Miskatonic University Press

I pass between the two lions

libraries

The reading room at the main branch of the New York Public Library

I left Code4Lib Thursday morning and instead of arriving back in Toronto that night, bad weather (snow and wind) stranded me in New York for the night. I stayed in a hotel near Times Square. I got there too late to do anything, but the next morning I had a couple of hours to spare before I had to get back to LaGuardia and wait some more, so I was able to see something I'd always wanted to see: the main branch of the New York Public Library, at 42nd and Fifth.

It's an astounding building. Incredibly beautiful. The reading room on the third floor was awe-inspiring. I wandered around, looked at the reference collection, reshelved a Loeb edition of Suetonius that was out of order, and then just sat there, drinking it all in and looking up at the clouds on the ceiling. When I go back I'll take a tour and spend the day there.

After Code4Lib last year I visited the Providence Athenaeum and the Boston Athenaeum. At both places the librarians were extremely generous with their time and gave tours and showed treasures from their collections. Those two and the NYPL branch are three of the most beautiful libraries in the world. I wonder what I'll see after next year's Code4Lib.