Boston Reopens Roslindale Branch Library After $12.2 Million Renovation

BOSTON — July 22, 2026 — Boston reopens the Roslindale Branch Library after a years-long closure and a $12.2 million renovation. Mayor Michelle Wu cut the ribbon Saturday alongside BPL President David Leonard, BPL Board of Trustees Chair Priscilla Douglas, and a crowd of elected officials and residents at the Roslindale Square branch. The total project cost reached $12.2 million after the Friends of the Roslindale Library successfully advocated for an additional $3.5 million added to the mayor's budget in 2018, supplementing an original allocation deemed insufficient for the 1961 building. Chief of Operations Dion Irish confirmed the renovation added a children's early literacy labyrinth, a teen space, a laptop bar for adults, universal-access entrances, and an outdoor reading terrace. The branch opens with one more staff position than before closure and is the city's third branch ribbon cutting of 2026, part of more than $140 million in current BPL system-wide capital investment.