Boston Public Library

This place is the shit and it’s really pretty inside and the courtyard is nice too

It is very beautiful inside. But there are many tourists around. They were very loud and taking pictures with flash.
My husband and I did come there for our engagement pictures but we did get a permit papper and tried to stay away from study room area. s The outside is very beautiful and relaxing. I wish I could have my wedding here.

Excellent tour with Kathy Callahan. She was wonderful, knowledgeable and witty. The tour was free and took us through the artwork and history of the McKim building.

The architectural design of the Boston Public Library is absolutely outstanding. Established in 1848, it’s one of the oldest libraries in the states — truly a National Historical Landmark. This library is considered as one of the top 10 most beautiful libraries in the US. Loved the interior/​exterior designs, murals, and all other intricate details. If you’re in the area and have the opportunity to check out this gorgeous landmark, you simply should.

Boston Public Library may be on my top list of libraries that I’ve been to.
It’s beautiful… can I have my wedding there?
There’s a TON of seating available everywhere. New places to explore, different things to discover. This is such a large space, it’s awesome!
Only came here on my short visit to Boston, but its worth it to check it out!
Definitely stop by here for beautiful architecture and maybe a bit of studying if you are up for it!

The most beautiful library in New England.
Also, the first library to allow its citizens to borrow books and materials, a truly revolutionary concept at the time.

After far too many years of living in Boston and not visiting the BPL, I finally got myself on the Art + Architecture Tour and was completely blown away! My understanding is the tour is generally free, but I was in a large, private group so we each paid only $ 5 — trust me it was worth much, much more! Our volunteer docent, Jeffrey D., was phenomenal. Funny, sharp-​witted and respectful of our time without sacrificing information, who knew I would laugh so much on a tour of a library?! So much so that I was already planning my return visit a few days later when my family would be in town.
I might be paraphrasing, but J started off by dropping this knowledge bomb: the BPL is the oldest free circulating, municipally funded library in the country. Its Copley location is actually its 3^rd Boston home and has been since the late 1800’s. A number of historically significant names played a part in creating the BPL as we know it today, from architects to artists to writers to theologians to even our nation’s founders. I’ll spare you the specifics and allow your docent to do the talking (and because my memory is sh*t). Of note is of course the famed reading room, with its popularly photographed long wooden desks adorned with green reading lamps, but also the sometimes overlooked Sargent Gallery and my personal favorite, the Abbey Room and its murals of The Quest of the Holy Grail (probably my favorite because of my love for the Indiana Jones movies).
There is a lot to see and soak in. While I absolutely recommend taking the tour, you can also enjoy the BPL on your own either by self-​guided tour thanks to resources provided by the BPL, or for use as an actually library of course — to read, to study, to relax, almost anything goes. I look forward to many more visits in my future, particularly to the Courtyard Café for High Tea at some point. Stop in the next time you’re in the neighborhood!

This library always leaves me speechless (Mainly cause I’m not allowed to talk in the quiet areas)

We decided to take the art and architecture tour of the BPL prior to their annual Valentine’s Day tea. The tour was easy to arrange, you basically just show up in the front lobby of the BPL at the arranged time of the tour. Loved the tour and it gave me a greater appreciation for the BPL’s place in Boston history.
Husband and I then did the Valentine’s Day tea which was absolutely lovely. Great tea assortment and a classic service. The table settings are more
Modern so don’t expect a classic tea set. The tea sandwiches were delicious and my favorite part of the tea. The scones were smaller than I expected so a little disappointed there, but the doublecream and lemon curd were delicious!
Overall, a great experience and I would reccomend to anyone!

While I was visiting Boston, I was trying my best to get out as much as I could to see what the city had to offer. The book nerd in me was so glad someone on the T [I know, I actually spoke to someone] reminded about the Boston Public Library. Thank you, friendly stranger.
As a mid-​westener, I struggled a little with public transportation while in Boston but was pleased to find out that the T route I found online took me mere steps from the entrance to the library. Yay!
I was in no hurry and decided to wander as much as I could. I was pretty much in awe from the second I walked in, this building is gorgeous to look at and I loved that I could walk slowly through and no one seemed to mind. I never felt rushed or out of place. They had a few exhibits running, and I loved that they were free to explore.
I highly recommend visiting to look around, even if briefly! Also, I am very envious of all of you Boston residents who get to use this as their public library, SO MANY books in such a cool building!

Gorgeous building. i mean you can’t go wrong with the oldest public library in America and IT’S FREE.
The deco is classic, lots of art everywhere and a gorgeous courtyard that is peaceful and relaxing. A great place to walk in the summer time.
I did not have a chance to read any of the books they had but their selection is MASSIVE. Which makes this place not only appealing to the eye but also to the brain.
One thing I noticed is because it’s public and the Boston winters are cold you’ll find homeless people inside. This was not a problem by all means but was a bit surprising that they allowed them in.
If you’re in Boston you must visit it.

This is an absolutely gorgeous building and it’s quite nice to walk around and take a quick tour in it. There’s several rooms with beautiful paintings and intricate wooden ceilings that are a feast for the eyes and there’s really quite a lot to see here. I only stopped here for about a half hour, but I could tell that you could easily spend a few hours exploring here. Definitely stop by if you’re in the area and have the time!

Parts of the ceiling have similarity to the Congress library in dc. It’s beautiful. There’s daily tour but I didn’t have time to go. There r little snippets you could read about the mural.
There’s a beautiful garden outside & a café attached to the library too.

If you live in Boston and haven’t visited the BPL you are missing out. This library is a stunning architectural wonder. The marble staircases are straight out of a gothic fairytale. There are murals and works of art around every corner. And the library has rotating exhibits.
The courtyard during summertime makes the brutal Boston winters worth it. Grab a drink from the map room cafè and enjoy the outdoors.
The library itself has everything you could want, and if there’s a book or film they don’t have they’ll order it for you. Lots of great study rooms, there’s little nooks and crannies hidden throughout the building (these could be out of a Murakami novel, hidden rooms that are decrepit with age but have priceless paintings and librarians who actually scream instead of speaking softly).

All I can say, if you’ve never been, you have to come and see it for yourself. This library is mammoth. The new extension houses a huge collection of children’s book. Their courtyard man, it was just fantastic. It definitely makes you feel like you are in New England for sure. One of their rooms even has endless of tables with green lamps. Their stacks of books just went on and on. I even got a chuckle when I saw a book scanning for free, as long as you brought your own USB drive! What more can you ask for!
Until then, Cheers! ~ :p

This was a pretty cool place to stop. Somewhere I would normally not stop on my own but my friends wanted to experience the Boston public library. We had a really good time meandering the hallways, looking thru the exhibits, and gazing at the murals. But most entertaining had to be the awkward and very amusing college kids. This is a great touristy thing to do. Learn a little history and post some great pics on Instagram. We were never made to feel unwelcome just because our sole purpose was not to check out a book. Thanks for a great time Boston Public Library.

It reminds me of the castle in Beauty and the Beast. It’s that beautiful and grand. It’s also got an almost haunting feeling, maybe for all its history and echoing halls.
The courtyard is gorgeous and there’s a Courtyard Restaurant/​Café where you can have afternoon tea Wednesday thru Friday that I would love to check out. I creeped through the window and saw the interior is naturally lit with a clean minimalistic design.
But my favorite part of the library is the Maps Collection. There are tiny little chairs and spaces for young children to read, play with puzzles, study the globe… There are pop-​up books on display here as well. And the best part, there are fantasy maps based on famous fictional stories. Some illustrated maps included are those for Neverland, Marauder’s Map from Harry Potter, Hundred Acre Wood from Winnie the Pooh, and so much more.
The popular study room with the green desk lamps is always packed. There are plenty other rooms to study or do homework, just go look for them.
Take your time and the explore. It’s like a library, art museum, castle combo! Don’t worry about getting lost. Rooms are labeled from the outside and directories on every floor.

I could not get over the beauty of this library when I was visiting Boston! The fact that you can roam around this library for free is fantastic. My husband and I spent close to 2 hours roaming around and visiting the exhibits that they had in place. As someone from the NE who currently lives in Texas, I can truly appreciate the history and architecture of this building. Buildings like this simply do not exist down south.
My husband and I really loved the map exhibit. It was so interesting and if we hadn’t been hungry, we would have stayed even longer. Thank you for an enchanting afternoon, BPL!

One of the prettiest libraries I’ve been to. The library offers a daily (free) tour at different times day to day which I highly recommend. The tour itself can be a little long (2 hours+) but you can leave at any time. Tons of history here – the murals cover the second floor and each have a story behind them. There are also engravings on the entrance doors that represent a different virtue (e.g. wisdom, etc.).
The courtyard is perfect for photos as well as their study room on the second floor. Interestingly enough, the architect of this library also designed/​built my alma mater’s library at Columbia University in New York. No wonder it looked familiar!

Tourist review, not a functional user review.
A local friend mentioned in passing that we should check out the Boston Public Library as it was very photogenic. Understatement of the year. Not knowing anything about it or what I was walking into, I was blown away. This is a beautiful building. Frankly, the photos I took will do an infinitely better job than any further words I can add here. This is a do not miss spot in Boston.

I’m a book fanatic, and avid reader and a library freak. I love visiting stately libraries in older cities: the architecture, the artwork, the landscaping of grounds (amazing in some cities), and the books. Oh the books. How I love them so.
With all this in mind, I recently brought my two teen kids here to show them this gorgeous library and hopefully infuse my love for books into these two typical high-​schoolers. It was 4:30pm or so on a gorgeous hot August day. (Years ago, I lived in Boston and I always loved this place. It was my little haven in the city). I wished I had planned our visit here better, but I figured I could still show my kids a lot of this place in 30 minutes’ time.
There was a lot of construction being done on the building, and the scaffolding and dust and noise kinda broke the subdued atmosphere of serenity of yore. But the newer sections (including the children’s library and a tech area full of computers) looked amazing. Most of all, I wanted to show my kids the older areas of the building, and we started to wander about, finding ourselves by the courtyard (as gorgeous as I recall it). The problem is, three library staff folks along the way kept telling us «The library is closing, the library is closing» (reminiscent of «The British are coming, the British are coming!»), as they unceremoniously tried to shoo us out. Hey, it wasn’t 5pm yet! It was 4:45pm at the time. What gives?
We saw they were setting up tables for an event, and outside the front doors, a wedding party was posing on the steps, taking photographs. It became clear to me that the library staff was shoo-​ing out folks in the building to clear it out for this wedding party (and doing so prematurely, too).
Not cool.

Despite renovations, the library was quite impressive. We entered from Boylston and my first view was from the modern area of the library. There was scaffolding that rose next to the stairs.
As we ventured further, we stumbled upon different old and ornate rooms, quite stunning.
They have a room with marionettes on display. Massive marble hallways, ceilings vaulted to the sky, fireplaces that we can stand in.
They have a rare book collection room where the books are locked behind glass to preserve their delicates pages.
There is an outdoor courtyard with shaded seating beneath covered halls.
Every turn led to another, fun for exploring. A quiet destination for admiring architecture and aging books.

The McKim Building of the BPL is quite possibly one of my favorite places in the city as a place to visit and a place to work in. I was fortunate enough to have worked inside the building for two years back when I was a college student with a minor in art history. This is a must visit for any architecture and art history student. (Unless, of course, you’ve been to the Bibliothèque Sainte-​Geneviève that McKim drew inspiration from. But if you’re not going to France anytime soon, this is your best bet.)
As other reviewers have mentioned, they do offer tours and I highly recommend that you take one of those in order to truly appreciate the history of the building as well as the many beautiful pieces of art inside. I have not taken one myself, but out of my two years working there, I have overheard plenty of tour guides during my breaks. (Yes, I roamed the building even while on break. There is always something to see there! From time to time they have exhibitions, which is perfect for when you want to kill time.) They are quite knowledgeable and the tours are usually short, perfect for people fitting multiple places on their itinerary in a single day.
Do stop by the courtyard and take a seat. Bask in the view. While you’re at it, they do have a café and a restaurant onsite so you can grab a quick bite. The restaurant does offer afternoon tea but you need to book in advance.

Beautiful library! I came in search of drug deals in the bathrooms by hobos but was greeted by a beautiful interior with lots of marble and wood. The main library is actually quiet with lots of people studying on a sunday. Their book selection should be bigger which I expected. The exterior is just as nice with old stone but with hobos laying around. It’s an easy walk to restaurants around the area. Overall, I’d study here if I were a library person.

Ode to the BPL
How do I share or express
my undying love of books
and my equal appreciation
of the majesty and calm of Bates Hall,
or the contrasting quiet of the courtyard
early in the morning and late in the evening
with the bustling midday lunchdates, tourists,
wedding photographers & their subjects
and the children running round and round the square fountain?
Let’s not forget all the free events including the summer Courtyard Concerts!
Fridays are a bonus when the Farmer’s Market is in season!
Feeling the need a quick snack?
Well, the Map Room Café will do just fine!
Perhaps you’d prefer the more refined ambience
of the the Courtyard Restaurant and take in the afternoon tea service?

Die Bosten Library ist in einem imposanten Gebäude untergracht. Die Wandmalereien und die Marmorarbeiten geben neben dem eigemtlichen Thema der Libray eine ganz besondere Atmosphäre.

Le bâtiment est remarquable par sa taille et son architecture. Passés les contrôles de sûreté, vous entrez dans le temple du livre et de la connaissance. Plus de 5 millions de livres y sont conservés. Films, expositions temporaires, programmes pour enfants, de quoi passer agréablement quelques heures en cas de mauvais temps ou de grand froid.