The Mid-Manhattan Library Expansion

The New York Public Library (NYPL) system has served New York City since 1895, providing, as noted on its website, “free books, information, ideas, and education for all New Yorkers.” While many people may picture the grand marble façade and imposing lions of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (SASB) at Bryant Park (famously featured in Ghostbusters, among other movies and pop culture), SASB has been solely a research library since 1970. In that year, the circulating division of the branch, the part of the library that allows checking out books and materials, moved across the street to the upper floors of the Arnold Constable & Co. department store. This new branch was named the Mid-Manhattan Library.