There may be no institution in the city as diverse as the Boston Public Library, whose resources entice students, intellectuals, high culture types, the elderly, foreign language speakers, the homeless, and bookworms of all persuasions. Recently, though, the BPL has also been attracting some unwanted attention from Mayor Tom Menino. Menino's administration has taken greater control over how the BPL uses money that has been donated to it by benefactors. According to the Globe, the......

--More fire department turmoil: A panel of union firefighters determined that the alcohol and drugs found in the bodies of firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne in August's Tai Ho Restaurant blaze did not cause their deaths. But the fire commissioner begs to differ. [Boston Globe, background: Bostonist] --While it's good that the mayor is throwing his efforts behind saving Hendry Street from the foreclosure crisis, the housing problems in Dorchester aren't limited to......

Bookgasms There is no public institution that inspires Bostonist with so many warm feelings as the public library. And there is no charity event quite like a library book sale to make Bostonist into a heartless marauder, fighting tooth and nail with no quarter given nor expected. City-wide Friends of the BPL are offering one today at Copley. Stay out of our freaking way. Central Library, Copley Square, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Movies It's......

Last year, at his annual State of the City address, Mayor Thomas Menino sought to prove the thesis of the recently released Nas album entitled "Hip Hop is Dead" by declaring that the rap community had given him the name "T-Mizzy." He might need some credibility and political capital with minority Bostonians after unveiling at last night's speech that he wants to save on school transportation costs by dismantling part of the city's busing......

Boston came in at number 10 in a recent list of America's most literate cities. What's surprising is that it didn't come in higher given the quality of the authors who come in to read, the top-notch bookstores, and the fact that good books help get us through the cold weather. Central Connecticut State University just released these figures and draws its findings based on "newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources,......

The cold weather - and holiday festivities - descended upon Gothamist. The Rockefeller Christmas tree was lit, Broadway stagehand finally ended their strike, and NASCAR decided to run their victory lap through Times Square. There were disturbing photographs revealing the working conditions in which many city manholes are produced and ninjas were also a hot topic, either robbing homes or entering into alibis. But the city was really rocked by how Rudy Giuliani's visits......

--Boston Daily has been following the story of Bernard Margolis, the Boston Public Library president who got fired by Mayor Menino. And Margolis has plenty to say about it. [Boston Daily] --The South End Is Over isn't over. And the incoming yuppies South End Is Over doesn't like better watch out: "If the Eagle ever closes, which I hope it will not, if only to annoy the pretentious Atelier dwelling yups across the street, I......

Boston Public Library president Bernard A. Margolis officially lost his job yesterday. It was a move Margolis had seen coming since last May, when Judith Kurland, Thomas Menino's chief of staff told him that his contract would not be renewed beyond its current term. Freed from the constraints of office, Margolis told the Globe what he really thinks about Menino. He's a dummy. An "anti-intellectual" whose reign over Boston Margolis likened to Hugo Chavez's Venezuelan......

"Authorial Intent" wraps up book events for the week in the Boston area. Wednesday, October 24 Chris Matthews, 6:00 pm, Coolidge Corner (via Brookline Booksmith), $5 Recently, Jon Stewart sank his fangs into Matthews for pimping the concept that "Life's a Campaign," which is, admittedly, a little scary. Bostonist prefers the old saw that life is a bowl of cherries. Watch what Matthews has dubbed the "interview from hell," and you'll already be armed with......

Authorial Intent is Bostonist's wrap-up of readings around the city. Thursday, October 18 Joan Blades, 6:30 pm, Rabb Auditorium, Boston Public Library, Ford Hall Forum Series. Blades is the cofounder of moveon.org, and she's got a lot on her mind besides "General Betray-Us," which Congress gnawed on like they had nothing better to do. She'll be talking about momsrising.org, her organization that pushes for more rights for moms and families. Saturday, October 20 Frank, Mark,......

Although we have long admired the event from afar, Bostonist experienced its very first Define-a-Thon last night at the Boston Public Library. Houghton Mifflin, the sponsor, dared us to participate, and we took them up on it. There weren't many people at the event at Rabb Hall, perhaps thanks to Define-a-Thon burnout (October 8 through 14 was Define-a-Thon week) and the lack of booze at the BPL. We knew it wasn’t the right time or......

Define-a-Thon Boston Public Library, Rabb Hall, Central Library Tuesday, October 16, 6:00 pm Free Did you hang on to the flash cards you used when studying for the SAT? Think you know your stuff when it comes to ten-cent words? Well, congratulations, brainiac, because you are in the intellectual center of Boston, where a whole bunch of people think they can take you on at tomorrow's Define-a-Thon. Once again, the Define-a-Thon will be hosted by......

--Word is out that some boneheaded morons knocked over a 160-year-old bust of Jesus that is displayed at the Boston Public Library. It happened on September 12 in the afternoon, and the man and woman who did it got caught on videotape. The pair didn't go after the bust of Lucifer. Apparently they were trying to make a point, but it was obscured in the sheer amount of dumbassery displayed by their behavior. It still......

We saw the following over at the Boston Magazine Blog a few days ago and thought, now this news story is a winner! Then we got distracted by pipes bursting and raining asbestos all over downtown. In Hyannis, a woman dropped off videos at the local library, only she used the drop box. Apparently she was overzealous in making sure those videos were returned, and somehow the bracelets on her arm got snagged in the......

The Boston Public Library is all jazzed because it wants the Copley T station's name changed to "BPL Station" or somesuch. Apparently, Mayor Menino and some local pols are behind the BPL on this, and are sponsoring legislation to have the name changed. Pro-change parties cite Boston's quaint precedent of naming T stations for nearby landmarks, a la "Suffolk Downs," "Aquarium," and "Airport." For the past five years, the T has rolling its eyes......

E. Forbes Smiley III received a $2.3 million restitution fine in addition to his prison sentence for thefts of nearly 100 rare historic maps. It has been nearly two years in the making. E. Forbes Smiley III (it's such a great name, can't we use the whole thing all the time?) was caught by a Yale librarian as an X-acto knife was found near him. It was discovered he had some rare maps from the......

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

The Boston Public Library with a Holga from gooru.......

And you thought the library stacks were quiet! Well, just because people are quiet doesn't mean they aren't up to something. Last Friday, a 59-year-old Marshfield man was caught gazing upon child porn on his computer – while the library was jam-packed with kids. It was his own laptop, but he was allegedly using the library's wireless for evil. Just a few days ago, WCVB reported on bad things happening within the Boston Public Library.......

After the groper and the shouter from yesterday, it seems that everything settled down a little bit last night. The big news is the potentially large blotter that might result if people don't start shoveling their sidewalks. According to Fox 25, you'll get fined if you don't shovel, and 4,000 citations have been given since Wednesday. If you are a business or homeowner reading this, and you haven't been shoveling - then start! Not only......

Web 2.0 has been established as a way of life for many users of the vast network of tubes internets. From social networking sites, wikis, to tools of collaborative authoring, the web has become a different beast than it once was. Perhaps a better web than it once was. Personal relationships in that thing called "real life" or unwired relationships are touched by email, MySpace, Flickr, instant messaging, among others. So what happens when......

Hot on the heels of his feature film debut in Jesus Camp (Bostonist's most enthusiastic movie pick in October), megapreacher Ted Haggard faces allegations of methamphetamine use and indiscretions with a male prostitute. Haggard was (until last night) president of the National Association of Evangelicals and senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, where you can rent a "prayer closet" for $25 per night and apparently give new meaning to the phrase for......

Need your seasonally-mandated scary-movie fix, but wary of those Grudge 2's and Saw XXVIII's? Bostonist has researched the alternatives, and alternatives to those alternatives. Thursday 10/26 House of Wax The BPL schedule doesn't specify which House of Wax, but we'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it's not last year's tepid Paris Hilton vehicle. Boston Public Library (South Boston Branch, 646 East Broadway), 6 pm, free For a gentler, lighthearted ghost story,......

Bostonist is by no means immune to the pseudo-historical un-period pieces opening this weekend, Marie Antoinette and The Prestige, or to the less new but equally pretty Illusionist (now at our favorite theater for cheap matinees) and Camille (it's like Moulin Rouge, but with character development). But today we'd like to draw your attention to a documentary about an obscure local band called the Pixies and to the abundance of short film collections being offered......

There was a time and a place when Bostonist kept missing upcoming shows in the area because we were too busy to pay attention. Along came Tourfilter. A locally based website (now with worldwide reach) that allows us to take a look at upcoming shows based on the information provided by the venue. Each and every day they let us know who's coming to town, where they'll be, and which of our friends are......

In a world where there's nothing to do but watch movies. In a city full of theaters, museums, and libraries. One moviegoer who can be in three places at once. Friday 10/06 Jesus Camp Ted Haggard, megapastor of Colorado Springs' New Life megachurch, has megacondemned this unflinching documentary (horror movie, for Cantabrigians), possibly because pentecostalism could freak out potential megachurchgoers, or possibly because Ted Haggard is in it and he comes off as megacreepy. Opening......

In a world where there's nothing to do but watch movies. In a city full of theaters, museums, and libraries. One moviegoer who can be in three places at once. This week, Al Franken becomes a politician, David Hasselhoff dresses up as a scifi hero, every girl becomes a star, and ancient religious art turns into modern heaps of rubble. Friday 9/29 Piccadilly The Hays Code, adopted by the American film industry in 1930, didn't......

After a sparse, lackadaisical August, the fall semester has arrived with a frenzied syllabus of film screenings: a slew of new documentaries, our favorite Terry Gilliam movies, a notoriously disorganized film festival, and a guest lecture from Bruce Campbell, chainsaw-wielder emeritus. Thursday 9/7 Four Eyed Monsters Two pale, artsy Brooklynites met through online personals, maxed out seven credit cards to make a movie about it, moved back in with their parents in Massachusetts, and made......

Who needs advance reviews when this Bostonist's got an excuse to wear her vintage stewardess uniform to the theater? Thursday 8/17 Snakes On A Plane Jon Stewart: What's the plot? Samuel L. Jackson: Uhhh... Bad guy wants to bring down the plane... Stewart: What's on the plane? Jackson: Victims. Stewart: No no no no. Jackson: Reptiles? Stewart: Yes! Jackson: Poisonous reptiles! Stewart: Yes! Jackson: Snakes on a mother***ing plane! Stewart: They wanted to make it......

In a world where there's nothing to do but watch movies. In a city full of theaters, museums, and libraries. One moviegoer who can be in three places at once. Thursday 8/3 Stolen One of the things that endears the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to us (along with the dim lighting, strict ban on electronic devices, and terse signage) is how the frames of missing paintings hang empty on the walls. (As per Mrs. Gardner's......