Day | Hours |
Monday | Closed |
Tuesday | 11 am – 5 pm |
Wednesday | 1 pm – 7 pm |
Thursday | 11 am – 5 pm |
Friday | 11 am – 5 pm |
Saturday | 11 am – 5 pm |
Sunday | 1 pm – 5 pm |
Special Hours | ||
Day | Holiday | Hours |
December 24, 2023 | Christmas Eve | Closed |
December 25, 2023 | Christmas | Closed |
December 31, 2023 | New Years Eve | Closed |
January 1, 2024 | New Years Day | Closed |
January 15, 2024 | Martin Luther King Day | Closed |
February 19, 2024 | Presidents Day | Closed |
March 31, 2024 | Easter Sunday | Closed |
April 14, 2024 | Sunday Before Patriot's Day | Closed |
April 15, 2024 | Patriot's Day | Closed |
April 28 - May 9 | Gallery Closed for Exhibition Turnover | Closed |
May 26, 2024 | Sunday Before Memorial Day | Closed |
May 27, 2024 | Memorial Day | Closed |
June 19, 2024 | Juneteenth | Closed |
Available by advance appointment Wednesday-Friday 9:30 am-4:30 pm. In-person access to the Special Collections Reading Room is available by advance appointment only. Bookings should be made at least 2 days in advance to provide time for paging items for use. Please see our Research Appointments page for more information and to make an appointment online.
For the general opening hours of the Central Library in Copley Square, see the BPL website.
We are located at the Central Library in Copley Square, at 700 Boylston Street in Boston. Inside the library, we are located on the ground floor of the McKim Building, on the west side of the Courtyard and near the Glass Elevator of the Boylston Street Building. Look for arrows to the Leventhal Map Center in the library’s wayfinding signs. Note that the McKim Building also features the Map Room Café, which is a restaurant and bar that is not associated with the Map Center.
The library is conveniently located near many public transit stations, including the Copley station of the Green Line, the Back Bay station of the Orange Line and Commuter Rail, and bus lines 9, 10, 55, 39, 504, 57, 553, and 501. Use the MBTA Trip Planner for more information on traveling by transit.
Bicycle racks are available near the library at the corner of Blagden Street and Dartmouth Street near the McKim Building, and along the west side of the Boylston Street Building on Exeter Street. A Bluebikes station is located on the corner of Dartmouth Street and Boylston Street.
Limited street parking is available in the Back Bay neighborhood. Nearby hotels and shopping centers in Copley Square also offer paid garage parking.
The library is located just two blocks from the southwestern corner of the Public Garden. It is 0.9 mi (1.4 km) from the starting point of the Freedom Trail in Boston Common.