The Leventhal Map & Education Center offers a menu of pre-designed programs for field trips to our Learning Center, virtual class visits, or in-person outreach to classrooms. Using maps from our collection, students practice using cartographic tools to read maps and think about what maps can and can’t tell us about our relationships to places in the past and present. Programs related to our current exhibition are also available. Explore our program topics below. If you don’t see quite what you’re looking for, we are happy to work with you to create programming that works with your curriculum.
A limited number of guided tours of our current exhibitions are available for school groups. These experiences will draw connections between the work in your classroom and what is currently on view.
Due to the size of our gallery, we can welcome groups of up to 16 students and 2 chaperones. You can preview availability and express interest using Calendly. We will confirm your visit and discuss how we can best gear the conversation to meet your curricular goals.
Guided tours of our current exhibitions are 45-60 minutes. We utilize guided inquiry to encourage close looking and to support your desired curricular connections. Please note that there is no designated lunch room for classes in the Boston Public Library.
Please see our table of education program fees for information on costs. We strive to make our programs and resources available to all institutions without cost presenting a barrier.
A visit to the Map Center can be combined with sessions conducted by BPL’s Teen Services Team in Teen Central (grades 6-12), or activities with its Children’s Library Team (grades K-5). Click here to learn more about Teen Central’s tours, research skills workshops and team-building activities, or click here to discover the range of Children’s Library services provided at Central.
This summer we will announce our updated offerings for the 2024–25 school year. We encourage you to sign up for our newsletter to receive first notice of the opportunities for your students to connect with the Leventhal Center.