Book collections in Chinese, French, and Spanish, as well as materials for those learning English as a Second Language, are available. Seating space, however, is limited. Backfiles of periodicals are generally not available. Stored items, including all bound magazines and most microfilm, are unavailable until we return to the renovated Central in 2001. Staff carefully made storage decisions, keeping in mind local availability, community interests, and the popularity of specific materials.
Rental costs prohibit maintaining any retrievable storage space during the renovation period.
These resources provide citations, extracts, and many full-text articles from general interest, health, business, and newspaper sources. Printing facilities are available at each library site. Preschool story times, summer reading programs for children and teens, and scheduled class visits continue to be offered. There is no space available, however, for any large audiences while the Central library is in its temporary site on Allston Way. Whether or not you think your group needs special services, groups of more than four must make arrangements ahead of time at any of our five sites.