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MBLC Celebrates 125 Years

1999

"Telling Our Stories: Massachusetts Public Libraries. A documentary hosted by David McCullough. Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners."

Telling Our Stories, a documentary commissioned by the MBLC and produced by filmmaker Maribeth Edmonds, demonstrated how meaningful public libraries are to the people they serve. Author and Historian David McCullogh hosted and narrated the production. It premiered at Boston Public Library on October 22, 1999 and at Springfield City Library a few weeks later on November 18.2

TODAY: The MBLC has its own YouTube channel with videos that illustrate how busy and valuable libraries are, and the vital importance of the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program.

What else happened in 1999?

  • The world awaited the consequences of the Y2K bug, with the more drastic millennial theorists warning of Armageddon.3
  • The U.S. Senate opened the impeachment trial of President Clinton on January 7th. On February 12th, the Senate acquitted Clinton.3
  • A plane piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr. crashes off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, killing him, his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her sister Lauren Bessette.4

References:
1. Image from MBLC files.
2. MBLC Annual Report, 1999.
3. www.infoplease.com [link].
4. 1999 - Wikipedia entry [link].