Library Fever

Creepy

“Resilient” should be carved in stone above the door of the New York Society Library.  Its first 40 years saw more action than most cities see in a lifetime.  But there is a limit to how much a library can take.  The Society Library’s limit came in 1803 when librarian Jonathon Forbes closed the doors to all subscribers for three months.  

Closing the library seems like a radical move and three months is a lifetime when you’re waiting to get your hands on the latest bestseller.  What could have caused Forbes to take such radical action, to deny his patrons access to intellectual stimulation and fellowship ?  The words would strike fear in the hearts of all who heard them in the 1800s, especially those in the close living quarters of big cities...  

Yellow Fever.

Yellow Fever was a horrific virus that spread through cities in North America in waves.  Thousands of citizens in Philadelphia suffered and died after a major epidemic in 1793.  George Washington and his colleagues, who had recently moved the Federal Government to Philly, were so alarmed by the outbreak that they fled the city and headed for their estates (imagine the media coverage that brave move would have garnered today).  

When New York heard the reports of thousands of citizens dying from a plague that turned its victims a shade of yellow (caused by jaundice) and weakened them with bouts of vomiting black bile until they expired, they rushed to shut  ports and set up quarantines.  Sadly, viruses have a way of getting around quarantines, and the summers of 1795, 1799 and 1803 hit New Yorkers hard.  The 1803 epidemic was so severe that it led to the establishment of the first NY Board of Health.  But preventing large scale epidemics was a new challenge for America, it’s hard to protect your citizens when you don’t know the enemy.  The Board of Health did their best to react to each outbreak but little to prevent new epidemics or to discover the causes of the horrendous illness.  John Pintard, a trustee of the Society Library, became the first City Health Inspector, which may have led to Forbes decision to temporarily close the library.

Little did anyone know that Yellow Fever was (and still is) a virus spread by mosquitoes.  It can not be passed from one human to another.  Avoiding mosquitoes is the most effective way to prevent the virus.  It wasn’t until the late 1800s that doctors and scientists finally figured out the culprit and it took until 1900 for Walter Reed and the Reed Commission to prove that the vector was the ubiquitous mosquito.  Meanwhile, New York City continued to suffer.

More than 100,000 people died from Yellow Fever outbreaks in North America, which seems like a huge number until you learn that 200,000 people in Africa and Latin America continue to contract Yellow Fever today, leading to 30,000 deaths each year.  According to the World Health Organization, Yellow Fever infections have increased over the past 20 years due to declining immunity in the population which is more transient than ever.  This shocking trend is more disturbing because of the availability of a low cost vaccine.  

The WHO operates the Yellow Fever Initiative in Africa, where the most outbreaks have been reported.  Their recommendations include infant vaccinations and mass vaccination in response to reported cases.  

So, as it turns out, Jonathan Fobes didn’t need to close the library...all he had to do was close the window.  But in Africa they aren’t that lucky.

How's That For Reform?

Photo from Bonnevillemariner.com

John Scott and his Yale buddies were worried about their community.  Even though their town was growing and business was booming, they noticed a lack of intellectually curiosity, people they met didn’t seem to be particularly interested in serious conversation anymore and everyone was paying too much attention to having fun and feeling good.

Sound familiar?

The dumbing down of America is certainly a familiar lament of our modern times.  But  John and his friends are not modern guys.  They lived 250 years ago, in New York City, before America existed.  I read their intriguing story in the book  The New York Society Library:  250 Years by Henry Cooper and Jenny Lawerence.  

To keep their minds from turning to the sensuous pleasures around them,  William Livingston, John Scott and William Smith decided to meet each week to discuss serious ideas and publish their opinions in a journal called “The Independent Reflector”.  And so the Society for Improving in Useful Knowledge was born (colonial bloggers).  By 1754 the small group had grown and the men decided to start a subscription for a “useful, ornamental publick” library that “anyone” (relatively speaking) could join.  The Society’s collection, nicknamed,’ The City Library’, was created in City Hall on Wall Street.  Membership was a whopping ten shilling a year.  In 1772 they received a charter from King George.   

It’s hard for me to imagine New York, a city more American than peanut butter, as a British Colony.
But it’s even harder to imagine what happened to New York City in 1776. George Washington lost the Battle of Long Island and British troops flooded the city.  It was soon the Tory capital of America and remained so for the duration of the war.   Fires raveged the city and soldiers looted the library, using book pages for rifle wadding and as trade for grog.

After seven long years the war ended and amazingly the library emerged in tact.  Hidden books were slowly returned to their shelves from hiding places and private homes around the city.  The City Library was then granted a monumental reward for it’s years of service and suffering; it became the original Library of Congress.  

In 1785 New York City was America’s first Federal Capital.  City Hall became Federal Hall and Congress, including President Washington and VP John Adams moved in and got to work.  The new members of the government frequented the upstairs library, which now included 3,100 books and 239 members.  You may be familiar with some of its regular customers:  Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr,  Chief Justice John Jay and Rufus King.  Always fastidious, the library still has records of what the men checked out (Burr borrowed a volume of Swift).

Alas,  fame and fortune are fleeting and the City Library was left behind on the noisy streets of NYC when the Federal Government moved to Philadelphia in 1790.  The City Government moved back to City Hall and the Library was born again as the New York Society Library.  By 1793 the library had 892 members and 5,000 volumes and it was finally time to build a place of their own.  The library trustees, all city big wigs, leased land on Nassau Street, five blocks from City Hall,  and started building what would be the library’s home for the next 40 years.

So the next time someone complains that the library is slow to adapt, tell them about the New York Society Library that started as a British men’s club for serious thinkers, received a charter from King George, hunkered down to survive the Revolutionary War and the occupation of  NYC, served its new country as the Library of Congress and then began an illustrious career, now in its 3rd century.  

I’d call that pretty flexible.  

THE Library

The New York Public Library is huge...enormous...gigantic...tremendous.  Stealing a line from the Cat in the Hat;  “this place is so big, so deep and so tall there is no way to blog about it, no way at all.”  
Exactly how big is it?

• 3rd largest public library in North America
• 87 separate library locations/branches
• 50+ million items in its collection, including 20 million books
• 636 work spaces in the Rose Reading Room
• 16 million patrons checked out books in 2005
• 1.8 million residents have library cards

That is why I have been avoiding tackling the history of the NYPL for the last four months, it is hard to know where to start.  Today, however, I had a day off, took a deep breath and broke off a corner to chew on.  Of course, the NYPL website offered me a digestible story of their history.  

New York Public Library

Four men are responsible for the creation of this iconic library:  John Jacob Astor, James Lenox, Samuel Tilden and John Bigelow.  Both Astor and Lenox had libraries in New York City before the NYPL was even a chip off the old marble block.  John Jacob Astor was America’s first multi-millionaire and made his vast fortune in fur, real estate and opium.  Shady businesses.  He left $400,000 in his will for the establishment of a research library, which opened in 1846 on Layfayette Street (and is now the home to The Public Theater)   
The Lenox Library was created by philanthropist James Lenox’s  in 1871 to share his private collection of rare books (including a Gutenberg Bible), manuscripts and Americana. The Lenox Library, designed by Richard Morris Hunt,  was located at the present site of the Frick Collection on 5th Avenue.
Samuel Tilden was the governor of New York in 1874.  He was a reformer who successfully broke up the corrupt Tweed Ring and the Canal Ring during his tenure.  His success led him to a presidential nomination in 1876 against Rutherford B. Hayes.  The election was a disaster, several southern states sent duplicate ballots and although he won the popular election, Tilden lost the presidency and retired from politics for good.  According to NYPL, when Tilden died as a bachelor in 1886 he left $2.4 million “to establish and maintain a free library and reading room in the city of New York."
Let’s recap - three giant fortunes, two libraries and some pretty cool books.  But still no place for the masses to read.
Now we come to the most complicated part of the story.  John Bigelow was an attorney, a writer, a diplomat and a trusted friend of Samuel Tilden.  Bigelow was the editor and co-owner (with William Cullen Bryant) of the Saturday Evening Post and served as the Ambassador to France from 1865.  He was the author of several books including editions of Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, the biography of William Cullen Bryant and Samuel Tilden and he served as the Secretary of State for NY.  As the president of the Tilden trust, Bigelow came up with the ideas of combining the Astor and Lenox libraries.  Both libraries were struggling with growing collections and shrinking endowments and were rethinking their viability.  Bigelow suggested combining the two libraries with Tilden’s money to build a new institution called “The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations the NYPL”.  The deal was sealed in May of 1895 and was celebrated as an example of private philanthropy being used for the public good.  John Bigelow served as the first president of the NYPL in 1896.
If you look carefully you can see that The Lenox Library, The Astor Library and Tilden Trust are carved above the words New York Public Library on the facade (Schwartzman’s name appear below, but we’ll get to that later) The library honors John Bigelow with the Bigelow Society, an elite group of patrons that have committed to leave their estate to the library, but I was feeling a little dissed on his behalf, I mean he was the man with the plan, the one who put it all together and carried it through to reality - isn’t that worth a marble etched name?  
Ninety years later, Mayor Rudi Giuliani agreed with me and signed a bill naming the area in front of the main branch “John Bigelow Plaza” - I hope John’s looking down and smiling as millions of patrons tramp across his plaza and enter the hallowed halls of his library.

Consumed by Books

Strand Book Store

I know there are cafes at the library but how about a library at the cafe?   Actually, not exactly a library but the 360 degree library experience...ceiling, walls, floor.  No wait, the books are actually on the walls and so are the people - no wonder I’m confused.  This tiny shop, called D’espresso on Madison Avenue in New York City, was designed by Nema Workshop and drew its inspiration from the nearby New York Public Library.  The books in the shop are actually made from photographs of books that are printed on custom tiles - a little disappointing - but definitely easier to keep clean.
The website says the concept was simple, take the ordinary and turn it on its side.
But if it was so simple, how come no one has ever done it before?
Nema Workshop is a collection of architects and designers in New York City that work together to come up with original ideas that make use of space in unpredictable ways and draw on modern culture.
D’espresso’s website is equally clever and fun...it begins by splashing 19 synonyms for eat and drink onto the screen (including quaff, swill and wolf).  As you move your mouse across the words they ‘fill up’ with coffee (beware - this can be a little addictive).  Reminds me a bit of Will Shortz’s puzzles and word fun.
The feeling of being overwhelmed by books reminds me of another great NYC institution,  Strand Book Store, located at 828 Broadway.  Diving into the ocean of 2.5 million books is glorious, if you have the time to get lost for a while, it is the perfect pastime for a Sunday afternoon when the library is closed.  I think poor Melvil Dewey would be driven to distraction by the happy chaos of books, displays and crowds scattered across three vast floors.
Ben Bass opened the Strand in 1927 on 4th Avenue, which was also know as Publishers Row.  At the time it was only 1 of 48 book shops - but it is the only one that made it to the 21st century.  The store was named after the famous literary street in London that was home to Charles Dickens, William Thackeray and John Stuart Mill.
Ben’s son, Fred, began working for his dad at the age of 13 and is responsible for growing the store to fill the 55,000 square feet of its current location.  In the 1970s George Will, the famous journalists, wrote, “"the eight miles worth saving in this city are at the corner of Broadway and 12th Street. They are the crammed shelves of the Strand Book Store."    
Fred’s daughter, Nancy Bass Wyden, is now co-owner of the store and the mom of twins, William and Ava.  I sure hope they like to read.

Terrible Tango

“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.”
Mark Twain

Didn’t banning books go out of style with burning bras?  By now hasn’t everyone realized that information is essential to a free, thinking democratic society?  Why do people feel justified in taking away choices when it comes to books?  If you don’t like a book, DON’T READ IT, but keep your paws off my bedside table!  You never hear about people banning brussel sprouts or Slim Jims (eewww), they just don’t eat them.  People don’t ban ‘snuggy’s, socks with sandals or belly shirts, they just avoid them (hopefully).  But when it comes to book there is the danger of the ‘idea’.  Book banners believe that once an ‘idea’ is loose there is no going back - the idea tumbles down the hill, picking up speed, gathering everyone in sight as it flattens all alternatives and then it is too late.  That’s the mindset of people who challenge books like The Catcher in the Rye, The Color Purple, The Grapes of Wrath and Slaughterhouse Five and it is the same fearful thinking that has caused an uproar over a book that now holds the title of ‘most challenged’ book in the last five years.  
Can you guess the title?  It’s not Harry Potter or Twilight or The Hunger Games.   The book that has been at the center of censorship battles and, what Wikipedia calls a “cultural war”,  is a picture book about penguins called, And Tango Make Three.  I kid you not.  This is not any old picture book but a deeply subversive books that apparently strives to corrupt young readers with the truth.

The story began in NYC’s Central Park Zoo (all the action takes place in NYC, no wonder no one ever sleeps) when two male Chinstrap Penguins were observed trying to hatch a rock.  The zookeepers watching penguins Roy and Silo decided to give the pair a second egg from another penguin couple to see if they would have any luck and that’s when the real trouble started.  Baby Tango was hatched and raised by Roy and Silo who were kept together as a family by their keepers.  Read more about the couple’s history in Dinitia Smith’s NYT  article, Love That Dare Not Squeak Its Name.    
Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell decided to write And Tango Makes Three to help children understand same-sex families in an age appropriate way.  But Focus on the Family Action and some elementary schools across the country saw a different agenda.  Here are the lowlights:

-Candi Cushman, from  Focus on the Family Action, said the book is far from a “true story.” “It’s very misleading,” she said, “and it’s a very disingenuous, inaccurate way to promote a political agenda to little kids.”

-In 2008, Shiloh Elementary School parents asked that the book be placed in a restricted section of the library that would require parental permission for check out.

-Superintendent of the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools, Peter Gorman, ordered the book removed from the school library in 2006.

-They got a little crazy in Calvert County, MD when the Library Board of Trustees heard a challenge from a parent that requested the book be moved to an adult section on sexuality, or marked with a red dot to alert parents of it content.  The parent claimed that when the book stated that Roy and Silo “slept together” it was a reference to sexual behavior.

-Parent in Ankeny, Iowa asked that the book be moved to a restricted area only available to parents.

Although nutty parents offer great materials for articles, enough is enough.  In 2008 The Supreme Court sent a letter to Calvert County reminding them of the existence of  freedom of speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution (a small detail they overlooked).  The court reminded the library that they must offer unrestricted access of books to all patrons, even books about Penguins.

Roy and Silo’s relationship didn’t last forever, Silo’s eyes began to wander and they finally landed on Scrappy, a female penguin from Sea World, poor Roy was left in the lurch.  The anti-Tango groups took an ‘I told you so’ stance’ and rejoiced at the turn of events.  They were relieved to learn that even penguins could be bullied into ‘good decisions’.  In their narrow minded view the story of Tango could now be shelved with ancient history.

Personally, I can’t wait to get my copy.

Potter's Field to Harry Potter

photo from The Atlantic Cable Company website

I couldn’t stop thinking about the amazing transformation of Bryant Park in Manhattan.  The most incredible part, especially in these days of slashed budgets, is the unique public/private arrangements that works for everyone.  The community is happy, the tourists are happy, the city is happy, the not-paying-for it taxpayers are happy, the Bryant Park Corporation is happy and I am sure the pigeons are very happy.  The park is providing jobs for hundred of people and respite for hundreds more.  I had to go back to find out more about the history and future of this impressive urban experiment.

Lucky for me, the Bryant Park Corporation and the Bryant Park Blog have extensive sections offering the fascinating, checkered history of this 8 acre oasis.  Sixty years before the park memorialized William Cullen Bryant, the long time editor of The New York Evening Post, there was no park, only a remarkably unglamorous potter’s field (humble beginnings for what is now such a fashionable spot).  The burial grounds were decommissioned in 1840 to make way for the Croton Reservoir.  The green space next to the 4 acre lake, was named Reservoir Park.  The reservoir was soon torn down to make way for the “New York Crystal Palace”, a steel and glass structure in the shape of a cross that sported a 100 foot dome.  President Franklin Pierce spoke at the opening of exhibition hall in 1853 which featured steam engines, U.S. minerals and the largest crocodile in captivity!  Neighboring the ‘Palace’ was Latting Hall, an observatory that offered visitors an unobstructed views of Staten Island and New Jersey from its 315 foot tower, at the time it was the tallest structure in the city.  Fire destroyed both structures by the end of the 1850s.

The brief tourism boom at the park came to an abrupt end when the Civil War began and in 1863 troops moved into the park, now a Union Army encampment.  The name Bryant Park was granted in 1885 and plans began for the grand institution that is now the park’s raison d’etre...The New York Public Library.
When the library was completed in 1911, it included a raised rear terrace that was used as an outdoor reading space in the 1930s and staffed by librarians from the WPA.  The Great Depression also prompted the creation of the ‘Open Air Library’’, now the Bryant Park Reading Room (see Pleasures in the Park entry).
The 20s were literally roaring at the north end of the park with the construction of a subway tunnel along 42nd street, which kept the space closed for a decade.  Finally,  the park held a contest (a contest always seems to stimulate enthusiasm when things seem bleak) to redesign the park and Lusby Simpson, an architect from Queens, submitted the winning plan.  The redesigned, replanted and refreshed Bryant Park was opened to the public in 1934.  The most striking difference between the park then and now is the trees.  Originally the space was wide open, featuring lawns, plazas and puny little trees.  Eighty years of growth makes a big difference.  Now the open spaces are complimented by shady, protected areas throughout the space - something for everyone.

The final chapter in the history of the park is the great decline of the space in the the 1970s and 80s.  Neglected and ignored, the park became a haven for druggies and criminals.  Glenwood Managment Company called it a “disaster: dirty, drug-addled, dangerous” - pretty much the exact opposite of the jewel that New Yorkers and tourists now enjoy and treasure as an important New York landmark.
Check out the photo gallery for pictures of the Park throughout its journey and many transformations.

Dear Diary

Patrick Breen's Diary from the
 Academy of Pacific Coast History

There is something deliciously indecent about reading a diary that’s not your own, not that I’ve ever done it myself.  I’m just imagining sneaking a peek at the hidden pages, glancing guiltily over my shoulder to make sure I don’t get caught...
Lucky for me memoirs are the all the rage in popular fiction lately- which is kind of like reading all the good parts of a diary, skipping over the boring bits and not worrying about getting caught.  My favorite memoir is Eat, Love, Pray by Elizabeth Gilbert, followed by Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen.  My ‘read next’ list has two more that I’m looking forward to: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua and Poser by Claire Dederer.  I devour these book like movie theater popcorn, lick my fingers and head back for more, probably because I see parts of myself in the authors, their struggles comfort me and give me hope for happy endings.  But sometimes it's just the lure of a great story, I don’t have a lot in common with Greg Mortensen but I just couldn’t step away from his book,  Three Cups of Tea, it was riveting and inspirational.  

The Morgan Library has made diary peeping safe - you too can be a voyeur from the comfort of your own desk...assuming you live too far away to hop on a subway and visit in person.  I was a little skeptical about digital library collections before seeing (and hearing) this exhibit - online exhibits always seemed a little skimpy, like hors d’oeuvres without any dinner to follow.  However, in my book, The Morgan is really more of a museum than  a library, first of all it’s not free and public and, second, they have the money, resources and people power required to put on a spectacular exhibit.
“the diary:  Three Centuries of Private Lives” is more like a banquet or an ‘all you can eat buffet’ set up in the best restaurant in town.    Previously private diaries, from Sir Walter Scott to Tennessee Williams, are thrown open to reveal every detail, sordid and mundane, of daily life.  This exhibit will have you clicking back for more during the stolen moments of your day, hey, everyone needs a mid-afternoon pick me up, right?.  There are so many juicy stories and one link leads to another and another, there is more content than one person could possibly absorb in a visit, which is the beauty of a digital collection

Here’s another plus...not only can you see and zoom into the actual diary pages (transcribed for easy reading) but also you can listen to a podcast explaining the highlights of each diary, revealing the connections between the texts and retelling wonderful story snippets.  I was briefly transported into the lives of each writer, feeling their pain, love, resolve and heartache.  
But wait, there’s more.  You get all this, for free, plus a blog from Christine Nelson, the exhibit curator.  The blog shares background, insights and reflection about diaries and explains purpose.  It also includes guest posts from exhibited diary authors, offering added depth to enjoy the reading.
Visiting this exhibit online is like having a guided, private tour of the best library in the best city without the  crowds, tired feet and empty wallet.  I’ve got to go...Charlotte Bronte’s diary is waiting...  

Morgan's Monument

Our hero, Andrew Carnegie, lived by the adage, “the man who dies rich dies disgraced”.  The final twenty years of his life were dedicated to giving away his vast fortune and we reap the benefits of his generosity daily in thousands of communities around the world that used his great fortunes to build libraries (see entries: Mr. Library and Hometown Hero).  At the time of his death he had given away $350 million.  The foundations and organizations he set up 100 years ago continue to ‘do good’ in the world.
J.P. Morgan lived by a different philosophy altogether.  He was all in favor of conspicuous consumption and seemed to be living by the motto “he who dies with the most toys wins”.  In a New York Times article from 1907 he makes it clear that retirement from business at the age of 70 would equate to a death sentence.  And although he did make some sizable donations to organization he felt were deserving, he was quite happy to spend his fortune feeding his own passions.  
When he died in 1913 he left his estate, worth $68 million (about a billion and half in today’s dollars), to his son.  His art collection alone was estimated at $50 million.  But, as fate would have it, he ended up creating a fantastic library legacy of his own; the Morgan Library in NYC.  
Mr. Morgan had his library built by the famous architect Charles McKim in 1902, next door to his brownstone on Madison Avenue and 36th Street.  Essentially it was a place for him to bring all the books, artwork, sculptures and object d’art that he had collected throughout Europe to one central location.  He wanted to create a majestic space that would highlight the great masterpieces he had accumulated but he insisted that the interior be intimate so he could enjoy the splendor and glory of his collections.  Let me just say that while I’m sure there were millions of things J.P. Morgan could have done with his money in 1902, this library is truly a temple that will take your breath away.  
If life is preventing you from visiting in person, check out the slide show and guided tour at the New York Times and prepare to drool, a lot.    Christoper Gray takes us inside Mr. Morgan’s Renaissance Library and explains that in these lavish rooms J.P. Morgan enjoyed his treasures as well as daily cigars and games of solitaire.  He tells the amazing story of the near financial disaster of 1907 when Morgan locked a room full of prominent men in the library until they pledged to participate in a bail out (where was he a few years back?)
The current library and museum, a city block of interconnected buildings, courtyards and pavilions, has just gone through a $4.5 million restoration that cleaned away a century of grime and replaced the red damask wall covering in the study.  It’s hard to decide which room is more perfect, they are all serene, beautiful and intimate.  If it were my library I don’t think I would have ever come out.  It is a shame that Morgan was only able to enjoy his oasis for 7 years but I, for one, am so thankful that his son, J.P. Morgan Jr., had the foresight to preserve and share (for the admission fee of $15) this fitting temple with the world.

photo of The Morgan from the New York Diary Star

Even thought Carnegie and Morgan didn’t always see eye to eye when it came to ideology, they were both shrewd business men.  When Carnegie was 65 he sold his steel company to J.P. Morgan for $468 million.  The Carnegie Institution reports that Carnegie said, Now, Pierpont, I'm the happiest man in the world. I have unloaded this burden on your back, and I'm off to Europe to play."  And then, instead of playing, he went to work spreading libraries around the world and left Morgan to build one right in his own backyard.

A Jewel In The Crown

The words ‘Goldman Sachs’ never reminded me of the library - until today.  Although I have been to NYC many times to take in all its wonder, I never knew about Battery Park City, a planned community of about 10,000 people established in 1968, but not populated until the 1990s.  The 92 acre area, located at the very tip of Manhattan, was created with excavated rocks and soil from the construction of The World Trade Center and sand dredged from Staten Island.  The neighborhood is bordered by the Hudson River and the financial district and it is home to the World Financial Center.  All in all a pretty nice piece of real estate.  

Michael Moran

One day Goldman Sachs, the now infamous investment banking and securities firm,  moved into the Battery Park City neighborhood and, instead of baking brownies, made a generous donation of $3.5 million towards a spectacular new library (and $1 million toward a new community center).  The city and state added an addition $6.7 million and, viola, the Battery Park City Library was born.  

Located at 175 North End Avenue, the library is a 10,000 square foot jewel … if I lived in NYC I would be hopping on the subway with my little terrors in tow and barging right in to lounge on the built in couches, plop into the bean bags, read magazines in the recycled chairs, and log onto one of the 36 computers (I’m sure the patrons would love that).  The space is not only bright, airy, modern and fun but it is also the first of the NYPL branches to be LEED certified.  The rugs are made from old tires, the circulation desk constructed from recycled cardboard and the staircase is crafted from recycled glass chips.  An it is all exquisite.  The branch is a perfect illustration of beauty, function and environmental respect - it will be an ongoing joy and inspiration to the children and families of Battery Park City.  While I know there is a certain standard to uphold in the neighborhoods of the super-wealthy, I wonder if the added expense of such a space is appreciated, were residents really after a beautiful place to read and play with their kids or did they want a design showplace.  Again, the current state of libraries in America rears it not-so-pretty head an reminds us that the rich get beautiful libraries and the poor get what they get (and they should be grateful).      

Need A Recipe?

I was looking up a recipe for bread (not online, in an actual cookbook) and I started thinking about the cookbook section of the library.  This is a great row to get lost in on a Saturday afternoon; thick volumes, glossy pictures, detailed drawings and great expectations. But then I found something even better - a whole cookbook library!  
Actually, The Fales Library & Special Collections is on the third floor of NYU’s Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, located at 70 Washington Square South in New York City and houses several collections including the “Food and Cookery Collection”.  Their focus is on the “evolution of cuisine and food practices in 20th century America”.  The library started with Cecily Brownstone’s collection of 12,000 cookbooks and 5,000 pamphlets - Brownstone was the food editor of the Associated Press and sold her books to the library before her death in 1986.  Prior to the donation she kept her books in her three story home (a brownstone) on Jane Street in Greenwich Village - can you imagine 12,000 cookbooks?  Even if you didn’t read anything else, or have any furniture or pets or family members, I would think it would be a little claustrophobic.  During 39 years as the food editor, Brownstone wrote five recipe columns and two features that ran in papers across the country.  She was also close friends with James Beard, Irma Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker (authors of the Joy of Cooking).
A recent boost to the collection was the addition of Gourmet Magazine’s cookbook library of 3,500 books, purchased for $14,000 by chef and cookbook author Rozanne Gold.  Ruth Reichel was the editor of Gourmet Magazine when it closed in 2009 and knew The Fales Library would be a good home for the books.  BTW, have you read “Garlic and Sapphires” by Ruth Reichl?  My daughter and I listened to it on CD several years ago (inter-library loan) - she is a great storyteller and who wouldn’t want to walk in the shoes of the food critic at the New York Times?     
Marvin Taylor, who directs the Fales Library, is actively pursuing NYC chefs and restaurateurs for more papers and cookbooks for the collection.  The library is open to the public as long as they are doing serious food research - no browsing bread recipes allowed.