New York – A group of preservationists and scholars has filed a lawsuit to stop the New York Public Library from removing millions of books from the Fifth Avenue building’s research stacks.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The books’ removal is part of a $300 million plan to renovate the landmark Manhattan building. The plan would turn the main library into a circulating library by selling two nearby branches and folding their operations into the main building.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. It seeks a court injunction to prevent the library from proceeding with the demolition work. It also seeks to bar the city from providing funding for the renovation.
It says “destruction of the stacks … will surely doom the NYPL’s mission to serve the public’s research and reference needs.”
Library officials say the redevelopment is essential to the library’s future.
The stacks are important too! Stop wasting money making the libraries look nicer. It’s usage that matters, not winning beauty contests!
Get rid of those officials of the library that want to innovate (improve) it . Ther’e the same type that had to build the new W.T.C. tower instead of improving the roads and bridges
World class reference libraries must be preserved.
You can borrow popular books anyplace.
To do research you need all your material in one place, all available within the hour.
I was once doing research there and needed an 18th century journal article, which was made available to me in a special room almost immediately and which allowed me to complete the work.
It would have been impossible to achieve that end in any other way.