New York Public Library, New York

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An early black and white photograph of the New York Public Library, before the famous lion statues were put in place. People and trolleys go back and forth.
 
The New York Public Library has a little bit of everything in its past and present, given that it’s the world’s second biggest library with over 50 million items inside. With its small origins in 1854, efforts by philanthropists such as Andrew Carnegie and James Lennox helped merge it into several libraries to form one building. Originally people had to pay admission to enter the library, until the governor of New York, Samuel J. Tilden bequeathed the remains of his fortune so that anyone could enter and look for books for free. This library has been of use to many, including the military, which used the extensive maps during the world wars. Today, it is a National Historic Landmark, and thanks to many renovations, includes special rooms for specific authors.

Rose Main Reading Room

A photograph of a portion of the interior of the New York Public Library in New York City, featuring the Rose Main Reading Room.

The New York Public Library, otherwise known as the Stephen A. Schwarzman Library, is the third largest library in North America, housing over 65 million items in its collection, consisting of 87 smaller libraries, and serving over 3.5 million people. The library is the most comprehensive library collection that has ever been brought together for the free use of the public. Organized into more than 100 major topics, the collections range from "Accents and Dialects" to "Baseball", "Computer Science", "Judaica", and "Theatre", with everything else in between. The library's strengths in three areas in particular is so great that major facilities have been built to house them: performing arts at the Lincoln Center, black culture in Harlem, and science, industry, and business in midtown Manhattan.