“Well-run libraries are filled with people because what a good library offers cannot be easily found elsewhere: an indoor public space in which you do not have to buy anything in order to stay.”
— Zadie Smith
 
Author event: June 14 2:00-3:30pm Don Gillis will discuss his 2025 book, The Battle for Boston: How Mayor Ray Flynn and Community Organizers Fought Racism and Downtown Power Brokers, in conversation with JP residents, City Councilor Ben Weber and En
Tonight's author event has been postponed due to the storm. Stay tuned for a reschedule!
On Saturday, we unveiled a new site-specific installation by Boston-based artist Liliana Marquez, also known as Lilimarq. Liliana’s work, titled Wonderlines, incorporates fragments of the ribbon from the library’s original reopening cerem
Thank you to everyone who came out on Saturday to celebrate the naming of our JP Children's Room after Barbara Rhodes. It was a joyous event attended by Barbara's family, Mayor Wu, Councilman Ben Weber, BPL President David Leonard, colleagues, friend

Welcome! 

The Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch Library, organized in 1952, is the oldest Friends group in the Boston Public Library system. We are a group of people who love libraries and all the enrichment they bring to our community.  We especially love the Jamaica Plain Branch.

  • We plan and sponsor free educational and cultural programs for the JP community, including the management of the gallery space

  • We raise funds to purchase and lend free museum passes to library patrons

  • We raise funds to purchase library materials and supplies for the JP Branch

  • We advocate for enhancements to the library and its collections

  • We strongly supported a complete renovation and expansion of the JP Branch Library in order to better serve the needs of the JP community - that was completed in 2017

The Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch Library and others are currently fundraising for the Barbara Rhodes Children’s Endowment Fund. With an ambitious goal of $50,000, the Barbara Rhodes Children’s Endowment will fund children’s programming at the JP Branch in perpetuity, helping to shape future generations to develop a love of reading and become caring members of our city. Continuing in the tradition of Barbara’s work, this programming will continue to build community and promote literacy with themes of empowerment, social justice, creativity and joy. The Friends board has donated $2500, and we hope our members together will match that!

Featured
Lohr - Postcard FRONT_VP1web.png
Joni Lohr: Inside Out

JAMAICA PLAIN, MA — The Jamaica Plain Branch Library, in partnership with the Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library, is thrilled to announce the next exhibit in its 2025 rotating art program: Bookish Art, a solo exhibition by Roslindale-based artist Deborah Ellington

JAMAICA PLAIN, MA — The Jamaica Plain Branch Library, in partnership with the Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library, is thrilled to announce the next exhibit in its 2025 rotating art program: Inside Out, a solo exhibition by West Roxbury-based photographer Joni Lohr

Inside Out invites viewers to explore the haunting beauty of abandoned urban interiors as seen through the lens of Lohr’s camera. Her photographs reveal spaces left behind—buildings stripped to their studs or strewn with forgotten remnants of former lives—yet they resonate with a lingering spirit, an emotional imprint that echoes the lives of those who once occupied them.

Read More →
Marquez, Liliana - Wonderlines.png
Commissioned: Liliana Marquez - Wonderlines

JAMAICA PLAIN, MA — The Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library, in partnership with the Friends of the Jamaica Plain Library, is proud to announce a new site-specific installation by Boston-based artist Liliana Marquez, also known as Lilimarq.

In December 2024, the library issued a call for artist proposals to create a permanent artwork commemorating the library’s renovation and reopening in 2017. Submissions were reviewed by a selection committee made up of library staff and members of the Friends of the Library. Liliana Marquez was selected for her bold and imaginative vision, as well as her deep ties to the local community.

Liliana’s work, titled Wonderlines, incorporates fragments of the ribbon from the library’s original reopening ceremony. The piece reflects her signature "REPOP ART" style—transforming reclaimed materials into colorful, multidimensional works that explore memory, place, and transformation.

Read More →