State Library and Kirstein Branch of the BPL

On Friday, the reference staff took tours of the State House Library and the Business Branch of the Boston Public Library. It was an extremely informative day, and made us all familiar with more resources that we can offer patrons.

• The State House Library is a resource library available to state employees, as well as a law and research library for the public. Bills that are introduced in the state legislature are available in hard bound editions, and there is information on most of the Massachusetts communities. Although most of the Waltham resources are the same that we have here, this library is wonderful if one needs resources for multiple communities. This is also a great place to go for genealogists. The library is home to the Zimmer index which compiled a catalog of where to find information on a variety of names. The library also has three print versions of Massachusetts laws (we have one version), as well as a variety of other writings regarding Massachusetts law and politics. There is also a special section for the Massachusetts Book Awards, as well as any books related to politics. (I believe I spied a copy of Elizabeth Edwards's new book). While many of the reference books are open stacks, there are several books in the closed stack area. This area reminded me so much of my hometown library when I was a page. I always felt as if I were in a real library when I shelved many moons ago. There is also a large television which broadcasts live sessions of the Massachusetts House and Senate. When the courts are not in session, the television broadcasts images of artifacts from the special collections. And speaking of special collections, that was the last stop of our tour. (well, the last stop was actually when we broke the staff bathroom in the state house, but that's another story) The special collections houses a variety of archival material, including Sanborn Fire maps, and other historic maps. City directories are also included in this collection. There is also a preservation area, in which staff do their own preserving of materials which are damaged due to water, etc. The woman who showed us the special collections actually teaches library preservation classes, which would be really interesting. Some of the materials which are considered extremely valuable are kept in other places, out of reach of the elements destroying them.
  
• The Kirstein Branch of the Boston Public Library is located on City Hall Avenue, very close to the Financial District. Walking into that library was like taking a step back in time, in a good way. It looked just like a research library out of a movie, complete with tables with patrons looking at strewn out papers, etc. The downstairs area is full of nothing but directories, as well as some financial newsletters, and stock information. They have historical stock information dating back many years which is especially important for our patrons. There are historical stock quotes online, however, if a company has changed names, it is almost impossible to find information. It's good to know that we can at least refer them to the Kirstein Branch to get this information. The library houses directories of pretty much any subject. Want to see a listing of all of the foreign companies that have branches in the United States? That's there. (and quite large, I might add). Want to see a directory regarding baking or snack production? Look at The Baking Snack/Directory and Buyers' Guide. My personal favorite was Who's Who in the Egg and Poultry Industries in the United States and Canada. Upstairs was where patrons could use the Internet, as well as view copies of books on a variety of statistics and studies. There is also a career reference section, and periodicals for pretty much every industry. There were also a variety of books helpful to small business owners, which Jan pointed out would be good for our collection. One of the more interesting studies at the library was a book entitled, American Time Use: Who Spends How Long at What. There is also an extensive list of business databases. You can access many of these at home, by applying for an online BPL card. Or if you're there in person, get an actual BPL card, like Todd and I did. The Kirstein Branch also offers a variety of programs. One that really piqued my interest was "Career Wednesdays" in which counselors from Jewish Vocational Services offer free career counselling, by appointment for a half hour.

Thanks again for all of the librarians who took the time out of their busy schedules to make us aware of just two more examples of public libraries.