The Boston City Council, as the legislative branch of city government, is the repository of a number of publications and resources relating to Boston’s history and government. The City Council maintains a reference library which is open to city employees, students and the general public. The library contains City Council Minutes, Municipal Registers and City Documents dating from the early 1800’s to the present. In addition, the library contains current publications relating to municipal law and finance.

In order to maximize citizen input into the legislative process, the Council provides information on committee hearings and Council sessions. This information may be accessed through Boston's web site or in some cases may be faxed or mailed to interested parties.

City Council Committee Hearing Notices
Hearings of Council committees may be called upon forty-eight hours notice by the chair. Hearing notices contain the date, time, location and brief description of the matter to be considered and instructions on how written testimony may be offered. When possible, the complete text of the matter to be considered by the committee is also contained in the notice. Committee hearings are posted on the city’s web site calendar and may be faxed or mailed to interested parties.

City Council Meeting Agendas
The agenda contains a listing and brief description of all matters submitted by the Mayor, public officers, Council committees and Councilors for consideration at the Wednesday meetings of the Council. The weekly agenda is prepared on Tuesday afternoon and is posted on the city’s web site late Tuesday afternoon or early Wednesday morning and may be faxed to interested parties.

City Council Meeting Agendas Revised
The revised agenda contains all the information on the agenda but is prepared after the meeting and therefore it contains a notation on what action the Council took on each matter. In addition, the revised agenda also contains a listing of all late filed matters considered by the Council, as well as all votes taken by the Council.

Legislative Calendar
The Legislative Calendar is a listing of all matters pending in Council committees. The listing contains a brief description of the matter, the docket number, sponsoring Councilor and date referred to committee.

City Council Rules
The City Council Rules govern activity at Council meetings and Committee hearings. The Rules also contain a description of each Council committee.

City Council Publications

The City Council also offers the following publications:

Organization of City Government (No Charge)
Contains the City Council’s rules and a listing of all city departments, boards and commissions and their officers and members.

Document #10 ($2.00)
Voter registration and election results for city and state elections.

Boston's City Charter ($7.00)
Major provisions of Boston's charter, detailing the responsibilities of the Mayor and City Council.

Muncipal Register ($10.00)
Contains a compilation of sections of the city charter, a history of Boston's origin and growth a description of each city department and notations on how they were established and a listing of past Councilors and Mayor's. (Temporarily sold out)

Boston Streets ($15.00)
A listing of all streets in the city including a description of the location ward and precinct, City Council District and zip code.