History and Background

The New York Public Library's landmark building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, built on the site of the old Croton Reservoir, was based on a concept by John Shaw Billings, the Library's first director.  But over the years, the growing needs of the staff and the Library (renamed the Humanities and Social Sciences Library in 2000 to better reflect the collection of art, literature, and history) made more space a necessity. Furthermore, the many types of services available to visitors made the need for a welcome center increasingly acute.  The Library's stack space was extended underneath Bryant Park in 1991, but there was no more room above ground for expansion.  Turning attention to the Library itself, rather than the grounds surrounding it, a solution presented itself: the southern courtyard.

In Billings's original drawing, the landmark building is configured around two prominent, open-air courtyards. As the design progressed, plans for the northern courtyard to remain open were changed, and when the building opened, that area became The New York Public Library's first lending division.  Later, after the Library's landmark building became exclusively a research library, the skylight-enclosed room was converted into the Celeste Bartos Forum and was used for programs and receptions.  The building's only open-air space was the southern courtyard, which served as the delivery and service center and, later, as the site for receptions, readings, and performances.  In 1950, the southern courtyard's fountain was removed and social activities ceased. Over the next 50 years the area served as a parking lot and loading dock and the marble walls became covered with dirt and grime.  The construction of South Court represents a renaissance of the southern courtyard.  For the first time, the space is entirely utilized, and the building makes full use of the courtyard's walls, which have been cleaned.  The Library has now gained the space it needs to serve the public more effectively.


History

• The New York Public Library's landmark building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street opened on May 23, 1911.
  
  
• The original design of the Library, conceived by John Shaw Billings, the Library's first director, called for twin courtyards on the north and south ends of the building.
  
  
• Original Architects: John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings.
  
  
• The New York Public Library's landmark building was constructed on the site of the old Croton Reservoir.

• Originally, the service and delivery center in the Library's landmark building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.  Later a site for receptions, readings, and performances.  After its original fountain was removed in 1950 due to a city-wide water shortage and break in the supply line, the southern courtyard was used primarily for parking until construction of South Court began in July 1999.
  
  
• First permanent above-ground structure to be added to the Humanities and Social Sciences Library since the building opened in 1911 (a small, one-story bungalow, constructed in the southern courtyard in 1919, served as the staff's lunchroom and  was later converted to exhibition design offices).
  
  
• Six-story glass structure with cantilevered floors.
  
  
• Total square footage of South Court = 40,000 square feet.
  
  
• Southern courtyard dimensions 80' x 80'.
  
  
• Structure approximately 4 feet away from existing walls of the Library. South Court "borrows" its interior walls from the courtyard facade and its ornamentation from the building's classical architectural detailing.
  
  
• South Court supported by a separate structural system to reduce the physical impact on existing building.
  
  
• Visitors can peer into the stacks from some areas.  
  
  
• Roof same level as the base of the Rose Main Reading Room windows and not visible from the street.
  
  
• Restorations and repairs made to the windows of the courtyard walls.  Courtyard stonework extensively cleaned.
  
  
• South Court incorporates Danby marble from the same quarry used in the construction of the original landmark Library.
  

Floor Breakdown
Concourse Level: The Celeste Bartos Education Center and Auditorium
Ground Floor: Loading dock/small parking area
First Floor: Skylighted atrium with Visitors' Theater and classrooms
Mezzanine Level:  Library offices and work areas
Second Floor: Library offices and work areas
Third Floor: Library offices and staff lounge

• Media Wall with a multiscreen presentation of digitized collection materials (ranging from illuminated manuscripts to 18th-century maps to Wonder Woman comics).
  
  
• The Celeste Bartos Education Center provides an orientation program to researchers and tourists.
  
  
• Visitors' Theater: with 24 seats, including one wheelchair position, showing a 12-minute film about the history and services of The New York Public Library.  
  
  
• South Court Classrooms: two 15-seat rooms with computer workstations, oversized screens, and audio-visual systems.
  
  
• Free hands-on instruction in using electronic indexes and other reference tools.
  
  
• 178-seat auditorium with multimedia and webcast capabilities for programs, lectures, and conferences.
  
  
• New space for the Library's support functions.
  
  
• Technical Services Division staff who acquire and process new materials for the Library.
  
  
• Cataloging Department which add approximately 120,000 titles annually to CATNYP, the electronic catalog of The Research Libraries.

Visitors' Orientation Video

The orientation video, The New York Public Library: A Place for Discovery, shown in the Visitors' Theater located on the first floor of South Court, offers both tourists and New York City residents alike a unique introduction to The New York Public Library (NYPL).  The twelve-minute film, produced and directed by Tom Simon with Working Dog Productions, Inc., explores the history and origin of The New York Public Library system and touches on the various functions of NYPL's branch and research libraries.  Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough introduces the film. 

Special attention is paid to the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, which welcomes visitors from all over the world, and the remarkable variety of services and research opportunities available to anyone.  Incorporating both original and archival footage and photos, as well as interviews with Library President Paul LeClerc, NYPL senior staff, and Library patrons, the video conveys the importance of the Library as a public resource and a keystone of civilization and democracy.


Design Team
Davis Brody Bond LLP: Architect
Fisher Marantz: Lighting Design
Spagnola & Associates: Graphic Design
Jenkins & Huntington: Elevator Design
Weidlinger Associates:  Structural Engineers
Atkinson, Koven, Feinberg: Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing Engineers
Shen Milsom & Wilke: Acoustics/Audio Visual/Telecommunications


Contractors and Subcontractors
F. J. Sciame Construction Co., Inc.
Ace Audiovisual
ASF Glass Inc.
Bauerschmidt & Sons
Campbell and Dawes, Ltd.
The RW Group
Stone Truss Systems, Inc.


Capital funding
The $29 million capital project was made possible through a $17.5 million capital construction grant from the City of New York committed by Mayors Michael R. Bloomberg and Rudolph W. Giuliani and City Council Speakers A. Gifford Miller and Peter F. Vallone, and through bond financing.


Private funding
Celeste Bartos, for whom South Court's Education Center is named, generously provided a major leadership gift to endow educational programs and services in South Court.  Additional support of $1.5 million was provided by The Starr Foundation for programs and operations of the South Court facility, and $1 million by the Altman Foundation for public classes and training in humanities and social science research and resources.

South Court press release | Research instruction | Programs | Recent renovations | Little-known facts

April 26, 2002

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