Boston Public Library

The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848.The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth(formerly library of last recourse) of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; all adult residents of the commonwealth are entitled to borrowing and research privileges, and the library receives state funding. The Boston Public Library contains approximately 23 million items encompassing all formats including books, DVDs, CDs, maps, music scores, microfilm, manuscripts, prints and other visual materials, and electronic resources, making it the third-largest public library in the United States behind only the Library of Congress (with 160 million items) and the New York Public Library (with 53 million items), according to the American Library Association. In fiscal year 2014, the library held over 10,000 programs, all free to the public, and lent 3.7 million materials.