SNFL First Floor: History & Transformation

Alison Stewart: As you walk down the red carpet through this expansive, sunlight-soaked space, maybe to the elevator banks near the center of this main floor, try imagining yourself browsing displays of the latest fashion trends instead of books. Why? Well, because this was once a department store, and Architect Liz Leber leaned into that history during the Library’s renovation.

Liz Leber: Department stores were built and designed to pull you into the space and to have people who were shopping see as much as possible of all the various departments, and they did that by creating exciting settings for them, different areas to go and get whatever it may be, your belts, your jewelry, your handbags, and also making circulation really easy. We were able to use some of those bones of the department store to create a circulating library that is very easy to navigate.

Alison Stewart: The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library is a place to read, a place to gather, a place to think. But the heart of the library is still the people. Caryl Matute is vice president of Branch Libraries and Patron Services at The New York Public Library.

Caryl Matute: As you walk into the building, you look straight down the hallway and staff are waiting right there to serve you, guide you, direct you through the space. Right up in front are all the amazing book displays that staff and the team have put together. This is all part of the experience that we want our users to feel as soon as they enter the door.

Alison Stewart: NYPL is committed to providing this kind of access and service to New Yorkers throughout the city.

Caryl Matute: So for more than 125 years in the circulating neighborhood libraries, we’ve been a free provider of education, information, resources and programs and these libraries are spread across three of the city’s five boroughs: the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island.

Alison Stewart: To get an idea of just how widespread the New York Public Library ecosystem is, be sure to check out the map on display near the exit.

It was the steel baron Andrew Carnegie who championed the concept of a system of branch libraries throughout New York City. In the early 1900s he made a significant contribution that laid the groundwork for the Library’s growing network of branch libraries that today comprises nearly 100 locations. Those branches remain key community centers that serve millions of New Yorkers.