{"id":2039,"date":"2020-06-19T18:23:35","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T18:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/?p=2039"},"modified":"2020-06-19T18:23:35","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T18:23:35","slug":"new-york-public-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/new-york-public-library\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Public Library"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The New York Public Library holds a special place in my heart. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I spent several days while at home one summer from university doing research there for an important history project. That meant taking the train from Poughkeepsie down to Manhattan\u2019s Grand Central Station. From there it was just a few blocks\u2019 walk to the library.<\/p>\n

The building itself is a massive monument to scholarship through the ages. There\u2019s something about walking between the huge lion statues on the steps up that warns you\u2019re embarking on a serious enterprise as you approach the building.<\/p>\n

\"\"Main Library Exterior: New York Public Library<\/strong>
\nCC BY-SA (<\/span>https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

The interior continues that theme with its enormous spaces, grand, soaring staircases, huge windows, works of art throughout, and the array of resources available.<\/p>\n

I went there to research events of a certain narrow historical time period, so I\u2019d make my way up the stairs to the third floor reading room. First, though, I\u2019d stop in the card catalog room that forms an anteroom to the main reading room to look up call numbers for the books I needed. This was many years ago, and I haven\u2019t been there recently, so I\u2019m guessing that the physical card catalog has mostly been replaced by computers.<\/p>\n

From there I\u2019d proceed to the Rose Reading Room, a huge space filled with rows and rows of long desks, lit by enormous windows and a series of impressive chandeliers. The main desk bisected the center of the room and it was there I\u2019d submit the book requests. Generally it would take 20-30 minutes for the books to be delivered to the desk where I\u2019d take them to one of the long tables and fill a notebook with notes and references. Those books couldn\u2019t be removed from the reading room, so I\u2019d get what I needed from them and return them to the desk when I was done.<\/p>\n

The quiet in the room was broken only by the low mumble of voices at the desk, the swish of pages turning, and the occasional squeak of a chair or shoe. It was almost a reverential hush, respect for all of the people who\u2019d come to seek wisdom or knowledge from the vast repository the library held. Sometimes my mind would drift and I\u2019d look up at the awe-inspiring paintings on the ceiling.<\/p>\n

I felt then, and continue to believe, that it says something amazing about our society that we\u2019ve created and maintain a place like that to celebrate the collected experience and thoughts of the ages of human existence.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Rose Reading Room, New York Public Library<\/strong>
\nPhoto: Deposit Photos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Public Library holds a special place in my heart. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I spent several days while at home one summer from university doing research there for an important history project. That meant …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,157,7,62],"tags":[170,166,171],"class_list":["post-2039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-new-york","category-romance","category-travel","tag-new-york-public-library","tag-no-time-for-regrets","tag-rose-reading-room"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2039"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2069,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions\/2069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmccullough.com\/kblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}