The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center

40 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023

Everything Old Is New Again: Renovation Facts

• Original Architect: Gordon Bunshaft; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Architects
• Opening Day: November 30, 1965
• Renovation Architect: Polshek Partnership Architects
• Reopening Day: October 29, 2001
  

Renovation Highlights

• One main reading room unites all four Research Collections: the Billy Rose Theatre Collection, the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, the Music Division, and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound; facilitating interdisciplinary work and efficient service. Bays of skylights fitted with Low-E glass to protect the Library material flood the unified Research Collections Reading Room with natural light.

• A new exhibition hall, the Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery, has been built facing the entrance to the Library from the Lincoln Center Plaza (first floor).  This gallery features double-height ceilings which can accommodate larger pieces that might otherwise never be exhibited. The Oenslager Gallery and the Vincent Astor Gallery on the Lobby level (Amsterdam Avenue)  have been equipped with superior cases designed by Glasbau-Hahn, Frankfurt, and an advanced track lighting system which provides both legibility and protection to the artifacts installed in the space. Both galleries have been wired for multimedia and interactive displays.

• Audio and video materials are played through a new centralized playback system.  High-speed wiring installed to carry analog and digital sound and video, data from the internet and research databases, and signals that allow remote control playback of video and audio materials.

• Circulating collections are available on two floors. First floor: recorded sound and orchestra materials, and audio-video recordings. Second floor: music, dance, drama, film, and arts administration.

• Red signs and information desks aid users in orienting themselves in the Library.

• Custom-made tables and carrels are constructed from a combination of light-colored beech wood and brushed stainless steel. Flat black Aeron chairs made by Herman Miller.

• Two new book lifts ferry Research Collection materials to and from stacks in the basement, increasing the speed of delivery to users.
  

• The Technology Training Center on the Lobby (Amsterdam Avenue) level provides 12 computer workstations for use in classes on library and Internet resources to research the performing arts.

• The 203-seat Bruno Walter Auditorium has been completely renovated, featuring a new sound and projection system, a green room, and dressing rooms and shower facilities for performers.  The renovation also includes an acoustic upgrade to improve sound for live music.

• The Library for the Performing Arts has been equipped with three public elevators and two wheelchair lifts, so that it conforms to the Americans with Disabilities act on every level.

• New security, fire, and sprinkler systems have been installed throughout the building.

• New HVAC and particulate filtration systems rectifiy long-standing environmental problems. The climate-controlled environment throughout the Library preserves materials and improves general air circulation.

• On-site labs have been created for the preservation of paper and audiovisual collection materials.

• Library staff work areas have been reconfigured and expanded.

• Compact shelving in the basement of the Library provides increased storage capacity.
   

Service Enhancements
Serving more 425,000 visitors each year and housing over 9 million items, the Library for the Performing Arts provides access to the world's most extensive combination of free circulating, reference, and rare archival collections in its field.

• Library hours have been expanded. The Library will now be open for regular service until 8 p.m. four days per week. The Oenslager exhibition gallery will be open until 8 p.m. six days per week.

• New unified reading room allows users to work easily with materials from different research collections.

• On-line Library catalogs, research databases, and free Internet access available from workstations throughout the Library.

• Self-service copying (for approved materials) available for the first time for research materials.

• Color copying and printing available in circulating and research areas.

• New seminar room, wired for video and computer projection, for use by staff and public.

• 160 reading table seats in the Research Collections Reading Room.

• 219 public access computers for Library users (four times the original number).

• 44 video playback stations and 12 audio stations with individual networked computers for use in accessing Research Collection materials.

• 14 audio stations in the Circulating Collections.

• 12 workstations in the Technology Training Center.

• 8 microfilm and microfiche reader/printers.

• Area designated for the use of rare materials.

Architects: 
Polshek Partnership Architects: James Polshek, Duncan Hazard, Tomas Rossant, and Mark Thaler

###

hscher, rcorben, jnovacek: pro
October 2001