Happy 125th, New York Public Library (NYPL)
Buttercupland is delighted to join in the birthday celebration for one of the great institutions of the world, The New York Public Library. You may be doing research at one of the four research centers or borrowing books, movies or going to story hours at the 88 branch libraries throughout Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island. You may be one of the seventeen million patrons of the library, or you're a frequent visitor to the on-line catalog to borrow e-books. For all of us, it's difficult to imagine New York City without the landmark building at 42nd Street, pictured above, or the wonderful branch library system.
It's hard to imagine New York without a library system, but the NYPL is a relatively recent addition to the city. It was formed in 1895 by a merger of two existing research libraries. The building we in New York refer to as "The Library," the main branch was completed in 1911. President William Howard Taft presided over the dedication ceremonies.
The branch libraries were created thanks to a 5.2 million dollar donation from Andrew Carnegie. The Carnegie funds would pay for the buildings and the city would be responsible for the operating cost of the libraries. Our 88 libraries were a small part of the 2,509 Carnegie libraries that were built throughout the world. One of the legacies of the Carnegie donations is the "open stack" system in most libraries. One of my great pleasures at the library is browsing the stacks. The open-stack system was introduced to reduce costs, but it also provided the joys of independent choice.
My branch library, St. Agnes branch began as a parish library for St. Agnes Chapel on
West 91st St in 1893. It was expanded to a neighborhood library in 1894. In 1906 it moved to its present location on Amsterdam Avenue.
Yes, we are a Carnegie Library!
A copy of Andrew Carnegie's letter to the New York Public Library, 1901
I hope you've enjoyed our library birthday celebration. I always enjoy library visits and I know I learned a lot from this one. I've worked in three libraries -- the Hartford Public Library, and the libraries at Mount Holyoke and Dartmouth -- and this is the first time I knew about the introduction of open stacks. Always something new to learn!
Now I'm going to spend the rest of the evening enjoying my latest library book, "Takes One to Know One," by Susan Isaacs. I'll be back tomorrow with an update on No-Spending January.
As ever, thanks for visiting and please keep cozy! It's chilly out there.
