New York Public Library:

User-Friendliness Behind the Marble

by Renier vander Noordgang

When hunting for historical minutiae, we of the suburbs sometimes
bypass the futile peek at the stacks of our local public library and
make a day trip to one in a larger city. But often the SCAdian seeks
the whole story of such a narrow slice of western civilization that we
already know the small-town librarian will point us to the daddy of
them all, to which every Ostgardrian must go. The most complete
facility of its kind in the western hemisphere.  The New York Public
Library.

Most trips by foot in midtown Manhattan from Grand Central Terminal
cannot help but take you within view of the main branch building at
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street (actually known as the Center for the
Humanities). The impression one gets from such an edifice (I forgot to
check out the twin lions) is one of a fortress for books against the
great curious unwashed, where volumes handled with cotton gloves by
oh-so-savvy librarians are flashed at you behind a glass partition for
your admiration, but not your study. A misconception, neither crazy nor
deserved. Yes, they have their own way of doing things, not because of
a mistrust of visitors as much as the sheer volume of books.

After exploring the rotating exhibit on the ground floor (okay, so
there are some period books behind glass), you go to the third floor to
the expansive main catalog room. A bank of computers will search for
your book(s) by subject, author, title or keywords. The terminals
dedicated to the CATNYP system since 1971 are supplemented with PCs
connected to the Internet. Which means to save time, you can search for
your book at home using the catalog's web site before arriving
(www.catnyp.nypl.org). Most of our lamented suburban libraries are
plugged into CATNYP as well.

For books catalogued before 1971, there is an 860-volume
encyclopedia-style directory with pages consisting of about 24
old-fashioned library cards, photographically reduced. The effort to
computerize these is incomplete, so when in doubt, use both methods,
the computer first.

However you find a good listing, fill out a small form with the call
number and some identifying information. (Mr. Dewey would not find his
decimal system, except maybe as the subject of a book!) The librarians
determine the room the book is found in. My research sent me to the
Arts Room, also on the third floor. You present the person your call
slip, and within a guaranteed amount of time, they bring the books to
your seat.

If you start early, you can get in a day's reading and note-taking.
This branch is a research library, so you can't check the books out.
For that, go to the Mid-Manhattan branch, where all that is required
before your first loan is proof of residence in the state of New York!
Supplement your note-taking with a visit to the Xerography room,  where
you may take advantage of the fair-use feature of the copyright law
allowing you to make one copy of printed material for personal use. The
person who brought you the book brings it to the room behind the card
catalog room for photocopying, and you pay a competitive price.

Our group consisted of myself, Master Richard the Poor, and Friedrich,
our new Northpass chronicler whose desire to research his name inspired
this road trip. While I have not heard any unveiling or (as herald)
seen any new submission, he, and Richard and I, hit considerable
paydirt. We had difficulty socializing at any other time but the train
ride and lunch, since our research took us to different rooms. Alone or
with a group, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that if the
NYPL doesn't have it, nobody around here does.

As with most things the SCA has given me cause to do, once I got going
I didn't want to stop. In fact, the floorplan brochure I only
discovered on my way out mentions both a Cartography Room and a
Heraldry Room.

Anyone up for a day trip?


from the May 1997 Seahorse