The Friends of the West End Library have been hard at work to renovate the open space in front of this branch of the Boston Public  Library. The Friends began working with the Beacon Hill Garden Club to improve the space in 1989, but over years it had become a messy tangle of ivy and dying shrubs. In 2020, with the energy and funds provided by a new Friends Board and a generous grant from the Beacon Hill Garden Club, hard-working volunteers cleaned and maintained the garden spaces. They discovered attractive flagstones buried in the soil and  planted more than a hundred daffodil bulbs contributed by the Beacon Hill Garden Club and the Boston Blooms program.

This spring, the Friends’ Landscaping Committee, under the leadership of Sheryl Man and Laura Guadagno, has already added three elevated beds and paving stones by the gates.  The beds will include a variety of kale, beets, lettuces, peppers, tomatoes, and herbs. Additional plantings of native flowers, both perennials and annuals, will encourage pollinators as well as enhance this area of Cambridge Street. Laura Guadagno, a Master Gardener, has headed the garden design.

The Friends of the West End Library is a 501c(3) organization, led by Robin Al-Khatib,  which works with Branch Librarian Helen Bender to help the Library in many other ways. The group raises funds to finance and support events, supplies, and services that are not part of the Library budget to benefit all who use of the West End Branch Library. You can learn more about the Friends of the West End Library by visiting their website, https://friendsofthewestendlibrary.org.

If you would like to help care for the gardens, please sign up on the website or email friendswestendlibrary@gmail.com.