23 mei 2011 – 100 jaar New York Public Library – The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
The mission of The New York Public Library is to inspire lifelong learning,
advance knowledge, and strengthen our communities.
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“The organizers of the New York Public Library, wanting an imposing main branch, found a prominent, central site available at the two-block section of Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd streets, then occupied by the no-longer-needed Croton Reservoir.
Dr. John Shaw Billings, the first director of the library, created an initial design which became the basis of the new building (now known as the Schwarzman Building*) on Fifth Avenue.
Billings’s plan called for a huge reading room (foto hieronder) on top of seven floors of bookstacks (ondergronds zie afb. hierboven) combined with a system that was designed to get books into the hands of library users as fast as possible.
Following a competition among the city’s most prominent architects, the relatively unknown firm of Carr�re and Hastings was selected to design and construct the building. The result, a Beaux-Arts design, was the largest marble structure up to that time in the United States.
The cornerstone was laid in May 1902, but work progressed slowly on the project, which eventually cost $9 million. In 1910, 75 miles (121 km) of shelves were installed, and it took a year to move and install the books that were in the Astor and Lenox libraries.
On May 23, 1911, the main branch of the New York Public Library was officially opened in a ceremony presided over by President William Howard Taft.”
NAAM – De bibliotheek kreeg de naam waaronder het gebouw nu bekend is – The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building – pas in op 11 maart 2008 toen de Amerikaanse zakenman Stephen A. Schwarzman een donatie gaf van 100 miljoen dollar voor uitbreiding van de bibliotheek.
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FEEST – De verjaardag van deze icoon van New York wordt uitbundig gevierd, met de nadruk op het weekend van 20-22 mei 2011.
Er zijn tentoonstellingen (Centennial Exhibition), voorstellingen, muziek, lezingen en rondleidingen. Op 23 mei wordt het feest afgesloten met een spetterende Centennial Gala voor (vooral) de sponsors.
- De brochure ‘Celebrating 100 years’ (zie cover) is als pdf te downloaden
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BOEK – Binnenkort verschijnt ter gelegenheid van het 100-jarig bestaan een uitgebreide en herzien verzie van het boek:
The New York Public Library; The Architecture and Decoration of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
W. W. Norton & Company, New York, juni 2011
hardcover, 320 pagina�s, 31 x 24 cm, ISBN 9780393078107, verkoopprijs � 42,99
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