Boston boasts some of the nation’s most recognizable and cherished green spaces, from Boston Common, to the Emerald Necklace, to hundreds of neighborhood parks, playgrounds, tot lots, community gardens, playing fields, cemeteries, and urban wilds. In this Boston Public Library exhibition, you will learn how the country’s oldest public park grew from a grazing pasture to an iconic recreational and social center, how 19th-century reformers came to view parks as environmental remedies for ill health, how innovative landscape architects fashioned green oases in the midst of a booming metropolis, and what the future holds for Boston’s open spaces. As you explore three centuries of open space in Boston, perhaps you will feel inspired to go outside and discover the green spaces in your own backyard. See the exhibit at the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the BPL’s Central Library in Copley Square through September 30. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 – 7, Friday & Saturday, 10 – 5, and Sunday, 1 – 5. For more information visit www.bpl.org.