New York Public Library.

New York Public Library. I INTRODUCTION New York Public Library, a library system consisting of an administrative center, 4 research libraries, and 85 neighborhood branch libraries in the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, in New York City. (The boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens have their own public library systems.) The library provides free circulating books and other materials, reference services, and research facilities. The library's full name is The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. II FOUNDING AND ORGANIZATION The library was founded in 1895 with funds from a trust left by the American political leader Samuel J. Tilden. The trust made possible the consolidation of the Astor and Lenox libraries, two research libraries that were experiencing financial difficulty. The Astor Library was established in 1849 by an endowment left by John Jacob Astor, a merchant and financier. The Lenox Library was the private collection of the American philanthropist James Lenox. Upon his death in 1880 the collection became a research library. The library contracted with the city to build and operate circulating libraries in three of the city's boroughs. In 1901 Andrew Carnegie, the American steel magnate and philanthropist, provided the money to build the first 39 branches of the library. The Central Research Building, erected and still maintained by the city, was dedicated as a free research library in 1911. In the early 1990s, about 80 percent of funding for the branch libraries was provided by New York City. The research libraries are supported mostly by private endowments and gifts, and additional grants are awarded by the federal government and by the city and state of New York. III CENTRAL RESEARCH BUILDING The administrative center of the research libraries, and the largest library of the system, is the Central Research Building, a well-known New York City landmark. Its imposing marble structure covers two blocks from 40th to 42nd streets on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Cataloging and acquisition for the research libraries are done in this building. IV THE RESEARCH LIBRARIES Besides the Central Research Building, the research libraries include the Library for the Performing Arts, located within the Lincoln Center complex; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in Harlem; the Center for the Humanities, housed in the Central Research Building; and the Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL), which opened in May 1996 on Madison Avenue near 34th Street. The SIBL also has a 50,000-volume circulating collection. The other research libraries only allow their materials to be used in library reading rooms. Together, these constitute one of the greatest libraries in the world, containing some 13 million books and more than 27 million manuscripts, recordings, prints, and other items. They are organized into subject divisions and special collections, covering virtually every field of knowledge in every language. V THE BRANCH LIBRARIES The branch libraries of the system are as diverse as the city neighborhoods they serve. The Mid-Manhattan Library offers the system's largest and most comprehensive circulating and reference collections of current materials. The branch library collections contain about 5.5 million books and 5.8 million other items, including audiocassettes, books, compact discs, films, periodicals, recordings, and videocassettes. Special collections include the Library for the Performing Arts; the Donnell Library Center, which houses a foreign-language library, a media center, the Nathan Straus Young Adult Library, and the Central Children's Room; the Andrew Heiskell Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped; and the Hispanic, Afro-American, Chinese, and Italian American Heritage centers located in four branch libraries. Nearly all branches include children's rooms containing materials especially for young readers. Computers and software are available for public use at more than 50 sites. In addition, branch libraries sponsor 18,000 free programs a year for youngsters and adults. Classes are offered in English as a second language and in basic reading and writing skills for adults. Reviewed by: New York Public Library Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.