Menino aims to take another bite out of the BPL

Great picture. I am sure we will soon see lots of creative, peaceful, memorable actions throughout all the "suspects" offices,and around the town, etc. I certainly hope so. Libraries are endangered all across the country and this is in fact a "crown" jewel, precious and soverign. Let's take this to the wall. The creators of this gem believed in "Free to All" and the library is amazingly accountable with its actions and millions have benefitted over last century-plus from the city-wide support services that have carefully evolved. There is no where else for working poor, young and retired to go for a little intellectual joy, "citizen-soothing" and civic education. Get out your "chainmail armor and shield." Here it comes. Do I smell books burning and money evaporating, and patrons not trusting this venerable institution? What a stink it is.

1) This is not the only example of misguided mayoral interference in the maintenance of Boston's cultural resources. At one point, several years ago, the mayor decided the grass was too dry in King's Chapel burying grounds, and--overriding informed conservatorial input to the contrary, including that of the then-coordinator for the city's Historic Burying Grounds Initiative--he insisted on a watering campaign that would make it a "green space" by Memorial Day of that year! This is bad for the colonial stones, encouraging algal and lichen growth, allowing moisture into cracks that expand and contract with changing temperatures, and increasing the likelihood of the (in some cases, newly re-set) stones' settling unevenly into the softened ground. Not only did it waste water, it was ahistorical: the original inhabitants let the herbage grow as it would, bringing in sheep as needed to keep the grass down. 2) As a user of the special collections at the BPL, I have been appalled at the light coverage of key service desks necessitated by staff cuts over the past several years. A few years ago I discovered that, to get a book that has arrived through interlibrary loan, the research desk librarian must go and find and then deliver the materials to the waiting patron (on top of all her/his other duties). There are not enough people to run the ILL program on a full time basis. I was impressed with the speed with which the service worked in spite of these constraints, The lead ILL librarian herself did the search and got the materials in time for me to convey the important points to my writing partner in France, who was preparing an article under deadline and could not see the book herself. 3) In addition, the Rare Books Room, also ably staffed by a tiny group, runs only on a M/F, 9/5 schedule. In contrast, most libraries owning important deposits as the BPL does include at least one late night and a few hours on Saturday mornings so that those who need more time with the manuscripts, or whose teaching and other work precludes their ability to get to the library during those hours, have research accessibility as well. And cataloguing for such collections must be done on an ongoing basis; staff cuts prevent such essential behind-the-scenes work as well. You would almost think this WASN'T Boston, the home of 100 schools and the Hub of the Universe of learning. The city has a responsibility to maintain its resources for others' use: this is not an appeal for the support of items used by the rich and famous. This concern springs from a desire to see those "bridge" resources that assist teachers, writers, researchers and others to interpret Boston's thick cultural values to the students, readers, new arrivants, and visitors the town attracts. I agree with the author that the dismissive, philistine attitude the mayor seems to show towards such things is dangerous and all too well hidden behind his aw-shucks mien. To deserve its reputation down the road, Boston needs to be mindful of the principles of wise curatorship of its cultural riches in the present. We are so lucky. But it will take wisdom to remain so.