New York Librarian’s MeetUp June 14th,
2012:
By Caren Rabinowitz
George Washington owes the New York Society Library approximately
$300,000.00 in library fines. If you don’t believe me, the library is in the
process of digitizing its original charging ledgers. You will be able to see Washington didn’t
return some books at the link: http://www.nysoclib.org/ledger/index.html. Question
for librarians: should Washington’s service in the Revolutionary War and as our
first President mitigate this oversight? Carolyn Waters, Assistant Head Librarian, told
us the Mount Vernon Foundation did, in fact, provide a comparable copy of one
of the overdue books as a gift. Many of the other Founding Fathers were also
members
The New York Society Library was founded in 1754 because a “ ‘Publick
library would be very useful as well as ornamental to the City.’” Originally a
room in old City Hall ,The New York Society Library functioned as the
unofficial Library of Congress when
Congress met in the old City Hall during 1789-1790.
After moving uptown
progressively for almost 200 years, the library, one of 16 subscription only
institutions left in this country, has resided in a magnificent Italianate
townhouse on 79th Street off Madison since 1937. You can see
remnants of the original interior design in a beautiful skylight and the
Member’s Room on the second floor. The second floor also houses an exhibition
gallery where a collection of materials about Edith Wharton’s New York is
currently on display.
We received a very thorough tour in small groups led by Carolyn Waters
and Peri Pignetti, Bibliographic Assistant. The highlight for me was a sample
of rare books displayed by Erin Schreiner, Special Collections Librarian. One
of them displayed was a 15th Century work with its original wooden
binding. Though broken, it hasn’t been rebound as that would negate its value
and character. The library has a conservator on staff who looks after the rare
materials and is currently making a much needed disaster plan.
The tour included the children’s room on the 3rd Floor which
will be physically expanded. Also on the
3rd floor is the Whitridge Room, for reading, study and events for
members. The late Brooke Astor’s
husband, Charles Henry Marshall, donated money for the rare books room on the 4th
Floor where Erin displayed the rare books.
The 5th Floor houses individual study rooms and the
Hornblower Room with outlets for laptops and wifi as well as some reference
books. Many well know writers have worked on this floor and the study rooms are
in great demand.
When you enter the library, you can see the circulation desk with shelving
for some recent materials. Since the well known science fiction writer Ray
Bradbury had died recently, a display of the library’s Bradbury holdings was on
a table in the lobby. To the right of the entrance as you face the circulation desk
is a public reference room. They still keep the card catalog on one wall even
though the library’s catalog is available on line. There’s an almost hidden
door in the wall I remembered from my high school days (hint: Lyndon Johnson
was president). My father and I once spent an afternoon using the New York
Times Index to chart the history of the Vietnam War for a school project. I asked Carolyn if they still keep the big
red books and she said yes, even though it is available on line. Reference
materials are still kept in this space.
I’m not going to go into facts and figures about the membership,
approximately 3000 households, and the collection. You can learn those by
accessing the website at www.nysoclib.org. Very special
thanks to Carolyn, Peri and Erin for their wonderful presentations, including a
folder with material about the library. For me, this MeetUp was a delightful
blast from the past.
As a subscription library The New York Society Library is a nonprofit
organization receiving support from its endowment and membership fees.
Contributions are always welcome. They are tax deductible and may be made on
the web or to The New York Society Library, 53 E. 79th Street, New
York, NY 10075
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