New York Public Library#Website and digital holdings

File:New York Public Library 1908c.jpg during its late stage construction in 1908 with the lion statues not yet installed at the entrance]]

File:Gutenberg Bible, Lenox Copy, New York Public Library, 2009. Pic 01.jpg copy of the Gutenberg Bible in the New York Public Library]]

Image:NYPL portals.JPG

At the behest of Joseph Cogswell, John Jacob Astor placed a codicil in his will to bequeath $400,000 (equivalent of ${{Inflation|US|0.4|1848|r=1}} million in {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}) for the creation of a public library.{{harvnb|Lydenberg|1916a|pp=556–563}}. After Astor's death in 1848, the resulting board of trustees executed the will's conditions and constructed the Astor Library in 1854 in the East Village.{{harvnb|Lydenberg|1916a|pp=563–573}}.

The library created was a free reference library; its books were not permitted to circulate.{{harvnb|Lydenberg|1916a|pp=573–574}}. By 1872, the Astor Library was described in a New York Times editorial as a "major reference and research resource", but, "Popular it certainly is not, and, so greatly is it lacking in the essentials of a public library, that its stores might almost as well be under lock and key, for any access the masses of the people can get thereto".{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C0CE7DE1F39E73ABC4C52DFB7668389669FDE|title=Editorial: Free Public Libraries|work=The New York Times|date=January 14, 1872|access-date=May 19, 2011|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305143713/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C0CE7DE1F39E73ABC4C52DFB7668389669FDE|url-status=live}}

An act of the New York State Legislature incorporated the Lenox Library in 1870.An Act to Incorporate the Trustees of the Lenox Library (L. 1870, ch. 2; L. 1892, ch. 166).{{harvnb|Lydenberg |1916b|p=688}}; [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1870-01-24/ed-1/seq-4/ A Superb Gift] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717033251/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1870-01-24/ed-1/seq-4/ |date=July 17, 2011 }} The library was built on Fifth Avenue, between 70th and 71st Streets, in 1877. Bibliophile and philanthropist James Lenox donated a vast collection of his Americana, art works, manuscripts, and rare books,{{harvnb|Lydenberg|1916b|pp=685–689}}. including the first Gutenberg Bible in the New World. At its inception, the library charged admission and did not permit physical access to any literary items.{{harvnb|Lydenberg|1916b|pp=690, 694–695}}.

Former Governor of New York and presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden believed that a library with citywide reach was required, and upon his death in 1886, he bequeathed the bulk of his fortune—about {{Nowrap|$2.4 million}} (equivalent of ${{Inflation|US|2.4|1886|r=0}} million in {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}})—to "establish and maintain a free library and reading room in the city of New York".{{cite web|url=http://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/history|title=History of the New York Public Library|publisher=nypl.org|access-date=June 12, 2011|archive-date=June 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605110150/http://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/history|url-status=live}} This money would sit untouched in a trust for several years, until John Bigelow, a New York attorney, and Andrew Haswell Green, both trustees of the Tilden fortune, came up with an idea to merge two of the city's largest libraries.

Both the Astor and Lenox libraries were struggling financially. Although New York City already had numerous libraries in the 19th century, almost all of them were privately funded and many charged admission or usage fees (a notable exception was Cooper Union, which opened its free reading room to the public in 1859).{{cite magazine |last1=Holleran |first1=Sam |title=Free as air and water |journal=Places Journal |date=May 2019 |issue=2019 |doi=10.22269/190507 |s2cid=189736575 |url=https://placesjournal.org/article/cooper-union-free-as-air-and-water/ |access-date=21 February 2021 |archive-date=January 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125014118/https://placesjournal.org/article/cooper-union-free-as-air-and-water/ |url-status=live }} Bigelow, the most prominent supporter of the plan to merge the two libraries found support in Lewis Cass Ledyard, a member of the Tilden Board, as well as John Cadwalader, on the Astor board. Eventually, John Stewart Kennedy, president of the Lenox board, also came to support the plan.

On May 23, 1895, Bigelow, Cadwalader, and George L. Rives agreed to create "The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations".{{harvnb|Reed|2011|pp=1–10}}. The plan was hailed as an example of private philanthropy for the public good. On December 11, John Shaw Billings was named as the library's first director. The newly established library consolidated with the grass-roots New York Free Circulating Library in February 1901.{{cite news | title = Lent Eleven Million Books | date = April 14, 1901 | url = http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1901-04-14/ed-1/seq-16/ | work = New-York Tribune | page = 16 | access-date = January 8, 2012 | archive-date = May 13, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140513012331/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1901-04-14/ed-1/seq-16/ | url-status = live }}

In March, Andrew Carnegie tentatively agreed to donate {{Nowrap|$5.2 million}} (equivalent of ${{Inflation|US|5.2|1901|r=0}} million in {{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-1}}) to construct sixty-five branch libraries in the city, with the requirement that they be operated and maintained by the City of New York.{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/03/17/117957380.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200315123503/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/03/17/117957380.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 15, 2020|title=City Will Accept Mr. Carnegie's Libraries; Formal Action by the Board of Estimate to Be Taken To-morrow.|date=March 17, 1901|work=The New York Times|access-date=July 25, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news | title = Carnegie Offers City Big Gift | date = March 16, 1901 | url = http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1901-03-16/ed-1/seq-1/ | work = New-York Tribune | pages = 1–2 | access-date = January 8, 2012 | archive-date = October 10, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121010044001/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1901-03-16/ed-1/seq-1/ | url-status = live }} The Brooklyn and Queens public library systems, which predated the consolidation of New York City, eschewed the grants offered to them and did not join the NYPL system; they believed that they would not get treatment equal to the Manhattan and the Bronx counterparts.{{cite news |title=Say Special Act Is Needed to Accept Carnegie Gift |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |date=March 17, 1901 |page=1 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-say-special-act/127029721/ |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=June 13, 2024}}{{cite news |title=The Carnegie Libraries |work=The Standard Union |date= July 18, 1901 |page=6 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/542619032/ |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=June 13, 2024}}

Later, in 1901, Carnegie formally signed a contract with the City of New York to transfer his donation to the city in order to enable it to justify purchasing the land for building the branch libraries.{{cite news |date=September 9, 1901 |title=Library Plans All Right Now: Carnegie Approves Controller Coler Contracts |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1901-09-09/ed-1/seq-3/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704031353/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1901-09-09/ed-1/seq-3/ |archive-date=July 4, 2013 |access-date=January 9, 2012 |work=The Evening World |page=3}}; [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1901-09-10/ed-1/seq-6/ Carnegie Approves the Contracts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704034009/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1901-09-10/ed-1/seq-6/|date=July 4, 2013}}, [http://www.proquest.com/docview/96155738 Mr. Carnegie's Libraries (New York Times September 10, 1901)]. The NYPL Board of trustees hired consultants for the planning, and accepted their recommendation that a limited number of architectural firms be hired to build the Carnegie libraries; this would ensure uniformity of appearance and minimize cost. The trustees hired McKim, Mead & White, Carrère and Hastings, and Walter Cook to design all the branch libraries.Van Slyck (1995), pp. 113–114.

New York author Washington Irving was a close friend of Astor for decades and had helped the philanthropist design the Astor Library. Irving served as President of the library's Board of Trustees from 1848 until his death in 1859, shaping the library's collecting policies with his strong sensibility regarding European intellectual life.{{cite magazine |first=Andrew |last=Myers |title=Washington Irving and the Astor Library |journal=Bulletin of the New York Public Library |year=1968 |volume=72 |issue=6 |pages=378–399}} Subsequently, the library hired nationally prominent experts to guide its collections policies; they reported directly to directors John Shaw Billings (who also developed the National Library of Medicine), Edwin H. Anderson, Harry M. Lydenberg, Franklin F. Hopper, Ralph A. Beals, and Edward Freehafer (1954–1970).{{cite magazine |first=Gilbert W. |last=Chapman |title=Edward G. Freehafer: An Appreciation |journal=Bulletin of the New York Public Library |year=1970 |volume=74 |issue=10 |pages=625–628}} They emphasized expertise, objectivity, and a very broad worldwide range of knowledge in acquiring, preserving, organizing, and making available to the general population nearly 12 million books and 26.5 million additional items.{{cite magazine |first=Phyllis |last=Dain |title='A Coral Island': A Century of Collection Development in the Research Libraries of the New York Public Library |journal=Biblion |year=1995 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=5–75}} The directors in turn reported to an elite board of trustees, chiefly elderly, well-educated, philanthropic, predominantly Protestant, upper-class white men with commanding positions in American society. They saw their role as protecting the library's autonomy from politicians as well as bestowing upon it status, resources, and prudent care.{{cite magazine |first=Phyllis |last=Dain |title=Public Library Governance and a Changing New York City |journal=Libraries & Culture |date=March 1991 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=219–250}}

Representative of many major board decisions was the purchase in 1931 of the private library of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847–1909), uncle of the last tsar. This was one of the largest acquisitions of Russian books and photographic materials; at the time, the Soviet government had a policy of selling its cultural collections abroad for gold.{{cite magazine |first1=Edward |last1=Kasinec |first2=Robert H. Jr. |last2=Davis |title=Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847–1909) and His Library |journal=Journal of the History of Collections |year=1990 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages= 135–142|doi=10.1093/jhc/2.2.135 }} Related collections include a significant number of important works by Russian photographers, and photographs related to the House of Romanov and Russia expert George Kennan.{{cite journal |first1=Susan |last1=Smith-Peter |first2=Hee-Gwone |last2=Yoo |title=Pre-Revolutionary Russian Photography at the New York Public Library: An Introduction |journal= Slavic & East European Information Resources |year=2019 |volume=19 |issue=3–4 |pages=263–368|doi=10.1080/15228886.2018.1538864|s2cid=151273591 }}

The military drew extensively from the library's map and book collections in the world wars, including hiring its staff. For example, the Map Division's chief Walter Ristow was appointed as head of the geography section of the War Department's New York Office of Military Intelligence from 1942 to 1945. Ristow and his staff discovered, copied, and loaned thousands of strategic, rare or unique maps to war agencies in need of information not available through other sources.{{cite magazine |first=Alice C. |last=Hudson |title=The Library's Map Division Goes to War, 1941–45 |journal=Biblion |year=1995 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=126–147}}

{{Main|New York Public Library Main Branch}}

File:new york public library 1948.jpg

The organizers of the New York Public Library, wanting an imposing main branch, chose a central site along Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets, on top of the Croton Reservoir. John Shaw Billings, the first director of the library, created an initial design that became the basis of the new building containing a huge reading room on top of seven floors of book stacks, combined with a system that was designed to get books into the hands of library users as fast as possible. The architectural firm Carrère and Hastings constructed the structure in the Beaux-Arts style, and the structure opened on May 23, 1911.{{cite news | title = 50,000 People at the Dedication of the City's Great Library; Taft and Dix Take Part | date = May 23, 1911 | url = http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1911-05-23/ed-1/seq-1/ | work = The Evening World | page = 1 | access-date = January 8, 2012 | archive-date = July 4, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130704033148/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1911-05-23/ed-1/seq-1/ | url-status = live }}; [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1911-05-24/ed-1/seq-3/ New Public Library Formally Dedicated] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704034254/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1911-05-24/ed-1/seq-3/ |date=July 4, 2013 }} It was the largest marble structure up to that time in the United States.{{cite news | first = Robin | last = Pogrebin | title = A Centennial Face-Lift for a Beaux-Arts Gem | date = December 20, 2007 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/nyregion/20library.html | work = The New York Times | access-date = January 6, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130531090134/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/nyregion/20library.html | archive-date = May 31, 2013 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}

File:Brenner New York Public Library Seal.jpg in 1909, best known for designing the Lincoln cent. Though rarely used, the seated personification of wisdom appears on plaques at several branches.]]

The two stone lions guarding the entrance were sculpted by E.C. Potter{{cite news | title = Sculptor Potter Hurt | date = November 2, 1911 | url = http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1911-11-02/ed-1/seq-9/ | work = The Evening World | page = 9 | access-date = January 9, 2012 | archive-date = July 4, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130704034946/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1911-11-02/ed-1/seq-9/ | url-status = live }}; cf. [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1912-05-13/ed-1/seq-3/;words=lions+Potter+sculptor?date1=1897&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1912&proxtext=potter+AND+sculptor+AND+lions&y=16&x=16&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=0 Cupid Turns Him from Study of Theology to Art] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128002022/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1912-05-13/ed-1/seq-3/?date1=1897&index=0&date2=1912&searchType=basic&state=&rows=20&proxtext=potter+AND+sculptor+AND+lions&y=16&x=16&dateFilterType=yearRange#words=lions%2BPotter%2Bsculptor |date=November 28, 2023 }}, [http://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/library-lions The Library Lions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108180736/http://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/library-lions |date=January 8, 2012 }} and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers.{{Cite book|url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=14N43451K5148.30131&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!18277~!13&ri=2&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Potter,+Edward+Clark,+1857-1923,+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=2|title=Lions|last=Potter|first=Edward Clark|date=1910|others=Carrere & Hastings, Piccirilli Brothers Marble Carving Studios|access-date=September 20, 2016|archive-date=September 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924225030/https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=14N43451K5148.30131&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!18277~!13&ri=2&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Potter,+Edward+Clark,+1857-1923,+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=2|url-status=live}} Its main reading room was contemporaneously the largest of its kind in the world at {{Convert|77|ft|m|abbr=on}} wide by {{Convert|295|ft|m|abbr=on}} long, with {{Convert|50|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} ceilings.{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1911-04-09/ed-1/seq-16/|title=The New York Public Library|date=April 9, 1911|work=The Sun|page=9|access-date=January 9, 2012|archive-date=May 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526072403/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1911-04-09/ed-1/seq-16|url-status=live}}

An expansion in the 1970s and 1980s added storage space under Bryant Park, directly west of the library. The structure was given a major restoration from 2007 to 2011,"[http://bestplaces.nydailynews.com/voyeur/new-york-public-library-gets-50m-facelift-100th-birthday New York Public Library gets a 50M facelift for 100th birthday"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206113052/http://bestplaces.nydailynews.com/voyeur/new-york-public-library-gets-50m-facelift-100th-birthday|date=February 6, 2011}}, New York Daily News, 2011-02-02, accessed February 5, 2011. underwritten by a $100 million gift from philanthropist Stephen A. Schwarzman, for whom the branch was subsequently renamed.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/nyregion/23library.html?dlbk|title=After Big Gift, a New Name for the Library|last=Santora|first=Marc|date=April 23, 2008|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=February 11, 2017|archive-date=July 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701014623/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/nyregion/23library.html?dlbk|url-status=live}} Today, the branch's main reading room is equipped with computers with access to library collections and the Internet as well as docking facilities for laptops. A Fellows program makes reserved rooms available for writers and scholars, selected annually, and many have accomplished important research and writing at the library.

The Main Branch also contains several historic designations. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966,{{NRISref|2007a}} and designated a New York City designated landmark in 1967.{{cite web|url=http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/NY-PUBLIC-LIBRARY-5TH-AVE.pdf|title=New York Public Library|date=January 11, 1967|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|access-date=February 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107055059/http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/NY-PUBLIC-LIBRARY-5TH-AVE.pdf|archive-date=January 7, 2017|url-status=dead}} Astor Hall, first-to-third-floor stairs, and McGraw Rotunda were designated as interior landmarks in 1974.{{Cite news|last=Carroll|first=Maurice|date=November 14, 1974|title=3 New Sorts of Landmarks Designated in City|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/14/archives/3-new-sorts-of-landmarks-designatedin-city-landmarks-of-3-sorts-are.html|access-date=August 9, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810000136/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/14/archives/3-new-sorts-of-landmarks-designatedin-city-landmarks-of-3-sorts-are.html|url-status=live}} and the Rose Main Reading Room and Public Catalog Room were separately made New York City designated landmarks in 2017.{{cite web |last=Plitt |first=Amy |title=NYPL's Rose Main Reading Room Is Officially a New York City Landmark |website=Curbed NY |date=August 8, 2017 |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2017/8/8/16112032/new-york-public-library-rose-main-reading-room-landmark |access-date=December 17, 2018 |archive-date=December 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217202240/https://ny.curbed.com/2017/8/8/16112032/new-york-public-library-rose-main-reading-room-landmark |url-status=live }}

File:SIBL.jpg]]

In the 1990s, the New York Public Library decided to relocate that portion of the research collection devoted to science, technology, and business to a new location. The library purchased and adapted the former B. Altman & Company Building on 34th Street. In 1995, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the library, the {{Nowrap|$100 million}} Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL), designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates of Manhattan, opened to the public. Upon the creation of the SIBL, the central research library on 42nd Street was renamed the Humanities and Social Sciences Library.

Today there are four research libraries that comprise the NYPL's research library system; together they hold approximately 44 million items. Total item holdings, including the collections of the Branch Libraries, are {{Nowrap|50.6 million}}. The Humanities and Social Sciences Library on 42nd Street is still the heart of the NYPL's research library system. The SIBL, with approximately {{Nowrap|two million}} volumes and 60,000 periodicals, is the nation's largest public library devoted solely to science and business.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110609043907/http://legacy.www.nypl.org/press/siblbg.cfm "Science, Industry and Business Library"], June 19, 2003 Press Release, New York Public Library. Retrieved June 13, 2010. The NYPL's two other research libraries are the Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture, located at 135th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem, and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, located at Lincoln Center. In addition to their reference collections, the Library for the Performing Arts and the SIBL also have circulating components that are administered as ordinary branch libraries.

File:Drexel 4180 front recto.jpg found in the front pastedown of Drexel 4180, a manuscript in the Music Division of the New York Public Library]]

The New York Public Library was not created by government statute. From its earliest days, the library was formed from a partnership of city government with private philanthropy. As of 2010, the research libraries in the system are largely funded with private money, and the branch or circulating libraries are financed primarily with city government funds. Until 2009, the research and branch libraries operated almost entirely as separate systems, but that year various operations were merged. By early 2010, the NYPL staff had been reduced by about 16 percent, in part through the consolidations.{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Kate |title=That Mighty Sorting Machine Is Certainly One for the Books |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/books/22library.html?ref=arts |access-date=April 21, 2010 |work=The New York Times |date=April 21, 2010 |archive-date=July 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701065619/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/books/22library.html?ref=arts |url-status=live }}

In 2010, as part of the consolidation program, the NYPL moved various back-office operations to a new Library Services Center building in Long Island City. A former warehouse was renovated for this purpose for {{Nowrap|$50 million}}. In the basement, a new, {{Nowrap|$2.3 million}} book sorter uses bar codes on library items to sort them for delivery to 132 branch libraries. At two-thirds the length of a football field, the machine is the largest of its kind in the world, according to library officials. Books located in one branch and requested from another go through the sorter, the use of which has cut waiting times by at least a day. Together with 14 library employees, the machine can sort 7,500 items an hour (or 125 a minute). On the first floor of the Library Services Center is an ordering and cataloging office; on the second, the digital imaging department (formerly at the Main Branch building) and the manuscripts and archives division, where the air is kept cooler; on the third, the Barbara Goldsmith Preservation Division, with a staff of 10 (as of 2010) but designed for as many as 30 employees.

The NYPL maintains a force of NYC special patrolmen, who provide security and protection to various libraries, and NYPL special investigators, who oversee security operations at the library facilities. These officials have on-duty arrest authority granted by the New York Penal Law. Some library branches contract for security guards.

In 2014 NYPL launched a project called "Library Simplified", to address the difficulties that patrons were having checking out e-books, especially compared to the process for buying them.{{cite news |last1=Enis |first1=Matt |title=Library Simplified Works on Three-Click Access for Library Ebooks {{!}} ALA 2014 |url=http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2014/07/ebooks/library-simplified-works-three-click-access-library-ebooks-ala-2014/ |access-date=1 December 2024 |work=www.thedigitalshift.com |date=8 July 2014}} By 2016 the project had produced an app called "SimplyE", which the library launched that year; patrons could explore and check-out ebooks from multiple vendors, with just a few clicks.{{cite news |last1=Enis |first1=Matt |title=NYPL Launches SimplyE App, Integrating Access to Multiple Ebook Vendors |url=https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/nypl-launches-simplye-app-integrating-access-to-multiple-ebook-vendors |access-date=1 December 2024 |work=Library Journal |date=15 July 2016}} The library released the code for SimplyE open source.{{cite web |title=SimplyE Open Reading Platform - NYPL |url=https://github.com/NYPL-Simplified |website=GitHub |access-date=1 December 2024 |language=en}}

To celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2020, the NYPL calculated a list of its most checked out books. Topping the list was Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day, with The Cat in the Hat and Nineteen Eighty-Four rounding out the top three.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/01/13/795873639/the-new-york-public-library-has-calculated-its-most-checked-out-books-of-all-tim|title=The New York Public Library Has Calculated Its Most Checked-Out Books Of All Time|newspaper=NPR|date=January 13, 2020|language=en|access-date=2020-02-10|last1=Wamsley|first1=Laurel|archive-date=February 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212143823/https://www.npr.org/2020/01/13/795873639/the-new-york-public-library-has-calculated-its-most-checked-out-books-of-all-tim|url-status=live}}

Until 2021, the NYPL charged a late fee of $0.25 per day per book; other types of items had different late fees, and seniors and disabled patrons paid lower late fees. The library system's president, Anthony Marx, indicated his intention to eliminate late fees after assuming the library's presidency in 2011.{{Cite news|last=Cherelus|first=Gina|date=2022-03-31|title=The Library Ends Late Fees, and the Treasures Roll In|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/nyregion/nyc-library-fines-books-returned.html|access-date=2023-11-26|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015063543/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/nyregion/nyc-library-fines-books-returned.html|url-status=live}} The NYPL stopped charging late fees on October 5, 2021.{{cite web | last=Pruitt-Young | first=Sharon | title=The nation's largest public library system is ending late fees forever | website=NPR | date=October 5, 2021 | url=https://www.npr.org/2021/10/05/1043412502/library-fees-eliminated-new-york | access-date=November 26, 2023 | archive-date=September 15, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230915022709/https://www.npr.org/2021/10/05/1043412502/library-fees-eliminated-new-york | url-status=live }}{{Cite news|last=Bella|first=Timothy|date=2021-10-06|title=New York Public Library ends all late fees, allowing thousands to check out books in push for equality|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/06/nyc-library-eliminates-late-fees/|access-date=2023-11-26|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=February 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202045133/https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/06/nyc-library-eliminates-late-fees/|url-status=live}} Existing debts have since been cleared from the records of all NYPL patrons.{{cite web | url=https://www.nypl.org/spotlight/fines | title=NYPL Announcement: No More Late Fines, Ever | access-date=March 21, 2022 | archive-date=March 20, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320061351/https://www.nypl.org/spotlight/fines | url-status=live }}

On November 26, 2023, Sunday services were discontinued at select branches where it was offered; along with reduced programs for adults and children.{{cite news |last=Charles |first=Charline |date=16 November 2023 |title=NYC public libraries shutter Sunday service due to Mayor Adams budget cuts |url=https://pix11.com/news/local-news/nyc-public-libraries-shutter-weekend-service-due-to-mayor-adams-budget-cuts/ |work=PIX11 |location= |access-date=26 November 2023 |archive-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126195246/https://pix11.com/news/local-news/nyc-public-libraries-shutter-weekend-service-due-to-mayor-adams-budget-cuts/ |url-status=live }} This followed months of contentious budget negotiations between the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams, with Adams claiming that the New York City migrant housing crisis necessitated the budget cuts.{{Cite news|last=Fitzsimmons|first=Emma G.|date=2023-11-16|title=Eric Adams Slashes Budgets for Police, Libraries and Schools|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/nyregion/nyc-budget-cuts-schools-police-trash.html|access-date=2023-11-26|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=November 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126014845/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/nyregion/nyc-budget-cuts-schools-police-trash.html|url-status=live}} The $12.6 million in city spending for the NYPL represents 0.02% of the city's 2024 budget of $110 billion.{{cite web | last=Stratman | first=Josephine | title=NYC public libraries to shut down Sundays, slash services following Mayor Adams' budget cuts | website=New York Daily News | date=November 16, 2023 | url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/11/16/nyc-public-libraries-to-slash-services-following-mayor-adams-updated-budget/ | access-date=November 26, 2023 | archive-date=November 25, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231125185318/https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/11/16/nyc-public-libraries-to-slash-services-following-mayor-adams-updated-budget/ | url-status=live }} Funding for Sunday service was restored in June 2024.{{cite web | last=Kim | first=Elizabeth | title=NYC libraries to get budget funding back | website=Gothamist | date=June 27, 2024 | url=https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-libraries-to-get-budget-funding-back-and-reopen-on-sundays | access-date=June 29, 2024}}{{cite web | last1=Charles | first1=Charline | last2=Hoogensen | first2=Finn | last3=Mannarino | first3=Dan | last4=Rosario | first4=Veronica | title=Sunday service to resume at NYC public libraries after budget restored | website=PIX11 | date=June 28, 2024 | url=https://pix11.com/news/morning/sunday-service-to-resume-at-nyc-public-libraries-after-budget-restored/ | access-date=June 29, 2024}}

In February 2013, the New York and Brooklyn public libraries announced that they would merge their technical services departments. The new department is called BookOps. The proposed merger anticipates a savings of $2 million for the Brooklyn Public Library and $1.5 million for the New York Public Library. Although not currently part of the merger, it is expected that the Queens Public Library will eventually share some resources with the other city libraries.[http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/02/managing-libraries/nypl-brooklyn-merge-technical-services/ Meredith Schwartz, "NYPL, Brooklyn Merge Technical Services"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624232818/https://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/02/managing-libraries/nypl-brooklyn-merge-technical-services/ |date=June 24, 2018 }}, Library Journal, February 22, 2013{{cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/a/nypl.org/bookops/home|title=BookOps|access-date=September 20, 2015|archive-date=June 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611120033/https://sites.google.com/a/nypl.org/bookops/home|url-status=live}} As of 2011, circulation in the New York Public Library systems and Brooklyn Public Library systems has increased by 59%. Located in Long Island City, BookOps was created as a way to save money while improving patrons service.{{Cite web|url=https://www.urbanlibraries.org/bookops---shared-technical-services-between-bpl---nypl-innovation-788.php?page_id=172|title=BookOps – Shared Technical Services between BPL & NYPL {{!}} Urban Libraries Council|website=www.urbanlibraries.org|access-date=September 25, 2017|archive-date=April 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419125830/http://www.urbanlibraries.org/bookops---shared-technical-services-between-bpl---nypl-innovation-788.php?page_id=172|url-status=live}} The services of BookOps include the Selection Team which "acquires, describes, prepares, and delivers new items for the circulating collections of Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) and New York Public Library, and for the general collections of NYPL's research libraries." Under the Selection Team are the Acquisitions Department, the Cataloging Department, The Collections Processing Unit, and the Logistics Department.{{Cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/a/nypl.org/bookops/services|title=Services - BookOps.org|website=sites.google.com|access-date=September 25, 2017|archive-date=September 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918224820/https://sites.google.com/a/nypl.org/bookops/services|url-status=live}}

Before this facility opened, all the aforementioned departments were housed in different locations with no accountability between them, and items sometimes taking up to two weeks to reach their intended destination. BookOps now has all departments in one building and in 2015 sorted almost eight million items.{{Cite news|url=https://viewing.nyc/behind-the-scenes-at-bookops-the-new-york-public-librarys-laser-sorting-facility/|title=Behind the Scenes at BookOps, the New York Public Library's Laser Sorting Facility|date=February 3, 2016|work=Viewing NYC|access-date=September 25, 2017|language=en|archive-date=September 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926042811/https://viewing.nyc/behind-the-scenes-at-bookops-the-new-york-public-librarys-laser-sorting-facility/|url-status=live}} The building has numerous rooms, including a room dedicated to caring for damaged books.{{Cite news|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/09/20/keepers-of-the-secrets/|title=Keepers of the Secrets {{!}} Village Voice|access-date=September 25, 2017|archive-date=September 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924233251/https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/09/20/keepers-of-the-secrets/|url-status=live}}

The consolidations and changes in collections have promoted continuing debate and controversy since 2004 when David Ferriero was named the Andrew W. Mellon Director and Chief Executive of the Research Libraries.[http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6495194.html Norman Oder, "One NYPL," Many Questions, Library Journal, November 1, 2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704030129/http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6495194.html |date=July 4, 2008 }}. NYPL had engaged consultants Booz Allen Hamilton to survey the institution, and Ferriero endorsed the survey's report as a big step "in the process of reinventing the library".Oder, Norman. "NYPL Reorganization Coming", Library Journal (October 1, 2007). Vol. 132, Issue 16, p. 12. The consolidation program has resulted in the elimination of subjects such as the Asian and Middle East Division (formerly named Oriental Division), as well as the Slavic and Baltic Division.{{cite magazine | last=Sherman | first=Scott | url=http://www.thenation.com/article/164881/upheaval-new-york-public-library?page=full | title=Upheaval at the New York Public Library | journal=The Nation | date=December 19, 2011 | access-date=December 17, 2011 | archive-date=December 27, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227030351/http://www.thenation.com/article/164881/upheaval-new-york-public-library?page=full | url-status=live }}

A number of innovations in recent years have been criticized. In 2004 NYPL announced participation in the Google Books Library Project. By agreement between Google and major international libraries, selected collections of public domain books would be scanned in their entirety and made available online for free to the public.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nypl.org/press/2004/google.cfm |title=New York Public Library + Google |access-date=July 30, 2009 |archive-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204094415/http://www.nypl.org/press/2004/google.cfm |url-status=live }} The negotiations between the two partners called for each to project guesses about ways that libraries are likely to expand in the future.Rothstein, Edward. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/arts/14conn.html?pagewanted=1&sq=david%20ferriero&st=nyt&scp=9 "If Books Are on Google, Who Gains and Who Loses?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715022247/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/arts/14conn.html?pagewanted=1&sq=david%20ferriero&st=nyt&scp=9 |date=July 15, 2014 }} New York Times. November 14, 2005. According to the terms of the agreement, the data cannot be crawled or harvested by any other search engine; no downloading or redistribution is allowed. The partners and a wider community of research libraries can share the content.{{cite web|url=http://litablog.org/2006/07/11/lita-preconference-contracting-for-content-in-a-digital-world/|title=LITA PreConference: Contracting for Content in a Digital World|work=LITA Blog|date=July 11, 2006|access-date=July 30, 2009|archive-date=December 6, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206032410/http://litablog.org/2006/07/11/lita-preconference-contracting-for-content-in-a-digital-world/|url-status=live}}

The sale of the separately endowed former Donnell Library in midtown provoked controversy.Chan, Sewell. [http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/sale-of-former-donnell-library-is-back-on-track/ "Sale of Former Donnell Library Is Back on Track"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707153715/http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/sale-of-former-donnell-library-is-back-on-track/ |date=July 7, 2011 }}, New York Times. July 9, 2009. The elimination of Donnell was a result of the dissolution of children's, young adult and foreign language collections. The Donnell Media Center was also dismantled, the bulk of its collection relocated at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts as the Reserve Film and Video Collection, with parts of its collection redistributed.LeClerc, Paul. [http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/answers-about-the-new-york-public-library-part-3/ "Answers About the New York Public Library, Part 3"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607122159/http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/answers-about-the-new-york-public-library-part-3/ |date=June 7, 2011 }}, New York Times. December 12, 2008.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nypl.org/about/locations/lpa/circulating-collections/reserve-film |title="Reserve Film and Video Collection", New York Public Library website (accessed 2 February 2016). |access-date=February 2, 2016 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305112230/http://www.nypl.org/about/locations/lpa/circulating-collections/reserve-film |url-status=live }} The site was redeveloped for a luxury hotel.

Several veteran librarians have retired, and the number of age-level specialists in the boroughs have been cut back.{{cite magazine |title=NYPL head = Natl. archivist; New Catalog, Restructuring |journal=Library Journal |date=August 1, 2009 |volume=134 |issue=13}}

{{Wide image|NYC Public Library Research Room Jan 2006.jpg|900px|Rose Main Reading Room}}

{{see also|List of New York Public Library Branches}}

File:Epiphany Library.jpg]]

The New York Public Library system maintains commitment as a public lending library through its branch libraries in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, including the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (formerly: Mid-Manhattan Library), the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, the circulating collections of the Science, Industry and Business Library, and the circulating collections of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The branch libraries comprise the third-largest library in the United States.{{cite web |title=American Library Association: The Nation's Largest Libraries |url=http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/library/libraryfactsheet/alalibraryfactsheet22.cfm |access-date=March 17, 2009 |publisher=Ala.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413193236/http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/library/libraryfactsheet/alalibraryfactsheet22.cfm |archive-date=April 13, 2009 }} These circulating libraries offer a wide range of collections, programs, and services, including the renowned Picture Collection at Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library and the Media Center, redistributed from Donnell.

The system has 40 libraries in Manhattan, 35 in the Bronx, and 14 in Staten Island. The newest is the Charleston Library, which opened on March 16, 2022.{{cite web |title=The New York Public Library Celebrates the Grand Opening of Charleston Library, Staten Island's 14th Branch |url=https://www.nypl.org/press/new-york-public-library-celebrates-grand-opening-charleston-library-staten-islands-14th |website=NYPL |publisher=Mar 16, 2022 |access-date=October 26, 2022 |archive-date=October 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026164559/https://www.nypl.org/press/new-york-public-library-celebrates-grand-opening-charleston-library-staten-islands-14th |url-status=live }} As of 2022, the New York Public Library consisted of 4 research centers and 89 neighborhood branch libraries in the three boroughs served.{{cite web|url=https://d140u095r09w96.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/16536-At%20a%20Glance_081516.pdf|title=NYPL Facts at a Glance|access-date=November 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107161210/https://d140u095r09w96.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/16536-At%20a%20Glance_081516.pdf|archive-date=November 7, 2016|url-status=dead}} All libraries in the NYPL system may be used free of charge by all visitors.

{{As of|2019}}, the research collections contain 46.8 million items (books, videotapes, maps, etc.), while the branch libraries contain 9.9 million items.{{cite web |title=The New York Public Library at a Glance |url=https://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/19412_at_a_glance_fy19.pdf |access-date=October 26, 2022 |publisher= |archive-date=October 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026164609/https://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/19412_at_a_glance_fy19.pdf |url-status=live }} Together the collections total nearly {{Nowrap|53 million}} items, a number surpassed only by the Library of Congress and the British Library.

Image:NYPL Christmas.JPG at Astor Hall adjacent to the main entrance to the NYPL's main branch]]

Telephone Reference, known as ASK NYPL,{{cite web |author=The New York Public Library |url=http://www.nypl.org/questions/ |title=Get Help / Ask NYPL | The New York Public Library |publisher=Nypl.org |access-date=November 24, 2012 |archive-date=September 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918113622/http://www.nypl.org/questions/ |url-status=live }} answers 100,000 questions per year, by phone and online,{{cite news|title=Before Google Search There Was the Library|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/before-google-search-there-was-the-library-402477123856|access-date=April 8, 2015|archive-date=April 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408052405/http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/before-google-search-there-was-the-library-402477123856|url-status=live}} as well as in The New York Times.{{cite news|last1=Study|first1=C|title=At Your Service: Information Sleuth at the New York Public Library|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 30, 2015|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/nyregion/at-your-service-information-sleuth-at-the-new-york-public-library.html?_r=0|access-date=April 7, 2015|archive-date=February 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208083105/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/nyregion/at-your-service-information-sleuth-at-the-new-york-public-library.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=Library Phone Answerers Survive the Internet |work=The New York Times |date=June 19, 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/19/nyregion/19answer.html |access-date=February 11, 2017 |archive-date=July 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701051546/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/19/nyregion/19answer.html |url-status=live }}

The Library website provides access to the library's catalogs, online collections and subscription databases. It also has information about the library's free events, exhibitions, computer classes and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.{{cite web |author=The New York Public Library |url=http://www.nypl.org/ |title=Welcome to The New York Public Library |publisher=Nypl.org |access-date=November 24, 2012 |archive-date=January 3, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970103001209/http://www.nypl.org/ |url-status=live }} The two online catalogs, LEO{{cite web |url=http://leopac.nypl.org/ |title=New York Public Library Catalog |publisher=Leopac.nypl.org |access-date=November 24, 2012 |archive-date=December 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111215165531/http://leopac.nypl.org/ |url-status=dead }} (which searches the circulating collections) and CATNYP (which searches the research collections) allow users to search the library's holdings of books, journals and other materials. The LEO system allows cardholders to request books from any branch and have them delivered to any branch.

The NYPL gives cardholders free access from home to thousands of current and historical magazines, newspapers, journals and reference books in subscription databases, including EBSCOhost, which contains full text of major magazines; full text of the New York Times (1995–present), Gale's Ready Reference Shelf which includes the Encyclopedia of Associations and periodical indexes, Books in Print;{{cite web |author=The New York Public Library |url=http://www.nypl.org/databases/index.cfm?act=3&id=817 |title=Articles and Databases | The New York Public Library |publisher=Nypl.org |date=November 13, 2012 |access-date=November 24, 2012 |archive-date=July 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713071333/http://www.nypl.org/databases/index.cfm?act=3&id=817 |url-status=live }} and Ulrich's Periodicals Directory. The New York Public Library also links to outside resources, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook, and the CIA's World Factbook. Databases are available for children, teenagers, and adults of all ages.{{cite web|author=The New York Public Library |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070601020457/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 1, 2007 |title=Articles and Databases | The New York Public Library |publisher=Nypl.org |date=November 13, 2012 |access-date=May 5, 2016}}

The NYPL Digital Collections (formerly named Digital Gallery){{cite web |url=http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/ |title=NYPL Digital Gallery | Home |publisher=Digitalgallery.nypl.org |access-date=November 24, 2012 |archive-date=January 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110120221955/http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/ |url-status=live }} is a database of over 900,000 images digitized from the library's collections. The Digital Collections was named one of Time Magazine{{'}}s 50 Coolest Websites of 2005[http://www.time.com/time/2005/websites/] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721021232/http://www.time.com/time/2005/websites/|date=July 21, 2006}} and Best Research Site of 2006 by an international panel of museum professionals.{{cite web |title=Best of the Web: Categories: Research (Best Research Site) |url=http://www.archimuse.com/mw2006/best/research-win.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527154016/http://www.archimuse.com/mw2006/best/research-win.html |archive-date=May 27, 2011 |access-date=November 24, 2012 |publisher=Archimuse.com}}

The Photographers' Identities Catalog (PIC{{anchor|PIC}}) is an experimental online service of the Photography Collection in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.{{cite web |url=https://pic.nypl.org/#background |title=Photographers' Identities Catalog |author=David Lowe |year=2016 |publisher=The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs |access-date=January 11, 2018 |archive-date=May 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523145247/https://pic.nypl.org/#background |url-status=live }} Other databases available only from within the library include Nature, IEEE and Wiley science journals, Wall Street Journal archives, and Factiva. Overall, the digital holdings for the Library consist of more than a petabyte of data as of 2015.[http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/notice2.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208231814/http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/notice2.html|date=February 8, 2007}}

NYPL cardholders can download free e-books via the SimplyE app and website.{{cite web |last=Gleason |first=Will |date=May 19, 2021 |title=You can now download over 300,000 books from the NYPL for free |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/you-can-now-download-over-300-000-books-from-the-nypl-for-free-031820 |access-date=June 14, 2024 |website=Time Out New York}} As part of the Books for All program, a limited number of books in the NYPL's collection, which have been banned elsewhere in the United States, are also available to anyone in the U.S. via the SimplyE app.{{cite web |last=Shivaram |first=Deepa |date=April 15, 2022 |title=New York Public Library makes banned books available for free |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/04/15/1093095474/new-york-public-library-makes-banned-books-available-for-free |access-date=June 14, 2024 |website=NPR}}{{cite web |last=Wassef |first=Mira |date=October 3, 2023 |title=NYPL gives teens nationwide free access to banned books |url=https://pix11.com/news/local-news/right-to-read-new-york-public-library-gives-teens-nationwide-access-to-banned-books/ |access-date=June 14, 2024 |website=PIX11}} The library also hosts a Teen Banned Book Club.{{Cite web |last=McIntyre |first=Iain |last2=Commons Librarian |date=2025-03-12 |title=Where to Fight Back: Lessons from US Anti-Coup Actions |url=https://commonslibrary.org/where-to-fight-back-lessons-from-us-anti-coup-actions/ |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}

In 2006, the library adopted a new strategy that merged branch and research libraries into "One NYPL". The organizational change developed a unified online catalog for all the collections, and one card to that could be used at both branch and research libraries. The 2009 website and online-catalog transition had some initial difficulties, but ultimately the catalogues were integrated.Slotnik, Daniel E. [http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/library-system-resolves-catalog-problems/ "Library System Resolves Catalog Problems"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711070645/http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/library-system-resolves-catalog-problems/ |date=July 11, 2011 }}, New York Times. July 20, 2009.

NYPL's Community Oral History Project shares New York City's neighborhoods and diverse people by documenting history through collected stories.{{Cite web |title=Community Oral History Project |url=https://www.nypl.org/help/community-outreach/oral-history |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=The New York Public Library |archive-date=January 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123145741/https://www.nypl.org/help/community-outreach/oral-history |url-status=live }} The Oral History Project includes people living in Greenwich Village, Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood, Times Square, Hell's Kitchen, Soho, Lower East Side, Chinatown, and Kips Bay as well as Transgender, Latino Americans, Veterans, and Disability Experience.{{Cite web |title=NYPL Community Oral History Project |url=http://oralhistory.nypl.org/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=wayback.archive-it.org |archive-date=September 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/14173/20200910171016/http://oralhistory.nypl.org/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}

The New York Public Library offers many services to its patrons. Some of these services include services for immigrants. New York City is known for having a welcoming environment when its comes to people of diverse backgrounds. The library offers free work and life skills classes. These are offered in conjunction with volunteers and partnerships at the library. In addition, the library offers non-English speakers materials and coaching for them to acclimate to the U.S. For these non-English speakers, the library offers free ESOL classes. An initiative was taken in July 2018, NYC library card holders are allowed to visit Whitney Museum, the Guggenheim and 31 other prominent New York cultural institutions for free.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/16/arts/design/library-card-culture-pass-new-york-museums-free.html|title=A Library Card Will Get You into the Guggenheim (and 32 Other Places)|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 16, 2018|access-date=July 17, 2018|language=en|last1=Chow|first1=Andrew R.|archive-date=July 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717144833/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/16/arts/design/library-card-culture-pass-new-york-museums-free.html|url-status=live}}

In June 2017, Subway Library was announced.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nypl.org/blog/2017/06/08/subwaylibrary|title=Announcing #SubwayLibrary: Free E-Books for Your Commute|website=The New York Public Library|access-date=March 19, 2018|archive-date=March 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320044021/https://www.nypl.org/blog/2017/06/08/subwaylibrary|url-status=live}} It was an initiative between the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Public Library, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Transit Wireless. The Subway Library gave New York City Subway riders access to e-books, excerpts, and short stories.{{cite web | title=New York Today: A City Library, on the Subway | website=The New York Times | date=June 8, 2017 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/08/nyregion/new-york-today-subway-library-mta-nypl-frank-lloyd-wright.html | access-date=February 23, 2019 | archive-date=February 24, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224002129/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/08/nyregion/new-york-today-subway-library-mta-nypl-frank-lloyd-wright.html | url-status=live }}{{cite web | last=Plitt | first=Amy | title=NYPL's new 'Subway Library' may make your commute a bit less horrible | website=Curbed NY | date=June 8, 2017 | url=https://ny.curbed.com/2017/6/8/15765280/nyc-subway-new-york-public-library-wireless | access-date=February 23, 2019 | archive-date=February 24, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224001758/https://ny.curbed.com/2017/6/8/15765280/nyc-subway-new-york-public-library-wireless | url-status=live }}

Like all public libraries in New York, the NYPL is granted a charter from the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York and is registered with the New York State Education Department.{{citation|title=Handbook for Library Trustees of New York State|edition=2015|first=Jerry|last=Nichols|publisher=New York State Library|url=http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/trustees/handbook/|access-date=November 3, 2015|archive-date=October 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025082222/http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/trustees/handbook/|url-status=live}} The basic powers and duties of all library boards of trustees are defined in the Education Law and are subject to Part 90 of Title 8 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations.

The NYPL's charter, as restated and granted in 1975, gives the name of the corporation as The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. The library is governed by a board of trustees, composed of between 25 and 42 trustees of several classes who collectively choose their own successors, including ex officio the New York City Mayor, New York City Council Speaker and New York City Comptroller.{{cite book |last=Woodrum |first=Pat |date=1989 |title=Managing Public Libraries in the 21st Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XIFchyF3ikQC&pg=PA84 |pages=84–85 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=0-86656-945-6 |lccn=89-20016}}

File:Main Reading Room of the New York City Public Library on 5th Avenue ca, 1910-1920.jpg

The New York Public Library is one of three separate and independent public library systems in New York City. The other two library systems are the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Public Library.{{cite web | title=Different Boroughs, Different Library Systems | website=The New York Times | date=December 7, 2017 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/07/nyregion/different-boroughs-different-library-systems.html | access-date=March 10, 2019 | archive-date=April 2, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402233457/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/07/nyregion/different-boroughs-different-library-systems.html | url-status=live }} According to the 2006 Mayor's Management Report, New York City's three public library systems had a total library circulation of 35 million: the NYPL and BPL (with 143 branches combined) had a circulation of {{Nowrap|15 million}}, and the Queens system had a circulation of {{Nowrap|20 million}} through its 62 branch libraries. Altogether the three library systems hosted {{Nowrap|37 million}} visitors in 2006. Taken as a whole, the three library systems in the city have 209 branches with 63 million items in their collections.

Other libraries in New York City, some of which can be used by the public, are listed in the Directory of Special Libraries and Information Centers.{{cite web |author=The New York Public Library |url=http://www.nypl.org/collections/articles-databases/directory-special-libraries-and-information-centers |title=Directory of Special Libraries and Information Centers | The New York Public Library |publisher=Nypl.org |date=November 13, 2012 |access-date=November 24, 2012 |archive-date=August 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806041945/http://www.nypl.org/collections/articles-databases/directory-special-libraries-and-information-centers |url-status=live }}

The historian David McCullough has described the New York Public Library as one of the five most important libraries in the United States; the others are the Library of Congress, the Boston Public Library, and the university libraries of Harvard and Yale.{{cite web |title=Simon & Schuster:David McCullough |url=http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=328883&feature_id=3375 |access-date=October 12, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060929035702/http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=328883&feature_id=3375 |archive-date = September 29, 2006}}

The New York Public Library was a founding member of the Research Libraries Group, alongside Columbia, Harvard, and Yale Libraries.{{Cite book |last1=Kent |first1=Allen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l8mIFaw53JUC&dq=%22columbia%22+library+new+york+library+harvard+yale&pg=PA293 |title=Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 25 - Publishers and the Library to Rochester: University of Rochester Library |last2=Lancour |first2=Harold |last3=Daily |first3=Jay E. |date=1978-06-01 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-8247-2025-4 |language=en |access-date=August 6, 2022 |archive-date=November 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128002028/https://books.google.com/books?id=l8mIFaw53JUC&dq=%22columbia%22+library+new+york+library+harvard+yale&pg=PA293#v=onepage&q=%22columbia%22%20library%20new%20york%20library%20harvard%20yale&f=false |url-status=live }}

Along with Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton, NYPL is a member of the Research Collections and Preservation Consortium (ReCAP), and shares an off-site shelving facility in Plainsboro, New Jersey with the three Ivy League universities.[http://chronicle.com/article/Debate-at-NY-Public-Library-/131615/ "Debate at N.Y. Public Library: Can Off-Site Storage Work for Researchers?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502001733/http://chronicle.com/article/Debate-at-NY-Public-Library-/131615/ |date=May 2, 2014 }} Jennifer Howard. April 22, 2012. Chronicle of Higher Education.

The New York Public Library has been referenced numerous times in popular culture. The library has appeared as a setting and topic multiple times in film, poetry, television, and music.

• Education in New York City
• Google Books Library Project
• List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City
• Benjamin Miller Collection, collection of posted stamps
• Ira D. Wallach, namesake of the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs
• The New York Public Library Desk Reference
• List of New York Public Library branches
• List of presidents of the New York Public Library

Notes

{{Reflist|30em}}

Bibliography

• Chapman, Carleton B. Order out of Chaos: John Shaw Billings and America's Coming of Age (1994)
• Dain, Phyllis. The New York Public Library: A History of Its Founding and Early Years (1973)
• Dain, Phyllis. “Harry M. Lydenberg and American Library Resources: A Study in Modern Library Leadership.” The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 47, no. 4 (1977): 451–69.
• Davis, Donald G. Jr and Tucker, John Mark (1989). American Library History: a comprehensive guide to the literature. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc. {{ISBN|0-87436-142-7}}
• Glynn, Tom, Reading Publics: New York City's Public Libraries, 1754–1911 (Fordham University Press, 2015). xii, 447 pp.
• Harris, Michael H. and Davis, Donald G. Jr. (1978). American Library History: a bibliography. Austin: University of Texas {{ISBN|0-292-70332-5}}
• {{cite magazine|last=Lydenberg|first=Harry Miller|year=1916a|title=History of the New York Public Library: Part I|url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletin20newyuoft#page/555/mode/2up|journal=Bulletin of the New York Public Library|volume=20|pages=555–619}}
• {{cite magazine |last=Lydenberg |first=Harry Miller |title=History of the New York Public Library: Part III|journal=Bulletin of the New York Public Library|pages=685–734|volume=20|year= 1916b|url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletin20newyuoft#page/n729/mode/2up}}
• {{Cite book|url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/645a8810-85f4-0131-a4a9-58d385a7b928|title=History of the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations|last=Lydenburg|first=Harry Miller|publisher=The New York Public Library|year=1923}}
• Myers, Andrew B. The Worlds of Washington Irving: 1783–1859 (1974)
• Reed, Henry Hope. The New York Public Library: Its Architecture and Decoration (1986)
• {{Cite book|title=The New York Public Library: The Architecture and Decoration of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building|last=Reed|first=Henry Hope|publisher=W.W. Norton and Company|year=2011|isbn=978-0-393-07810-7|location=New York, NY}}
• Sherman, Scott (2015). Patience and fortitude : power, real estate, and the fight to save a public library, Brooklyn; London : Melville House, {{ISBN|978-1-61219-429-5}}
• {{cite book | last1 = Van Slyck | first1 = Abigail A. | title = Free to All: Carnegie Libraries & American Culture, 1890–1920 | publisher = University of Chicago Press | year = 1995 | location = Chicago: IL | isbn = 0-226-85031-5 | url = https://archive.org/details/freetoallcarnegi0000vans }}

Further reading

• {{cite journal |last1=Rabina |first1=Debbie |last2=Peet |first2=Lisa |title=Meeting a Composite of User Needs Amidst Change and Controversy: The Case of the New York Public Library |journal=Reference & User Services Quarterly |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=52–59 |date=2014 |issn=1094-9054 |jstor=refuseserq.54.2.52 |doi=10.5860/rusq.54n2.52 |doi-access=free }}

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikidata property|1=P2750}}

• {{official website|http://www.nypl.org/}}
• {{NYTtopic|organizations/n/new_york_public_library}}
• [http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/website-reviews/14688 Teachinghistory.org review of NYPL website American Shores]
• {{Wikisource-inline|list=
• {{Cite NIE |last=Lydenberg |first=H. M. |author-link=Harry M. Lydenberg |wstitle=New York Public Library |year=1905 |short=x |noicon=x}}
• {{Cite NSRW|wstitle=New York Public Library |short=x |noicon=x}}
• {{Cite Americana|wstitle=New York Public Library |short=x |noicon=x}}
• {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=New York Public Library |short=x |noicon=x}}

}}

• {{Gutenberg author | id=33035| name=New York Public Library}}
• {{Internet Archive author |search=("New York Public Library")}}

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