Dear Boston Public Library Patron-

                  Recently, Boston Public Library President Leonard and the management announced that local branch libraries and librarians in distinct departments at the Central Branch would no longer have the ability to select the books for their branches and collections. A team of 4 people will be selecting all of the books for the entire library system.   Boston Public Library President David Leonard fully supports a plan that denies the existence of distinct neighborhood libraries in favor of one central collection warehoused in various branches. Under this plan, it will be the job of four librarians downtown to select and order all of the books for the entire Boston Public Library system. Boston is a diverse city with people from every corner of the globe and its library collections must reflect and respond to the needs and interests of diverse communities. Boston is also a city of neighborhoods and these neighborhoods have distinct needs and wants. Currently, over one hundred fully qualified librarians who work directly with families, researchers, local schools, and community groups, choose the books for their locations.

The Professional Staff Association AFT believes that the librarians who actually work with the public in our communities are much better suited to select the books for their branches and are also much more responsive to neighborhood needs and interests. We need a better collection development plan that will move the Boston Public Library forward toward greater equity, not backward. Please help us by sending the following point-and-click email to Library President David Leonard.

More details on their plan and how it is a disservice to Boston

Here is a link to the Boston Public Library’s Collection Development Plan:

http://bplpsa.info/contents/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FY21-Collections-Ordering-Plan-Finaldocx.pdf

Here is a point by point comparison between the two proposals:

http://bplpsa.info/contents/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Comparison-of-collection-proposals.pdf