Roxbury, MA Public Library
The building in question was actually a branch of Boston Public Library, but is discussed separately in the Report, hence a separate page. The building shown here, while a branch of BPL, was associated with an already existing library in Roxbury- the Fellowes Athenaeum- and was jointly adminstered by the Fellowes Trustees and BPL. The present Dudley Branch of BPL replaced both the Fellowes and the Mount Pleasant Branch in 1978. The statistical portion of the Report makes no mention of the Fellowes, so my assumption is that it was subsumed into the Roxbury PL- a not uncommon phenomenon.
The discussion in the Report is part of an essay, by Justin Winsor, on library buildings (pages 465-475.) The main feature of the essay is the design of a proposed library to hold 1,000,000 volumes. That proposal has its own page a bit further down.
Winsor notes, of Roxbury PL, that:
The main idea of the modern public library building is, then, compact stowage to save space, and short distances to save time. This has been carried out in the new building in Roxbury, which is one of the branches of the Boston Public Library. Here we have a book room 27 feet wide by 55 feet long and 24 feet high; the desk of delivery being midway on one of the longer sides ....
...and more such exciting stuff which the reader is invited to inspect on their own. Breisch argues that while Winsor was constantly critical of the design of the main BPL much of the design for the Roxbury building is derived from the circulation department of the older building.
The general statistics section of the Report is silent on the contents of the building in question, although in the BPL essay the figure of 9,112 volumes is given.
Roxbury Branch of BPL, 1875-1978
