Building a New Donnell Library

The New York Public Library has begun an extensive transformation that will expand and reshape its services as it moves forward in an era of changing use and information needs. Among the improvements are a number of new state-of-the art facilities. The Donnell Library Center will close August 29 to begin construction of a new library that will open in 2012 as part of a development project with Orient Express Hotels.

During construction Donnell’s collections will remain available to the public in other NYPL locations and at a new temporary site, the Grand Central Branch, located at 135 East 46th Street. The 13,000 square foot site will provide access to circulating popular materials, including fiction and nonfiction, and video and audio recordings. It also features a large mezzanine for the popular Teen Central space. Teen Central will feature the Library’s collections of circulating and reference books and other materials for teenagers as well as a separate program room for talks, programs, and meetings of the Library’s Teen Advisory Group. A sampling of circulating children's materials will also be available. The Grand Central Branch will open in early Spring 2009 after interior construction to build the new branch.

Children’s materials from Donnell, both the historic and reference collections and circulating items, will be available at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street starting in the fall. Materials from the Donnell Media Center have moved to the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center and to the Mid-Manhattan Library. The World Languages Collection has also moved to Mid Manhattan.

Library service in the Midtown area is also available at the 58th Street Branch,

127 East 58th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues), the Terence Cardinal Cooke-Cathedral Branch at 560 Lexington Avenue (at East 50th Street), the Columbus Branch Library at 742 Tenth Avenue (between 50th and 51st Streets), and the Mid-Manhattan Library at 455 Fifth Avenue (40th Street).

New Locations of Donnell Collections and Services

Children’s Collections

(including Winnie-the-Pooh and Friends)

Humanities and Social Sciences Library

Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street

Historic and reference collections and circulating children’s materials will move to the Humanities Library in the fall. Winnie-the-Pooh and friends are on view now on the Library’s third floor. Hours: Mon, Thu, Fri, Sat: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tue & Wed: 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Donnell Media Center

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

40 Lincoln Center Plaza

• Reserve film and video collection

• Circulating audio collection

• Study Center for on-site viewing

Hours: Mon & Thu: Noon to 8 p.m.; Tue, Wed, Fri: 11 a.m. to

6 p.m.; Sat: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Mid-Manhattan Library

455 Fifth Avenue at 40th Street

• Documentary and world cinema video collections

Hours: Mon, Tue, Wed: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thu, Fri, Sat: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sun: 1 to 5 p.m.

World Languages Collection

Mid-Manhattan Library

455 Fifth Avenue at 40th Street

Hours: See Above

Adult Materials and Teen Central

Adult materials and Teen Central will be relocated to the Grand Central Branch, at 135 East 46th Street, while the new library is being constructed. Check www.nypl.org for forthcoming details about this location, which is expected to open in early spring. Over the summer, the Teen Advisory Group meetings and programs for teens, including author talks, gaming, web 2.0 programs, and summer reading–related activities, are being held at the Columbus Branch, and Teen Central staff are located at the Columbus Branch to work with young adult library users.

Service at 20 West 53rd Street through Summer 2008

Popular adult books, feature film DVDs, paperbacks, large print books, a classics collection, and world language books, along with a sampling of circulating teen and children’s materials, will continue to be available at Donnell on the air-conditioned lower level through August 2008. Patrons are also be able to pick up their reserves.

Auditorium Concerts and Film Programs

Programming will continue in the Donnell Auditorium at 20 West 53rd Street through August 2008. In the fall, programming will be expanded at the Library for the Performing Arts and other Manhattan branches.

Expanded hours in Midtown Branches

Hours have recently been expanded at midtown branches, including: the 58th Street Branch Library at 127 East 58th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues) and the Columbus Branch Library at 742 Tenth Avenue (between 50th and 51st Streets) Sunday service is available in Manhattan at the Mid-Manhattan Library, Countee Cullen Branch, and Seward Park Branch.

About The New York Public Library

The New York Public Library was created in 1895 with the consolidation of the private libraries of John Jacob Astor and James Lenox with Samuel Jones Tilden Trust. The Library provides free open access to its physical and electronic collections and information, as well as to its services. It comprises four research centers – the Humanities and Social Science Library; The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and the Science, Industry and Business Library – and 87 Branch Libraries in Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Research and circulating collections combined total more than 50 million items, including materials for the visually impaired. In addition, each year the Library presents thousands of exhibitions and public programs, which include classes in technology, literacy, and English as a second language. The Library serves some 16 million patrons who come through its doors annually and another 25 million users internationally, who access collections and services through the NYPL website, www.nypl.org.

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Contact: Public Relations Office 212.592.7700