Happy Fourth of July! 🎆 Celebrate by visiting the Boston Public Library's major exhibition, Declarations: Printing a New Nation! For the first time ever, the BPL's eight rare printings of the Declaration of Independence are on public display together.

This first-edition copy of The New-England Psalm-Singer (1770), the first collection of music composed and printed by an American composer, William Billings, in the Boston Public Library's Special Collections, was preserved through Associates-funded conservation.

In honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Boston Public Library's Special Collections will present a one-day display exploring foundational texts of American democracy alongside documents from the past 250 years that reflect ongoing struggles for equality.

Thank you to everyone who made our 8th Pierce Performance Series, We Hold These Truths, at the Boston Public Library such a memorable evening.

Join the 2025-2026 Boston Public Library Special Collections’ Surfacing Overlooked Stories fellow Aabid Allibhai’s public talk, "Belinda Sutton's Appeal,” this Monday, June 29, from 6-7 PM at Rabb Hall at the Central Library. Reserve free tickets: https://ow.ly/nREB50Zh9QT

Join us for a charitable shopping promotion at Ralph Lauren (93-95 Newbury St), STARTING TODAY! Mention the Associates of the Boston Public Library at the time of your purchase to ensure that 10% of the purchase price will be donated towards our mission today, June 26, and tomorrow, June 27! 🛍️

Please join us for a charitable shopping event at Ralph Lauren (93-95 Newbury St) on Friday, June 26, and Saturday, June 27! Mention the Associates of the Boston Public Library at the time of your purchase to ensure that 10% of the purchase price will be donated towards our mission 🛍️

Happy Father's Day to all the amazing dads! Here’s a 1925 photo from the Boston Public Library Leslie Jones Collection titled “Father of thirteen needs a lot of shoes” 👞

On Juneteenth, we commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. This broadside from the 1800s resides in the BPL's Anti-Slavery Collection and reflects the voices of abolitionists who called for justice long before emancipation became a reality.

Thank you to everyone who joined the Associates of the Boston Public Library for an evening with board member and recently published author Natalie Lemle, celebrating her debut novel, Artifacts!

The Associates is proud to announce the special guest speakers for We Hold These Truths; former Governor Deval Patrick and Justice Stephen Breyer! The distinguished statesmen will read from the Declarations of Independence throughout the program. Book free tickets here: https://ow.ly/pzJp50Z9WUc

Join the 2025-2026 Boston Public Library Telling Boston Stories Research Fellow, Billy Zeng, to learn more about youth organizing history! Taking place this Saturday, June 13, from 1-3 PM at Grove Hall, this two-hour interactive workshop will showcase Boston youth organizing history.

Applications for the Alan Andres Writing Fellowships, Writer-in-Residence and the Picture Book Writer Fellowship, are due TONIGHT, Friday, June 5, at 11:59 PM!

Join the Associates of the Boston Public Library for an evening with Associates board member Natalie Lemle for a panel discussion on her new book, Artifacts, on June 9 at 6 PM in the Central Library in the Commonwealth Salon. 🎟️ Reserve free tickets here: https://artifacts.eventbrite.com/?aff=bsky

Memorial Day honors the fallen and acknowledges the sacrifices made for the country. This Boston Pictorial Archive photo by Elmer Chickering from the Boston Public Library's Special Collections captures a Memorial Day ceremony held in 1886 at the Boston Common.

"Being selected as the Writer-in-Residence was a true turning point for me. It gave me the boost I needed at a time I needed it. It was also how I met my agent, which is how I sold my novel as part of a two-book deal!" Meet Rhonda, our 2022-23 Alan Andres Writer-in-Residence.

Hear from Yssis Cano-Santiago, our 2024-25 Alan Andres Writer-in-Residence, about how the fellowship helped her complete her manuscript: https://bit.ly/4fevFei Applications for the 2026-27 Alan Andres Writer-in-Residence fellowship close on June 5, 2026, at 11:59 PM. www.writer-in-residence.org

Congratulations to our Alan Andres Writer-in-Residence alumni, @anniehartnett.bsky.social Annie Hartnett (2013-2014) and @rhondadechambeau.bsky.social Rhonda DeChambeau (2022-2023), for their novels being chosen for the 2026 Mass Book Awards Longlists! www.massbook.org/mass-book-aw...

In honor of Mother’s Day, pictured here is George Bellows’ tender 1916 lithograph Mother and Children ("June Again") from the BPL's Art Department. Captured are his wife Emma and their daughters Anne and Jean during a summer in Ogunquit, Maine.

There is just ONE MONTH left to apply for the Associates' Alan Andres Writing Fellowships! Deadline: June 5. 📚 Alan Andres Writer-in-Residence: https://ow.ly/wEfG50YV66I 📖 Alan Andres Picture Book Writer Fellowship: https://ow.ly/PEU250YV66K

Hear directly from our inaugural Alan Andres Picture Book Writer Fellow, Jessica Ruan, about the impact of this program. 🔗 Learn more and apply here: https://www.associatesbpl.org/events-and-programs/picture-book-writer-fellowship/

Please join us for the 8th annual Pierce Performance Series, We Hold These Truths. This evening of music and poetry is inspired by the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and will take place on Thursday, June 25, at the Central Library.

Thank you to everyone who supported the 36th Annual Literary Lights! Thanks to your generosity, the Associates of the Boston Public Library raised over half a million dollars to preserve and protect the Boston Public Library's Special Collections. 📸: Maria Alejandra Mata + Olivia Moon

Meet author and PEN Trustee Jennifer Finney Boylan, our presenter for Jodi Picoult for Literary Lights 2026.

Meet author and illustrator Brian Selznick, a former Literary Lights Honoree and presenter for our 2026 Keynote Author, Gregory Maguire.  The Associates of the BPL has limited tickets left for Literary Lights, THIS SUNDAY, April 26, 2026, at the Fairmont Copley 🎟️  https://ow.ly/F3Om50YOyaH

Meet Ocean Vuong, one of our honorees for Literary Lights 2026! Swipe for his full quote. GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY for the region’s premier literary event, Literary Lights, THIS SUNDAY, April 26, 2026, at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. Get tickets here 🎟️ https://ow.ly/WMT450YNWyN

The Associates of the Boston Public Library is excited to share that we have a select number of tickets available for Literary Lights, THIS SUNDAY, April 26, 2026, at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. Join us for New England's premiere literary event! https://ow.ly/QTRh50YMRqF

The Associates of the Boston Public Library is excited to share that we have a select number of tickets available for Literary Lights on April 26, 2026, at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. @jodipicoult.bsky.social Book tickets: https://ow.ly/ArpS50YKBlq

The Associates of the Boston Public Library is pleased to share that applications for our 2026-27 Alan Andres Writing Fellowships are now open!

Thank you to the @bplfund.bsky.social for inviting the Associates to the opening of the Boston Public Library’s newest exhibition, “Declarations: Printing a New Nation!”

The Associates of the Boston Public Library are proud to celebrate Betsy Groban, our board member and chair of the Alan Andres Writing Programs, on the upcoming publication of Pow for Pia, the second book in her early reader series about the plucky little Pia, on June 23.

"As a nonfiction writer, I was especially grateful for the treasure trove of research materials I could access. I'll forever treasure my year working in the BPL as one of those most inspiring times of my life as an author/illustrator. " - Katy Doughty, 2021–22 Alan Andres Writer-in-Residence

youtu.be/iqC2eSx0t7o?... We are incredibly excited to honor renowned author Gregory Maguire as our Keynote at the 36th Literary Lights!

Congratulations to our 2021-2022 Alan Andres Writer-in-Residence, Katy Doughty, for the publication of the graphic novel she wrote during her residency, How to Survive the End of the World.

As a part of their fellowships, the Alan Andres Writer-in-Residence and the Illustrated Children’s Book Fellow have the opportunity to host workshops at the Central Library. Zarlasht Niaz and Jessica Ruan hosted an Art & Poem Book Crafts Workshop at the Children’s Library on March 7! 🌈

✨ Meet the emcee for our 2025 Literary Lights Dinner, Jared Bowen! ✨ Jared Bowen is the Emmy award-winning Executive Arts Editor and host of The Culture Show, a daily radio program and podcast at GBH exploring the creative process.

"The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes, presented by Regie Gibson, was the winner of the Hundred-Year Book Debate of 1926! ▶️ Check out the full program recording on our YouTube: https://youtu.be/mWTcyVZbiFo

Get to know Viv, the Associates-funded Boston Public Library Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts, in our latest YouTube interview! ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TS5QDXf6x8

Missed the Hundred-Year Book Debate last week? You can now watch the full program on our YouTube Channel! Find out which book won the Hundred-Year Book Debate of 1926! 📚 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWTcyVZbiFo

Thank you to everyone who attended our Hundred-Year Book Debate of 1926 last night! We hope you enjoy these photos from the engaging literary event. Missed it? Stay tuned for the full event recording coming soon on YouTube! Photos by: Z Weber

The Hundred-Year Book Debate of 1926 is TONIGHT! 🎟️: https://ow.ly/qZkG50YbXSB Join us in the Boston Public Library Rabb Hall or on Zoom from 6-7 to see The Sun Also Rises, The Weary Blues, and Winnie-the-Pooh go head to head 📚

TOMORROW! The Hundred-Year Book Debate of 1926 is almost here 📚 Join us in @bpl.boston.gov Rabb Hall or on Zoom from 6–7 PM as The Sun Also Rises, The Weary Blues, and Winnie-the-Pooh go head to head. 📰 Read this wonderful @bostonglobe.com feature on the debate: www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/09/a...

Happening tomorrow night at the Boston Public Library! Join @associatesbpl.bsky.social in person or online and vote for your favorite. The event will be MC'd by the dazzling Kennedy Elsey from Mix 104.1. Don't miss it! Get your free tickets here: www.associatesbpl.org/events-and-p...

We’re thrilled to partner with bookstores to celebrate the centennial of the books in our Hundred-Year Book Debate of 1926 on Feb 10!

Readers of Boston.com recently weighed in on which 1926 book still stands the test of time, with Winnie-the-Pooh narrowly edging out The Sun Also Rises. 🐻 Read the article here: www.boston.com/community/re...

Meet the moderator of the Hundred-Year Book Debate, Kennedy Elsey. Get free in-person or livestream tickets for this lighthearted literary debate on February 10 at the Central Library here: https://100year1926.eventbrite.com/?aff=bsky

The Associates of the Boston Public Library extends their gratitude to Peter King + Company for years of pro bono partnership. We are thankful for the time and creativity shared with us. Check out their great work at https://www.peterkingandcompany.com/

Meet the third debater of the Hundred-Year Book Debate of 1926, Jackie Horne, who will defend Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne.  Get free in-person or livestream tickets for this lighthearted literary debate on February 10 at the Central Library here: 100year1926.eventbrite.com?aff=bsky

Meet the second debater of the Hundred-Year Book Debate of 1926, Regie Gibson, who will defend The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes.  Get free in-person or livestream tickets for this lighthearted literary debate on February 10 at the Central Library here: 100year1926.eventbrite.com?aff=bsky

Meet the first debater of the Hundred-Year Book Debate of 1926, Hilary Justice, who will defend The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. Get free in-person or livestream tickets for this lighthearted literary debate on February 10 at the Central Library here: 100year1926.eventbrite.com?aff=bsky