FOX25 goes inside hidden room at Boston Public Library
To view the video:http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/30523416/tonight-at-10-fox25-goes-inside-hidden-room-at-boston-public-library
BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- The Boston Public Library stores some 23 million works
,
including its special collections. Earlier this year, two works by
Durer and Rembrandt were misplaced and located just feet away from where
they should be.
The scandal led both Boston Public Library president Amy Ryan and board chairman Jeffrey Rudman to step down.
They were found inside a hidden room inside the library, and FOX25 cameras were the first allowed in to see the treasures stored within the walls. Because of security, FOX25 cannot say exactly where the room is located, but it is large enough to hold more than 1 million prints and photos. The hidden space is nearly double the size of an NBA basketball court.
“It’s a staggering collection,” said Simmons College professor Dr. Martha Mahard.
Mahard and her students have been working since June to create a master list of works in the room.
“We keep hitting things that we didn’t expect,” Mahard said. “The kinds of things where we open a box. You think it’s going to be 20 prints and it’s 150 that aren’t in mattes.
There are the original sketches for the iconic book “Make Way for Ducklings,” drawn by the author and illustrator Robert McCloskey.
“It’s something everybody knows about Boston,” said Mahard.
FOX25 also found prints by Winslow Homer that were published in Harper’s Weekly during the Civil War. There are Emily Dickinson poems, film negatives of President John F. Kennedy, and the Curley Collection, named for former Boston Mayor James Michael Curley.
Mahard and her students expected to finish in December, but it may be closer to next spring. This is the full time a full inventory has happened.
“We know every room it’s going in and out of, when it’s going in there, and what person is in there for the duration it’s in there,” said Laura Irmscher, Chief of Collections Strategy.
Irmscher says other changes to the library include more security cameras, better locks, and tougher procedures.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh says there is still much more progress to be made.
“We certainly feel a lot more comfortable where we are with it. We’re certainly not where we need to be, and we’re probably years away from that,” Walsh said.
When asked if a mix-up could happen again, Irmscher says they are trying to prevent that.
“That’s what the inventory is helping us to prevent, so we will have a location for everything in the building,” Irmscher said.
Officials hope the work they are doing now will make a hidden collection visible once again.
“People are going to be so proud of having this here in Boston,” Mahard said.
,
including its special collections. Earlier this year, two works by
Durer and Rembrandt were misplaced and located just feet away from where
they should be.The scandal
led both Boston Public Library president Amy Ryan and board chairman Jeffrey Rudman to step down.They were found inside a hidden room inside the library, and FOX25 cameras were the first allowed in to see the treasures stored within the walls. Because of security, FOX25 cannot say exactly where the room is located, but it is large enough to hold more than 1 million prints and photos
. The hidden space is nearly double the size of an NBA basketball court.“It’s a staggering collection,” said Simmons College professor Dr. Martha Mahard.
Mahard and her students have been working since June to create a master list of works in the room.
“We keep hitting things that we didn’t expect,” Mahard said. “The kinds of things where we open a box. You think it’s going to be 20 prints and it’s 150 that aren’t in mattes.
There are the original sketches for the iconic book “Make Way for Ducklings,” drawn by the author and illustrator Robert McCloskey.
“It’s something everybody knows about Boston,” said Mahard.
FOX25 also found prints by Winslow Homer that were published in Harper’s Weekly during the Civil War. There are Emily Dickinson poems, film negatives of President John F. Kennedy, and the Curley Collection, named for former Boston Mayor James Michael Curley.
Mahard and her students expected to finish in December, but it may be closer to next spring. This is the full time a full inventory
has happened.“We know every room it’s going in and out of, when it’s going in there, and what person is in there for the duration it’s in there,” said Laura Irmscher, Chief of Collections Strategy.
Irmscher says other changes to the library include more security
cameras, better locks, and tougher procedures.Boston Mayor Marty Walsh says there is still much more progress to be made.
“We certainly feel a lot more comfortable where we are with it. We’re certainly not where we need to be, and we’re probably years away from that,” Walsh said.
When asked if a mix-up could happen again, Irmscher says they are trying to prevent
that.“That’s what the inventory is helping us to prevent, so we will have a location for everything in the building,” Irmscher said.
Officials hope the work they are doing now will make a hidden collection visible once again.
“People are going to be so proud of having this here in Boston,” Mahard said.
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