A Letter from Manhattan President on the Proposed Renovation of the 5th Avenue Library

I signed a petition against the proposed renovation of New York's Main Public Library on 5th Avenue in Manhattan.

The bourough president responded with an email.

Dear Friend:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the New York Public Library’s planned renovation of the 42nd Street Library and the potential sale of the Mid-Manhattan branch.

I firmly believe that every alternative must be considered prior to any reduction of services or the sale of library assets. It is important that all members of our community who rely on the Libraries be heard during this process and that the issues and concerns of my constituents are addressed.

I recently met with the President and CEO of the New York Public Library, Dr. Anthony Marx, regarding the potential plans for these branches and called upon his office to provide an extensive community dialogue and public discussion to address the future of one of New York’s great institutions. Please find attached a copy of a letter providing a detailed summary of the Library’s plans, as well as my ongoing concerns. I am confident that the NYPL is seriously considering all alternatives to any sale of library assets, but I will continue to advocate with them that the sale of any branch is not a viable option.

I will make every attempt to keep you informed during this process and provide additional information as it becomes available. Again, I thank you for your advocacy on behalf of our public libraries.

Sincerely,

Gale A. Brewer

PS It's important to stop the rape of the library.

While the New York City-born Doctor Anthony Marx is a distinguished political scientist, he is no librarian.

I don't doubt his plan means well, but the removal of the books from the subterranean stacks would signal the end to the city's greatest research library.

MY RESPONSE

Ms. Brewer

I have been using the 5th Avenue Reading Room since the 1970s back when the requests were delivered to the stacks by pneumatic tube. Your book was delivered to the desk within an hour. The removable of the volumes from the stacks has increased that time to days, so it is obvious that the new system is a step backward for those seeking knowledge.

This library was designed as a research library on par with Paris' National Biblioteque and the British Library in London.

The books should be on site to promote knowledge.

Not in New Jersey.

The stacks should be for books.

Not retail stores supposedly generating income for the NYPL.

I thank you for my response and diligence in pursuing a dialogue between the community, scholars, and the library trustees.

Please keep us informed

Sincerely Peter Nolan Smith

To sign a petition against this renovation, please go to the following URL

https://www.change.org/petitions/anthony-w-marx-reconsider-the-350-million-plan-to-remake-nyc-s-landmark-central-library

Without knowledge there is no freedom. - James T Steele

The Meaningless Of Knowledge

In HG Wells THE TIME MACHINE the hero travels far into the future. The Time Traveler discovered a simplistic communist society. The Eloi's every want was produced by the subterranean race of Morlocks. Denied the need to work the egalitarian eden bred ennui into the Eloi. There was no thirst for knowledge and the great library was filled with crumbling books.

Libraries have been a refuge throughout my life. I bored Shackelton's polar classic SOUTH from the one-room branch library behind my house on the South Shore. My hometown's main library had two rock records; the Mothers of Invention's FREAK OUT and the Jefferson Airplane's AFTER BATHING AT BAXTERS. During college I studied at the Boston Public Library and I am an academic member of the New York City's Main Library on Fifth Avenue. Its reading room is a treasure, even if requested books are not ordered by the Rose Reading Room's pneumatic tubes anymore, however the entire library is under threat by a new plan to move the three million books offsite.

SUSAN BERNOFSKY from the blog http://translationista.blogspot.com visited the stack from the PEN American Center on a promo tour in favor of the revovation. Library officials touted the move as a protective measure to prevent the books from rotting. The writer saw 'not a trace of rust on the sturdy and elegant Carnegie steel stacks (manufactured from a grade of steel that isn’t made anymore), and the marble floors holding up the stacks—which also structurally support the Rose Reading Room above—appeared to be in excellent shape.'

To read the entire article please go to the following URL

http://translationista.blogspot.com

This proposed move has nothing to do with the preservation of books, but rather the retail commercialism of one of the world's greatest libraries. Stores will replace the stacks and a luxury mega-hotel will tower over Bryant Park. Community Board 5 and the Landmarks Preservation Commission are supporting the renovation, which will cost the taxpayers at least $150 million to benefit the rich. Ex-Mayor Bloomberg's Office of Environmental Coordination declared that the project would have no negative environmental impact on the library.

In contrast those opposed to the plan cite many obstacles not mentioned in the NYPL's proposal, which has been proceeding without any consultation with the city council or subject to public hearings.

To read more on this scandal, please go to this URL

http://www.savenypl.org/the-truth-about-the-central-library-plan/

The 5th Avenue Library belongs to the people of New York and the world.

Email the Mayor.

DeBlasio is supposedly one of us.

This project will gut the Main Library, whose budget has been slashed in order to grant luxury condo builders tax breaks to house absentee millionaires.

Save the library, because what they take away, they don't ever give back without a fight.

To see the library scene from THE TIME MACHINE, please go to this URL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irSwMr9Zxs0