View source for New York Society Library

{{Short description|Oldest cultural institution in New York City}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{infobox library
| library_name = New York Society Library
| name_en =
| library_logo =
| image = New York Society Library (48059130471).jpg
| caption = The New York Society Library building<br />at 53 East 79th Street in Manhattan
| country = United States
| type = [[Subscription library]]
| scope =
| established = {{start date and age|1754}}
| ref_legal_mandate =
| location = [[Upper East Side]], [[Manhattan]], [[New York City|New York]], [[New York (state)|NY]]
| coordinates = {{coord|40|46|34.5|N|73|57|41.4|W|display=title,inline}}
| branch_of =
| num_branches =
| items_collected = Books, periodicals, audio recordings
| collection_size = 300,000
| criteria =
| legal_deposit =
| req_to_access =
| annual_circulation = approx. 68,131 (2016)<ref name="2016 annual report" />
| pop_served =
| members = 2,937 (2018 Society Library Index)
| budget = $3 million
| director = Carolyn Waters
| num_employees = 18 full-time, 10 part-time<ref name="NYSL staff list" />
| website = {{URL|www.nysoclib.org}}
| phone_num =
| references =
}}

The '''New York Society Library''' ('''NYSL''') is the oldest cultural institution in [[New York City]].<ref name="2010 NYT story" /> It was founded in 1754 by the New York Society as a [[subscription library]].<ref name="Williams 2017" /> During the time when New York was the capital of the [[United States]], it was the de facto [[Library of Congress]]. Until the establishment of the [[New York Public Library]] in 1895, it functioned as the city's library as well. It has been patronized by a wide variety of literary and political figures, from [[George Washington]] to [[Wendy Wasserstein]]. Its special collections include books from the libraries of [[John Winthrop]] and [[Lorenzo Da Ponte]].

Since 1937, the library has been housed in the former '''John S. Rogers Mansion''' at 53 East 79th Street on [[Manhattan]]'s [[Upper East Side]], the fifth location in its history. The stone [[Renaissance Revival]] building was one of the earliest recognized as a [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|New York City landmark]] in 1967, and it was further listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] (as the '''John S. Rogers House''') in 1983 in recognition of both its architecture and the library's historic role in the city.

The library's collection of 300,000 volumes includes audio recordings and periodicals, as well as books on a broad range of subjects. It is open for browsing and research by the general public; only members may borrow books or use the upper floors.<ref name="Williams 2017" /> The library is a [[Nonprofit organization|non-profit organization]] supported primarily by its membership fees and [[Financial endowment|endowment]].

==History==

Six residents of New York City, which was then located primarily on what is now [[Lower Manhattan]], formed the New York Society in 1754. At the time, the city did not have a library, and the New York Society believed that such an institution would be useful to the community. They convinced [[List of colonial governors of New York|Colonial Governor]] [[James DeLancey]] to let them use a room in [[Federal Hall|the original City Hall]], at [[Wall Street|Wall]] and [[Broad Street (Manhattan)|Broad]] streets, for that purpose. In 1772, the Society received a [[charter]] from [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]].<ref name="Library history page" /><ref name="NRHP nom" />

During the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], New York was occupied by the [[British Army]]. The library's small collection suffered from extensive looting. Soldiers tore book paper up to make [[wadding]] for their [[muskets]], or sold the books for [[rum]]. After [[American independence|independence]] was achieved in 1783, the [[New York State Legislature]] recognized the library's charter. During that time, [[United States Congress|Congress]] was meeting in the building in New York City.<ref>Murray, Stuart (2009). ''The Library: An Illustrated History''. Skyhorse (New York). p. 151</ref>

The NYSL effectively served as the first [[Library of Congress]] for two years, and its records show borrowings by [[George Washington]], [[John Adams]] and [[Alexander Hamilton]], among other early American notables from that time.<ref name="Library history page" /><ref name="NRHP nom" /> Washington is believed to have failed to return two books due in 1789; the library has announced that it plans to waive the $300,000 fine but is still seeking the return of the books.<ref name="BBC, Sunday April 18th 2010" />

After Congress moved out, the library built its collection back up again to 5,000 volumes and moved to its own building on [[Nassau Street (Manhattan)|Nassau Street]]. It continued to grow in membership and volumes, remaining there through 1840, when it joined the New York Atheneum at [[Leonard Street (Manhattan)|Leonard Street]] and [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]]. Among the visitors recorded at that location were [[Henry David Thoreau]] and [[John James Audubon]].<ref name="Library history page" /><ref name="NRHP nom" /> [[Edgar Allan Poe]] and [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] lectured there.<ref name="2010 NYT story" />

Like other [[subscription libraries]] at the time, members paid a membership fee to  access the collection. A board of trustees was elected which hired the librarians, chose materials for the collection and drafted and enforced regulations for library use.<ref name="New York Society Library">{{cite journal|last=Gylnn|first=Tom|title=The New York Society Library: Books, Authority, and Publics in Colonial and Early Republican New York.|journal=Libraries and Culture|year=2005|volume=40|issue=4|pages=493–529|doi=10.1353/lac.2005.0071|s2cid=153807525}}</ref>   The nature of the collection represented the ideals of the library and contained works of a great variety. Although Christian theological texts were included, so was the [[Koran]] and books on Catholic saints and popes. There was a variety of natural philosophy texts alongside works by [[Shakespeare]].<ref name="New York Society Library" /> Resources were also available for a variety of vocational purposes, including manuals for merchants and farmers.

[[File:(King1893NYC) pg335 NEW-YORK SOCIETY LIBRARY, 67 UNIVERSITY PLACE.jpg|thumb|University Place]]

By 1856, the collection had reached 35,000 and it was once again time for the library to move. A larger building for its exclusive use was erected at 109 University Place,{{efn|Originally 67 University Place, the address became 109 University Place owing to a street renumbering sometime between 1895 and 1904. (Compare [[:File:Sanborn Manhattan V. 3 Plate 57 (right half) publ. 1895.jpg|Plate 57 (right half)]] from: ''Insurance Maps of the City of New York Surveyed and Published by Sanborn–Perris Map Co., Limited. Volume 3.'' (New York: 1895) with [[:File:Sanborn Manhattan V. 3 Plate 25 publ. 1904.jpg|Plate 25]] from: ''Insurance Maps of the City of New York Borough of Manhattan. Volume Three.'' (New York: Sanborn Map Company, 1904)}} reflecting the city's continuing northerly expansion. [[Herman Melville]] and [[Willa Cather]] were among the visitors to that location.<ref name="Library history page" /><ref name="NRHP nom" /> It had a double-height central [[Reference library|reading room]] and shelf space for 100,000 books.<ref name="2010 NYT story" /> This building would serve the NYSL for 81 years.

[[File:Society Library 53 E79 jeh.JPG|thumb|53 East 79th Street]]
In 1937, with the collection having grown to 150,000 volumes, the library moved to its present location at 53 East 79th Street, on the [[Upper East Side]] between [[Madison Avenue (Manhattan)|Madison]] and [[Park Avenue (Manhattan)|Park]] avenues. It was thanks to a generous donation from the Goodhue family that enabled the purchase of the building,<ref name="Further Library History">{{cite web|title= A Further History of the New York Society Library|url=https://www.nysoclib.org/about/further-history-library|publisher=New York Society Library|access-date= May 24, 2018}}</ref> which was a mansion built just 20 years earlier. Notable patrons at the present location have ranged from [[W. H. Auden]] and [[Lillian Hellman]] in the early years to [[David Halberstam]] and [[Wendy Wasserstein]] more recently.<ref name="Library history page" /><ref name="NRHP nom" />

==Building==

[[Trowbridge & Livingston]] designed the house at 53 East 79th Street for the John S. Rogers family in 1917, in the firm's later years. Most of their buildings in the city were commercial, such as the [[B. Altman and Company Building]] and the [[St. Regis Hotel]] on [[Fifth Avenue]], and the east wing of the [[American Museum of Natural History]]. The John S. Rogers House is considered a prime example of their residential work.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

The library is housed in a five-story, three-[[bay (architecture)|bay]] building faced in [[limestone]]. The main entrance at street level, behind a long [[awning]], is flanked by two [[Doric order|Doric]] [[pilaster]]s supporting a horizontal lintel, set in [[Rustication (architecture)|rusticated]] stone. Above that story is a full-width [[balustrade]].<ref name="NRHP nom" />

On the upper stories the stone is laid in an [[ashlar]] pattern with [[Quoin (architecture)|quoin]]s at the corners. The second story windows are double glass doors topped with [[stonecarving|carved]] [[bracket (architecture)|bracketed]] [[pediments]] (rounded in the center). Belt [[course (architecture)|courses]] at sill level divide the stories. Above the fifth story the roofline is marked by a [[frieze]] and [[cornice]] topped by another balustrade. Behind it is a small [[Terrace (building)|terrace]] sheltered by a wide overhang. An end chimney rises from the [[gable]]d tile roof.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

The interior was extensively modified for the library in 1937. Much of this effort was focused on the rear; when it was completed, 39 rooms had been combined into 24. Original treatments remain, such as the [[coffering|coffered]] ceilings, stone walls and arched entryways on the first and second floors. The wood paneling and [[fireplace mantel|mantels]] in the [[card catalog]] room, second floor lounge and director's office is also original.<ref name="NRHP nom" /> [[Architectural history|Architectural historian]] [[Henry Hope Reed Jr.]] has described the main stairs as "the only [ones] in New York fit for a [[cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]]".<ref name="2010 NYT story" />

==Programs and collections==

Members pay an annual fee of $350 for a family, $335 for a couple, $270 for an individual to gain borrowing privileges and access to the upper floors, with two closed stacks,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nysoclib.org/members/membership-information |title=Membership Information &#124; New York Society Library}}</ref> a members' lounge and exhibit hall.<ref name="2010 NYT story" />  There's also a $100 e-membership which includes access to the digital collection and 10 building visits a year. <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nysoclib.org/members/membership-information |title=Membership Information &#124; New York Society Library }}</ref> Those fees and the library's [[financial endowment|endowment]] support a staff of 18 [[Full-time job|full-time]] and 10 [[Part-time job|part-time]] employees and headed by director Carolyn Waters.<ref name="NYSL staff list" /> The library acquires an average of 4,000 new volumes every year<ref name="Count the Ways..." /> and subscribes to approximately 100 periodicals.<ref name="NYSL periodicals page" />

The collection also includes a children's library and 10,000 volumes in its special collections. Foremost among these latter are 290 books from the personal library kept by [[Puritan]] settler [[John Winthrop]] and his descendants.<ref name="Winthrop collection" /> Another significant collection are the [[Italian language|Italian-language]] books kept by [[Mozart]]'s [[libretto|librettist]] [[Lorenzo Da Ponte]], who spent his last years in New York. He started an Italian Library Society in 1827 under the New York Society's auspices, to supplement his courses at [[Columbia University|Columbia]], the first college courses in that language in the United States. Those 600 volumes made up a large share of the library's 1838 catalog, and are today separately organized as the Da Ponte collection.<ref name="Da Ponte collection" />

==Head librarians==
Head librarians have included:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nysoclib.org/about/head-librarians|title=Head librarians|publisher= New York Society Library|access-date=May 16, 2020}}</ref>
* 1755–56:   [[John Morin Scott]]
* 1756–57:   [[George Duncan Ludlow]]
* 1765–68:   Thomas Jackson
* 1768–74:   James Wilmot
* 1774–89:   George Murray
* 1789–90:   George Wright
* 1790–94:   Isaac Leonard Kip
* 1794–97:   John P. Pearss
* 1797–1824: John Forbes
* 1824–28:   Burtis Skidmore
* 1828–55:   Phillip Jones Forbes
* 1855–57:   John MacMullen
* 1857–95:   Wentworth Sanborn Bulter
* 1895–1936: [[Frank Barna Bigelow]]
* 1936–54:   Edith Hall Crowell
* 1954–78:   Sylvia Hilton
* 1978–2005: Mark Piel
* 2005–06:   Charles Cronin
* 2006–15:   Mark Bartlett
* 2015–present:   Carolyn Waters

==See also==
* [[List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City]]
* [[List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name="Williams 2017">{{cite news |last=Williams |first=Keith |date=December 7, 2017 |title=Different Boroughs, Different Library Systems |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/07/nyregion/different-boroughs-different-library-systems.html |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=October 3, 2021}}</ref>

<ref name="2010 NYT story">{{cite news |last=Gray |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Gray (architectural historian) |title=Where Fusty Is Fabulous |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/realestate/07streets.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 3, 2010 |access-date=April 4, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="2016 annual report">{{cite web |title= NYSL: Annual Report 2016 |url=https://www.nysoclib.org/sites/default/files/pdf/annual-report-2016.pdf |publisher=New York Society Library |access-date=April 15, 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="BBC, Sunday April 18th 2010">{{cite web |title=BBC News: George Washington's $300,000 library book fine |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8627835.stm |publisher=BBC News, Americas |date=April 18, 2010 |access-date=April 18, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="Count the Ways...">{{cite web |title=NYSL: Count the Ways... |url=https://www.nysoclib.org/blog/count-ways |publisher=New York Society Library |access-date=August 4, 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="Da Ponte collection">{{cite web |title=NYSL: Da Ponte Collection |url=http://www.nysoclib.org/collections/daponte/index.html |publisher=New York Society Library |access-date=April 5, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="Library history page">{{cite web |title=NYSL: History of the Library |url=http://www.nysoclib.org/history.html |publisher=New York Society Library |access-date=April 4, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="NRHP nom">{{cite web |last=Covell |first=Anne |title=National Register of Historic Places nomination, John S. Rogers House |url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=5256 |publisher=[[New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation]] |date=August 1982 |access-date=April 4, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="NYSL periodicals page">{{cite web |title=NYSL: Periodicals |url=http://www.nysoclib.org/periodicals.html |publisher=New York Society Library |access-date=April 5, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="NYSL staff list">{{cite web |title=NYSL: Staff List |url=http://www.nysoclib.org/staff.html |publisher=New York Society Library |access-date=August 18, 2023}}</ref>

<ref name="Winthrop collection">{{cite web |title=NYSL: Winthrop Collection |url=http://www.nysoclib.org/collections/winthrop/index.html |publisher=New York Society Library |access-date=April 5, 2010}}</ref>

}}

==Further reading==
* King, M. ''Books and People: Five Decades of New York's Oldest Library''. New York: Macmillan, 1954.
* Glynn, Tom. "The New York Society Library: Books, Authority, and Publics in Colonial and Early Republican New York". ''Libraries & Culture'' 40:4, Fall 2005.

==External links==
{{Commons category|New York Society Library}}
* [https://www.nysoclib.org/ New York Society Library website]

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{{Libraries in New York City}}
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[[Category:1754 establishments in the Province of New York]]
[[Category:Clubs and societies in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1917]]
[[Category:Libraries established in 1754]]
[[Category:Libraries in British North America]]
[[Category:Libraries in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan]]
[[Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan]]
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[[Category:Subscription libraries in the United States]]