New Vision for New York Public Library

By JENNIFER MALONEY

New York Public Library officials said they would hire new librarians and curators—positions that had been cut over the years—with the cash infusion from a massive renovation plan that has faced withering criticism.

Noah Rabinowitz for The Wall Street Journal

Some of the stacks that are part of New York Public Library's plans for renovations.

The $300 million renovation would take the sting out of years of budget cuts and help the library's vaunted research division survive with an influx from the sale of two Manhattan buildings and the consolidation of three libraries into one, officials told The Wall Street Journal.

The plan would move two to three million of the iconic Stephen A. Schwarzman building's five million books to a New Jersey storage facility where many of the library's texts are already kept. And it would open vast new public space in the landmark building on Fifth Avenue that has been primarily the domain of scholars and researchers.

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Noah Rabinowitz for The Wall Street Journal

A view of Bryant Park from the library.

In selling the changes to a skeptical public, library officials said they acknowledged some missteps as they rolled out information about the renovation but stood by the plan. They said the renovation was necessary to maintain the institution as a world-class research center.

"The worst case scenario is, I think we die," said Ann Thornton, director of the library's research division. "I think we die as a research library.…We would have to stop collecting. We'd become a museum."

The library revealed the new details to The Wall Street Journal as it continues a public campaign to stem heated criticism of the plan since it was revived in February.

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Noah Rabinowitz for The Wall Street Journal

Stacks that are part of plans for renovations.

While some scholars support the plan, others have said the changes could turn a place for serious research into something less than that—an "Internet cafe," as some called it.

They say the plan calls for the relocation of too many books and say they are skeptical of the library's promise to provide 24-hour delivery service for off-site books. They also lament the staff reductions the library's research division has seen in repeated budget cuts since 2008.

The detractors have included a wide range of the literary world, from Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa to Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman. The plan was mocked on Garrison Keillor's public radio program, "Lake Wobegon." A public forum on the issue is scheduled to be held Tuesday at the New School.

"We are afraid that the plan represents a transformation of the library in ways that will undermine its classic research function, and pay more attention to superficial aspects of public use of the building and cafes and meeting rooms," said Joan Scott, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., and an author of a protest letter signed by nearly 750 scholars and writers.

The disapproval from the literary and academic world has rankled library officials.

"It really couldn't be further off the mark, quite honestly," said Neil Rudenstine, chairman of the library's board of trustees. "I can only assume that there's been a very, very considerable misunderstanding...It's up to us to try to correct it."

Anthony Marx, the library's president, said officials would fan out this summer to speak at community boards in the boroughs it serves: Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island. And they are continuing to meet with scholars and researchers.

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Noah Rabinowitz for The Wall Street Journal

Inside of the stacks at the library.

"We need to make clear to everyone that research at the New York Public Library remains a top priority," he said. "I think we've tried to be clear about the benefits for researchers as well as the benefits for millions of New Yorkers…We have to make smart decisions about the resources we have. We aim to create the single greatest library facility in the world."

Dr. Marx and other officials said the selling of two buildings—the Mid-Manhattan Library and the Science, Industry and Business Library—would generate $10 million to $15 million per year in operating budget savings.

The library has faced budget and program cuts in recent years. Since 2008, the library's research division has seen a 20% drop in curatorial positions. Since 2009, the acquisitions budget has dropped to $11 million from $15 million.

With the new cash, Ms. Thornton said she hopes to hire subject experts to curate the Latin American collection, the humanities collection and the oral history collection at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Meanwhile, the aging Schwarzman Building doesn't have the climate controls necessary to preserve the three million volumes currently held in the stacks under the storied Rose Main Reading Room, officials said.

And the Mid-Manhattan Library is crumbling, literally. Library officials said they would erect scaffolding around its facade this week or next to prevent pieces from falling onto the sidewalk. Keeping that building open would require a renovation estimated at $150 million—a figure equal to the funding New York City has pledged toward the Mid-Manhattan's relocation to the Schwarzman building.

Library officials said an unfortunate misunderstanding led to the further alienation of a scholar who has blasted the library for lack of transparency.

An outspoken critic of the plan—author and longtime Schwarzman building user Caleb Crain—had been invited to join an advisory panel, but after he asked for permission to write about the meetings on his blog, he was told he could no longer participate. The advisory panel members decided the meetings should be confidential and that journalists shouldn't be allowed to observe, Ms. Thornton said.

Stanley Katz, a Princeton professor and an author of the protest letter, said he still had questions for the library, including how the renovation would generate more operating funds and why the money couldn't be obtained through fundraising.

"My puzzlement has increased as I've learned more," said Dr. Katz said.
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304192704577406601428081194.html?mod=googlenews_wsj