Boston Public Library – Faneuil Branch

I love the library! It is small but the collection is varied and the librarians are the BEST! I was so glad to move back to Boston and this was one of the top reasons.

Wow, this place is tiny! Even smaller than it looks from outside. Still, I can’t say much bad about a library, especially one in a very residential area of Brighton that lacks many other conveniences. Great resource in the community!

Kinda small but a good place for studying if you don’t mind the loud a/​c. On a positive note, they have a/​c.

Nothing glamorous about my library, but it’s 2 blocks away from me and has a really good selection and free computer access! :)
If you want to print stuff it’s cheap but not high quality — i believe 15 cents per sheet.
Also, using the online BPL system you can order books from any library and get them from your specific branch… mmm peaceful bookworm glory.

This branch certainly pales in comparison to some other libraries around: it’s cramped, small and homey. But what it lacks in ambience, it makes up for with friendly employees and walls of enticing books.
Despite living here for the past few years, my wallet boasted library cards for Newton, Denver and Bailey-​Howe on UVM’s campus. Not the most accessible libraries for a gal living in Brighton. When I started eyeing my younger brother’s college texts for want of something to read, I knew it was time to bite the bullet and get a damn library card. The process took about two minutes in person and I was free to borrow, borrow, borrow!
About eight minutes after having originally set foot in the library, I was out the door with a stack of books and every intention of clearing my social calendar for the next week. (Hey, I like to read, don’t judge.)
The selection is limited only by the space and the three dominant sections are children’s, non-​fiction and fiction. I spend most of my time in the non-​fiction, but the variety in genre is huge. Travel books, novels, texts, guidebooks, biographies, self-​enrichment, self-improvement…not bad.
I most certainly will be back, and not solely because I am obligated to return my books. (Which I was reminded to do with an automatic email.)
If you are a resident of Brighton and enjoy reading, certainly make time to visit this branch.

The first time I stepped inside the Art Deco Faneuil Branch of the Boston Public Library, I flashed back to the scene from «The Time Machine» where clocks’ hands sped backwards, and the days and months of calendars flipped deeper and deeper into the past. The elderly librarians presiding over the reading room from their center island made eye contact with me and smiled. When was the last time a public employee did anything but scowl? I was so astonished I wasn’t sure how to respond but I nodded and tried to look as if I belonged. I was sure I had «outlander» scrawled across my face in bold, black ink.
I cautiously turned toward the fiction section and browsed the shelves – nothing special, just the usual run of bestselling novels and the standard high-​school English classics, but that much was unsurprising. I’m sure the collection serves the community adequately, and between
and inter-​branch requests, does any lending library need more than the most popular titles? I pulled a recent Michael Chabon novel off a shelf, sat down in one of the upholstered wing chairs near the piano (yes, the piano) opened the book and surreptitiously watched the activity around me. It seemed as if most of the patrons were known to the librarians, who quietly spoke a few words to everyone with obvious familiarity. I couldn’t hear the conversations, however, even in this small, high-​ceilinged space because people used tones actually resembling whispers! For years, I’ve been used to libraries with decibel levels approaching those of a Greyhound Bus station and to hear such quiet was jarring. Unlike Starbucks, the only other place to sit around for an hour doing nothing, I decided I could actually read in a place like this. If only this library were a bit closer to home, I’d stop in for an hour every Saturday.
Putting aside the friendly librarians and the relative silence, the best part of the Faneuil Branch is that the building’s 1930s interior details have not been obliterated by the «modernizing» influence of small-​minded bureaucrats who insist that public buildings must stay «relevant» so they can appeal to ever-​dumber generations of citizens. The high plaster ceiling has not been replaced by an acoustic drop ceiling. The windows still open – or would if they weren’t screwed shut. The built-​in bookshelves look original. (Did I see portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln hanging on the walls instead of a poster of Barbara Bush reading a picture book surrounded by Muppets? I must have been dreaming.) I’m glad computers are part of our world and I’d never give mine up but it was nice to see them relegated to a room in the back, and the sight of polished oak tables and Windsor chairs unspoilt by flickering monitors, snaking wires and the incessant tap-​banging of fingers on keyboards.
I was going to write that I’m not sure why I like this place so much but, of course, that’s not true. I know exactly why I like it. This tiny public library is a place out of time. In the unlikely event you find yourself in Brighton’s Oak Square stop in and pretend you still live in an America where leafy trees line the sidewalks; parents allow their usually well-​behaved children to leave home without fear of abduction; public facilities are cared for and allowed to show a bit of style; and librarians aren’t afraid to tell you to pipe the hell down.