Boston Public Library - McKim Building

The McKim Building of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square was completed in 1895 to a design by McKim, Mead & White and is a landmark example of Beaux-Arts civic architecture. The building housed what was among the first large free municipal library collections in the United States and includes notable interior murals and a ceremonial courtyard. The McKim Building's stone construction and grand reading rooms reflect late-19th-century municipal cultural infrastructure.