NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
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| Panoramic view of New York Public Library |
On my recent visit to New York I managed to spend a couple of hours at the New York Public Library. With camera in hand I began to immerse myself in this amazing historical building. My research methods for this week came mostly from a book I bought at the Library Shop. The majority of photographs taken in this blog are my own.
The New York Public Library's site is in the heart of NYC, at the intersection of 42nd and 5th Avenue and is the flagship building of NYPL. The immense project of building the library began in 1899 and lasted for twelve years. The construction costs in 2002 terms averaged $168 million. The Library was the largest marble structure for its time erected within the USA. Every complicated classical detail, both exterior and interior, had to be hand-carved by masons and carpenters trained in Old World techniques. Many of the craftsmen were French, German, and Italian immigrants, who supplied skills and talent brought with them from all over Europe.
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| Maps Room - Photo Tahnia Smith |
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| Rose Main Reading Room 315 - Photo Tahnia Smith |
The library opened formally on May 23, 1911. During the opening speech, President Taft elicited support for the new Library, putting it in a national context:
"The dedication of this beautiful structure for the spread of knowledge among the people marks not only the consummation of a noteworthy plan for bringing within the grasp of the humblest and poorest citizen the opportunity for acquiring information on every subject of every kind, but it furnishes a model and example for to other cities which have been struggling with the same problem, and points for them the true way".
The response was overwhelming. Between 30,000 and 50,000 visitors streamed through the building the first day it opened to the public.
The beloved icons 'Library Lions' sculptures, adorn the front entrance of NYPL. Being the mascots of the Library, the lions have acquired various nicknames, including "Leo Astor and Leo Lenox," and, perhaps most famously, "Patience and Fortitude" so dubbed for the future qualities New Yorkers would need to endure during the hardships of the Great Depression.
Today, with its 90 branches New York Public Library serves some 16 million patrons who come through its doors annually; in addition, the Library’s website, www.nypl.org, receives 28 million visits annually from more than 200 countries.
With NYPL renovation project currently taking place which is expected to be completed by 2017 or 2018 with a cost of 300 million. It is proposed to include more computers and dedicated spaces for up to 500 writers and scholars, doubling the current capacity. A monumental breakthrough perhaps?
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| Original Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed animal purchased as birthday gift for Christopher Robin Milne (1921), Central Children's Room, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building |
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