and more.
Business & Career Success Carousal
Building Digital Literacy Skills
Nov 14th | 5:00pm - 6:30pm
This workshop will explore ways to help fight misinformation, build digital citizenship skills, and learn tools to identify accurate info.
Excel Adult High School: Earn a High School Diploma
Earn an accredited high school diploma with our free, self-paced, 100% online, education program.
Research
Research Services staff can assist you with finding collections for your use, whether for the casual learner, for formal education support, or for scholarly research.
Research Carousal
Researching Black History at the BPL
This is a BPL staff guide on researching Black history in the U.S. at the BPL and beyond.
Researching at the Boston Public Library
This guide can help you get started researching at the Boston Public Library.
Special Collections
The Special Collections Department facilitates discovery and fosters public engagement with rare, distinctive, and culturally significant materials held by Boston Public Library.
Special Collections Carousal
Art & Architecture
Explore the Central Library's gorgeous architecture through our Art & Architecture pages — or in person on a tour!
Archives
The Archives Department manages, describes, and makes accessible archival collections within the BPL Special Collections department.
The Summer Olympics: A Very Short History
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be held in Paris from July 26-August 11.
Researching Your House
Resources for researching questions such as how old your house is, who the architect was, how to find plans of your house, and more.
Boston's Annexed Towns and Some Neighborhood Resources
Boston is a city of neighborhoods, an amalgamation of towns that were annexed in the 19th and early 20th century.
Departments at the BPL
Kids
Kids
Get homework help assistance in multiple languages at over half of our locations and online, join the Future Readers Club, and more!
Teens
Teens
We have events, online resources, spaces across our BPL locations, and more specifically for teens.
Community Learning Center
Community Learning Center
The Community Learning Center can help with citizenship, immigration, English classes, adult education, technology, job success, and more.
Kirstein Business Library & Innovation Center (KBLIC)
Kirstein Business Library & Innovation Center (KBLIC)
KBLIC invites media creators, innovators, job seekers, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, investors, coders, and makers to its space.
Reader Services
Reader Services
Our Reader Services team is knowledgeable about new books, trends in publishing, and helping readers find what they should read.
Research Services
Research Services
Research Services staff can assist you with finding collections for your use, for formal education support, scholarly research, and more.
Leventhal Map & Education Center
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center
The Map Center uses maps, geography, and history to explore the connections between places and people in Boston, New England, and beyond.
Special Collections
Special Collections
The Special Collections Department fosters public engagement with rare, distinctive, and culturally significant materials held by BPL.
Special Events
Special Events
The Special Events staff looks forward to helping you plan your event. Contact us for more info, date availability, or to arrange a visit.
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