NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY READING ROOM NOW READY

This photo of the newly renovated Reading Room of the New York Public Library brought back memories of the many times I visited within these walls. I was within walking distance when my Medallic Art office was five blocks away, close enough for a lunchtime visit. First stop was the catalog – not an electronic catalog – the original card catalog, Jot down the call numbers of any desired tome on a call slip, then enter this room. It is one of the largest in the city save for Grand Central Station which I passed through twice a day.

You were assigned a number, took a seat, those call slips were whisked down by pneumatic tube within the bowels of the library to one of the five levels below were runners found your desired item, then sent them up by dumbwaiter to the Reading Room. Your assigned number was lit on a call board for you to pick up. Average time: 20 minutes.

While I waited I hit the nearby shelves -- you see here empty of their treasures -- for one of the most used items in the library, the city directories. The pages of these books were so worn you imagined the thousands of times they had been fingered before. There I found addresses and professions and sometimes other data of artists, and even early Medallic Art officers and employees.

When finished return the books to a designated counter. And thereby lies a story. The chief researcher for Ripley’s Believe It Or Not researched in this room. He chose to pore over the books on this counter to select to search for possible items to appear in Ripley’s column. That proved better than any other method of finding odd facts among the Library’s 12 million books.

There are other departments of the Library I had visited, the Reading rooms of the Art Department and the Genealogy Division. Also the Picture Division where I spent many hours. I have written about this before (vol 8, no 11, art 8).

When you are next in New York City visit this room, as tourist or researcher. More books have emanated from this room than any other single place in America.

For more information on the library makeover, see:
A Stunning Makeover At The New York Public Library's Main Branch (https://savingplaces.org/stories/stunning-makeover-at-new-york-public-library-main-branch#.WKkC9vkrKLs)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY PICTURE COLLECTION (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n11a08.html)
ARTICLE: THE PUBLIC LIBRARY IS STILL HERE (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n37a20.html)
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY RENOVATION PLANS RELEASED (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n54a18.html)

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