The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (est.1890) is a
state agency
A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government
The machinery of government (sometimes abbreviated as MoG) is the interconnected structures and proc ...
that supports
libraries
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
in
. The governor appoints each commissioner. The current board consists of librarians, academics and
library trustees: Carol B. Caro, Mary Ann Cluggish, George T. Comeau, Mary Kronholm, Frank Murphy, Roland Ochsenbein, Janine Resnik, Gregory J. Shesko, and Alice M. Welch.
History
The agency originated as the Massachusetts Free Public Library Commission "to encourage the establishment of libraries by direct aid and to give advice relating to the maintenance and administration of libraries" in
. It was the first of its kind in the United States. In 1890, the board consisted of Caleb Benjamin Tillinghast,
Samuel Swett Green
Samuel Swett Green (February 20, 1837 – December 8, 1918) was a founding figure in America’s public library movement.
Considered by many to be the "father of reference work", laying the groundwork for widespread reform within the field, he o ...
, Henry Stedman Nourse,
Elizabeth Putnam Sohier, and
Anna E. Ticknor.
Elizabeth Putnam Sohier and
Anna Eliot Ticknor
Anna Eliot Ticknor ( Boston, Massachusetts, June 1, 1823 – October 5, 1896) was an American educator, who launched the first correspondence school in the United States, and pioneered public libraries in Massachusetts.
Distinction
In 1873, Tick ...
became the first women appointed to a United States state library agency when they were appointed to the agency in 1890. Other early members of the commission included Mabel Simpkins Agassiz, Anna Sears Amory, Deloraine P. Corey.
In its first years of existence, the board accomplished significant fulfillment of its mission. In 1890 "105 towns in the Commonwealth were without a free public library. Twenty years later, in 1910, every city and town, with one exception, had a library of its own."
The name of the agency changed in 1952 from the "Massachusetts Board of Free Public Library Commissioners" to the "Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners." As of the 1990s it was "responsible for library development and resource sharing." As of 2010, "the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners is the agency of state government with the statutory authority and responsibility to organize, develop, coordinate and improve library services throughout the Commonwealth. The Board also strives to provide every resident of the Commonwealth with full and equal access to library information resources regardless of geographic location, social or economic status, age, level of physical or intellectual ability, or cultural background." It operates from offices in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
's
North End.
MBLC website
Retrieved 2010-12-29
See also
* Massachusetts Library System, funded by MBLC
* . (Various documents).
* List of public libraries in Massachusetts
This is a list of public libraries in Massachusetts, USA.
The majority (but not all) of the libraries without a consortium link, in the following counties, belong to:
*Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex and Worcester - C/W MARSb ...
* Public library movement
References
Further reading
Issued by the Commission
* Annual reports
v.1-8
(1891-1898)
v.9
(1899)
v.10-18
(1900-1908)
v.19-24
(1909-1914)
v.25-27
(1915-1917)
v.28-51
(1918-1940)
1998-present
* C.B. Tillinghast
The free public libraries of Massachusetts
1891.
General library legislation of Massachusetts
798-1890 ca.1891.
* Henry Stedman Nourse, ed. Free public libraries of Massachusetts. 9th Report of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts. Boston: Wright & Potter, 1899
Google books
* Zaidee Brown
Directions for the librarian of a small library
rev. ed. 1911.
* John Foster Carr. What the library can do for our foreign-born. 1913
* Alice G. Chandler
Country library versus the donor and the architect
Boston: 1915.
Jane Maud CampbellSelected list of Russian books
Compiled for the Massachusetts Free Public Library Commission. American Library Association Publishing Board, 1916.
Free public library buildings of Massachusetts
a roll of honor, 1918. Boston: Wright & Potter, 1919
About the Commission
* "Books for the masses: success of free libraries in Massachusetts; their establishment encouraged by gift of money from the state - only 53 towns unprovided - work of the Free Library Commission." New York Times, Jan. 30, 1893
* Thurston Taylor. Review of Verschoor and Bundy's Regional Library Systems Development in Massachusetts: A Report of an Investigation with Recommendations (Boston: Massachusetts Division of Library Extension, 1963). In: Library Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1965), pp. 68–69.
* Patricia Nealon. Libraries welcome release of state funds; cramped, aging facilities await work. Boston Globe, Aug 26, 1990. pg. 1
* Sandy Coleman. Underfunded libraries losing grants Unable to meet state budget standards, towns face decertification and loss of aid. Boston Globe, Feb 16, 1992. pg. 1
* Alison O'Leary Murray. Libraries await decisions by state board. Boston Globe, Jan 28, 2007. pg. 4
* Kathleen Burge. State's grants elude libraries; Some did, some couldn't; Communities find matching funds are casualties of recession economy. Boston Globe, Nov 18, 2010. pg. 1
External links
* . (Various documents).
{{authority control
1890 establishments in Massachusetts
History of Massachusetts
Public libraries in Massachusetts
State agencies of Massachusetts
Organizations established in 1890