The New York Public Library

This is the first fully illustrated, popular history of one of the great knowledge institutions of the world. The New York Public Library comprises simultaneously a set of scholarly research collections that rank with those of the British Library, the Library of Congress, and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, as well as a network of community libraries with vast popular neighbourhood collections - and all of its resources are open to all comers, a degree of access perhaps unique in the world. How it came to be, how it grew and developed its unique character, and how it came to be a refuge and essential resource for generations of New Yorkers and scholars from around the world are some of the pieces of the fascinating story told here.