McNiff, Philip J., 1912-1994

Philip J. McNiff was born on February 10, 1912 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He attended Brookline High School and graduated from Boston College in 1933. After graduating from Columbia University Graduate School of Library Science in 1940, McNiff began his library career in the Brookline and Newton public libraries.

McNiff later moved to Harvard University Libraries before becoming director and librarian of the Boston Public Library in 1965. Under his eighteen-year leadership at the Boston Public Library, the Johnson building was constructed and the regional library system was developed. In 1983, McNiff retired from the Boston Public Library.

Together with his wife Mary, McNiff was a devoted Catholic. They participated actively in the communities of Boston College and St. John’s Seminary by attending or sponsoring events for visitors. In particular, the McNiffs supported the Boston College Humanities Series, overseen by Father Francis Sweeney. Mary Stack McNiff died in 1976. McNiff remarried in 1979, and died in 1994.