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The 42nd Street main branch isnt simply for tourists taking lion selfies or researchers hunching over obscure first editions.
Applyonline, then go pick up the card in the Bill Blass Public Catalog Room on the third floor.
Per Ada Calhoun, It feels very luxurious to charge your phone at one of the heavy wood desks.
I like the lion water fountains next to theCullman Centeron the second floor best, says Calhoun.
They have these surprised-looking eyes.
Walk down to theSouth Court.Its a six-story glass-enclosed structural addition on the south side of the building.
The stairs wind around in a circle down to the basement.
Its exciting to get deeper and deeper in the building, says Julia Van Haaften.
Its also a jewel box of a space the marble walls and pilasters have the most lovely ornamentation.
Admire someRichard Haas murals.There are 13 of them in theDeWitt Wallace Periodical Roomon the first floor.
Each depicts a building associated with periodicals publishing in New York, like the Readers Digest Building in Pleasantville.
It consists of 24 electric cars that travel along a 950-foot track.
I havent seen Robert Caro there, but a lot of people I know have, says Calhoun.
And the Wertheim Study feels like aNew Yorkercartoon lots of academics working on dissertations.
Its the only place in the library Ive ever been shushed.
Make an appointment to see theBerg Collection.Emailberg@nypl.orgto set it up.
It also has, Calhoun says, one of the hottest card catalogues around.
Like, if you have a fetish for card catalogues, thats a good one.
Go down the hall to theRare Book Division,in Room 328.
You just have to register with a librarian when you arrive.
The second-floor one is kind of crowded, small.
But the third-floor one is very roomy and nice.
