New York Public Library Main Branch
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New York Public Library Main Branch
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| Location | Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY |
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| Coordinates | 40°45′12″N 73°58′56″W / 40.75333°N 73.98222°WCoordinates: 40°45′12″N 73°58′56″W / 40.75333°N 73.98222°W |
| Built | 1897–1911 |
| Architect | Carrère and Hastings |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts |
| NRHP Reference # | 66000546 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | December 21, 1965 |
| Designated NYCL | January 11, 1967 |
The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library, originally called the Central Building and still more widely known as the Main Branch or simply as "the New York Public Library," is the flagship building in the New York Public Library system and a prominent historic landmark in Midtown Manhattan. The branch, opened in 1911, is one of four research libraries in the library system. It currently contains area of 646,680 square feet (60,079 m2) and 4 stories open to public. The main entrance steps are on Fifth Avenue opposite East 41st Street.
The Library's famous Rose Main Reading Room (Room 315) is a majestic 78 by 297 feet (24 by 91 m), with 52-foot (16 m)-high ceilings. The room is lined with thousands of reference works on open shelves along the floor level and along the balcony, lit by massive windows and grand chandeliers, and furnished with sturdy wood tables, comfortable chairs, and brass lamps. It is also equipped with computers providing access to library collections and the Internet as well as docking facilities for laptops. Readers study books brought to them from the library's closed stacks. There are special rooms named for notable authors and scholars, many of whom have done important research and writing at the Library. But the Library has always been about more than scholars; during the Great Depression, many members of the general public, out of work, used the Library to improve their lot in life, as they still do.
The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and designated a New York City Landmark in 1967. It was renamed in 2008 after businessman Stephen A. Schwarzman.
Marble on the library building is about three feet thick, and the building is Vermont marble and brick all the way through. The exterior is 20,000 blocks of stone, each one numbered in preparation for a renovation announced in 2007. It stretches 390 feet along Fifth Avenue.
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