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If libraries can't make it here in New York, can they make it anywhere? If libraries can't make it here in New York, can they make it anywhere?
(6 months later)
Three weeks ago, my life got turned upside-down when I allowed myself to be photographed eating chicken outside the New York Public Library Three weeks ago, my life got turned upside-down when I allowed myself to be photographed eating chicken outside the New York Public Library in exchange for some harsh words about that once timeless institution’s real-estate plans. So, too, was the public fate of the most famous library in the world, which is having trouble keeping itself right-side-up.
in exchange for some harsh words about that once timeless institution’s The man in the now-famous picture is a technologist with a background in computational linguistics and the founder of several ventures. As a boy, he – or rather, I – discovered, fell for and began to frequent the main library, known to New Yorkers as the 42nd Street Library, cradle to so many of the books that line our shelves and scene of such classics as Ghostbusters and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Now, if a secretive administration has its way, this library could end up a ghost of its former self. The library’s seven floors of book stacks – the structural support of the legendary Main Reading Room – stand empty and on the brink of destruction, a temporary restraining order the only thing holding the wrecking ball at bay.
real-estate plans. So, too, was the public fate of the most famous So when Brandon Stanton approached me about taking my picture for his wildly popular Humans of New York Facebook page, I knew exactly what I wanted to say:
library in the world, which is having trouble keeping itself I work at this library. And before that, I was coming here for twenty years. It’s my favorite place in the world. As many people know, the main reading room of this library is supported by seven floors of books, which contain one of the greatest research collections in the world. Recently, the library administration has decided to rip out this collection, send the books to New Jersey, and use the space for a lending library. As part of the consolidation, they are going to close down the Mid-Manhattan Library Branch as well as the Science, Industry, and Business Library. When everything is finished, one of the greatest research libraries in the world will become a glorified internet cafe. Now read that back to me.
right-side-up. By chance, I had spent the previous Saturday organizing the first “work-in”, asking library users to “protest while you work” from the library with www.SaveNYPL.org stickers on their laptops. This I was doing on behalf of the Committee to Save the New York Public Library. Months before, a member of this group had thrust a flyer in my hand, causing me to question the library’s plan and conclude it was a massive folly.
The The Central Library Plan, now misleadingly rebranded as a “renovation”, would sell off the Mid-Manhattan Library (the busiest lending library in the country and the place where President Obama got his start) and the Science, Industry and Business Library branches; squeeze users into a space that is a fraction the size; and divert $150m in taxpayer money from 87 resource-starved community libraries. The 42nd Street Library, the most democratic of the world’s great research libraries, would see its seven floors of historic books stacks gutted to make way for an airy and hard-to-access atrium, in a shortsighted worship of the digital.
man in the now-famous picture is a technologist with a background in I say “shortsighted” as someone who has experimented, clear-eyed, with all the forms of digital reading – laptop, phone, tablet, e-reader – before concluding that reading on paper is, in general, better. Sure, digital text is necessary for computational linguistics and preferable for referencing, but paper is easier on the eyes, impedes distractions, prevents snooping, obstructs censorship and does justice to paragraphs and pictures in all their shapes and sizes. I have discovered, too, that digital devices bias reading toward the immediate and ephemeral, and printed information, being slower and more expensive, tends to be of higher quality.
computational linguistics and the founder of several ventures. As a boy, The virtual destruction of the New York Public Library rests on faulty premises. In a world of cheap personal computers, ubiquitous internet access and vanished book stores, libraries will always be special. For in addition to preserving manuscripts that may never be digitized, providing services to communities, and lending e-books to remote users, library collections entice citizens to meet in public spaces – and not just for the experience of reading on paper. Readers come for the ageless experience of browsing the shelves and commenting on one another’s dust jackets. Should the plan here in New York go through, the 42nd Street Library may soon find that its terminals are as empty as the ethernet ports carved into the tables of the Main Reading Room.
he – or rather, I – discovered, fell for and began to frequent the main
library, known to New Yorkers as the 42nd Street Library, cradle to so
many of the books that line our shelves and scene of such classics as Ghostbusters and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Now, if a secretive administration has its way, this library could end
up a ghost of its former self. The library’s seven floors of book stacks
– the structural support of the legendary Main Reading Room – stand
empty and on the brink of destruction, a temporary restraining order the
only thing holding the wrecking ball at bay.
So
when Brandon Stanton approached me about taking my picture for his
wildly popular Humans of New York Facebook page, I knew exactly what I
wanted to say:
I
work at this library. And before that, I was coming here for twenty
years. It’s my favorite place in the world. As many people know, the
main reading room of this library is supported by seven floors of books,
which contain one of the greatest research collections in
the world. Recently, the library administration has decided to rip out
this collection, send the books to New Jersey, and use the space for a
lending library. As part of the consolidation, they are going to close
down the Mid-Manhattan Library Branch as well as the Science, Industry,
and Business Library. When everything is finished, one of the greatest
research libraries in the world will become a glorified internet cafe.
Now read that back to me.
By chance, I had spent the previous Saturday organizing the first “work-in”, asking library users to “protest while you work” from the library with www.SaveNYPL.org
stickers on their laptops. This I was doing on behalf of the Committee
to Save the New York Public Library. Months before, a member of this
group had thrust a flyer in my hand, causing me to question the library’s plan and conclude it was a massive folly.
The
Central Library Plan, now misleadingly rebranded as a “renovation”,
would sell off the Mid-Manhattan Library (the busiest lending library in
the country and the place where President Obama got his start)
and the Science, Industry and Business Library branches; squeeze users
into a space that is a fraction the size; and divert $150m in taxpayer
money from 87 resource-starved community libraries. The 42nd Street
Library, the most democratic of the world’s great research libraries,
would see its seven floors of historic books stacks gutted to make way
for an airy and hard-to-access atrium, in a shortsighted worship of the digital.
I say “shortsighted” as someone who has experimented, clear-eyed, with all the forms of digital reading – laptop, phone, tablet, e-reader – before concluding that reading on paper is,
in general, better. Sure, digital text is necessary for computational
linguistics and preferable for referencing, but paper is easier on the
eyes, impedes distractions, prevents snooping, obstructs censorship and
does justice to paragraphs and pictures in all their shapes and sizes. I
have discovered, too, that digital devices bias reading toward the
immediate and ephemeral, and printed information, being slower and more
expensive, tends to be of higher quality.
The
virtual destruction of the New York Public Library rests on faulty
premises. In a world of cheap personal computers, ubiquitous internet
access and vanished book stores, libraries will always be special. For
in addition to preserving manuscripts that may never be digitized,
providing services to communities, and lending e-books to remote users,
library collections entice citizens to meet in public spaces – and not
just for the experience of reading on paper. Readers come for the
ageless experience of browsing the shelves and commenting on one
another’s dust jackets. Should the plan here in New York go through, the
42nd Street Library may soon find that its terminals are as empty as
the ethernet ports carved into the tables of the Main Reading Room.
Amazingly, this desecration and downsizing is taking place amidst an upsurge of usage across libraries in the City and broad support for libraries across the country. According to an in-depth report released last week by Pew Research’s Internet Project, all Americans – including technophiles – love their libraries to this day.Amazingly, this desecration and downsizing is taking place amidst an upsurge of usage across libraries in the City and broad support for libraries across the country. According to an in-depth report released last week by Pew Research’s Internet Project, all Americans – including technophiles – love their libraries to this day.
And And so one wonders where we might be had the library’s president, Anthony Marx, focused his famous salesmanship on getting a “baseline” library budget from the City and persuading the magnates on the board to multiply the endowment. Instead, the library quietly spent over $10 million on consultants, PR, and a celebrity architect, while making a mockery of public input.
so one wonders where we might be had the library’s president, Anthony Little wonder then that the Wall Street Journal has pointed to the library as exemplifying the crisis in non-profit governance, with many a revered institutions sacrificing its mission to the ambition of the day. Little wonder that the plan has been condemned by writers such as Edmund Morris, Jonathan Lethem, Mario Vargas Llosa and Salman Rushdie; by leading architecture critics such as the late Ada Louise Huxtable and Michael Kimmelman; and even by the mayor himself, Bill de Blasio.
Marx, focused his famous salesmanship on getting a “baseline” library
budget from the City and persuading the magnates on the board to
multiply the endowment. Instead, the library quietly spent over $10 million on consultants, PR, and a celebrity architect, while making a mockery of public input.
Little wonder then that the Wall Street Journal has pointed to the library as exemplifying the crisis in non-profit governance,
with many a revered institutions sacrificing its mission to the
ambition of the day. Little wonder that the plan has been condemned by
writers such as Edmund Morris, Jonathan Lethem, Mario Vargas Llosa and Salman Rushdie; by leading architecture critics such as the late Ada Louise Huxtable and Michael Kimmelman; and even by the mayor himself, Bill de Blasio.
The photograph of me on the steps of the library was seen by millions, provoking controversy, flattering proposals and curious looks on the subway. Now I hope that readers everywhere will roar for the great New York Public Library, that temple of learning at the heart of New York City, past whose proud lions the world beats a path.The photograph of me on the steps of the library was seen by millions, provoking controversy, flattering proposals and curious looks on the subway. Now I hope that readers everywhere will roar for the great New York Public Library, that temple of learning at the heart of New York City, past whose proud lions the world beats a path.