Month: November 2021

Massachusetts Libraries Receive Prestigious Architectural Awards

The Woburn Public Library on a snowy night.
Woburn Public Library – Photo courtesy Andrea Bunker

By Lauren Stara, Library Building Specialist at the MBLC

Public library buildings are civic hubs and as such, they are often designed to serve as enduring symbols of public good. They are opportunities to demonstrate community values in the built environment. The Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program focuses on functionality and efficiency of library designs, but it’s a fact that inspiring and beautiful buildings are ones that people want to visit again and again.

For a library building, an architectural award is something to celebrate. This year, Massachusetts public libraries have received an unprecedented FIVE awards from the American Institute of Architects’ New England Chapter, and two of those buildings also received national recognition, receiving awards from the joint committee of the American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association.

2021 AIA/ALA Building Awards

  • Boston Public Library – Roxbury Branch / Utile, Inc Architecture and Planning
  • Cambridge Public Library – Valente Branch / William Rawn Associates Architects

2021 AIA New England Design Awards

  • Best of the Boston Society of Architects
    • Woburn Public Library / CBT Architects
  • Honor Awards
    • Woburn Public Library / CBT Architects
    • Boston Public Library – Roxbury Branch / Utile, Inc Architecture and Planning
  • Merit Awards
    • King Open Schools Complex, which includes the Cambridge Public Library – Valente Branch / William Rawn Associates Architects
    • Eastham Public Library / Oudens Ello Architecture
  • Citation
    • Norwell Public Library / Oudens Ello Architecture

All of these buildings received funding from the MBLC through the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program, and we add our congratulations to all these libraries and their architects.

New Salem Public Library Offers Racial Justice Programming for Small Rural Communities

On Tuesday, November 9, New Salem Public Library offered its third program in a series on Racial Justice issues from a small, rural community perspective.  The 7 pm ZOOM presentation explored “What is Systemic Racism and How Do We Dismantle It.”

“Planning for the Racial Justice series began after the nationwide protests in the summer of 2020,” explained Library Trustee, Judy Northup-Bennett. “The Trustees wanted to examine more closely our country’s racial history and how our Northeastern rural communities fit into this story. We could no longer say that it’s a problem somewhere else. The Trustees decided to offer programs and book discussions to help people living in small, homogeneous towns better understand our roles in all of this.”

Alpana Chhibber of Molina Consulting helped participants understand the roots of systemic racism in our country, and how this led to the creation of segregated cities and towns. The presentation examined specific case studies which have had devastating effects on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) people as well long-lasting effects on White communities. Participants left the 1 ½ hour ZOOM presentation with a better understanding of how systemic racism has worked over the years as well as specific strategies for dismantling it that will empower them to make changes in their communities. The program is supported by a grant from the New Salem Academy.

Alpana Chhibber is a lead facilitator for Molina Consulting of Baltimore, offering national diversity, equity and inclusion training programs. She currently serves as the Middle School Dean of Students at the Park School of Baltimore. She received counseling and facilitator training from the Stanley King Institute, the Kingswood Oxford Leadership Institute for Educators of Color, and Facilitating for Racial Justice.  She has a BA from York College, PA, and Master degrees in Global Studies and Teaching from SUNY Albany and Union Graduate College.

This program will be followed on Monday, November 15 with a 7 pm ZOOM book discussion of “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson, author of “The Warmth of Other Suns.”  Wilkerson documents the political and economic systems in our nation since the first African slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619 that led to our 400-year caste stem.  She compares this to other historic caste systems.

For more information, visit the New Salem Public Library Facebook page.

Boston Celtics display original championship banners for first time in 26 years at Boston Public Library

Boston Celtics fans can take a step back through history with a visit to the Boston Public Library, where the 17-time NBA champions’ legendary original victory banners are out of storage and on display to the public for the first time in 26 years.

Read more from the Boston Herald