NYC: New York Public Library
Happy Wednesday! This is my second post about our recent trip to New York City. We were able to visit New York's beautiful public library! There is so much I want to mention, and I feel as though a long introduction isn't necessary. Why don't we just dive right in?
We were able to get into the free tour, but you will have to sign up in advance if you are interested in the NYPL free tour. Our tour guide was amazing, and I thought I wrote down her name. When I went back to check my notes, I could not find it! I'm sorry about that, but I'm also confident that any tour you take from them is sure to be great!
The library itself was stunning! As you walk in, two lions guard the outside of the building. At the simplest level, the lions are beautifully designed and just nice to look at, but we can go so much deeper. Lions traditionally represent strength and courage. Lions are able to bear so much beauty and power in one lifetime. Beyond this, one could think that these lions represent more than courage; they can also be a symbol of literature. For example, anyone who reads in the library will therefore be "reading between the lions" (A.K.A. "reading between the lines"). Furthermore, our tour guide mentioned that each lion had its own name: Patience and Fortitude. By definition, patience is "the capacity to endure difficult circumstances, delays, or provocations calmly and without complaint". Fortitude is "the mental and emotional strength that allows a person to endure pain, adversity, or danger with courage". There is beauty in simply knowing that something so powerful and brave can also embody both of these traits. At a single glance, one could observe that these lions are the same. How can you tell the difference between Patience and Fortitude, then? Fortitude is the lion closer to 42nd Street. In other words, Fortitude is near forty-two. Get it? There were so many meanings and beautiful thoughts behind these lions that make simply walking into this building a magical and literary experience.
Once we began the tour, there was so much information to absorb! Probably one of my favorite tidbits of information was about the little engine that could. No... not that one! Underneath the NYPL lies a red train that takes books from underground to researchers who have requested books! Next to the library is a large park (A.K.A. Bryant Park). Below ground are approximately 4 million books belonging to the New York Public Library! Workers below Bryant Park retrieve books for patrons and send them off in the little red trolley! It can take anywhere from 2-30 minutes (usually somewhere between 5-15 minutes). All information stored in the library is open to the public, but it may often require a reservation in advance, given that it is a research library. This means that you cannot walk into the library just to read The Hunger Games. They mostly carry nonfiction for writers and research purposes.
Another piece of information that I believe deserves a shout-out is the office of Mary Shelley's husband. Mary Shelley is the author of the book Frankenstein (which I just recently read and posted about for school). When our tour stopped outside of this room, the guide asked if anyone knew who Mary Shelley was. I, being myself, stayed quiet even though I did in fact know the answer. Anyway, the library has much of the original furniture and writings used in his office. They have set the room up in the fashion it would have been back then! Unfortunately, during the tour, we do not have permission to go inside the room, but it is still a very interesting display in the museum!
The library was so interesting! I don't have time to dedicate a paragraph to every single thing I found interesting on the tour, but there were a few other things that were incredibly fascinating to me. For example, when you walk in, you are surrounded by enormous slabs of marble covering every single wall. Engraved on these slabs are the names of people and families who have donated money to the library, and the list is still growing today! There are still assigned blank slabs for new donations! In addition, there are also assigned rooms for publications in well-known newspapers that are easily accessible, dating back to the past five or so years. If you are interested in exploring more of their collection, you can request books from underground! Another curious fact is that the building is built upon the original foundation of two older libraries that date way back (before you and I were born)! If you go down to the gift shop below the library, the original foundation is partially exposed and observable if you know to look. You can also view these foundations from the lobby if you look beneath you, off the ledge, and towards the gift shop. Speaking of the gift shop, I was able to get two beautiful pairs of book-earrings! I had been searching forever, so I highly recommend checking out their shop!
This library was gorgeous. The architecture was awe-inspiring. It is not like any library I'd ever been to. There are so many different places to go, and I was surprised by how few books I saw, considering how big it is. Of course, this is because they are storing all their books in a climate-controlled space below Bryant Park. I would highly recommend a free tour to anyone who visits NYC. It was only an hour long, and if we had walked in without any knowledge, the library would have been so much less interesting! I loved being able to visit this and the Rizzoli Bookstore! I feel like I really got to enjoy the bookish experience out in New York City. I'll post again soon, but until then... READ A BOOK! 😘
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