New York Public Library

Brief information

The main building of the New York Public Library rose on the site of the disused Croton Reservoir. As a result, the library on Fifth Avenue reads not only as a ceremonial marble facade, but also as a building placed atop earlier urban infrastructure. It was conceived so that the movement of books would be part of the architecture: the stacks occupied the seven lower floors, while the vast reading room was raised higher, to the eighth level.

This library is also unusual in the structure of the organization itself. It was not created by government decree: private philanthropy and city administration worked together from the very beginning. Because of this, the stone, almost palatial building conceals a thoroughly practical purpose: to make a research library public and quick to use.

What to notice first

You can compare the entrance and the reading room as two parts of a single idea. At the entrance stand two stone lions by Edward Clark Potter: the southern one was named “Patience,” the northern one “Fortitude.” These figures make the facade resemble a solemn threshold, but beyond it the building reveals not ceremony, but work with books.

In the main reading room, it is worth noticing the scale of the space, the open shelves on the lower level and balcony, the tall windows, heavy chandeliers, and tables with brass lamps. All these details show that the room was designed as a place for long scholarly work. Another important layer is not visible as a facade detail: in the 1980s, storage areas were added below ground level under Bryant Park, and the park was restored after construction. In this way, the library continued to grow downward without changing the building’s main image.