The Library’s flagship
building in Midtown Manhattan spans two blocks of Fifth
Avenue, on the site formerly occupied by the Croton Reservoir, a man-made lake
that supplied the city’s drinking water until the 1890s.
 |
| The Croton Reservoir Promenade |
On dedication day in 1911, the Library was
the largest marble building in the United States.
Inside, 75 miles of state-of-the-art shelving housed up to 1 million books while outside, two majestic lions carved from pink Tennessee marble were set in place as if to guard the building.
In the early 1930s, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia renamed the lions “Patience” and “Fortitude”, to honour the two qualities that he felt New Yorkers would need to survive the Great Depression.
The lions have certainly done Mayor LaGuardia proud; they still flank the library’s main entrance and are the trademarked mascots of this New York City icon.
In addition to its extensive book and resource collection, the New York Public Library features a number of permanent and travelling exhibitions. One of the most popular permanent displays is that of the real Winnie the Pooh and his friends, once own by Christopher Robin Milne.
Inside, 75 miles of state-of-the-art shelving housed up to 1 million books while outside, two majestic lions carved from pink Tennessee marble were set in place as if to guard the building.
In the early 1930s, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia renamed the lions “Patience” and “Fortitude”, to honour the two qualities that he felt New Yorkers would need to survive the Great Depression.
The lions have certainly done Mayor LaGuardia proud; they still flank the library’s main entrance and are the trademarked mascots of this New York City icon.
In addition to its extensive book and resource collection, the New York Public Library features a number of permanent and travelling exhibitions. One of the most popular permanent displays is that of the real Winnie the Pooh and his friends, once own by Christopher Robin Milne.
