Author: Media Relations

The Pasculano Learning Center on the 6th floor of the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) officially opened with an open house that showcased all of the critical resources and programs being offered to lifelong learners: English language and literacy classes, career services, technology courses, and a state-of-the-art recording studio, among others. The new center in the Library’s completely transformed central circulating library is made possible by a $15 million gift from philanthropists Richard and Lynne Pasculano.

_{Image credit: Max Touhey}

The Library’s project to upgrade, renovate, and add public space to the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building continues, with construction beginning on the new 40th Street entrance and public plaza, named for Trustee and former Board Chair Marshall Rose. The project was approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in March of 2019 and is expected to be complete in 2023 (following COVID-19 related delays). Construction fencing and protective sidewalk scaffolding have been added to the 40th Street side of the iconic building so work can begin. The overall project at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building remains in its second phase, focused on  mechanical upgrades and updates to building flow and circulation.

_{Image credit: Mecanoo with Beyer Blinder Belle}

The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures will open on September 24, 2021, at the iconic Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, giving the public an opportunity to see and explore over 250 rare and unique items from the Library’s renowned research collections. The objects—spanning 4,000 years of history and made possible with a generous $12 million gift from philanthropist Dr. Leonard Polonsky CBE—represent moments, movements, and stories that have helped shape the world. They continue to inspire curiosity, conversation, and a stronger understanding of the past to inform a better future. The exhibition draws exclusively from the Library’s research collections, which contain over 45 million objects and are accessible at the Library’s research centers: the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the Library for the Performing Arts, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The exhibition is being held in historic Gottesman Hall, renovated and restored to hold this permanent exhibition. Free timed tickets are available at nypl.org/treasures.

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_{Image credit: Jonathan Blanc / NYPL}

The New York Public Library officially opened its completely-transformed central circulating library, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL), at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 1. The library on 40th Street and Fifth Avenue, formerly named the Mid-Manhattan Library, was renovated, and completely transformed with generous support from New York City, and a landmark $55 million grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)—the second largest one-time individual gift in The New York Public Library’s 126-year history. The building’s modern interior and overall inspiring design is by Dutch architect Francine Houben of Mecanoo architects, a “library whisperer” who also designed the renovation of the Martin Luther King Library in Washington DC, among others, along with the unique expertise of renowned New York City-based firm Beyer Blinder Belle.

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_{Image credit: Jonathan Blanc / NYPL}