New York Public Library

Sometimes in the city that never sleeps you can be spoilt for choice with a long list of amazing things to do, but sometimes it’s fun to just go into the city without any plans and see where the wind takes you. That’s what we did this weekend and we ended up at the flagship building of the New York Public Library.


The Mid-Manhattan library at 42nd Street, known as the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building is a magnificent example of beaux-art style architecture and its ionic frontage has featured on numerous TV shows and movies such as Seinfeld, Sex and the City and Ghostbusters.

And two wonderful lion statues (Patience and Fortitude) guard either side of the grand entrance.

Once inside you will not be disappointed with the interior. Just check out some of my photos below.

The building is of course a public library so you can find a broad selection of popular books, DVDs, CDs, magazines and newspapers and online databases in many languages. There is a ‘teen zone’ for your teenagers and for kids there is also a Children’s centre with a very impressive selection of books - we of course spotted a box of dinosaur books!

The biggest surprise was the current exhibit in Gottesman Hall. ‘You Say You Want A Revolution; Remembering the 60s’ is drawn exclusively from the Library's collections. It explores the counterculture of the 1960s and 70s from communal living and forays into expanded consciousness to tensions around race, politics, sexuality, and the environment.

We visited as a family but I must go back when I don’t have the kids with me and you have plenty of time to check it out too as the FREE exhibit runs through September 1.  You can find out more about the exhibit here.