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The Rose Main Reading Room, New York Public Library. Photo: Diliff, CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NYC_Public_Library_Research_Room_Jan_2006.jpgDownload 1920px
Rose Main Reading Room, NYPL
New York, USA, 1900–11
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- Hidden Secrets of the New York Public Library ↗
Architectural Digest · Third party · Video
A video walking tour, not an interactive 360 or 3D capture. View only. Checked 2026-11-13
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The record
Worth knowing
Rose Main Reading Room, NYPL, worth knowing: During the Rose Reading Room restoration, materials too big for the freight elevator were lifted from 40th Street by boom onto a scaffold tower on the roof, then carried in through a window.
Rose Main Reading Room, NYPL, worth knowing: In May 2014 a plaster rosette fell from the 52-foot ceiling of the Rose Main Reading Room. The room closed for six months for inspection and repair.
Rose Main Reading Room, NYPL, worth knowing: Mayor Fiorello La Guardia named the lions Patience and Fortitude in the 1930s, for the qualities he felt New Yorkers needed in the Depression.
Rose Main Reading Room, NYPL, worth knowing: The library stands on the site of the Croton Reservoir. It was torn down in 1900 after several delays.
Rose Main Reading Room, NYPL, worth knowing: The reservoir on the library's site covered four acres and held 20 million gallons of water from the Croton River. Its walls were a popular promenade, with Edgar Allan Poe among the walkers.
Built
Rose Main Reading Room, NYPL, built: 1900-1911 (Carrere & Hastings)
Architect
Rose Main Reading Room, NYPL, architect: Carrere & Hastings
Size
Rose Main Reading Room, NYPL, size: 297 ft x 78 ft (90.5 x 23.8 m)
Volumes
Rose Main Reading Room, NYPL, volumes: nearly 53 million items across 92 locations — second-largest library in the United States
Collection
Rose Main Reading Room, NYPL, collection: Lenox copy of the Gutenberg Bible — the first Gutenberg Bible in the New World
Rose Main Reading Room, NYPL, collection: Entrance lion statues named Patience and Fortitude; the main branch is a National Historic Landmark (1965)
Photographs
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The Rose Main Reading Room tables and ceiling. Photo: Diliff, CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NYC_Public_Library_Research_Room_Jan_2006-1-_3.jpgDownload 1920px
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Reading tables and book-lined galleries of the Rose Main Reading Room, New York Public Library. Photo: Nan Palmero from San Antonio, TX, USA, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_York_Public_Library_Rose_Reading_Room_(40430027685).jpgDownload 1920px
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Clock and painted sky panel in the ceiling of the Rose Main Reading Room. Photo: Bestbudbrian, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reading_Room_-_N.Y._Public_Library_-_Schwarzman_Bldg..jpgDownload 1920px
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The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue, New York. Photo: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_York_Public_Library_-_Main_Branch_(51396225599).jpgDownload 1920px
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Main facade of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Photo: OptimumPx, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_York_Public_Library_May_2011.JPGDownload 1920px
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The Fifth Avenue entrance of the Schwarzman Building. Photo: Bestbudbrian, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N.Y._Public_Library_-_Schwarzman_Bldg._-_exterior.jpgDownload 1920px
Books from this library
- Gutenberg Bible (Lenox copy)c. 1455catalogue record
- Eliot Indian Bible1663catalogue record
- Bay Psalm Book1640catalogue record
- Xanten BibleSpencer Coll. Hebrew MS. 1catalogue record
- Little journeys to homes of great scientists ..Elbert Green Hubbardcatalogue record
- The Wandering JewÉmile Bernardcatalogue record
- Description by V. Gennin of the Ural and Siberian mining plants (1735)Georg Wilhelm de Gennincatalogue record
- Tickhill Psalter1314catalogue record
- Hunt-Lenox Globecatalogue record
- Drexel 4180—4185catalogue record
- Illustrated Historical Atlas of Erie Co., New York from Actual Survey and Recordscatalogue record
- Siyer-i Nebi1590catalogue record
- al-Bayān1911catalogue record
- The Counsellor1894catalogue record
- al-Hudā1898catalogue record
- Jirāb al-Kurdī1902catalogue record
- New York Public Library. New York, USA. **P (Ms. Heb. 144)1658**P (Ms. Heb. 144)catalogue record
- New York Public Library. New York, USA. **P (Ms. Heb. 145)1636**P (Ms. Heb. 145)catalogue record
- New York Public Library. New York, USA. **P (Ms. Heb. 146)1655**P (Ms. Heb. 146)catalogue record
- New York Public Library. New York, USA. **P (Ms. Heb. 104)1649**P (Ms. Heb. 104)catalogue record
- New York Public Library. New York, USA. **P (Ms. Heb. 45)1640**P (Ms. Heb. 45)catalogue record
Sources
- https://hdc.org/buildings/new-york-public-library-stephen-a-schwarzman-building-interiors-main-reading-room-and-catalog-room/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Library
- https://aecom.com/projects/new-york-public-library-rose-reading-room-restoration/
- https://www.ksl.com/article/30344761/ny-public-library-reading-room-closed-by-repairs
- https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/new-york-public-library-shores-up-its-marble-lions
- https://bryantpark.org/the-park/history
- https://bryantpark.org/blog/history-of-bryant-park-before-it-was-a-park