Whether you are looking to do some research or simply want to see some of the fascinating museum quality collections these buildings house, you'll want to check out some of the NYC libraries. While the main branch NYC public library is the most well known, there are myriad other libraries and collections worthy of notice. Use our definitive guide to libraries in New York City to find them all.
Extraordinary Collections at this NYC Public Library
Easily the most famous of the New York Public Library branches, this beaux-arts building has been standing impressively on 5th avenue since 1911. Housing an amazing array of research materials and archives including over 18,000 atlases and nearly half a million maps, periodicals in 22 languages and a photography collection with 400,000 photographic prints, this is one of the greatest libraries in NYC.
This NYC library has many impressive collections where visitors can see manuscripts of novels by famous authors such as Jack Kerouac and Virginia Woolf, the first Gutenberg Bible to arrive in the US (one of only 48 surviving copies), copies of the 1623 first folio edition of Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories and Tragedies and much more. There are also many circulating collections on a vast array of topics including a large children's collection. Visitors to the library can check out books, research non-circulating materials and use computers in the main reading room.
