Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners facts for kids
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) is a special state agency in Massachusetts. It was created in 1890. Its main job is to help and support all the public libraries across Massachusetts. The governor of Massachusetts chooses the people who serve on this board.
History of the MBLC
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners started out with a different name. It was first called the Massachusetts Free Public Library Commission. Its goal was to help towns start new libraries. It also gave advice on how to run and manage these libraries.
This commission was the very first of its kind in the entire United States. When it began in 1890, five people were chosen to be on the board. These included Caleb Benjamin Tillinghast, Samuel Swett Green, and Henry Stedman Nourse.
Two of the first members were Elizabeth Putnam Sohier and Anna Eliot Ticknor. They made history by becoming the first women ever appointed to a state library agency in the United States. Other early members included Mabel Simpkins Agassiz and Anna Sears Amory.
The commission quickly achieved great success in its early years. In 1890, there were 105 towns in Massachusetts that did not have a free public library. Just 20 years later, by 1910, almost every single city and town in the state had its own library. This shows how important their work was.
In 1952, the agency's name was changed. It went from the "Massachusetts Board of Free Public Library Commissioners" to its current name, the "Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners."
By the 1990s, the MBLC was responsible for helping libraries grow. It also helped libraries share their resources with each other. Today, the MBLC works to make sure everyone in Massachusetts can use library services. This means no matter where you live or what your background is, you should have access to books and information. The MBLC has offices in Boston's North End.
More to Explore
- Massachusetts Library System, which gets funding from the MBLC
- List of public libraries in Massachusetts
- Public library movement
