Schwarzman Building, New York Public Library

Although we’re book lovers through and through, we don’t make it a habit to visit libraries wherever we travel.  But maybe we should.  Now that we’ve seen the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, we’re curious to know what’s inside other libraries.  Or perhaps it just doesn’t get any better than this.  After all, the Schwarzman Building seems to have it all: Beaux Arts architecture filled with museum quality artwork, detailed frescoes, marble stairwells, and much, much more.

Marble stairwell, Stephan A. Schwarzman Building, New York Public Library

Greeting us on our December 2015 tour were the iconic, loved-by-everyone lions known as Patience and Fortitude, named in the 1930s by Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia who said they represent qualities that all New Yorkers needed to endure the economic trials of the Depression.  Now these lions sculpted from pink Tennessee marble (See?  We knew there was another reason to love ’em!) are mascots of the library, their trademark likenesses emblazoned on everything from t-shirts to tote bags.

Patience (or is this Fortitude?) in front of Schwarzman Building, New York Public Library

Beginning with a bequest from one-time governor Samuel J. Tilden (1814-1886) of $2.4 million, the idea of a place to “establish and maintain a free library and reading room in the city of New York” began to take shape.  After his death, two other libraries, the Aston and Lenox libraries were experiencing financial difficulties, so a revamping of their missions and a combination of assets formed the basis for a new organization: the Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. (Source: NYPL website.)

Second floor landing with painted ceiling, Schwarzman Building, New York Public Library

With the vision of Dr. John Shaw Billings, a noted librarian, and the engagement of a new architectural firm (Carrére and Hastings), the largest marble structure in the U. S. to date (and costing over $9 million upon completion) broke ground in 1902. And then on May 24, 1911, one day after President Taft dedicated the library on May 23rd,  30,000 to 50,000 visitors streamed into this new building, no doubt as impressed as we still are many years later! (Click here for more of the history of the New York Public Library.)

And lucky us — on exhibit while we were there (ending May 27, 2016) was a collection of prints, etchings, woodcuts, etc., belonging to Henrietta Louisa Koenen (1830 – 1881): “Printing Women: Three Centuries of Female Printmakers, 1570-1900.” Quite the collection.  Beautifully showcased.

An upstairs reading room holds portraits — some familiar, some new to us.

Filled with portraits: 2nd floor Reading Room, Schwarzman Building, New York Public Library

I stood and stared a while at native New Yorker Washington Irving since I had seen this very portrait in numerous 11th grade lit books from which I taught students (hopefully) to appreciate “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle.”

“Washington Irving” by Charles Robert Leslie (1820)

We were rather surprised, however, to see this portrait of Truman Capote by John Whitney Fosburgh among the “older” notables on the wall.

“Truman Capote” by James Whitney Fosburgh (Oil on canvas, 1971)

Lest you think the New York Public Library is strictly for bibliophiles of a “certain age,” take a look at this area designed to hook kids on the joy of reading.  What fun to see Patience (or is this Fortitude?) fashioned out of today’s “it” building material:  Legos!

At the end of our visit, we grabbed one of the free postcards that any guest can have for the taking.

Free for the taking — but just one of each per customer: postcards from the New York Public Library!

Then we made our purchases at the bookstore.  Armed with pins imprinted with a Patti Smith quote — “Long Live the Library” — and tote bags for folks back home, we reluctantly left the building.

A return trip to NYC will warrant a return to NYPL.  After all, there’s always something new going on at a library.  And, with a building like the Schwarzman . . . Wow! what a place this is to see again and again!

For more information:

New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, 330 W. 38th Street, New York, NY 10018; (917) 275-6975; http://www.nypl.org/locations/schwarzman 

Hours, directions, activities: http://www.nypl.org/locations/schwarzman

What you can do for free at NYPL: http://www.nypl.org/checkusout

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nypl

Twitter: @nypl

Instagram: nypl

To read more posts from our Christmas Holiday NYC tour, click here.