4 Library Branches Get Temporary Closure Reprieve

Boston Public Library has postponed closing four branches which were originally scheduled to shutter in the fall.

The city is postponing the closures — in Brighton, Dorchester, East Boston and South Boston — to make time to study the impact of shutting the branches. Mayor Thomas M. Menino will plug the funding gap for next year while the city looks at what happens to the buildings and where it can relocate some of the programs.

The decision comes as Boston's City Council has criticized the branch closures as hasty and rushed. The Library's Board of Trustees voted to close four branches in April after more than a dozen public meetings.

Administrative cuts at the Central Copley Square library will go forward and include cutting 68 positions, which will save more than $2 million.