
Boston Public Library renovations throughout the years

July 29, 1904: The Public Library on Copley Square was designed by architect Charles Follen McKim of the firm McKim, Mead and White. It cost $2.5 million to build, opened its doors for public viewing on Feb. 1, 1895, and began circulating books on March 11, 1895.
Globe file photo
| March 24, 2016

A model of the Boston Public Library’s first addition proposal from Philip Johnson.
Robert D. Harvey Studio
| March 24, 2016

Cars and pedestrians pass by a new section of the Boston Public Library at the corner of Exeter and Boylston streets on Feb. 18, 1971.
Paul Connell/Globe Staff
| March 24, 2016

The new section of the Boston Public Library as seen from the corner of Exeter and Boylston streets, on May 11, 1972.
Jack Sheahan/Globe Staff
| March 24, 2016

Part of the new addition to the Boston Public Library, Nov. 28, 1972.
Paul Connell/Globe Staff
| March 24, 2016

A rendering of planned improvements to the Boston Public Library’s Johnson Building near Copley Square.
William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc.
| March 24, 2016

Temporary Boylston Street entrance to the Boston Public Library as renovation continues on Jan. 26.
John Blanding, Boston Globe staff
| March 24, 2016

Workers demolish a wall inside the Boston Public Library on Feb. 16.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
| March 24, 2016

The Children’s Library at the Boston Public Library in Boston on Jan. 26, 2016. The area was opened in February 2015 as part of an ongoing restoration project.
John Blanding/Globe Staff
| March 24, 2016

Max Tovar, 4, listened as his mother, Connie Tovar, read in the Children’s Library at the Boston Public Library in January.
John Blanding, Boston Globe staff
| March 24, 2016

Renovation work continued in an area of the library that will become retail space.
John Blanding, Boston Globe staff
| March 24, 2016

The temporary Boylston Street entrance to the Boston Public Library.
John Blanding, Boston Globe staff
| March 24, 2016

Renovation work continued in the fiction section of the Boston Public Library.
John Blanding, Boston Globe staff
| March 24, 2016