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89-597: Boston Public Library has a collection of more than 23.7 million items, which makes it one of the largest municipal public library systems in the United States. The vast majority of the collection—over 22.7 million volumes—is held in the Central Branch research stacks. Between July 2012 and June 2013, the annual circulation of the BPL was 3.69 million. Because of the strength and importance of its research collection,

178-526: A New York City Landmark in 1967. At the behest of Joseph Cogswell , John Jacob Astor placed a codicil in his will to bequeath $ 400,000 (equivalent of $ 14.1 million in 2023) for the creation of a public library. After Astor's death in 1848, the resulting board of trustees executed the will's conditions and constructed the Astor Library in 1854 in the East Village . The library created

267-512: A public library in Boston beginning as early as 1826. At the time, Ticknor could not generate enough interest. In 1839, Alexandre Vattemare , a French philanthropist, suggested that all of Boston's libraries combine into one institution for the benefit of the public. The idea was presented to many Boston libraries, however, most were uninterested in the idea. At Vattemare's urging, Paris sent gifts of books in 1843 and 1847 to assist in establishing

356-603: A Second Language (ESL) classes. The two online catalogs, LEO (which searches the circulating collections) and CATNYP (which searches the research collections) allow users to search the library's holdings of books, journals and other materials. The LEO system allows cardholders to request books from any branch and have them delivered to any branch. The NYPL gives cardholders free access from home to thousands of current and historical magazines, newspapers, journals and reference books in subscription databases, including EBSCOhost , which contains full text of major magazines; full text of

445-731: A café. The Boston Public Library hosts thousands of free public programs each year, including Author Talks, Local and Family History lectures, the Lowell Lecture Series, Concerts in the Courtyard, and art and history exhibitions. The Boston Public Library also offers many daily events for children, teens, adults, and seniors, including story times, therapy dog story times, book discussions, film showings, ESL conversation groups, and research and technology classes. The Boston Public Library offers desktop computers with pay-for-print services for public use and free wireless internet at

534-617: A contract with the City of New York to transfer his donation to the city in order to enable it to justify purchasing the land for building the branch libraries. The NYPL Board of trustees hired consultants for the planning, and accepted their recommendation that a limited number of architectural firms be hired to build the Carnegie libraries; this would ensure uniformity of appearance and minimize cost. The trustees hired McKim, Mead & White , Carrère and Hastings , and Walter Cook to design all

623-405: A library with citywide reach was required, and upon his death in 1886, he bequeathed the bulk of his fortune—about $ 2.4 million (equivalent of $ 81 million in 2023)—to "establish and maintain a free library and reading room in the city of New York". This money would sit untouched in a trust for several years, until John Bigelow , a New York attorney, and Andrew Haswell Green , both trustees of

712-500: A new building on Boylston Street . Designed by Charles Kirk Kirby to hold 240,000 volumes, the imposing Italianate edifice opened in 1858. Eventually the library outgrew that building as well; in 1878, an examining committee recommended replacing it with a new one at another location. In 1870, the library opened the East Boston branch, the first branch library in the United States. With the aim of increasing its reach throughout

801-620: A number surpassed only by the Library of Congress and the British Library . Telephone Reference, known as ASK NYPL, answers 100,000 questions per year, by phone and online, as well as in The New York Times . The Library website provides access to the library's catalogs, online collections and subscription databases. It also has information about the library's free events, exhibitions, computer classes and English as

890-529: A policy of selling its cultural collections abroad for gold. Related collections include a significant number of important works by Russian photographers, and photographs related to the House of Romanov and Russia expert George Kennan . The military drew extensively from the library's map and book collections in the world wars, including hiring its staff. For example, the Map Division's chief Walter Ristow

979-854: A public lending library through its branch libraries in the Bronx , Manhattan , and Staten Island , including the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (formerly: Mid-Manhattan Library), the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library , the circulating collections of the Science, Industry and Business Library , and the circulating collections of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts . The branch libraries comprise

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1068-507: A public library there. Because of the cultural and economic rivalry between Boston and New York, this bequest prompted more discussion of establishing a public library in Boston. In 1848, a statute of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts enabled the creation of the library. The library was officially established in Boston by a city ordinance in 1852. Mayor Benjamin Seaver recommended to

1157-419: A unified public library. Vattemare made yet another gift of books in 1849. Josiah Quincy Jr. anonymously donated $ 5,000 to begin funding a new library. Quincy made the donation while he was mayor of Boston . Indirectly, John Jacob Astor , businessman and philanthropist, also influenced the establishment of a public library in Boston. At the time of his death, Astor bequeathed $ 400,000 to New York to establish

1246-542: A whole, the three library systems in the city have 209 branches with 63 million items in their collections. Benjamin Seaver Benjamin Seaver (April 12, 1795 – February 14, 1856) was an American politician, serving as the thirteenth mayor of Boston, Massachusetts from January 5, 1852 to January 2, 1854. Seaver was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts In 1812 Seaver became an apprentice at

1335-567: Is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress and the fourth-largest public library in the world . It is a private, non-governmental, independently managed, nonprofit corporation operating with both private and public financing. The library has branches in

1424-585: Is a database of over 900,000 images digitized from the library's collections. The Digital Collections was named one of Time Magazine ' s 50 Coolest Websites of 2005 and Best Research Site of 2006 by an international panel of museum professionals. The Photographers' Identities Catalog (PIC ) is an experimental online service of the Photography Collection in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building . Other databases available only from within

1513-422: Is known for having a welcoming environment when its comes to people of diverse backgrounds. The library offers free work and life skills classes. These are offered in conjunction with volunteers and partnerships at the library. In addition, the library offers non-English speakers materials and coaching for them to acclimate to the U.S. For these non-English speakers, the library offers free ESOL classes. An initiative

1602-571: Is still the heart of the NYPL's research library system. The SIBL, with approximately two million volumes and 60,000 periodicals, is the nation's largest public library devoted solely to science and business. The NYPL's two other research libraries are the Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture , located at 135th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem , and the New York Public Library for

1691-787: The New York Times (1995–present), Gale's Ready Reference Shelf which includes the Encyclopedia of Associations and periodical indexes, Books in Print ; and Ulrich's Periodicals Directory . The New York Public Library also links to outside resources, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics ' Occupational Outlook Handbook , and the CIA 's World Factbook . Databases are available for children, teenagers, and adults of all ages. The NYPL Digital Collections (formerly named Digital Gallery)

1780-593: The Beaux-Arts style, and the structure opened on May 23, 1911. It was the largest marble structure up to that time in the United States. The two stone lions guarding the entrance were sculpted by E.C. Potter and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers . Its main reading room was contemporaneously the largest of its kind in the world at 77 ft (23 m) wide by 295 ft (90 m) long, with 50-foot-high (15 m) ceilings. An expansion in

1869-660: The Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Public Library . According to the 2006 Mayor's Management Report, New York City's three public library systems had a total library circulation of 35 million: the NYPL and BPL (with 143 branches combined) had a circulation of 15 million , and the Queens system had a circulation of 20 million through its 62 branch libraries. Altogether the three library systems hosted 37 million visitors in 2006. Taken as

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1958-467: The Croton Reservoir . John Shaw Billings , the first director of the library, created an initial design that became the basis of the new building containing a huge reading room on top of seven floors of book stacks, combined with a system that was designed to get books into the hands of library users as fast as possible. The architectural firm Carrère and Hastings constructed the structure in

2047-712: The First Folio ), the George Ticknor collection of Spanish literature, a major collection of Daniel Defoe , records of colonial Boston, the personal 3,800 volume library of John Adams , the mathematical and astronomical library of Nathaniel Bowditch , important manuscript archives on abolitionism , including the papers of William Lloyd Garrison , and a major collection of materials on the Sacco and Vanzetti case. There are large collections of prints, photographs, postcards, and maps. The library, for example, holds one of

2136-748: The National Library of Medicine ), Edwin H. Anderson , Harry M. Lydenberg , Franklin F. Hopper , Ralph A. Beals, and Edward Freehafer (1954–1970). They emphasized expertise, objectivity, and a very broad worldwide range of knowledge in acquiring, preserving, organizing, and making available to the general population nearly 12 million books and 26.5 million additional items. The directors in turn reported to an elite board of trustees, chiefly elderly, well-educated, philanthropic, predominantly Protestant, upper-class white men with commanding positions in American society. They saw their role as protecting

2225-746: The New York State Legislature incorporated the Lenox Library in 1870. The library was built on Fifth Avenue , between 70th and 71st Streets, in 1877. Bibliophile and philanthropist James Lenox donated a vast collection of his Americana , art works, manuscripts, and rare books, including the first Gutenberg Bible in the New World . At its inception, the library charged admission and did not permit physical access to any literary items. Former Governor of New York and presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden believed that

2314-657: The Norman B. Leventhal Map Center , historical images, prints, and photographs, sound archives, and silent films. Many of the library's digitized works can be found either through the Boston Public Library Flickr page or through their collections on the Digital Commonwealth. As of August 2017, the library arranges for its patrons access to digital content from several providers: Boston Public Library has two digital partners-in-residence at

2403-658: The 1970s and 1980s added storage space under Bryant Park , directly west of the library. The structure was given a major restoration from 2007 to 2011, underwritten by a $ 100 million gift from philanthropist Stephen A. Schwarzman , for whom the branch was subsequently renamed. Today, the branch's main reading room is equipped with computers with access to library collections and the Internet as well as docking facilities for laptops. A Fellows program makes reserved rooms available for writers and scholars, selected annually, and many have accomplished important research and writing at

2492-462: The 1990s, the New York Public Library decided to relocate that portion of the research collection devoted to science, technology, and business to a new location. The library purchased and adapted the former B. Altman & Company Building on 34th Street . In 1995, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the library, the $ 100 million Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL), designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates of Manhattan, opened to

2581-600: The BPL's staff of two full-time conservators is significantly less than the thirty-five employed at the New York Public Library. Many colonial records and John Adams manuscripts are brittle, decaying, and so in need of attention that the Library's acting Keeper of Rare Books and Manuscripts said that "they are falling apart." In 2011, the library completed a strategic plan, the BPL Compass, which featured eight community-identified "Principles for Excellence". The principles in

2670-622: The Boston Public Library is a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), a not-for-profit organization comprising the research libraries of North America. The New York Public Library is the only other public library that is a member of the ARL, and it also has a private endowment. The library has established collections of distinction, based on the collection's depth and breadth, including subjects such as Boston history,

2759-941: The Central Library and all 24 branches for anyone who has a wireless-enabled mobile device and a library card. Plug-in Ethernet access is also available in the McKim building's Bates Hall and the Honan-Allston Branch's Adult Reading Room for up to 2 hours. Library-card holders can also borrow laptops for in-library use for 2 hours at any location. The library offers a variety of digital services and collections. The online catalog, also available for mobile devices, allows users to browse and place holds on materials including books, audiobooks, DVDs, and CDs. Users can also download ebooks, e-audiobooks, music, and video through BPL's OverDrive site and check out Zinio magazines for

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2848-474: The Central Library in Copley Square. The first is Internet Archive , a nonprofit digital library that offers permanent access to historical collections in digital format for researchers, historians, and the general public. The Digital Public Library of America provides access to digital content from American libraries, archives, museums, and historical societies. In the latter half of the 19th century,

2937-470: The Civil War, Irish history, etc. In addition, the library is both a federal and state depository of government documents. Included in the BPL's research collection are more than 1.7 million rare books and manuscripts. It possesses wide-ranging and important holdings, including medieval manuscripts and incunabula , early editions of William Shakespeare (among which are a number of Shakespeare quartos and

3026-584: The McKim Building and the Johnson Building, which are attached and interconnected with interior passageways. The central library as a whole with the two buildings combined contains 930,000 square feet (86,000 m) of space and houses 21 million items in its collections as of 2015. The McKim building houses the BPL's research collection. Designed by Philip Johnson , this late modernist addition, which predated postmodernist architecture ,

3115-402: The NYPL charged a late fee of $ 0.25 per day per book; other types of items had different late fees, and seniors and disabled patrons paid lower late fees. The library system's president, Anthony Marx , indicated his intention to eliminate late fees after assuming the library's presidency in 2011. The NYPL stopped charging late fees on October 5, 2021. Existing debts have since been cleared from

3204-792: The NYPL is granted a charter from the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York and is registered with the New York State Education Department . The basic powers and duties of all library boards of trustees are defined in the Education Law and are subject to Part 90 of Title 8 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations . The NYPL's charter, as restated and granted in 1975, gives

3293-600: The NYPL represents 0.02% of the city's 2024 budget of $ 110 billion. Funding for Sunday service was restored in June 2024. In February 2013, the New York and Brooklyn public libraries announced that they would merge their technical services departments. The new department is called BookOps. The proposed merger anticipates a savings of $ 2 million for the Brooklyn Public Library and $ 1.5 million for

3382-417: The New York Public Library consisted of 4 research centers and 89 neighborhood branch libraries in the three boroughs served. All libraries in the NYPL system may be used free of charge by all visitors. As of 2019 , the research collections contain 46.8 million items (books, videotapes, maps, etc.), while the branch libraries contain 9.9 million items. Together the collections total nearly 53 million items,

3471-518: The New York Public Library. Although not currently part of the merger, it is expected that the Queens Public Library will eventually share some resources with the other city libraries. As of 2011, circulation in the New York Public Library systems and Brooklyn Public Library systems has increased by 59%. Located in Long Island City , BookOps was created as a way to save money while improving patrons service. The services of BookOps include

3560-473: The Performing Arts , located at Lincoln Center . In addition to their reference collections, the Library for the Performing Arts and the SIBL also have circulating components that are administered as ordinary branch libraries. The New York Public Library was not created by government statute. From its earliest days, the library was formed from a partnership of city government with private philanthropy. As of 2010,

3649-705: The Selection Team which "acquires, describes, prepares, and delivers new items for the circulating collections of Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) and New York Public Library, and for the general collections of NYPL's research libraries." Under the Selection Team are the Acquisitions Department, the Cataloging Department, The Collections Processing Unit, and the Logistics Department. Before this facility opened, all

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3738-627: The Slavic and Baltic Division. A number of innovations in recent years have been criticized. In 2004 NYPL announced participation in the Google Books Library Project . By agreement between Google and major international libraries, selected collections of public domain books would be scanned in their entirety and made available online for free to the public. The negotiations between the two partners called for each to project guesses about ways that libraries are likely to expand in

3827-527: The Tilden fortune, came up with an idea to merge two of the city's largest libraries. Both the Astor and Lenox libraries were struggling financially. Although New York City already had numerous libraries in the 19th century, almost all of them were privately funded and many charged admission or usage fees (a notable exception was Cooper Union , which opened its free reading room to the public in 1859). Bigelow,

3916-497: The United States , are also available to anyone in the U.S. via the SimplyE app. In 2006, the library adopted a new strategy that merged branch and research libraries into "One NYPL". The organizational change developed a unified online catalog for all the collections, and one card to that could be used at both branch and research libraries. The 2009 website and online-catalog transition had some initial difficulties, but ultimately

4005-405: The active planning for the new library. In 1852, financier Joshua Bates gave a gift of $ 50,000 to establish a library in Boston. After Bates' gift was received, Ticknor made lists of what books to purchase. He traveled extensively to purchase books for the library, visit other libraries, and set up book agencies. To house the collection, a former schoolhouse located on Mason Street was selected as

4094-496: The aforementioned departments were housed in different locations with no accountability between them, and items sometimes taking up to two weeks to reach their intended destination. BookOps now has all departments in one building and in 2015 sorted almost eight million items. The building has numerous rooms, including a room dedicated to caring for damaged books. The consolidations and changes in collections have promoted continuing debate and controversy since 2004 when David Ferriero

4183-589: The auction and commission store of Whitwell & Bond. In 1816 Seaver became a partner in the firm which was renamed Whitwell, Bond & Co. In 1818, Seaver purchased 5 shares of the Suffolk Bank , a clearinghouse bank on State Street in Boston . Seaver married Sarah Johnson. Seaver was first elected to represent Boston's Ward 5 as a member of the Boston Common Council in 1845. He

4272-473: The boroughs of the Bronx , Manhattan , and Staten Island and affiliations with academic and professional libraries in the New York metropolitan area . The city's other two boroughs, Brooklyn and Queens , are not served by the New York Public Library system, but rather by their respective borough library systems: the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Public Library . The branch libraries are open to

4361-602: The branch libraries. New York author Washington Irving was a close friend of Astor for decades and had helped the philanthropist design the Astor Library. Irving served as President of the library's Board of Trustees from 1848 until his death in 1859, shaping the library's collecting policies with his strong sensibility regarding European intellectual life. Subsequently, the library hired nationally prominent experts to guide its collections policies; they reported directly to directors John Shaw Billings (who also developed

4450-652: The catalogues were integrated. NYPL's Community Oral History Project shares New York City's neighborhoods and diverse people by documenting history through collected stories. The Oral History Project includes people living in Greenwich Village, Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood, Times Square, Hell's Kitchen, Soho, Lower East Side, Chinatown, and Kips Bay as well as Transgender , Latino Americans, Veterans, and Disability Experience. The New York Public Library offers many services to its patrons. Some of these services include services for immigrants. New York City

4539-525: The city and providing services to residents everywhere, the library opened 21 more branches in Boston neighborhoods between 1872 and 1900. By 1880, the Massachusetts legislature authorized construction of an even grander library building. A site selected was in Back Bay on Copley Square , the prominent corner of Boylston Street and Dartmouth Street, opposite Richardson 's Trinity Church and near

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4628-462: The city council that a librarian be appointed. In May 1852 the city council adopted the recommendations of the mayor and Edward Capen was chosen to become Boston Public Library's first librarian. Eager to support the library, Edward Everett collected documents from both houses of Congress , bound them at his own expense, and offered this collection to help establish the new library. At the time of Everett's donation, George Ticknor became involved in

4717-547: The city, in coordination with the library, began a renovation of the Central Library's Johnson building. In February 2015, the first phase of renovation opened on the Johnson building's second floor, including the new Children's Library, Teen Central, a community reading area, and the Adult Reference area. The renovated second floor cost a total of $ 18 million. The second phase of the Johnson building renovations opened in

4806-469: The city, with the requirement that they be operated and maintained by the City of New York. The Brooklyn and Queens public library systems, which predated the consolidation of New York City , eschewed the grants offered to them and did not join the NYPL system; they believed that they would not get treatment equal to the Manhattan and the Bronx counterparts. Later, in 1901, Carnegie formally signed

4895-408: The computer, tablet, or smartphone. Library card holders and e-card holders can also stream movies, television shows, music, and audiobooks through Hoopla Streaming Media. Many of the Boston Public Library's collections are available to the public online, including rare books and manuscripts, the anti-slavery manuscript collection, historical children's books, the John Adams Library, historic maps from

4984-401: The consolidation program, the NYPL moved various back-office operations to a new Library Services Center building in Long Island City. A former warehouse was renovated for this purpose for $ 50 million . In the basement, a new, $ 2.3 million book sorter uses bar codes on library items to sort them for delivery to 132 branch libraries. At two-thirds the length of a football field, the machine is

5073-456: The digital imaging department (formerly at the Main Branch building) and the manuscripts and archives division, where the air is kept cooler; on the third, the Barbara Goldsmith Preservation Division, with a staff of 10 (as of 2010) but designed for as many as 30 employees. The NYPL maintains a force of NYC special patrolmen, who provide security and protection to various libraries, and NYPL special investigators, who oversee security operations at

5162-472: The first Boston Museum of Fine Arts . After several years of debate over the selection of the architects and architectural style for the new library, in 1887 the prestigious New York firm of McKim, Mead, and White was chosen to design the new library. In 1888, Charles Follen McKim proposed a Renaissance style design based on the Bibliothèque Ste-Geneviève in Paris. The trustees of the library approved, and construction commenced. The vast new reading room

5251-415: The five most important libraries in the United States, the others being the federal Library of Congress , the New York Public Library , and the university libraries of Harvard and Yale . In the mid-19th century, several people were instrumental in the establishment of the Boston Public Library. George Ticknor , a Harvard University professor and trustee of the Boston Athenaeum , proposed establishing

5340-488: The future. According to the terms of the agreement, the data cannot be crawled or harvested by any other search engine; no downloading or redistribution is allowed. The partners and a wider community of research libraries can share the content. The sale of the separately endowed former Donnell Library in midtown provoked controversy. The elimination of Donnell was a result of the dissolution of children's, young adult and foreign language collections. The Donnell Media Center

5429-404: The general public and consist of circulating libraries . The New York Public Library also has four research libraries , which are also open to the general public. The library, officially chartered as The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations , was developed in the 19th century, founded from an amalgamation of grass-roots libraries and social libraries of bibliophiles and

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5518-404: The largest of its kind in the world, according to library officials. Books located in one branch and requested from another go through the sorter, the use of which has cut waiting times by at least a day. Together with 14 library employees, the machine can sort 7,500 items an hour (or 125 a minute). On the first floor of the Library Services Center is an ordering and cataloging office; on the second,

5607-409: The library began a major renovation project on the Johnson building. The first phase of the renovation opened in February 2015. The second phase included renovations to the building's first floor, mezzanine, and exterior, and opened in the summer 2016. The $ 78 million renovation includes a new business innovation center and business library, a radio broadcasting studio for WGBH (FM) , a 3D printer , and

5696-456: The library established a new philanthropic fund: The Fund for the Boston Public Library, announced by Mayor Marty Walsh . It began with a $ 2.8 million investment by "Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Barr Foundation, The Boston Foundation, Liberty Mutual Foundation, State Street Foundation, Inc. and an anonymous donor." The Boston Central Library is located in Copley Square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. The central library consists of

5785-421: The library facilities. These officials have on-duty arrest authority granted by the New York Penal Law . Some library branches contract for security guards. To celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2020, the NYPL calculated a list of its most checked out books. Topping the list was Ezra Jack Keats ' The Snowy Day , with The Cat in the Hat and Nineteen Eighty-Four rounding out the top three. Until 2021,

5874-422: The library include Nature , IEEE and Wiley science journals , Wall Street Journal archives, and Factiva . Overall, the digital holdings for the Library consist of more than a petabyte of data as of 2015. NYPL cardholders can download free e-books via the SimplyE app and website. As part of the Books for All program, a limited number of books in the NYPL's collection, which have been banned elsewhere in

5963-462: The library worked vigorously to develop and expand its branch library system. Viewed as a means to extend its presence throughout the city, the branch system evolved from an idea in 1867 to a reality in 1870, when the first branch library in the United States was opened in East Boston . The library currently has 25 branches serving diverse populations in the city's neighborhoods. New York Public Library The New York Public Library ( NYPL )

6052-402: The library's autonomy from politicians as well as bestowing upon it status, resources, and prudent care. Representative of many major board decisions was the purchase in 1931 of the private library of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847–1909), uncle of the last tsar . This was one of the largest acquisitions of Russian books and photographic materials; at the time, the Soviet government had

6141-402: The library's first home. On March 20, 1854, the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library officially opened to the public. The circulation department opened on May 2, 1854. The opening day collection of 16,000 volumes fit in the Mason Street building, but it quickly became obvious that its quarters were inadequate. So in December 1854, the library's commissioners authorized the library to move to

6230-493: The library. The Main Branch also contains several historic designations. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and designated a New York City designated landmark in 1967. Astor Hall, first-to-third-floor stairs, and McGraw Rotunda were designated as interior landmarks in 1974. and the Rose Main Reading Room and Public Catalog Room were separately made New York City designated landmarks in 2017. In

6319-428: The major collections of watercolors and drawings by Thomas Rowlandson . The library has a special strength in music, and holds the archives of the Handel and Haydn Society , scores from the estate of Serge Koussevitzky , and the papers of and grand piano belonging to the important American composer Walter Piston . For all these reasons, the historian David McCullough has described the Boston Public Library as one of

6408-621: The most prominent supporter of the plan to merge the two libraries found support in Lewis Cass Ledyard , a member of the Tilden Board, as well as John Cadwalader , on the Astor board. Eventually, John Stewart Kennedy , president of the Lenox board, also came to support the plan. On May 23, 1895, Bigelow, Cadwalader, and George L. Rives agreed to create "The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations". The plan

6497-582: The name of the corporation as The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations . The library is governed by a board of trustees, composed of between 25 and 42 trustees of several classes who collectively choose their own successors, including ex officio the New York City Mayor , New York City Council Speaker and New York City Comptroller . The New York Public Library is one of three separate and independent public library systems in New York City. The other two library systems are

6586-625: The plan and all of the related outcomes were the result of a two-year community engagement process for which Boston Public Library received national recognition. In 2012, the city of Boston spent 1.26% ($ 27,836,648) of its budget on the library, or $ 43.74 per person. In 2013, the library unveiled its Collections of Distinction, an initial group of 18 collections that represent the most outstanding, expansive, and renowned of its holdings. Boston Public Library gives priority to Collections of Distinction with respect to public access, acquisition, digitization, preservation, and staff development. In fall 2013,

6675-561: The public. Upon the creation of the SIBL, the central research library on 42nd Street was renamed the Humanities and Social Sciences Library. Today there are four research libraries that comprise the NYPL's research library system; together they hold approximately 44 million items. Total item holdings, including the collections of the Branch Libraries, are 50.6 million . The Humanities and Social Sciences Library on 42nd Street

6764-553: The records of all NYPL patrons. On November 26, 2023, Sunday services were discontinued at select branches where it was offered; along with reduced programs for adults and children. This followed months of contentious budget negotiations between the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams , with Adams claiming that the New York City migrant housing crisis necessitated the budget cuts. The $ 12.6 million in city spending for

6853-431: The research libraries in the system are largely funded with private money, and the branch or circulating libraries are financed primarily with city government funds. Until 2009, the research and branch libraries operated almost entirely as separate systems, but that year various operations were merged. By early 2010, the NYPL staff had been reduced by about 16 percent, in part through the consolidations. In 2010, as part of

6942-829: The summer 2016 and included the first floor, mezzanine, and exterior. In 2017, the Boston Public Library received joint awards from both the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Library Association (ALA) for the Central Library Renovation of its Johnson Building, and for the East Boston Branch. In 2017, the library had 3,818,883 visitors to all locations; 4,933,786 items borrowed; and 9,839,461 visits to its website. The library also gained 82,911 new library card holders. In 2019, supporters of

7031-685: The third-largest library in the United States. These circulating libraries offer a wide range of collections, programs, and services, including the renowned Picture Collection at Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library and the Media Center, redistributed from Donnell. The system has 40 libraries in Manhattan, 35 in the Bronx, and 14 in Staten Island. The newest is the Charleston Library, which opened on March 16, 2022. As of 2022,

7120-533: The wealthy, aided by the philanthropy of the wealthiest Americans of their age. The "New York Public Library" name may also refer to its Main Branch , which is easily recognizable by its lion statues named Patience and Fortitude that sit either side of the entrance. The branch was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and designated

7209-430: Was a free reference library; its books were not permitted to circulate. By 1872, the Astor Library was described in a New York Times editorial as a "major reference and research resource", but, "Popular it certainly is not, and, so greatly is it lacking in the essentials of a public library, that its stores might almost as well be under lock and key, for any access the masses of the people can get thereto". An act of

7298-489: Was also dismantled, the bulk of its collection relocated at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts as the Reserve Film and Video Collection, with parts of its collection redistributed. The site was redeveloped for a luxury hotel. Several veteran librarians have retired, and the number of age-level specialists in the boroughs have been cut back. The New York Public Library system maintains commitment as

7387-532: Was appointed as head of the geography section of the War Department's New York Office of Military Intelligence from 1942 to 1945. Ristow and his staff discovered, copied, and loaned thousands of strategic, rare or unique maps to war agencies in need of information not available through other sources. The organizers of the New York Public Library, wanting an imposing main branch, chose a central site along Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets, on top of

7476-413: Was built in 1967–1971 and opened in 1972. The Johnson building reflects similar proportions, and is built of the same pink Milford granite as the McKim building. Upon opening, the Johnson building became the home for the Boston Public Library's main circulating collection, which includes works in many languages. It also serves as headquarters for the Boston Public Library's 24 branch libraries. In 2013,

7565-475: Was called Bates Hall. In 1972, the Johnson building opened at the central Copley Square location, adjacent to the McKim building. The addition was designed by American architect Philip Johnson . In 1986, the National Park Service designated the McKim building as a National Historic Landmark . As of 2006, the Library has had staffing and funding levels for conservation below that of its peers:

7654-483: Was hailed as an example of private philanthropy for the public good. On December 11, John Shaw Billings was named as the library's first director. The newly established library consolidated with the grass-roots New York Free Circulating Library in February 1901. In March, Andrew Carnegie tentatively agreed to donate $ 5.2 million (equivalent of $ 190 million in 2023) to construct sixty-five branch libraries in

7743-601: Was named the Andrew W. Mellon Director and Chief Executive of the Research Libraries. NYPL had engaged consultants Booz Allen Hamilton to survey the institution, and Ferriero endorsed the survey's report as a big step "in the process of reinventing the library". The consolidation program has resulted in the elimination of subjects such as the Asian and Middle East Division (formerly named Oriental Division), as well as

7832-471: Was reelected to the Common Council from Ward 5 in 1846 and 1847. In 1848 Seaver moved to Ward 4 and was subsequently elected as a councilor from the new ward in 1848 and 1849. In July 1847 Seaver was elected as the president of the Common Council and held that position for the two and a half years that he remained on the City of Boston Common Council. From 1846 to 1848 Seaver served as a member of

7921-739: Was taken in July 2018, NYC library card holders are allowed to visit Whitney Museum , the Guggenheim and 31 other prominent New York cultural institutions for free. In June 2017, Subway Library was announced. It was an initiative between the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Public Library, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , and Transit Wireless . The Subway Library gave New York City Subway riders access to e-books, excerpts, and short stories. Like all public libraries in New York,

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