Comments on Two Articles About the New York Public Library

There were two recent articles about the New York Public Library. The first one in the Sunday Review of the New York Times is by Edmund Morris, the author of biography of Beethoven, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. I think he is a little too harsh as he describes the “sacking of a palace of culture“. He objects to President Anthony W. Marx’s plan to spend $300 Million to transform the main building to a “palace of presentism.” I do feel that NYPL must move into the future and provide research level journals electronically instead of in print. However, it should preserve its unique collections. The special collections  must never be compromised and not moved from the Schwartman Building. I question if there is enough room in that building for Mid Manhattan and SIBL as stated in the plan.

I don’t know if this analogy is valid, but Yankee Stadium was reconstructed with many of the features of the original ball park. Features like the frieze and Monument Park appear in the new stadium along with amenities such as luxury boxes and restaurants.

This brings me to the second article in the Chronicle of Higher Education on off site storage for researchers. In a small academic library like NJIT, users can just walk up to shelve and pick off the book or periodical they need. NYPL is closed stack necessitating patrons to fill out a call slip and wait for item. I remember my days at NYPL when patrons were so impatient. Some would have an anxiety attack when they would have to wait 20 minutes for their book and direct their anger toward the reference librarian when the item was late. There was always the “fast food” way of thinking by patrons. Right now NYPL has a facility in New Jersey called Recap where less popular materials are housed. Patrons likely have to wait a day for their request. The renovations of the Schwartzman Building would require more materials to be moved there. There is a plan to build more storage capacity there.

I have no conclusions to make. You just can’t please all the people all of the time. A small library can’t provide all the resources its patrons need. When I worked at NYPL people were asking for materials it didn’t own. When you have a large collection, there is only so much space and of course space costs money. Thanks for reading this :)