THE SOUTH END LIBRARY WILL BE CLOSED FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE AND BPL WANTS YOUR INPUT ON WHICH TEMPORARY PROGRAMS AND SERVICES TO PRIORITIZE

In late April, the Branch suffered a major flood in the basement that destroyed all the equipment that runs the branch. According to the engineering firm that evaluated the situation for Boston Public Library (BPL), the repairs are likely to cost about $1 million and take 18 to 20 months to complete.

Our South End Library has been in line for a major renovation / reconstruction for several years; the City’s capital budget already includes funding for a programming study as the initial phase of the process to create a state-of-the-art Branch Library.

In light of the importance of having library services restored as soon as possible in the South End, Mayor Michelle Wu, in collaboration with BPL, has decided to fast- track building a new South End Library, starting at the end of this year with the programming study, and completing the new library by the end of 2024.

The BPL has committed to offering temporary library services and programming in the community during the rebuilding process, where possible.

While the BPL would like to offer a range of temporary services during the South End Library's closure, staffing and space limitations will determine what is possible in the immediate future, which can be adjusted when more favorable circumstances evolve.

We need to know your thoughts about which services are most urgent to you and which locations make the most sense.

Please take a few moments to complete this survey so that the BPL can take your opinions into account. (The survey usually takes less than 6 minutes to complete.)

Here is a link to the survey: www.surveymonkey.com/r/9QQLDDV