Boston Public Library serves all residents of Massachusetts in its role as the Library for the Commonwealth. In fact, anyone who lives, works, goes to school, or owns property in the state can have a Boston Public Library card. With state funding in support of the Library for the Commonwealth program, the Boston Public Library has widened its scope to extend beyond its own collections, bringing treasures from around the state into the digital age, making the materials discoverable, shareable, and accessible by all; increasing awareness of and access to collections and materials. Collections once only available to view within the library are now readily accessible online throughout the state. Although the BPL’s Digital Services department has two state-of-the-art digital labs, its mission goes beyond scanning. The Digital Services team offers concierge-level service to any library, museum, historical society, archive or other cultural heritage institution in Massachusetts interested in collaborating and sharing its own collections. From evaluation and assessment of a collection, to imaging and metadata consultation, the Digital Services team offers a complete range of services designed to ensure a high-level of discoverability, allowing for unified and expanded holdings, and bolstering the BPL’s position as a leader and innovator in library services.

Originally funded by an LSTA grant, the BPL successfully increased a line in the Massachusetts state budget to expand its digitization program. No longer just a “special project,” digitization in Massachusetts cultural heritage organizations is now part of a necessary infrastructure supported by the government. In addition to its own scanning facilities, the BPL Digital Services team works with partner-in-residence, Internet Archive, digitizing materials for inclusion in Massachusetts’ statewide repository (Digital Commonwealth) and making the materials part of the Digital Public Library of America. This same state-funded program has allowed the BPL’s Web Services team to create and maintain the Digital Commonwealth repository and the portal through which users can access the State’s amazing digitized collections. There is a tremendous mix of analog and high-tech work in selecting and preparing materials for digitization. The BPL views this work as its opportunity to partner with Massachusetts institutions to extend and increase collection digitization. Because it is not financially feasible for individual institutions to have a digitization lab, the BPL seeks to creatively and collaboratively share its lab, and its expertise, with others. Organizations wishing to contribute resources to Digital Commonwealth, the statewide digital repository, or share otherwise hidden local collections, are encouraged to partner with the BPL for digitization services. The Digital Services team provides onsite consultations – often traveling by Zipcar – to organizations and communities to evaluate selected items, and offer advice and assistance in selecting and preparing materials for uploading into the statewide digital library system. The ultimate goal is not only to increase awareness of and access to collections and materials, but to maximize partnerships with local communities to share their stories.

Through a series of successful and effective partnerships – from joining forces with local communities and institutions, to its role as a Digital Public Library of America Service Hub – the the Boston Public Library has expanded the reach and hence, the value, of many collections. Through its innovative “boots on the ground,” grassroots approach to digitization services, the BPL is ensuring that Massachusetts' resources, materials, and collections will continue to be available not only locally, but nationally as well. Nearly 100 different communities – almost 30% of all Massachusetts towns and cities – have partnered with the BPL, as members of the Digital Services team travel across the state providing thoughtful on-site digitization consultations and material transport. The public can now explore and download nearly 100,000 rare items across a variety of websites, and this number is growing every month. These collections include books and manuscripts, yearbooks, maps, photographs, ephemera, and much more. New items and collections are continually being digitized and uploaded for online access, giving these materials new life, and making them free and accessible to all.