Download or read book Bulletin of the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, Vol. 20 written by New York Public Library and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2018-09-08 with total page 604 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Bulletin of the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, Vol. 20: January to December 1916 On leaving the Children's Room, on my way to the street, I became aware Of a buzzing sound near me. It came from the Circulation Room. I went in. Surely it would be difficult to find in the libraries Of the whole world anything Of like nature. It is truly unique. This room is not so very spacious, which fact facilitates a comprehensive View Of a most picturesque sight. Much Of the soul Of this complex city Of New York is reflected here. Oh! If I could Only give you an exact description! The people enter by platoons. At first I doubted whether the room would hold them all; but later I assured myself that it was possible, because I saw just as many coming out. And this is con tinuous; there is a new supply Of readers every moment. Some come to return books, others to take them out, the minority to read. There are no tables nor room for them, and furthermore, the readers do not need any. Sometimes, I have seen the room full of people reading and the two little tables deserted as though scorned. Some seats, a few armchairs, some benches around the columns, constitute all the furniture, and even that is superfluous. Generally, the people read standing up, impatience keeps them from sitting down: many take refuge in a corner and, leaning against the wall, devour detective stories or Mark Twain; others stay in the very place where they got the book and consult their watches every second; a very few seat themselves comfortably. In general, they fear to give the body such a treat, so much are they pressed for time. Suddenly, someone arrives in a great hurry: he looks at one book case, then at another and another, until he finds a thick volume, which he Opens rapidly, turns over the pages, takes out a piece Of paper, makes a note, leaves the book on a chair, and goes out on a run. He has come to consult a lightning calculator. As you see, what dominates in this Library is not the Book, but Time. And, in the midst Of this feverish unrest, standing behind a table, pretty golden-haired girls arrange the books returned, note down the requests, prepare the cards, and answer a thousand questions, always smiling, expressing by their solicitude the hospitable character Of The New York Public Library. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.