Boston Public Library (McKim Building) - early model of the public municipal library

The Boston Public Library, chartered in 1848 and opened to the public in 1854, is widely regarded as the first large free municipal library in the United States. Its McKim Building on Copley Square, completed in 1895, is a landmark Beaux-Arts building that established a model for civic library architecture. The central library has maintained extensive public collections and programming since its founding.