James Fulford was kind enough to research the Boston Public Library reference in Looking for Rachael Wallace and send along the following.

Looking at this, it occurred to me that since Parker is talking about a real building, there might pictures. And there are some other links. To the extent that Eleanor of Aquitaine had any literary influence, it was in the area of romantic love.

"The main entrance to the Boston Public Library used to face Copley Square across Dartmouth Street. There was a broad exterior stairway and inside there was a beautiful marble staircase leading up to the main reading room with carved lions and high-domed ceilings. It was always a pleasure to go there. It felt like a library and looked like a library, and even when I was going in there to look up Duke Snider's lifetime batting average, [.295] I used to feel like a scholar.

They they grafted an addition on and shifted the main entrance to Boylston Street. Faithful to the spirit, the architect had probably said. But making a contemporary statement, I bet he said. The addition went with the original like Tab goes with pheasant. Now, even if I went in to study the literary influence of Eleanor of Aquitaine, I felt like I'd come out with a pound of hamburger and a loaf of Wonder bread."

BTW, I found an architect who actually used the phrase "making a contemporary statement" if you're interested: http://www.henry-riley.co.uk/projects/casestudy.php?id=23&catid=7 

And to get an idea of what Spenser was talking about, here is the new addition.  I can't tell if it looks more like a high-scale men's store or a medium security prison. <Bob>