New York Society Library

Coordinates: 40°46′34.5″N 73°57′41.4″W / 40.776250°N 73.961500°W / 40.776250; -73.961500
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
New York Society Library
The New York Society Library building
at 53 East 79th Street in Manhattan
Map
40°46′34.5″N 73°57′41.4″W / 40.776250°N 73.961500°W / 40.776250; -73.961500
LocationUpper East Side, Manhattan, New York, NY, United States
TypeSubscription library
Established1754; 270 years ago (1754)
Collection
Items collectedBooks, periodicals, audio recordings
Size300,000
Access and use
Circulationapprox. 68,131 (2016)[1]
Members2,937 (2018 Society Library Index)
Other information
Budget$3 million
DirectorCarolyn Waters
Employees18 full-time, 10 part-time[2]
Websitewww.nysoclib.org

The New York Society Library (NYSL) is the oldest cultural institution in New York City.[3] It was founded in 1754 by the New York Society as a subscription library.[4] During the time when New York was the capital of the United States, it was the de facto Library of Congress. Until the establishment of the New York Public Library in 1895, it functioned as the city's library as well. It has been patronized by a wide variety of literary and political figures, from George Washington to Wendy Wasserstein. Its special collections include books from the libraries of John Winthrop and Lorenzo Da Ponte.

Since 1937, the library has been housed in the former John S. Rogers Mansion at 53 East 79th Street on

Renaissance Revival building was one of the earliest recognized as a New York City landmark in 1967, and it was further listed on the National Register of Historic Places
(as the John S. Rogers House) in 1983 in recognition of both its architecture and the library's historic role in the city.

The library's collection of 300,000 volumes includes audio recordings and periodicals, as well as books on a broad range of subjects. It is open for browsing and research by the general public; only members may borrow books or use the upper floors.

non-profit organization supported primarily by its membership fees and endowment
.

History

Six residents of New York City, which was then located primarily on what is now

King George III.[5][6]

During the

independence was achieved in 1783, the New York State Legislature recognized the library's charter. During that time, Congress was meeting in the building in New York City.[7]

The NYSL effectively served as the first Library of Congress for two years, and its records show borrowings by George Washington, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, among other early American notables from that time.[5][6] Washington is believed to have failed to return two books due in 1789; the library has announced that it plans to waive the $300,000 fine but is still seeking the return of the books.[8]

After Congress moved out, the library built its collection back up again to 5,000 volumes and moved to its own building on

Leonard Street and Broadway. Among the visitors recorded at that location were Henry David Thoreau and John James Audubon.[5][6] Edgar Allan Poe and Ralph Waldo Emerson lectured there.[3]

Like other

Shakespeare.[9]
Resources were also available for a variety of vocational purposes, including manuals for merchants and farmers.

University Place

By 1856, the collection had reached 35,000 and it was once again time for the library to move. A larger building for its exclusive use was erected at 109 University Place,

reading room and shelf space for 100,000 books.[3]
This building would serve the NYSL for 81 years.

53 East 79th Street

In 1937, with the collection having grown to 150,000 volumes, the library moved to its present location at 53 East 79th Street, on the

Park avenues. It was thanks to a generous donation from the Goodhue family that enabled the purchase of the building,[10] which was a mansion built just 20 years earlier. Notable patrons at the present location have ranged from W. H. Auden and Lillian Hellman in the early years to David Halberstam and Wendy Wasserstein more recently.[5][6]

Building

St. Regis Hotel on Fifth Avenue, and the east wing of the American Museum of Natural History. The John S. Rogers House is considered a prime example of their residential work.[6]

The library is housed in a five-story, three-

balustrade.[6]

On the upper stories the stone is laid in an

pediments (rounded in the center). Belt courses at sill level divide the stories. Above the fifth story the roofline is marked by a frieze and cornice topped by another balustrade. Behind it is a small terrace sheltered by a wide overhang. An end chimney rises from the gabled tile roof.[6]

The interior was extensively modified for the library in 1937. Much of this effort was focused on the rear; when it was completed, 39 rooms had been combined into 24. Original treatments remain, such as the

cardinal".[3]

Programs and collections

Members pay an annual fee of $350 for a family, $335 for a couple, $270 for an individual to gain borrowing privileges and access to the upper floors, with two closed stacks,[11] a members' lounge and exhibit hall.[3] There's also a $100 e-membership which includes access to the digital collection and 10 building visits a year. [12] Those fees and the library's endowment support a staff of 18 full-time and 10 part-time employees and headed by director Carolyn Waters.[2] The library acquires an average of 4,000 new volumes every year[13] and subscribes to approximately 100 periodicals.[14]

The collection also includes a children's library and 10,000 volumes in its special collections. Foremost among these latter are 290 books from the personal library kept by

Mozart's librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, who spent his last years in New York. He started an Italian Library Society in 1827 under the New York Society's auspices, to supplement his courses at Columbia, the first college courses in that language in the United States. Those 600 volumes made up a large share of the library's 1838 catalog, and are today separately organized as the Da Ponte collection.[16]

Head librarians

Head librarians have included:[17]

  • 1755–56: John Morin Scott
  • 1756–57: George Duncan Ludlow
  • 1765–68: Thomas Jackson
  • 1768–74: James Wilmot
  • 1774–89: George Murray
  • 1789–90: George Wright
  • 1790–94: Isaac Leonard Kip
  • 1794–97: John P. Pearss
  • 1797–1824: John Forbes
  • 1824–28: Burtis Skidmore
  • 1828–55: Phillip Jones Forbes
  • 1855–57: John MacMullen
  • 1857–95: Wentworth Sanborn Bulter
  • 1895–1936: Frank Barna Bigelow
  • 1936–54: Edith Hall Crowell
  • 1954–78: Sylvia Hilton
  • 1978–2005: Mark Piel
  • 2005–06: Charles Cronin
  • 2006–15: Mark Bartlett
  • 2015–present: Carolyn Waters

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Originally 67 University Place, the address became 109 University Place owing to a street renumbering sometime between 1895 and 1904. (Compare Plate 57 (right half) from: Insurance Maps of the City of New York Surveyed and Published by Sanborn–Perris Map Co., Limited. Volume 3. (New York: 1895) with Plate 25 from: Insurance Maps of the City of New York Borough of Manhattan. Volume Three. (New York: Sanborn Map Company, 1904)

References

  1. ^ "NYSL: Annual Report 2016" (PDF). New York Society Library. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "NYSL: Staff List". New York Society Library. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e Gray, Christopher (March 3, 2010). "Where Fusty Is Fabulous". The New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  4. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  5. ^ a b c d e "NYSL: History of the Library". New York Society Library. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Covell, Anne (August 1982). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, John S. Rogers House". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  7. ^ Murray, Stuart (2009). The Library: An Illustrated History. Skyhorse (New York). p. 151
  8. ^ "BBC News: George Washington's $300,000 library book fine". BBC News, Americas. April 18, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  9. ^
    S2CID 153807525
    .
  10. ^ "A Further History of the New York Society Library". New York Society Library. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  11. ^ "Membership Information | New York Society Library".
  12. ^ "Membership Information | New York Society Library".
  13. ^ "NYSL: Count the Ways..." New York Society Library. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  14. ^ "NYSL: Periodicals". New York Society Library. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  15. ^ "NYSL: Winthrop Collection". New York Society Library. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  16. ^ "NYSL: Da Ponte Collection". New York Society Library. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  17. ^ "Head librarians". New York Society Library. Retrieved 16 May 2020.

Further reading

  • King, M. Books and People: Five Decades of New York's Oldest Library. New York: Macmillan, 1954.
  • Glynn, Tom. "The New York Society Library: Books, Authority, and Publics in Colonial and Early Republican New York". Libraries & Culture 40:4, Fall 2005.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to New York Society Library.
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