Keep the Makanda Project at the Library on Saturday nights - again!

We the undersigned have been audience members at the Makanda Project jazz concerts at the Shaw-Roxbury Branch Library. Some of us started attending the concerts as far back as 2008, when they began; some of us have discovered them more recently. We all appreciate the uniqueness of having music of such high quality available for free in such a welcoming community setting. We recognize these concerts as a most valuable cultural institution in the Roxbury community.

We were delighted that the Boston Public Library allowed these concerts to resume in Spring 2026. Those of us who attended the concerts in April and May experienced again how special they are.

We are dismayed to learn that once again the Makanda Project is being told that in order to continue performing at the Library, they must move the concerts from Saturday evening to Saturday afternoon (or to some other time when the Library is normally open). We oppose this idea just as strongly as we did last year. If moved to a different time, the concerts would not be meeting the needs of the community to the same extent. We want our voices to be heard again.

During the "indoor season," our Saturday afternoons are often taken up with other matters, and it would simply not be as convenient for many of us to attend the concerts. The concerts, also, have become major cultural events in the community, and the experience of a Saturday night event is part of the overall package that has made them what they are. We believe the community deserves to have this kind of opportunity accessible to us.

We have come to see the Shaw-Roxbury Branch as an institution that serves the community in a most positive way, and that view has been shaped in no small part by the existence of these concerts. We ask that you continue to allow the concerts to continue on Saturday evenings.