New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Encyclopedia
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center houses one of the world's largest collections of materials relating to the performing arts. It is one of the four research centers of the New York Public Library
's Research library system, and it is also one of the branch libraries. It is located in New York City
at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
between the Metropolitan Opera House
and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre
.
, now named the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, and the circulating music collection was located in the 58th Street Library.
The idea of a separate center to house performing arts was first articulated by Carleton Sprague Smith (chief of the Music Division) in a 1932 report to the library administration, "A Worthy Music Center for New York." (It should be remembered that at the time, dance and sound recordings were all part of the Music Division.) There were attempts to forge partnerships with Rockefeller Center
(under construction at the time), the Museum of Modern Art
, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(to which New York University
wanted to join as partners). During the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Music Division pursued a program of concerts (based on the model of the Library of Congress
concerts in Coolidge Auditorium). These concerts were often held in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Juilliard School
. Lectures from New York University staff expanded the public program series.
After Lincoln Center was incorporated in 1956, an early mention of a possible "library and museum of the performing arts" appeared in June 1957. It was envisioned that a library-museum would serve to "interpret and illuminate the entire range of the performing arts." By December of that year, the library was an accepted component of Lincoln Center planning and fundraising. Recalling his earlier reports, Smith produced a new report arguing for a move to Lincoln Center. Library administration officially approved of the move in June 1959.
The building housing the library's research collections and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre was the third building to be opened at Lincoln Center. Original plans conceived the library as a separate building, but prohibitive costs necessitated a combination of the Library and the Theatre. As built, the Theatre forms the central core of the building, the 1st and 2nd floors occupying the southern and western sides, and the 3rd floor research collections providing a roof. Noted modernist architect Gordon Bunshaft
, of the firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
(SOM) designed the interiors, and SOM consulted with Eero Saarinen
and Associates (architect for the Vivian Beaumont Theatre) on the exteriors. Scheduled to open in January 2012, the Claire Tow Theater (belonging to Lincoln Center Theater) was built on the roof of the Library.
The 3rd floor, housing the research collections, opened to the public on July 19. The entire library was opened to the public on November 30, 1965, the 4th building to open at Lincoln Center. At its opening, it was called "Library and Museum of the Performing Arts." The Library's museum component was named the Shelby Collum Davis Museum in honor of an investment banker who contributed $1 million to Lincoln Center for museum purposes..
At its opening, the Library's main lobby at the Lincoln Center Plaza entrance housed a bookstore, a film viewing area, and a listening area. The second floor included a children's performing arts collection as well as the Hecksher Oval, an enclosed space that could accommodate story-telling. Prior to the 2001 renovation, the children's collection was relocated to the Riverside Branch. The Hecksher Oval was removed as part of the renovation.
The Shelby Collum Davis Museum spaces included small and separate areas in the Dance, Music, Sound archive and Theatre research divisions. Bigger galleries were the Vincent Astor Gallery on the 2nd floor, and galleries on the lower level and 2nd floor.
. (The renovation was unrelated to the Lincoln Center renovations which commenced shortly after 2001.) During this time, the research collections were serviced from the NYPL's Annex (at 10th avenue and 43rd street), and the circulating collections were housed at the Mid-Manhattan Library at 40th Street and Fifth Avenue. LPA reopened to the public on October 29, 2001 with its building newly named Dorothy
and Lewis B. Cullman Center after a gift from the Cullmans (Dorothy was a trustee until she died; Lewis is still a trustee).
When the building opened in 1965, each research division had a separate reading room. The renovation removed these and consolidated public areas into a single unified public reading area, with separate rooms for the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (its screening room named for Lucille Lortel
) and Special Collections (its room named for Katharine Cornell
and Guthrie McClintic
). Subsequently the Special Collections reading room was moved into a portion of the main reading area of the 3rd floor, while a screening room for the Reserve Film and Video Collection (originally part of the
Donnell Media Center
) took its place.
One of the main features of the renovation was the laying of wiring which enabled installation of numerous computers on each floor. There are nearly 200 publicly accessible computers in the building. Most are restricted to use of the library catalog and electronic databases. Those on the first floor provide full Internet use, or for playback of online music and video.
The renovation also created a Technology Training Room. It is equipped with twelve desktop computers for users and one for a teacher, as well as a projection screen.
As a result of the renovation, gallery space for the museum was consolidated. Currently there are two main gallery spaces with smaller areas for display of other items. The Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery is located on the first floor, adjacent to the Lincoln Plaza entrance, while the Vincent Astor Gallery (formerly on the second floor) is now located on the lower level, adjacent to the Amsterdam Avenue entrance. A small area near the Lincoln Center Plaza entrance houses caricaturist Al Hirschfield's desk and chair. The main corridor on the first floor is used for displaying photographs, posters and other two dimensional items. The third floor has numerous display cases highlighting rotating displays of thematic groupings of artifacts from the collections.
The renovation was not without detractors. Joseph Horowitz
criticized the third floor in particular. Where previously each division had its own reading room, the renovation united all public reading areas into one room, resulting in less intimacy and more noise.
In 2008, LPA absorbed staff and the film and video materials of the Donnell Media Center. This collection is now called the Reserve Film and Video Collection.
component (funded mostly with private money) and a branch library component (funded with significant money from New York City, the remainder coming from private contributions).
(material that was created by or that once belonged to an individual or organization), text manuscripts
, music manuscripts
, typescripts, prompt books
, posters
, original set and costume designs
, programs
, and other ephemera
are just some of the major categories of materials. The Library's collection of sound recordings are in all formats that in themselves trace the history and development of sound recording.
LPA has half-a-million folders containing clippings
on a variety of people and subjects pertaining to the performing arts. These clippings can sometimes provide a beginning to those at the initial stage of their research.
LPA has and collects a variety of iconography
in various forms: photographs, lithographs, engravings, drawings, and others. A recent internal report estimated that LPA holds approximately 4.5 million photographs, including the recently acquired collection of New York photographer Martha Swope (itself holding 1 million photographs).
Much of this non-book material is not in the online catalog. Some materials are accessible through in-house card files and indexes. Because of the enormous volume of material, much of it has never been inventoried, although it is generally arranged in a retrievable manner (e.g. alphabetical or chronogical arrangement).
Unlike most libraries, the research collections stacks are located in non-public areas and are not available for browsing. Patrons must determine what they want to view, fill out call slips, and submit the slips to library staff. Library staff then retrieves the material for the patron.
The holdings of LPA are divided by subject among the following divisions.
. Upon his death in 1888, his library of 5,542 volumes and 766 pamphlets became part of the Lenox Library. The Astor Library also had an endowment that helped with the purchase of music. In 1895, upon the Lenox Library's consolidation with the Astor Library, the Music Division became a founding division of The New York Public Library.
's estate offered the producer's holdings on the condition that a division be created. The Theatre Collection (as it was initially known) began on September 1, 1931.
The division opened at Lincoln Center as the Theatre Collection. In 1979, it was renamed the Billy Rose
Theatre Division, honoring a financial gift from the lyricist/producer's foundation. It is now the largest research division at the library, with holdings primarily focused on the theatre, but also relating to film, vaudeville, magic, puppetry, and the circus, among other subjects.
The collection maintains special relationships with Actor's Equity and other theatrical unions and guilds, thus enabling clearances for the non-commercial videotaping of live theatre. The collection is housed on the third floor of LPA. Currently TOFT records at least 50 shows a season.
and Ruth St. Denis
, Doris Humphrey
, Charles Weidman
, and Hanya Holm
. With the gift of a collection of Walter Toscanini in honor of his deceased wife, Cia Fornaroli (a dancer), the Dance Collection became an internationally known repository. Due to its subsequent growth and increasing importance, the collection was formally recognized as a separate division on January 1, 1964.
One of the division's most significant resources is the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image. Endowed with a gift from Jerome Robbins, this archive collects and preserves moving images of dance, making them available to researchers. The Archive has received many gifts from dancers and choreographers and contains many privately made films and video.
The Division's oral history
program began formally in 1965. These oral histories are particularly valuable since they provide information, history and context not generally available in published sources.
The origins of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound can be traced to a gift of 500 78rpm records by Columbia Records in 1937 to the Music Division. Successive gifts by record companies and individuals led to the formal creation of a separate division with the opening of the building at Lincoln Center in 1965. It was named in honor of a generous gift from the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization. Radio station WQXR donated 11,000 78rpm recordings in 1966. Carleton Sprague Smith envisioned the purpose of the sound archive as "stimulating interest among recording and broadcasting executives, as well as other arts institutions that had potential for playing a cooperative role."
and Steenbeck
equipment, permitting close frame-by-frame examination and analysis.
complimented her on the growing collection of dance books.
In 1929, the 58th Street Library began a collection of recordings beginning with gifts from Victor and Columbia records, amounting to 500 records. Upon building a listening booth, Lawton reported that by 1933, the listening booth was constantly booked two weeks in advance.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center houses one of the world's largest collections of materials relating to the performing arts.New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, accessed September 4, 2011. It is one of the four research centers of the New York Public Library
's Research library system, and it is also one of the branch libraries. It is located in New York City
at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
between the Metropolitan Opera House
and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre
.
, now named the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, and the circulating music collection was located in the 58th Street Library.
The idea of a separate center to house performing arts was first articulated by Carleton Sprague Smith (chief of the Music Division) in a 1932 report to the library administration, "A Worthy Music Center for New York."Beck, p. 20ff. (It should be remembered that at the time, dance and sound recordings were all part of the Music Division.) There were attempts to forge partnerships with Rockefeller Center
(under construction at the time), the Museum of Modern Art
, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(to which New York University
wanted to join as partners). During the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Music Division pursued a program of concerts (based on the model of the Library of Congress
concerts in Coolidge Auditorium). These concerts were often held in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Juilliard School
. Lectures from New York University staff expanded the public program series.
After Lincoln Center was incorporated in 1956, an early mention of a possible "library and museum of the performing arts" appeared in June 1957.Howard Taubman, "Civic Pride: City Officials Should Work for Lincoln Center as a Municipal Necessity," New York Times (June 2, 1957), p. 121. It was envisioned that a library-museum would serve to "interpret and illuminate the entire range of the performing arts."Beck, p. 38. By December of that year, the library was an accepted component of Lincoln Center planning and fundraising."Committee Set Up To Seek Arts Fund," New York Times (December 2, 1957), p. 29. Recalling his earlier reports, Smith produced a new report arguing for a move to Lincoln Center. Library administration officially approved of the move in June 1959.Beck, p. 39.
The building housing the library's research collections and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre was the third building to be opened at Lincoln Center.Milton Esterow, "Beaumont Theater Opens at Lincoln Center," New York Times (October 13, 1965), p. 1. Original plans conceived the library as a separate building, but prohibitive costs necessitated a combination of the Library and the Theatre. As built, the Theatre forms the central core of the building, the 1st and 2nd floors occupying the southern and western sides, and the 3rd floor research collections providing a roof. Noted modernist architect Gordon Bunshaft
, of the firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
(SOM) designed the interiors, and SOM consulted with Eero Saarinen
and Associates (architect for the Vivian Beaumont Theatre) on the exteriors. Scheduled to open in January 2012, the Claire Tow Theater (belonging to Lincoln Center Theater) was built on the roof of the Library.
The 3rd floor, housing the research collections, opened to the public on July 19. The entire library was opened to the public on November 30, 1965, the 4th building to open at Lincoln Center. At its opening, it was called "Library and Museum of the Performing Arts." The Library's museum component was named the Shelby Collum Davis Museum in honor of an investment banker who contributed $1 million to Lincoln Center for museum purposes..
At its opening, the Library's main lobby at the Lincoln Center Plaza entrance housed a bookstore, a film viewing area, and a listening area. The second floor included a children's performing arts collection as well as the Hecksher Oval, an enclosed space that could accommodate story-telling. Prior to the 2001 renovation, the children's collection was relocated to the Riverside Branch. The Hecksher Oval was removed as part of the renovation.
The Shelby Collum Davis Museum spaces included small and separate areas in the Dance, Music, Sound archive and Theatre research divisions. Bigger galleries were the Vincent Astor Gallery on the 2nd floor, and galleries on the lower level and 2nd floor.
. (The renovation was unrelated to the Lincoln Center renovations which commenced shortly after 2001.) During this time, the research collections were serviced from the NYPL's Annex (at 10th avenue and 43rd street), and the circulating collections were housed at the Mid-Manhattan Library at 40th Street and Fifth Avenue. LPA reopened to the public on October 29, 2001 with its building newly named Dorothy
and Lewis B. Cullman Center after a gift from the Cullmans (Dorothy was a trustee until she died; Lewis is still a trustee).Mel Gussow, "Curtain Going Up at the Performing Arts Library," New York Times (October 11, 2001), p. E1.
When the building opened in 1965, each research division had a separate reading room. The renovation removed these and consolidated public areas into a single unified public reading area, with separate rooms for the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (its screening room named for Lucille Lortel
) and Special Collections (its room named for Katharine Cornell
and Guthrie McClintic
). Subsequently the Special Collections reading room was moved into a portion of the main reading area of the 3rd floor, while a screening room for the Reserve Film and Video Collection (originally part of the
Donnell Media Center
) took its place.
One of the main features of the renovation was the laying of wiring which enabled installation of numerous computers on each floor. There are nearly 200 publicly accessible computers in the building.Personal communication from IT staff, 12 May 2011. Most are restricted to use of the library catalog and electronic databases. Those on the first floor provide full Internet use, or for playback of online music and video.
The renovation also created a Technology Training Room. It is equipped with twelve desktop computers for users and one for a teacher, as well as a projection screen.
As a result of the renovation, gallery space for the museum was consolidated. Currently there are two main gallery spaces with smaller areas for display of other items. The Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery is located on the first floor, adjacent to the Lincoln Plaza entrance, while the Vincent Astor Gallery (formerly on the second floor) is now located on the lower level, adjacent to the Amsterdam Avenue entrance. A small area near the Lincoln Center Plaza entrance houses caricaturist Al Hirschfield's desk and chair. The main corridor on the first floor is used for displaying photographs, posters and other two dimensional items. The third floor has numerous display cases highlighting rotating displays of thematic groupings of artifacts from the collections.
The renovation was not without detractors. Joseph Horowitz
criticized the third floor in particular. Where previously each division had its own reading room, the renovation united all public reading areas into one room, resulting in less intimacy and more noise.Joseph Horowitz, "Quiet, Please. This Is a Library After All." New York Times (January 27, 2002), p. A31.
In 2008, LPA absorbed staff and the film and video materials of the Donnell Media Center. This collection is now called the Reserve Film and Video Collection.
component (funded mostly with private money) and a branch library component (funded with significant money from New York City, the remainder coming from private contributions).
(material that was created by or that once belonged to an individual or organization), text manuscripts
, music manuscripts
, typescripts, prompt books
, posters
, original set and costume designs
, programs
, and other ephemera
are just some of the major categories of materials. The Library's collection of sound recordings are in all formats that in themselves trace the history and development of sound recording.
LPA has half-a-million folders containing clippings
on a variety of people and subjects pertaining to the performing arts. These clippings can sometimes provide a beginning to those at the initial stage of their research.
LPA has and collects a variety of iconography
in various forms: photographs, lithographs, engravings, drawings, and others. A recent internal report estimated that LPA holds approximately 4.5 million photographs, including the recently acquired collection of New York photographer Martha Swope (itself holding 1 million photographs).
Much of this non-book material is not in the online catalog.A 1995 brochure indicated that 80% of the materials at LPA were not in the online catalog. Some materials are accessible through in-house card files and indexes. Because of the enormous volume of material, much of it has never been inventoried, although it is generally arranged in a retrievable manner (e.g. alphabetical or chronogical arrangement).
Unlike most libraries, the research collections stacks are located in non-public areas and are not available for browsing. Patrons must determine what they want to view, fill out call slips, and submit the slips to library staff. Library staff then retrieves the material for the patron.
The holdings of LPA are divided by subject among the following divisions.
. Upon his death in 1888, his library of 5,542 volumes and 766 pamphlets became part of the Lenox Library. The Astor Library also had an endowment that helped with the purchase of music. In 1895, upon the Lenox Library's consolidation with the Astor Library, the Music Division became a founding division of The New York Public Library.Williams, p. 142.Much of the content of this section is derived from the thorough history of the Music Division through 1981 in a 4-part article: Philip L. Miller, Frank C. Campbell, Otto Kinkeldey, "How the Music Division of the New York Public Library Grew-A Memoir," Notes Vol. 35, No. 3 (March 1979), pp. 537-555 (parts 1-2), Vol. 36, No. 1 (September 1979), pp. 65-77 (part 3), Vol. 38, No. 1 (September 1981), pp. 14-41 (part 4).
's estate offered the producer's holdings on the condition that a division be created. The Theatre Collection (as it was initially known) began on September 1, 1931.
The division opened at Lincoln Center as the Theatre Collection. In 1979, it was renamed the Billy Rose
Theatre Division, honoring a financial gift from the lyricist/producer's foundation. It is now the largest research division at the library, with holdings primarily focused on the theatre, but also relating to film, vaudeville, magic, puppetry, and the circus, among other subjects.
The collection maintains special relationships with Actor's Equity and other theatrical unions and guilds, thus enabling clearances for the non-commercial videotaping of live theatre. The collection is housed on the third floor of LPA. Currently TOFT records at least 50 shows a season.
and Ruth St. Denis
, Doris Humphrey
, Charles Weidman
, and Hanya Holm
. With the gift of a collection of Walter Toscanini in honor of his deceased wife, Cia Fornaroli (a dancer), the Dance Collection became an internationally known repository.Williams, p. 151. Due to its subsequent growth and increasing importance, the collection was formally recognized as a separate division on January 1, 1964.Philip L. Miller, "How the Music Division Grew-A Memoir," Notes vol. 35, no. 3 (March 1979), p. 549.
One of the division's most significant resources is the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image. Endowed with a gift from Jerome Robbins, this archive collects and preserves moving images of dance, making them available to researchers. The Archive has received many gifts from dancers and choreographers and contains many privately made films and video.Williams, p. 151, 154.
The Division's oral history
program began formally in 1965. These oral histories are particularly valuable since they provide information, history and context not generally available in published sources.Williams, p. 155.
The origins of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound can be traced to a gift of 500 78rpm records by Columbia Records in 1937 to the Music Division. Successive gifts by record companies and individuals led to the formal creation of a separate division with the opening of the building at Lincoln Center in 1965. It was named in honor of a generous gift from the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization.Williams, p. 149. Radio station WQXR donated 11,000 78rpm recordings in 1966."Lincoln Center Receives 11,000 Disks From WQXR," New York Times (June 9, 1966), p. 53. Carleton Sprague Smith envisioned the purpose of the sound archive as "stimulating interest among recording and broadcasting executives, as well as other arts institutions that had potential for playing a cooperative role."David Hall, "The Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library at Lincoln Center," in: Libraries, History, Diplomacy, and the Performing Arts: Essays in Honor of Carleton Sprague Smith, Festschrift Series no. 9 (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1991), p. 43
and Steenbeck
equipment, permitting close frame-by-frame examination and analysis.
complimented her on the growing collection of dance books.John Martin, "The Dance: A Treasury: Important New Volumes Added to Growing Collection at Library," New York Times (October 4, 1931), p. 116.
In 1929, the 58th Street Library began a collection of recordings beginning with gifts from Victor and Columbia records, amounting to 500 records. Upon building a listening booth, Lawton reported that by 1933, the listening booth was constantly booked two weeks in advance.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center houses one of the world's largest collections of materials relating to the performing arts.New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, accessed September 4, 2011. It is one of the four research centers of the New York Public Library
's Research library system, and it is also one of the branch libraries. It is located in New York City
at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
between the Metropolitan Opera House
and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre
.
, now named the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, and the circulating music collection was located in the 58th Street Library.
The idea of a separate center to house performing arts was first articulated by Carleton Sprague Smith (chief of the Music Division) in a 1932 report to the library administration, "A Worthy Music Center for New York."Beck, p. 20ff. (It should be remembered that at the time, dance and sound recordings were all part of the Music Division.) There were attempts to forge partnerships with Rockefeller Center
(under construction at the time), the Museum of Modern Art
, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(to which New York University
wanted to join as partners). During the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Music Division pursued a program of concerts (based on the model of the Library of Congress
concerts in Coolidge Auditorium). These concerts were often held in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Juilliard School
. Lectures from New York University staff expanded the public program series.
After Lincoln Center was incorporated in 1956, an early mention of a possible "library and museum of the performing arts" appeared in June 1957.Howard Taubman, "Civic Pride: City Officials Should Work for Lincoln Center as a Municipal Necessity," New York Times (June 2, 1957), p. 121. It was envisioned that a library-museum would serve to "interpret and illuminate the entire range of the performing arts."Beck, p. 38. By December of that year, the library was an accepted component of Lincoln Center planning and fundraising."Committee Set Up To Seek Arts Fund," New York Times (December 2, 1957), p. 29. Recalling his earlier reports, Smith produced a new report arguing for a move to Lincoln Center. Library administration officially approved of the move in June 1959.Beck, p. 39.
The building housing the library's research collections and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre was the third building to be opened at Lincoln Center.Milton Esterow, "Beaumont Theater Opens at Lincoln Center," New York Times (October 13, 1965), p. 1. Original plans conceived the library as a separate building, but prohibitive costs necessitated a combination of the Library and the Theatre. As built, the Theatre forms the central core of the building, the 1st and 2nd floors occupying the southern and western sides, and the 3rd floor research collections providing a roof. Noted modernist architect Gordon Bunshaft
, of the firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
(SOM) designed the interiors, and SOM consulted with Eero Saarinen
and Associates (architect for the Vivian Beaumont Theatre) on the exteriors. Scheduled to open in January 2012, the Claire Tow Theater (belonging to Lincoln Center Theater) was built on the roof of the Library.
The 3rd floor, housing the research collections, opened to the public on July 19. The entire library was opened to the public on November 30, 1965, the 4th building to open at Lincoln Center. At its opening, it was called "Library and Museum of the Performing Arts." The Library's museum component was named the Shelby Collum Davis Museum in honor of an investment banker who contributed $1 million to Lincoln Center for museum purposes..
At its opening, the Library's main lobby at the Lincoln Center Plaza entrance housed a bookstore, a film viewing area, and a listening area. The second floor included a children's performing arts collection as well as the Hecksher Oval, an enclosed space that could accommodate story-telling. Prior to the 2001 renovation, the children's collection was relocated to the Riverside Branch. The Hecksher Oval was removed as part of the renovation.
The Shelby Collum Davis Museum spaces included small and separate areas in the Dance, Music, Sound archive and Theatre research divisions. Bigger galleries were the Vincent Astor Gallery on the 2nd floor, and galleries on the lower level and 2nd floor.
. (The renovation was unrelated to the Lincoln Center renovations which commenced shortly after 2001.) During this time, the research collections were serviced from the NYPL's Annex (at 10th avenue and 43rd street), and the circulating collections were housed at the Mid-Manhattan Library at 40th Street and Fifth Avenue. LPA reopened to the public on October 29, 2001 with its building newly named Dorothy
and Lewis B. Cullman Center after a gift from the Cullmans (Dorothy was a trustee until she died; Lewis is still a trustee).Mel Gussow, "Curtain Going Up at the Performing Arts Library," New York Times (October 11, 2001), p. E1.
When the building opened in 1965, each research division had a separate reading room. The renovation removed these and consolidated public areas into a single unified public reading area, with separate rooms for the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (its screening room named for Lucille Lortel
) and Special Collections (its room named for Katharine Cornell
and Guthrie McClintic
). Subsequently the Special Collections reading room was moved into a portion of the main reading area of the 3rd floor, while a screening room for the Reserve Film and Video Collection (originally part of the
Donnell Media Center
) took its place.
One of the main features of the renovation was the laying of wiring which enabled installation of numerous computers on each floor. There are nearly 200 publicly accessible computers in the building.Personal communication from IT staff, 12 May 2011. Most are restricted to use of the library catalog and electronic databases. Those on the first floor provide full Internet use, or for playback of online music and video.
The renovation also created a Technology Training Room. It is equipped with twelve desktop computers for users and one for a teacher, as well as a projection screen.
As a result of the renovation, gallery space for the museum was consolidated. Currently there are two main gallery spaces with smaller areas for display of other items. The Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery is located on the first floor, adjacent to the Lincoln Plaza entrance, while the Vincent Astor Gallery (formerly on the second floor) is now located on the lower level, adjacent to the Amsterdam Avenue entrance. A small area near the Lincoln Center Plaza entrance houses caricaturist Al Hirschfield's desk and chair. The main corridor on the first floor is used for displaying photographs, posters and other two dimensional items. The third floor has numerous display cases highlighting rotating displays of thematic groupings of artifacts from the collections.
The renovation was not without detractors. Joseph Horowitz
criticized the third floor in particular. Where previously each division had its own reading room, the renovation united all public reading areas into one room, resulting in less intimacy and more noise.Joseph Horowitz, "Quiet, Please. This Is a Library After All." New York Times (January 27, 2002), p. A31.
In 2008, LPA absorbed staff and the film and video materials of the Donnell Media Center. This collection is now called the Reserve Film and Video Collection.
component (funded mostly with private money) and a branch library component (funded with significant money from New York City, the remainder coming from private contributions).
(material that was created by or that once belonged to an individual or organization), text manuscripts
, music manuscripts
, typescripts, prompt books
, posters
, original set and costume designs
, programs
, and other ephemera
are just some of the major categories of materials. The Library's collection of sound recordings are in all formats that in themselves trace the history and development of sound recording.
LPA has half-a-million folders containing clippings
on a variety of people and subjects pertaining to the performing arts. These clippings can sometimes provide a beginning to those at the initial stage of their research.
LPA has and collects a variety of iconography
in various forms: photographs, lithographs, engravings, drawings, and others. A recent internal report estimated that LPA holds approximately 4.5 million photographs, including the recently acquired collection of New York photographer Martha Swope (itself holding 1 million photographs).
Much of this non-book material is not in the online catalog.A 1995 brochure indicated that 80% of the materials at LPA were not in the online catalog. Some materials are accessible through in-house card files and indexes. Because of the enormous volume of material, much of it has never been inventoried, although it is generally arranged in a retrievable manner (e.g. alphabetical or chronogical arrangement).
Unlike most libraries, the research collections stacks are located in non-public areas and are not available for browsing. Patrons must determine what they want to view, fill out call slips, and submit the slips to library staff. Library staff then retrieves the material for the patron.
The holdings of LPA are divided by subject among the following divisions.
. Upon his death in 1888, his library of 5,542 volumes and 766 pamphlets became part of the Lenox Library. The Astor Library also had an endowment that helped with the purchase of music. In 1895, upon the Lenox Library's consolidation with the Astor Library, the Music Division became a founding division of The New York Public Library.Williams, p. 142.Much of the content of this section is derived from the thorough history of the Music Division through 1981 in a 4-part article: Philip L. Miller, Frank C. Campbell, Otto Kinkeldey, "How the Music Division of the New York Public Library Grew-A Memoir," Notes Vol. 35, No. 3 (March 1979), pp. 537-555 (parts 1-2), Vol. 36, No. 1 (September 1979), pp. 65-77 (part 3), Vol. 38, No. 1 (September 1981), pp. 14-41 (part 4).
's estate offered the producer's holdings on the condition that a division be created. The Theatre Collection (as it was initially known) began on September 1, 1931.
The division opened at Lincoln Center as the Theatre Collection. In 1979, it was renamed the Billy Rose
Theatre Division, honoring a financial gift from the lyricist/producer's foundation. It is now the largest research division at the library, with holdings primarily focused on the theatre, but also relating to film, vaudeville, magic, puppetry, and the circus, among other subjects.
The collection maintains special relationships with Actor's Equity and other theatrical unions and guilds, thus enabling clearances for the non-commercial videotaping of live theatre. The collection is housed on the third floor of LPA. Currently TOFT records at least 50 shows a season.
and Ruth St. Denis
, Doris Humphrey
, Charles Weidman
, and Hanya Holm
. With the gift of a collection of Walter Toscanini in honor of his deceased wife, Cia Fornaroli (a dancer), the Dance Collection became an internationally known repository.Williams, p. 151. Due to its subsequent growth and increasing importance, the collection was formally recognized as a separate division on January 1, 1964.Philip L. Miller, "How the Music Division Grew-A Memoir," Notes vol. 35, no. 3 (March 1979), p. 549.
One of the division's most significant resources is the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image. Endowed with a gift from Jerome Robbins, this archive collects and preserves moving images of dance, making them available to researchers. The Archive has received many gifts from dancers and choreographers and contains many privately made films and video.Williams, p. 151, 154.
The Division's oral history
program began formally in 1965. These oral histories are particularly valuable since they provide information, history and context not generally available in published sources.Williams, p. 155.
The origins of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound can be traced to a gift of 500 78rpm records by Columbia Records in 1937 to the Music Division. Successive gifts by record companies and individuals led to the formal creation of a separate division with the opening of the building at Lincoln Center in 1965. It was named in honor of a generous gift from the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization.Williams, p. 149. Radio station WQXR donated 11,000 78rpm recordings in 1966."Lincoln Center Receives 11,000 Disks From WQXR," New York Times (June 9, 1966), p. 53. Carleton Sprague Smith envisioned the purpose of the sound archive as "stimulating interest among recording and broadcasting executives, as well as other arts institutions that had potential for playing a cooperative role."David Hall, "The Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library at Lincoln Center," in: Libraries, History, Diplomacy, and the Performing Arts: Essays in Honor of Carleton Sprague Smith, Festschrift Series no. 9 (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1991), p. 43
and Steenbeck
equipment, permitting close frame-by-frame examination and analysis.
complimented her on the growing collection of dance books.John Martin, "The Dance: A Treasury: Important New Volumes Added to Growing Collection at Library," New York Times (October 4, 1931), p. 116.
In 1929, the 58th Street Library began a collection of recordings beginning with gifts from Victor and Columbia records, amounting to 500 records. Upon building a listening booth, Lawton reported that by 1933, the listening booth was constantly booked two weeks in advance.Compton Parkenham, "Review of Newly Recorded Music," New York Times (April 15, 1934), p. X6.
During World War II
, she established a concert series for servicemen on Sundays from 3-7 PM. Servicemen could request selections of their choice and could also participate in playing chamber music with instruments that had been loaned to the Library.
She established the Orchestra Collection, a set of scores and parts that could be loaned to groups for performance. Currently, the Orchestra Collection loans parts to over 2,000 works.website, accessed September 9, 2011.
Upon Lawton's retirement in 1945, chief music critic of the New York Times Olin Downes
complimented her on the development of the 58th Street Library, and remarked on her achievements such as attracting donors and enlisting the concern and help of professional musicians.Olin Downes, "Librarian Retires: A Tribute to Dorothy Lawton-Her Contribution to Our Musical Life," New York Times (July 8, 1945), p. 18. (Many of the rare items that were gifts to the 58th Street Branch were subsequently moved to the Music Division.)
After retiring, Lawton returned to the country of her birth, England, and help organize a newly created music collection at Central Music Library of the Buckingham Palace Road Library (today the Westminster Music Library), modeling the new library on the one she established at 58th Street.Olin Downes, "London Library: Music Institution Formed Along Lines of 58th Street Branch Here," New York Times (August 10, 1947), p. X6."London Library," New York Times (November 14, 1948), p. X7.
Currently, the Circulating collections loan books on music, dance, theatre, film, and arts administration. They also loan scores, scripts, CDs, videotapes, DVDs, and sets of orchestral parts.
Since the late 1990s, NYPL's exhibitions program has added online exhibitions. Online exhibitions serve as an extension of physical exhibitions, adding more material or allowing a greater depth of exploration.
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
's Research library system, and it is also one of the branch libraries. It is located in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
between the Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)
The Metropolitan Opera House is an opera house located on Broadway at Lincoln Square in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the theater opened in 1966. It replaced the former Metropolitan Opera House at Broadway and 39th St...
and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre
Vivian Beaumont Theatre
The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a theatre located in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The structure was designed by Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen, and Jo Mielziner was responsible for the design of the stage and interior.The Vivian...
.
Founding and original configuration
Originally the collections which formed The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (hereafter LPA) were housed in two buildings. The Research collections on Dance, Music and Theatre were located at New York Public Library Main BranchNew York Public Library Main Branch
The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library, more widely known as the Main Branch or simply as "the New York Public Library," is the flagship building in the New York Public Library system and a prominent historic landmark in Midtown Manhattan. The branch, opened in 1911, is...
, now named the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, and the circulating music collection was located in the 58th Street Library.
The idea of a separate center to house performing arts was first articulated by Carleton Sprague Smith (chief of the Music Division) in a 1932 report to the library administration, "A Worthy Music Center for New York." (It should be remembered that at the time, dance and sound recordings were all part of the Music Division.) There were attempts to forge partnerships with Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
(under construction at the time), the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
(to which New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
wanted to join as partners). During the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Music Division pursued a program of concerts (based on the model of the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
concerts in Coolidge Auditorium). These concerts were often held in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
. Lectures from New York University staff expanded the public program series.
After Lincoln Center was incorporated in 1956, an early mention of a possible "library and museum of the performing arts" appeared in June 1957. It was envisioned that a library-museum would serve to "interpret and illuminate the entire range of the performing arts." By December of that year, the library was an accepted component of Lincoln Center planning and fundraising. Recalling his earlier reports, Smith produced a new report arguing for a move to Lincoln Center. Library administration officially approved of the move in June 1959.
The building housing the library's research collections and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre was the third building to be opened at Lincoln Center. Original plans conceived the library as a separate building, but prohibitive costs necessitated a combination of the Library and the Theatre. As built, the Theatre forms the central core of the building, the 1st and 2nd floors occupying the southern and western sides, and the 3rd floor research collections providing a roof. Noted modernist architect Gordon Bunshaft
Gordon Bunshaft
Gordon Bunshaft was an architect educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1988, Gordon Bunshaft nominated himself for the Pritzker Prize and eventually won it.-Career:...
, of the firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is an American architectural and engineering firm that was formed in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest...
(SOM) designed the interiors, and SOM consulted with Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.-Biography:Eero Saarinen shared the same birthday as his father,...
and Associates (architect for the Vivian Beaumont Theatre) on the exteriors. Scheduled to open in January 2012, the Claire Tow Theater (belonging to Lincoln Center Theater) was built on the roof of the Library.
The 3rd floor, housing the research collections, opened to the public on July 19. The entire library was opened to the public on November 30, 1965, the 4th building to open at Lincoln Center. At its opening, it was called "Library and Museum of the Performing Arts." The Library's museum component was named the Shelby Collum Davis Museum in honor of an investment banker who contributed $1 million to Lincoln Center for museum purposes..
At its opening, the Library's main lobby at the Lincoln Center Plaza entrance housed a bookstore, a film viewing area, and a listening area. The second floor included a children's performing arts collection as well as the Hecksher Oval, an enclosed space that could accommodate story-telling. Prior to the 2001 renovation, the children's collection was relocated to the Riverside Branch. The Hecksher Oval was removed as part of the renovation.
The Shelby Collum Davis Museum spaces included small and separate areas in the Dance, Music, Sound archive and Theatre research divisions. Bigger galleries were the Vincent Astor Gallery on the 2nd floor, and galleries on the lower level and 2nd floor.
2001 renovation and later
From 1998 through 2001, the building was closed due to a $38 million renovation project designed by Polshek PartnershipPolshek Partnership
Ennead Architects LLP is a New York City-based architectural firm. Previously known as Polshek Partnership, the firm's nine partners renamed their practice in mid-2010....
. (The renovation was unrelated to the Lincoln Center renovations which commenced shortly after 2001.) During this time, the research collections were serviced from the NYPL's Annex (at 10th avenue and 43rd street), and the circulating collections were housed at the Mid-Manhattan Library at 40th Street and Fifth Avenue. LPA reopened to the public on October 29, 2001 with its building newly named Dorothy
Dorothy Cullman
Dorothy Cullman was an American television producer and philanthropist. She and her husband, Lewis B. Cullman, contributed a combined $250 million to numerous organizations over forty years...
and Lewis B. Cullman Center after a gift from the Cullmans (Dorothy was a trustee until she died; Lewis is still a trustee).
When the building opened in 1965, each research division had a separate reading room. The renovation removed these and consolidated public areas into a single unified public reading area, with separate rooms for the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (its screening room named for Lucille Lortel
Lucille Lortel
Lucille Lortel was an American actress and theater producer who is remembered as the namesake of an off-Broadway playhouse and theatrical award....
) and Special Collections (its room named for Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.Cornell is known as the greatest American stage actress of the 20th century...
and Guthrie McClintic
Guthrie McClintic
Guthrie McClintic was a successful theatre director, film director and producer based in New York. -Life and career:...
). Subsequently the Special Collections reading room was moved into a portion of the main reading area of the 3rd floor, while a screening room for the Reserve Film and Video Collection (originally part of the
Donnell Media Center
Donnell Library Center
The Donnell Library Center was a branch of the New York City Library at 20 West 53rd Street just north of Rockefeller Center. It closed as of August 30, 2008....
) took its place.
One of the main features of the renovation was the laying of wiring which enabled installation of numerous computers on each floor. There are nearly 200 publicly accessible computers in the building. Most are restricted to use of the library catalog and electronic databases. Those on the first floor provide full Internet use, or for playback of online music and video.
The renovation also created a Technology Training Room. It is equipped with twelve desktop computers for users and one for a teacher, as well as a projection screen.
As a result of the renovation, gallery space for the museum was consolidated. Currently there are two main gallery spaces with smaller areas for display of other items. The Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery is located on the first floor, adjacent to the Lincoln Plaza entrance, while the Vincent Astor Gallery (formerly on the second floor) is now located on the lower level, adjacent to the Amsterdam Avenue entrance. A small area near the Lincoln Center Plaza entrance houses caricaturist Al Hirschfield's desk and chair. The main corridor on the first floor is used for displaying photographs, posters and other two dimensional items. The third floor has numerous display cases highlighting rotating displays of thematic groupings of artifacts from the collections.
The renovation was not without detractors. Joseph Horowitz
Joseph Horowitz
Joseph Horowitz is an American cultural historian whose seven books mainly deal with the institutional history of classical music in the United States. As a producer of concerts, he has played a pioneering role in promoting thematic programming and new concert formats...
criticized the third floor in particular. Where previously each division had its own reading room, the renovation united all public reading areas into one room, resulting in less intimacy and more noise.
In 2008, LPA absorbed staff and the film and video materials of the Donnell Media Center. This collection is now called the Reserve Film and Video Collection.
Research Collections
From its inception, LPA has had both a researchResearch
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
component (funded mostly with private money) and a branch library component (funded with significant money from New York City, the remainder coming from private contributions).
Materials and formats
In addition to published works (for example, books, periodicals, and scores), the Research divisions collect an enormous amount of unique material: Archival materialArchive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
(material that was created by or that once belonged to an individual or organization), text manuscripts
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
, music manuscripts
Music manuscript
Music manuscripts are handwritten sources of music. Generally speaking, they can be written on paper or parchment. If the manuscript contains the composer's handwriting it is called an autograph. Music manuscripts can contain musical notation as well as texts and images...
, typescripts, prompt books
Prompt book
The prompt book, also called promptbook, transcript, the bible or sometimes simply "the book," is the copy of a production script that contains the information necessary to create the production from the ground up...
, posters
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
, original set and costume designs
Scenic design
Scenic design is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers have traditionally come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but nowadays, generally speaking, they are trained professionals, often with M.F.A...
, programs
Programme (booklet)
A programme or program is a booklet available for patrons attending a live event such as theatre performances, fêtes, sports events, etc. It is a printed leaflet outlining the parts of the event scheduled to take place, principal performers and background information. In the case of theatrical...
, and other ephemera
Ephemera
Ephemera are transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day. Some collectible ephemera are advertising trade cards, airsickness bags, bookmarks, catalogues, greeting cards, letters,...
are just some of the major categories of materials. The Library's collection of sound recordings are in all formats that in themselves trace the history and development of sound recording.
LPA has half-a-million folders containing clippings
Clipping (publications)
Clipping is the cutting-out of articles from a paper publication. Newspaper clippings are often used when people have to write a report or make a presentation on current events for school. Clippings may also be kept by adults for future reference, or for sentimental reasons such as an article on...
on a variety of people and subjects pertaining to the performing arts. These clippings can sometimes provide a beginning to those at the initial stage of their research.
LPA has and collects a variety of iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
in various forms: photographs, lithographs, engravings, drawings, and others. A recent internal report estimated that LPA holds approximately 4.5 million photographs, including the recently acquired collection of New York photographer Martha Swope (itself holding 1 million photographs).
Much of this non-book material is not in the online catalog. Some materials are accessible through in-house card files and indexes. Because of the enormous volume of material, much of it has never been inventoried, although it is generally arranged in a retrievable manner (e.g. alphabetical or chronogical arrangement).
Unlike most libraries, the research collections stacks are located in non-public areas and are not available for browsing. Patrons must determine what they want to view, fill out call slips, and submit the slips to library staff. Library staff then retrieves the material for the patron.
The holdings of LPA are divided by subject among the following divisions.
Music Division
The Music Division is the oldest of all the divisions at LPA. Its origins stem from the private library of banker Joseph William DrexelJoseph William Drexel
Joseph William Drexel was a banker, philanthropist, and partner of Baring Brothers in London and Rothschild et fils in Paris.-Biography:...
. Upon his death in 1888, his library of 5,542 volumes and 766 pamphlets became part of the Lenox Library. The Astor Library also had an endowment that helped with the purchase of music. In 1895, upon the Lenox Library's consolidation with the Astor Library, the Music Division became a founding division of The New York Public Library.
Billy Rose Theatre Division
The Library had been collecting theatrical materials for years prior to 1931. That year, the executors of David BelascoDavid Belasco
David Belasco was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director and playwright.-Biography:Born in San Francisco, California, where his Sephardic Jewish parents had moved from London, England, during the Gold Rush, he began working in a San Francisco theatre doing a variety of routine jobs,...
's estate offered the producer's holdings on the condition that a division be created. The Theatre Collection (as it was initially known) began on September 1, 1931.
The division opened at Lincoln Center as the Theatre Collection. In 1979, it was renamed the Billy Rose
Billy Rose
William "Billy" Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" , "It Happened in Monterey" and "It's Only a Paper Moon"...
Theatre Division, honoring a financial gift from the lyricist/producer's foundation. It is now the largest research division at the library, with holdings primarily focused on the theatre, but also relating to film, vaudeville, magic, puppetry, and the circus, among other subjects.
Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT)
The Billy Rose Theatre Division houses one of the most comprehensive collections of videotaped theatre productions in the world. Comprising mainly Broadway and Off-Broadway presentations, the archive also contains numerous filmed and videotaped professional regional productions. Known by its acronym TOFT, this archive grew and flourished through the 1970s and beyond, under the administrative guidance of its founder and first director Betty Corwin until her retirement in 2000. Ms. Corwin was subsequently awarded a Special Tony Award for "Excellence in the Theatre" at the 55th Annual Tony Awards.The collection maintains special relationships with Actor's Equity and other theatrical unions and guilds, thus enabling clearances for the non-commercial videotaping of live theatre. The collection is housed on the third floor of LPA. Currently TOFT records at least 50 shows a season.
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
The Jerome Robbins Dance Division began in 1944 under the auspices of Genevieve Oswald. Originally dance materials were part of the Music Division (when it was known as the "Dance Collection"), but its growth necessitated hiring a full-time staff member in 1947. Acquisitions were augmented by gifts of papers of Ted ShawnTed Shawn
Ted Shawn , originally Edwin Myers Shawn, was one of the first notable male pioneers of American modern dance. Along with creating Denishawn with former wife Ruth St. Denis he is also responsible for the creation of the well known all-male company Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers...
and Ruth St. Denis
Ruth St. Denis
Ruth St. Denis was an early modern dance pioneer.-Biography:Ruth St. Denis founded Adelphi University's dance program in 1938 which was one of the first dance departments in an American university...
, Doris Humphrey
Doris Humphrey
Doris Batcheller Humphrey was a dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Humphrey was born in Oak Park, Illinois but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Horace Buckingham Humphrey and Julia Ellen Wells and was a descendant of pilgrim William Brewster...
, Charles Weidman
Charles Weidman
Charles Weidman is a renowned choreographer, modern dancer and teacher. He is well known as one of the pioneers of Modern Dance in America. He wanted to break free from the traditional movements of dance forms popular at the time to create a uniquely American style of movement...
, and Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm is known as one of the “Big Four” founders of American modern dance...
. With the gift of a collection of Walter Toscanini in honor of his deceased wife, Cia Fornaroli (a dancer), the Dance Collection became an internationally known repository. Due to its subsequent growth and increasing importance, the collection was formally recognized as a separate division on January 1, 1964.
One of the division's most significant resources is the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image. Endowed with a gift from Jerome Robbins, this archive collects and preserves moving images of dance, making them available to researchers. The Archive has received many gifts from dancers and choreographers and contains many privately made films and video.
The Division's oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
program began formally in 1965. These oral histories are particularly valuable since they provide information, history and context not generally available in published sources.
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
The origins of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound can be traced to a gift of 500 78rpm records by Columbia Records in 1937 to the Music Division. Successive gifts by record companies and individuals led to the formal creation of a separate division with the opening of the building at Lincoln Center in 1965. It was named in honor of a generous gift from the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization. Radio station WQXR donated 11,000 78rpm recordings in 1966. Carleton Sprague Smith envisioned the purpose of the sound archive as "stimulating interest among recording and broadcasting executives, as well as other arts institutions that had potential for playing a cooperative role."
Reserve Film and Video
Though not technically a part of the Research divisions, the Reserve Film and Video Collection (formerly the Donnell Media Center) is serviced from the third floor. For film and video that must be viewed onsite, there is a screening room (large enough for classes) equipped with a 16mm projector. There are also moviolasMoviola
A Moviola is a device that allows a film editor to view film while editing. It was the first machine for motion picture editing when it was invented by Iwan Serrurier in 1924.-History:...
and Steenbeck
Steenbeck
Steenbeck is a brand name that has become synonymous with a type of flatbed film editing suite which is usable with both 16 mm and 35 mm optical sound and magnetic sound film.The Steenbeck company was founded in 1931 by Wilhelm Steenbeck in Hamburg, Germany...
equipment, permitting close frame-by-frame examination and analysis.
Branch (Circulating) Collections
The beginnings of the circulating music collection are due in great part to its first head librarian, Dorothy Lawton. Lawton took part in the establishment of the music collection at the 58th Street Library in 1920, beginning with a collection of 1,000 books and scores. In 1924 the circulating music collection was officially established as part of the 58th Street Library. Her passion for dance enabled her to get unusual publications, so much that dance critic John MartinJohn Martin
-In the arts:*John H. Martin, American actor in TV soap operas One Life to Live and Sunset Beach*John Martin , English-born Canadian broadcaster*John Martin , dance critic at the New York Times...
complimented her on the growing collection of dance books.
In 1929, the 58th Street Library began a collection of recordings beginning with gifts from Victor and Columbia records, amounting to 500 records. Upon building a listening booth, Lawton reported that by 1933, the listening booth was constantly booked two weeks in advance.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center houses one of the world's largest collections of materials relating to the performing arts.New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, accessed September 4, 2011. It is one of the four research centers of the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
's Research library system, and it is also one of the branch libraries. It is located in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
between the Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)
The Metropolitan Opera House is an opera house located on Broadway at Lincoln Square in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the theater opened in 1966. It replaced the former Metropolitan Opera House at Broadway and 39th St...
and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre
Vivian Beaumont Theatre
The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a theatre located in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The structure was designed by Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen, and Jo Mielziner was responsible for the design of the stage and interior.The Vivian...
.
Founding and original configuration
Originally the collections which formed The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (hereafter LPA) were housed in two buildings. The Research collections on Dance, Music and Theatre were located at New York Public Library Main BranchNew York Public Library Main Branch
The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library, more widely known as the Main Branch or simply as "the New York Public Library," is the flagship building in the New York Public Library system and a prominent historic landmark in Midtown Manhattan. The branch, opened in 1911, is...
, now named the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, and the circulating music collection was located in the 58th Street Library.
The idea of a separate center to house performing arts was first articulated by Carleton Sprague Smith (chief of the Music Division) in a 1932 report to the library administration, "A Worthy Music Center for New York."Beck, p. 20ff. (It should be remembered that at the time, dance and sound recordings were all part of the Music Division.) There were attempts to forge partnerships with Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
(under construction at the time), the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
(to which New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
wanted to join as partners). During the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Music Division pursued a program of concerts (based on the model of the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
concerts in Coolidge Auditorium). These concerts were often held in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
. Lectures from New York University staff expanded the public program series.
After Lincoln Center was incorporated in 1956, an early mention of a possible "library and museum of the performing arts" appeared in June 1957.Howard Taubman, "Civic Pride: City Officials Should Work for Lincoln Center as a Municipal Necessity," New York Times (June 2, 1957), p. 121. It was envisioned that a library-museum would serve to "interpret and illuminate the entire range of the performing arts."Beck, p. 38. By December of that year, the library was an accepted component of Lincoln Center planning and fundraising."Committee Set Up To Seek Arts Fund," New York Times (December 2, 1957), p. 29. Recalling his earlier reports, Smith produced a new report arguing for a move to Lincoln Center. Library administration officially approved of the move in June 1959.Beck, p. 39.
The building housing the library's research collections and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre was the third building to be opened at Lincoln Center.Milton Esterow, "Beaumont Theater Opens at Lincoln Center," New York Times (October 13, 1965), p. 1. Original plans conceived the library as a separate building, but prohibitive costs necessitated a combination of the Library and the Theatre. As built, the Theatre forms the central core of the building, the 1st and 2nd floors occupying the southern and western sides, and the 3rd floor research collections providing a roof. Noted modernist architect Gordon Bunshaft
Gordon Bunshaft
Gordon Bunshaft was an architect educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1988, Gordon Bunshaft nominated himself for the Pritzker Prize and eventually won it.-Career:...
, of the firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is an American architectural and engineering firm that was formed in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest...
(SOM) designed the interiors, and SOM consulted with Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.-Biography:Eero Saarinen shared the same birthday as his father,...
and Associates (architect for the Vivian Beaumont Theatre) on the exteriors. Scheduled to open in January 2012, the Claire Tow Theater (belonging to Lincoln Center Theater) was built on the roof of the Library.
The 3rd floor, housing the research collections, opened to the public on July 19. The entire library was opened to the public on November 30, 1965, the 4th building to open at Lincoln Center. At its opening, it was called "Library and Museum of the Performing Arts." The Library's museum component was named the Shelby Collum Davis Museum in honor of an investment banker who contributed $1 million to Lincoln Center for museum purposes..
At its opening, the Library's main lobby at the Lincoln Center Plaza entrance housed a bookstore, a film viewing area, and a listening area. The second floor included a children's performing arts collection as well as the Hecksher Oval, an enclosed space that could accommodate story-telling. Prior to the 2001 renovation, the children's collection was relocated to the Riverside Branch. The Hecksher Oval was removed as part of the renovation.
The Shelby Collum Davis Museum spaces included small and separate areas in the Dance, Music, Sound archive and Theatre research divisions. Bigger galleries were the Vincent Astor Gallery on the 2nd floor, and galleries on the lower level and 2nd floor.
2001 renovation and later
From 1998 through 2001, the building was closed due to a $38 million renovation project designed by Polshek PartnershipPolshek Partnership
Ennead Architects LLP is a New York City-based architectural firm. Previously known as Polshek Partnership, the firm's nine partners renamed their practice in mid-2010....
. (The renovation was unrelated to the Lincoln Center renovations which commenced shortly after 2001.) During this time, the research collections were serviced from the NYPL's Annex (at 10th avenue and 43rd street), and the circulating collections were housed at the Mid-Manhattan Library at 40th Street and Fifth Avenue. LPA reopened to the public on October 29, 2001 with its building newly named Dorothy
Dorothy Cullman
Dorothy Cullman was an American television producer and philanthropist. She and her husband, Lewis B. Cullman, contributed a combined $250 million to numerous organizations over forty years...
and Lewis B. Cullman Center after a gift from the Cullmans (Dorothy was a trustee until she died; Lewis is still a trustee).Mel Gussow, "Curtain Going Up at the Performing Arts Library," New York Times (October 11, 2001), p. E1.
When the building opened in 1965, each research division had a separate reading room. The renovation removed these and consolidated public areas into a single unified public reading area, with separate rooms for the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (its screening room named for Lucille Lortel
Lucille Lortel
Lucille Lortel was an American actress and theater producer who is remembered as the namesake of an off-Broadway playhouse and theatrical award....
) and Special Collections (its room named for Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.Cornell is known as the greatest American stage actress of the 20th century...
and Guthrie McClintic
Guthrie McClintic
Guthrie McClintic was a successful theatre director, film director and producer based in New York. -Life and career:...
). Subsequently the Special Collections reading room was moved into a portion of the main reading area of the 3rd floor, while a screening room for the Reserve Film and Video Collection (originally part of the
Donnell Media Center
Donnell Library Center
The Donnell Library Center was a branch of the New York City Library at 20 West 53rd Street just north of Rockefeller Center. It closed as of August 30, 2008....
) took its place.
One of the main features of the renovation was the laying of wiring which enabled installation of numerous computers on each floor. There are nearly 200 publicly accessible computers in the building.Personal communication from IT staff, 12 May 2011. Most are restricted to use of the library catalog and electronic databases. Those on the first floor provide full Internet use, or for playback of online music and video.
The renovation also created a Technology Training Room. It is equipped with twelve desktop computers for users and one for a teacher, as well as a projection screen.
As a result of the renovation, gallery space for the museum was consolidated. Currently there are two main gallery spaces with smaller areas for display of other items. The Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery is located on the first floor, adjacent to the Lincoln Plaza entrance, while the Vincent Astor Gallery (formerly on the second floor) is now located on the lower level, adjacent to the Amsterdam Avenue entrance. A small area near the Lincoln Center Plaza entrance houses caricaturist Al Hirschfield's desk and chair. The main corridor on the first floor is used for displaying photographs, posters and other two dimensional items. The third floor has numerous display cases highlighting rotating displays of thematic groupings of artifacts from the collections.
The renovation was not without detractors. Joseph Horowitz
Joseph Horowitz
Joseph Horowitz is an American cultural historian whose seven books mainly deal with the institutional history of classical music in the United States. As a producer of concerts, he has played a pioneering role in promoting thematic programming and new concert formats...
criticized the third floor in particular. Where previously each division had its own reading room, the renovation united all public reading areas into one room, resulting in less intimacy and more noise.Joseph Horowitz, "Quiet, Please. This Is a Library After All." New York Times (January 27, 2002), p. A31.
In 2008, LPA absorbed staff and the film and video materials of the Donnell Media Center. This collection is now called the Reserve Film and Video Collection.
Research Collections
From its inception, LPA has had both a researchResearch
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
component (funded mostly with private money) and a branch library component (funded with significant money from New York City, the remainder coming from private contributions).
Materials and formats
In addition to published works (for example, books, periodicals, and scores), the Research divisions collect an enormous amount of unique material: Archival materialArchive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
(material that was created by or that once belonged to an individual or organization), text manuscripts
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
, music manuscripts
Music manuscript
Music manuscripts are handwritten sources of music. Generally speaking, they can be written on paper or parchment. If the manuscript contains the composer's handwriting it is called an autograph. Music manuscripts can contain musical notation as well as texts and images...
, typescripts, prompt books
Prompt book
The prompt book, also called promptbook, transcript, the bible or sometimes simply "the book," is the copy of a production script that contains the information necessary to create the production from the ground up...
, posters
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
, original set and costume designs
Scenic design
Scenic design is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers have traditionally come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but nowadays, generally speaking, they are trained professionals, often with M.F.A...
, programs
Programme (booklet)
A programme or program is a booklet available for patrons attending a live event such as theatre performances, fêtes, sports events, etc. It is a printed leaflet outlining the parts of the event scheduled to take place, principal performers and background information. In the case of theatrical...
, and other ephemera
Ephemera
Ephemera are transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day. Some collectible ephemera are advertising trade cards, airsickness bags, bookmarks, catalogues, greeting cards, letters,...
are just some of the major categories of materials. The Library's collection of sound recordings are in all formats that in themselves trace the history and development of sound recording.
LPA has half-a-million folders containing clippings
Clipping (publications)
Clipping is the cutting-out of articles from a paper publication. Newspaper clippings are often used when people have to write a report or make a presentation on current events for school. Clippings may also be kept by adults for future reference, or for sentimental reasons such as an article on...
on a variety of people and subjects pertaining to the performing arts. These clippings can sometimes provide a beginning to those at the initial stage of their research.
LPA has and collects a variety of iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
in various forms: photographs, lithographs, engravings, drawings, and others. A recent internal report estimated that LPA holds approximately 4.5 million photographs, including the recently acquired collection of New York photographer Martha Swope (itself holding 1 million photographs).
Much of this non-book material is not in the online catalog.A 1995 brochure indicated that 80% of the materials at LPA were not in the online catalog. Some materials are accessible through in-house card files and indexes. Because of the enormous volume of material, much of it has never been inventoried, although it is generally arranged in a retrievable manner (e.g. alphabetical or chronogical arrangement).
Unlike most libraries, the research collections stacks are located in non-public areas and are not available for browsing. Patrons must determine what they want to view, fill out call slips, and submit the slips to library staff. Library staff then retrieves the material for the patron.
The holdings of LPA are divided by subject among the following divisions.
Music Division
The Music Division is the oldest of all the divisions at LPA. Its origins stem from the private library of banker Joseph William DrexelJoseph William Drexel
Joseph William Drexel was a banker, philanthropist, and partner of Baring Brothers in London and Rothschild et fils in Paris.-Biography:...
. Upon his death in 1888, his library of 5,542 volumes and 766 pamphlets became part of the Lenox Library. The Astor Library also had an endowment that helped with the purchase of music. In 1895, upon the Lenox Library's consolidation with the Astor Library, the Music Division became a founding division of The New York Public Library.Williams, p. 142.Much of the content of this section is derived from the thorough history of the Music Division through 1981 in a 4-part article: Philip L. Miller, Frank C. Campbell, Otto Kinkeldey, "How the Music Division of the New York Public Library Grew-A Memoir," Notes Vol. 35, No. 3 (March 1979), pp. 537-555 (parts 1-2), Vol. 36, No. 1 (September 1979), pp. 65-77 (part 3), Vol. 38, No. 1 (September 1981), pp. 14-41 (part 4).
Billy Rose Theatre Division
The Library had been collecting theatrical materials for years prior to 1931. That year, the executors of David BelascoDavid Belasco
David Belasco was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director and playwright.-Biography:Born in San Francisco, California, where his Sephardic Jewish parents had moved from London, England, during the Gold Rush, he began working in a San Francisco theatre doing a variety of routine jobs,...
's estate offered the producer's holdings on the condition that a division be created. The Theatre Collection (as it was initially known) began on September 1, 1931.
The division opened at Lincoln Center as the Theatre Collection. In 1979, it was renamed the Billy Rose
Billy Rose
William "Billy" Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" , "It Happened in Monterey" and "It's Only a Paper Moon"...
Theatre Division, honoring a financial gift from the lyricist/producer's foundation. It is now the largest research division at the library, with holdings primarily focused on the theatre, but also relating to film, vaudeville, magic, puppetry, and the circus, among other subjects.
Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT)
The Billy Rose Theatre Division houses one of the most comprehensive collections of videotaped theatre productions in the world. Comprising mainly Broadway and Off-Broadway presentations, the archive also contains numerous filmed and videotaped professional regional productions. Known by its acronym TOFT, this archive grew and flourished through the 1970s and beyond, under the administrative guidance of its founder and first director Betty Corwin until her retirement in 2000. Ms. Corwin was subsequently awarded a Special Tony Award for "Excellence in the Theatre" at the 55th Annual Tony Awards.The collection maintains special relationships with Actor's Equity and other theatrical unions and guilds, thus enabling clearances for the non-commercial videotaping of live theatre. The collection is housed on the third floor of LPA. Currently TOFT records at least 50 shows a season.
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
The Jerome Robbins Dance Division began in 1944 under the auspices of Genevieve Oswald.Clive Barnes, "Dance: Collection Moves to New Home," New York Times (January 4, 1966), p. 21. Originally dance materials were part of the Music Division (when it was known as the "Dance Collection"), but its growth necessitated hiring a full-time staff member in 1947.Williams, p. 151. Acquisitions were augmented by gifts of papers of Ted ShawnTed Shawn
Ted Shawn , originally Edwin Myers Shawn, was one of the first notable male pioneers of American modern dance. Along with creating Denishawn with former wife Ruth St. Denis he is also responsible for the creation of the well known all-male company Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers...
and Ruth St. Denis
Ruth St. Denis
Ruth St. Denis was an early modern dance pioneer.-Biography:Ruth St. Denis founded Adelphi University's dance program in 1938 which was one of the first dance departments in an American university...
, Doris Humphrey
Doris Humphrey
Doris Batcheller Humphrey was a dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Humphrey was born in Oak Park, Illinois but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Horace Buckingham Humphrey and Julia Ellen Wells and was a descendant of pilgrim William Brewster...
, Charles Weidman
Charles Weidman
Charles Weidman is a renowned choreographer, modern dancer and teacher. He is well known as one of the pioneers of Modern Dance in America. He wanted to break free from the traditional movements of dance forms popular at the time to create a uniquely American style of movement...
, and Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm is known as one of the “Big Four” founders of American modern dance...
. With the gift of a collection of Walter Toscanini in honor of his deceased wife, Cia Fornaroli (a dancer), the Dance Collection became an internationally known repository.Williams, p. 151. Due to its subsequent growth and increasing importance, the collection was formally recognized as a separate division on January 1, 1964.Philip L. Miller, "How the Music Division Grew-A Memoir," Notes vol. 35, no. 3 (March 1979), p. 549.
One of the division's most significant resources is the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image. Endowed with a gift from Jerome Robbins, this archive collects and preserves moving images of dance, making them available to researchers. The Archive has received many gifts from dancers and choreographers and contains many privately made films and video.Williams, p. 151, 154.
The Division's oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
program began formally in 1965. These oral histories are particularly valuable since they provide information, history and context not generally available in published sources.Williams, p. 155.
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
The origins of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound can be traced to a gift of 500 78rpm records by Columbia Records in 1937 to the Music Division. Successive gifts by record companies and individuals led to the formal creation of a separate division with the opening of the building at Lincoln Center in 1965. It was named in honor of a generous gift from the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization.Williams, p. 149. Radio station WQXR donated 11,000 78rpm recordings in 1966."Lincoln Center Receives 11,000 Disks From WQXR," New York Times (June 9, 1966), p. 53. Carleton Sprague Smith envisioned the purpose of the sound archive as "stimulating interest among recording and broadcasting executives, as well as other arts institutions that had potential for playing a cooperative role."David Hall, "The Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library at Lincoln Center," in: Libraries, History, Diplomacy, and the Performing Arts: Essays in Honor of Carleton Sprague Smith, Festschrift Series no. 9 (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1991), p. 43
Reserve Film and Video
Though not technically a part of the Research divisions, the Reserve Film and Video Collection (formerly the Donnell Media Center) is serviced from the third floor. For film and video that must be viewed onsite, there is a screening room (large enough for classes) equipped with a 16mm projector. There are also moviolasMoviola
A Moviola is a device that allows a film editor to view film while editing. It was the first machine for motion picture editing when it was invented by Iwan Serrurier in 1924.-History:...
and Steenbeck
Steenbeck
Steenbeck is a brand name that has become synonymous with a type of flatbed film editing suite which is usable with both 16 mm and 35 mm optical sound and magnetic sound film.The Steenbeck company was founded in 1931 by Wilhelm Steenbeck in Hamburg, Germany...
equipment, permitting close frame-by-frame examination and analysis.
Branch (Circulating) Collections
The beginnings of the circulating music collection are due in great part to its first head librarian, Dorothy Lawton. Lawton took part in the establishment of the music collection at the 58th Street Library in 1920, beginning with a collection of 1,000 books and scores. In 1924 the circulating music collection was officially established as part of the 58th Street Library.Circulating Music Collection, accessed September 5, 2011. Her passion for dance enabled her to get unusual publications, so much that dance critic John MartinJohn Martin
-In the arts:*John H. Martin, American actor in TV soap operas One Life to Live and Sunset Beach*John Martin , English-born Canadian broadcaster*John Martin , dance critic at the New York Times...
complimented her on the growing collection of dance books.John Martin, "The Dance: A Treasury: Important New Volumes Added to Growing Collection at Library," New York Times (October 4, 1931), p. 116.
In 1929, the 58th Street Library began a collection of recordings beginning with gifts from Victor and Columbia records, amounting to 500 records. Upon building a listening booth, Lawton reported that by 1933, the listening booth was constantly booked two weeks in advance.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center houses one of the world's largest collections of materials relating to the performing arts.New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, accessed September 4, 2011. It is one of the four research centers of the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
's Research library system, and it is also one of the branch libraries. It is located in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
between the Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)
The Metropolitan Opera House is an opera house located on Broadway at Lincoln Square in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the theater opened in 1966. It replaced the former Metropolitan Opera House at Broadway and 39th St...
and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre
Vivian Beaumont Theatre
The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a theatre located in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The structure was designed by Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen, and Jo Mielziner was responsible for the design of the stage and interior.The Vivian...
.
Founding and original configuration
Originally the collections which formed The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (hereafter LPA) were housed in two buildings. The Research collections on Dance, Music and Theatre were located at New York Public Library Main BranchNew York Public Library Main Branch
The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library, more widely known as the Main Branch or simply as "the New York Public Library," is the flagship building in the New York Public Library system and a prominent historic landmark in Midtown Manhattan. The branch, opened in 1911, is...
, now named the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, and the circulating music collection was located in the 58th Street Library.
The idea of a separate center to house performing arts was first articulated by Carleton Sprague Smith (chief of the Music Division) in a 1932 report to the library administration, "A Worthy Music Center for New York."Beck, p. 20ff. (It should be remembered that at the time, dance and sound recordings were all part of the Music Division.) There were attempts to forge partnerships with Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
(under construction at the time), the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
(to which New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
wanted to join as partners). During the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Music Division pursued a program of concerts (based on the model of the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
concerts in Coolidge Auditorium). These concerts were often held in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
. Lectures from New York University staff expanded the public program series.
After Lincoln Center was incorporated in 1956, an early mention of a possible "library and museum of the performing arts" appeared in June 1957.Howard Taubman, "Civic Pride: City Officials Should Work for Lincoln Center as a Municipal Necessity," New York Times (June 2, 1957), p. 121. It was envisioned that a library-museum would serve to "interpret and illuminate the entire range of the performing arts."Beck, p. 38. By December of that year, the library was an accepted component of Lincoln Center planning and fundraising."Committee Set Up To Seek Arts Fund," New York Times (December 2, 1957), p. 29. Recalling his earlier reports, Smith produced a new report arguing for a move to Lincoln Center. Library administration officially approved of the move in June 1959.Beck, p. 39.
The building housing the library's research collections and the Vivian Beaumont Theatre was the third building to be opened at Lincoln Center.Milton Esterow, "Beaumont Theater Opens at Lincoln Center," New York Times (October 13, 1965), p. 1. Original plans conceived the library as a separate building, but prohibitive costs necessitated a combination of the Library and the Theatre. As built, the Theatre forms the central core of the building, the 1st and 2nd floors occupying the southern and western sides, and the 3rd floor research collections providing a roof. Noted modernist architect Gordon Bunshaft
Gordon Bunshaft
Gordon Bunshaft was an architect educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1988, Gordon Bunshaft nominated himself for the Pritzker Prize and eventually won it.-Career:...
, of the firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is an American architectural and engineering firm that was formed in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest...
(SOM) designed the interiors, and SOM consulted with Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.-Biography:Eero Saarinen shared the same birthday as his father,...
and Associates (architect for the Vivian Beaumont Theatre) on the exteriors. Scheduled to open in January 2012, the Claire Tow Theater (belonging to Lincoln Center Theater) was built on the roof of the Library.
The 3rd floor, housing the research collections, opened to the public on July 19. The entire library was opened to the public on November 30, 1965, the 4th building to open at Lincoln Center. At its opening, it was called "Library and Museum of the Performing Arts." The Library's museum component was named the Shelby Collum Davis Museum in honor of an investment banker who contributed $1 million to Lincoln Center for museum purposes..
At its opening, the Library's main lobby at the Lincoln Center Plaza entrance housed a bookstore, a film viewing area, and a listening area. The second floor included a children's performing arts collection as well as the Hecksher Oval, an enclosed space that could accommodate story-telling. Prior to the 2001 renovation, the children's collection was relocated to the Riverside Branch. The Hecksher Oval was removed as part of the renovation.
The Shelby Collum Davis Museum spaces included small and separate areas in the Dance, Music, Sound archive and Theatre research divisions. Bigger galleries were the Vincent Astor Gallery on the 2nd floor, and galleries on the lower level and 2nd floor.
2001 renovation and later
From 1998 through 2001, the building was closed due to a $38 million renovation project designed by Polshek PartnershipPolshek Partnership
Ennead Architects LLP is a New York City-based architectural firm. Previously known as Polshek Partnership, the firm's nine partners renamed their practice in mid-2010....
. (The renovation was unrelated to the Lincoln Center renovations which commenced shortly after 2001.) During this time, the research collections were serviced from the NYPL's Annex (at 10th avenue and 43rd street), and the circulating collections were housed at the Mid-Manhattan Library at 40th Street and Fifth Avenue. LPA reopened to the public on October 29, 2001 with its building newly named Dorothy
Dorothy Cullman
Dorothy Cullman was an American television producer and philanthropist. She and her husband, Lewis B. Cullman, contributed a combined $250 million to numerous organizations over forty years...
and Lewis B. Cullman Center after a gift from the Cullmans (Dorothy was a trustee until she died; Lewis is still a trustee).Mel Gussow, "Curtain Going Up at the Performing Arts Library," New York Times (October 11, 2001), p. E1.
When the building opened in 1965, each research division had a separate reading room. The renovation removed these and consolidated public areas into a single unified public reading area, with separate rooms for the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (its screening room named for Lucille Lortel
Lucille Lortel
Lucille Lortel was an American actress and theater producer who is remembered as the namesake of an off-Broadway playhouse and theatrical award....
) and Special Collections (its room named for Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.Cornell is known as the greatest American stage actress of the 20th century...
and Guthrie McClintic
Guthrie McClintic
Guthrie McClintic was a successful theatre director, film director and producer based in New York. -Life and career:...
). Subsequently the Special Collections reading room was moved into a portion of the main reading area of the 3rd floor, while a screening room for the Reserve Film and Video Collection (originally part of the
Donnell Media Center
Donnell Library Center
The Donnell Library Center was a branch of the New York City Library at 20 West 53rd Street just north of Rockefeller Center. It closed as of August 30, 2008....
) took its place.
One of the main features of the renovation was the laying of wiring which enabled installation of numerous computers on each floor. There are nearly 200 publicly accessible computers in the building.Personal communication from IT staff, 12 May 2011. Most are restricted to use of the library catalog and electronic databases. Those on the first floor provide full Internet use, or for playback of online music and video.
The renovation also created a Technology Training Room. It is equipped with twelve desktop computers for users and one for a teacher, as well as a projection screen.
As a result of the renovation, gallery space for the museum was consolidated. Currently there are two main gallery spaces with smaller areas for display of other items. The Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery is located on the first floor, adjacent to the Lincoln Plaza entrance, while the Vincent Astor Gallery (formerly on the second floor) is now located on the lower level, adjacent to the Amsterdam Avenue entrance. A small area near the Lincoln Center Plaza entrance houses caricaturist Al Hirschfield's desk and chair. The main corridor on the first floor is used for displaying photographs, posters and other two dimensional items. The third floor has numerous display cases highlighting rotating displays of thematic groupings of artifacts from the collections.
The renovation was not without detractors. Joseph Horowitz
Joseph Horowitz
Joseph Horowitz is an American cultural historian whose seven books mainly deal with the institutional history of classical music in the United States. As a producer of concerts, he has played a pioneering role in promoting thematic programming and new concert formats...
criticized the third floor in particular. Where previously each division had its own reading room, the renovation united all public reading areas into one room, resulting in less intimacy and more noise.Joseph Horowitz, "Quiet, Please. This Is a Library After All." New York Times (January 27, 2002), p. A31.
In 2008, LPA absorbed staff and the film and video materials of the Donnell Media Center. This collection is now called the Reserve Film and Video Collection.
Research Collections
From its inception, LPA has had both a researchResearch
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
component (funded mostly with private money) and a branch library component (funded with significant money from New York City, the remainder coming from private contributions).
Materials and formats
In addition to published works (for example, books, periodicals, and scores), the Research divisions collect an enormous amount of unique material: Archival materialArchive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
(material that was created by or that once belonged to an individual or organization), text manuscripts
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
, music manuscripts
Music manuscript
Music manuscripts are handwritten sources of music. Generally speaking, they can be written on paper or parchment. If the manuscript contains the composer's handwriting it is called an autograph. Music manuscripts can contain musical notation as well as texts and images...
, typescripts, prompt books
Prompt book
The prompt book, also called promptbook, transcript, the bible or sometimes simply "the book," is the copy of a production script that contains the information necessary to create the production from the ground up...
, posters
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
, original set and costume designs
Scenic design
Scenic design is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers have traditionally come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but nowadays, generally speaking, they are trained professionals, often with M.F.A...
, programs
Programme (booklet)
A programme or program is a booklet available for patrons attending a live event such as theatre performances, fêtes, sports events, etc. It is a printed leaflet outlining the parts of the event scheduled to take place, principal performers and background information. In the case of theatrical...
, and other ephemera
Ephemera
Ephemera are transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day. Some collectible ephemera are advertising trade cards, airsickness bags, bookmarks, catalogues, greeting cards, letters,...
are just some of the major categories of materials. The Library's collection of sound recordings are in all formats that in themselves trace the history and development of sound recording.
LPA has half-a-million folders containing clippings
Clipping (publications)
Clipping is the cutting-out of articles from a paper publication. Newspaper clippings are often used when people have to write a report or make a presentation on current events for school. Clippings may also be kept by adults for future reference, or for sentimental reasons such as an article on...
on a variety of people and subjects pertaining to the performing arts. These clippings can sometimes provide a beginning to those at the initial stage of their research.
LPA has and collects a variety of iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
in various forms: photographs, lithographs, engravings, drawings, and others. A recent internal report estimated that LPA holds approximately 4.5 million photographs, including the recently acquired collection of New York photographer Martha Swope (itself holding 1 million photographs).
Much of this non-book material is not in the online catalog.A 1995 brochure indicated that 80% of the materials at LPA were not in the online catalog. Some materials are accessible through in-house card files and indexes. Because of the enormous volume of material, much of it has never been inventoried, although it is generally arranged in a retrievable manner (e.g. alphabetical or chronogical arrangement).
Unlike most libraries, the research collections stacks are located in non-public areas and are not available for browsing. Patrons must determine what they want to view, fill out call slips, and submit the slips to library staff. Library staff then retrieves the material for the patron.
The holdings of LPA are divided by subject among the following divisions.
Music Division
The Music Division is the oldest of all the divisions at LPA. Its origins stem from the private library of banker Joseph William DrexelJoseph William Drexel
Joseph William Drexel was a banker, philanthropist, and partner of Baring Brothers in London and Rothschild et fils in Paris.-Biography:...
. Upon his death in 1888, his library of 5,542 volumes and 766 pamphlets became part of the Lenox Library. The Astor Library also had an endowment that helped with the purchase of music. In 1895, upon the Lenox Library's consolidation with the Astor Library, the Music Division became a founding division of The New York Public Library.Williams, p. 142.Much of the content of this section is derived from the thorough history of the Music Division through 1981 in a 4-part article: Philip L. Miller, Frank C. Campbell, Otto Kinkeldey, "How the Music Division of the New York Public Library Grew-A Memoir," Notes Vol. 35, No. 3 (March 1979), pp. 537-555 (parts 1-2), Vol. 36, No. 1 (September 1979), pp. 65-77 (part 3), Vol. 38, No. 1 (September 1981), pp. 14-41 (part 4).
Billy Rose Theatre Division
The Library had been collecting theatrical materials for years prior to 1931. That year, the executors of David BelascoDavid Belasco
David Belasco was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director and playwright.-Biography:Born in San Francisco, California, where his Sephardic Jewish parents had moved from London, England, during the Gold Rush, he began working in a San Francisco theatre doing a variety of routine jobs,...
's estate offered the producer's holdings on the condition that a division be created. The Theatre Collection (as it was initially known) began on September 1, 1931.
The division opened at Lincoln Center as the Theatre Collection. In 1979, it was renamed the Billy Rose
Billy Rose
William "Billy" Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" , "It Happened in Monterey" and "It's Only a Paper Moon"...
Theatre Division, honoring a financial gift from the lyricist/producer's foundation. It is now the largest research division at the library, with holdings primarily focused on the theatre, but also relating to film, vaudeville, magic, puppetry, and the circus, among other subjects.
Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT)
The Billy Rose Theatre Division houses one of the most comprehensive collections of videotaped theatre productions in the world. Comprising mainly Broadway and Off-Broadway presentations, the archive also contains numerous filmed and videotaped professional regional productions. Known by its acronym TOFT, this archive grew and flourished through the 1970s and beyond, under the administrative guidance of its founder and first director Betty Corwin until her retirement in 2000. Ms. Corwin was subsequently awarded a Special Tony Award for "Excellence in the Theatre" at the 55th Annual Tony Awards.The collection maintains special relationships with Actor's Equity and other theatrical unions and guilds, thus enabling clearances for the non-commercial videotaping of live theatre. The collection is housed on the third floor of LPA. Currently TOFT records at least 50 shows a season.
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
The Jerome Robbins Dance Division began in 1944 under the auspices of Genevieve Oswald.Clive Barnes, "Dance: Collection Moves to New Home," New York Times (January 4, 1966), p. 21. Originally dance materials were part of the Music Division (when it was known as the "Dance Collection"), but its growth necessitated hiring a full-time staff member in 1947.Williams, p. 151. Acquisitions were augmented by gifts of papers of Ted ShawnTed Shawn
Ted Shawn , originally Edwin Myers Shawn, was one of the first notable male pioneers of American modern dance. Along with creating Denishawn with former wife Ruth St. Denis he is also responsible for the creation of the well known all-male company Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers...
and Ruth St. Denis
Ruth St. Denis
Ruth St. Denis was an early modern dance pioneer.-Biography:Ruth St. Denis founded Adelphi University's dance program in 1938 which was one of the first dance departments in an American university...
, Doris Humphrey
Doris Humphrey
Doris Batcheller Humphrey was a dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Humphrey was born in Oak Park, Illinois but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Horace Buckingham Humphrey and Julia Ellen Wells and was a descendant of pilgrim William Brewster...
, Charles Weidman
Charles Weidman
Charles Weidman is a renowned choreographer, modern dancer and teacher. He is well known as one of the pioneers of Modern Dance in America. He wanted to break free from the traditional movements of dance forms popular at the time to create a uniquely American style of movement...
, and Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm is known as one of the “Big Four” founders of American modern dance...
. With the gift of a collection of Walter Toscanini in honor of his deceased wife, Cia Fornaroli (a dancer), the Dance Collection became an internationally known repository.Williams, p. 151. Due to its subsequent growth and increasing importance, the collection was formally recognized as a separate division on January 1, 1964.Philip L. Miller, "How the Music Division Grew-A Memoir," Notes vol. 35, no. 3 (March 1979), p. 549.
One of the division's most significant resources is the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image. Endowed with a gift from Jerome Robbins, this archive collects and preserves moving images of dance, making them available to researchers. The Archive has received many gifts from dancers and choreographers and contains many privately made films and video.Williams, p. 151, 154.
The Division's oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
program began formally in 1965. These oral histories are particularly valuable since they provide information, history and context not generally available in published sources.Williams, p. 155.
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
The origins of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound can be traced to a gift of 500 78rpm records by Columbia Records in 1937 to the Music Division. Successive gifts by record companies and individuals led to the formal creation of a separate division with the opening of the building at Lincoln Center in 1965. It was named in honor of a generous gift from the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization.Williams, p. 149. Radio station WQXR donated 11,000 78rpm recordings in 1966."Lincoln Center Receives 11,000 Disks From WQXR," New York Times (June 9, 1966), p. 53. Carleton Sprague Smith envisioned the purpose of the sound archive as "stimulating interest among recording and broadcasting executives, as well as other arts institutions that had potential for playing a cooperative role."David Hall, "The Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library at Lincoln Center," in: Libraries, History, Diplomacy, and the Performing Arts: Essays in Honor of Carleton Sprague Smith, Festschrift Series no. 9 (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1991), p. 43
Reserve Film and Video
Though not technically a part of the Research divisions, the Reserve Film and Video Collection (formerly the Donnell Media Center) is serviced from the third floor. For film and video that must be viewed onsite, there is a screening room (large enough for classes) equipped with a 16mm projector. There are also moviolasMoviola
A Moviola is a device that allows a film editor to view film while editing. It was the first machine for motion picture editing when it was invented by Iwan Serrurier in 1924.-History:...
and Steenbeck
Steenbeck
Steenbeck is a brand name that has become synonymous with a type of flatbed film editing suite which is usable with both 16 mm and 35 mm optical sound and magnetic sound film.The Steenbeck company was founded in 1931 by Wilhelm Steenbeck in Hamburg, Germany...
equipment, permitting close frame-by-frame examination and analysis.
Branch (Circulating) Collections
The beginnings of the circulating music collection are due in great part to its first head librarian, Dorothy Lawton. Lawton took part in the establishment of the music collection at the 58th Street Library in 1920, beginning with a collection of 1,000 books and scores. In 1924 the circulating music collection was officially established as part of the 58th Street Library.Circulating Music Collection, accessed September 5, 2011. Her passion for dance enabled her to get unusual publications, so much that dance critic John MartinJohn Martin
-In the arts:*John H. Martin, American actor in TV soap operas One Life to Live and Sunset Beach*John Martin , English-born Canadian broadcaster*John Martin , dance critic at the New York Times...
complimented her on the growing collection of dance books.John Martin, "The Dance: A Treasury: Important New Volumes Added to Growing Collection at Library," New York Times (October 4, 1931), p. 116.
In 1929, the 58th Street Library began a collection of recordings beginning with gifts from Victor and Columbia records, amounting to 500 records. Upon building a listening booth, Lawton reported that by 1933, the listening booth was constantly booked two weeks in advance.Compton Parkenham, "Review of Newly Recorded Music," New York Times (April 15, 1934), p. X6.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she established a concert series for servicemen on Sundays from 3-7 PM. Servicemen could request selections of their choice and could also participate in playing chamber music with instruments that had been loaned to the Library.
She established the Orchestra Collection, a set of scores and parts that could be loaned to groups for performance. Currently, the Orchestra Collection loans parts to over 2,000 works.website, accessed September 9, 2011.
Olin Downes
Olin Downes was an American music critic.He studied piano, music theory, and music criticism in New York and Boston, and it was in those two cities that he made his career as a music critic—first with the Boston Post and then with the New York Times...
complimented her on the development of the 58th Street Library, and remarked on her achievements such as attracting donors and enlisting the concern and help of professional musicians.Olin Downes, "Librarian Retires: A Tribute to Dorothy Lawton-Her Contribution to Our Musical Life," New York Times (July 8, 1945), p. 18. (Many of the rare items that were gifts to the 58th Street Branch were subsequently moved to the Music Division.)
After retiring, Lawton returned to the country of her birth, England, and help organize a newly created music collection at Central Music Library of the Buckingham Palace Road Library (today the Westminster Music Library), modeling the new library on the one she established at 58th Street.Olin Downes, "London Library: Music Institution Formed Along Lines of 58th Street Branch Here," New York Times (August 10, 1947), p. X6."London Library," New York Times (November 14, 1948), p. X7.
Currently, the Circulating collections loan books on music, dance, theatre, film, and arts administration. They also loan scores, scripts, CDs, videotapes, DVDs, and sets of orchestral parts.
Museum and Programs
Shelby Collum Davis Museum
The museum component of LPA takes the form of exhibitions in its two main exhibition spaces, The Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery and the Vincent Astor Gallery, as well as a walled area in the plaza entrance, and additionally display cases distributed throughout the building. Among the purposes of the exhibitions is to show to all visitors that the millions of items belonging to the library are not for the exclusive use of scholars but for anyone who walks in the door.Eleanor Blau, "Performing Arts Library Celebrates," New York Times (May 29, 1991), p. C14. Exhibitions highlights items from the library's collections and keep the name of the library before the public, attracting new and potential donations.Frank C. Campbell, "How the Music Division of the New York Public Library Grew-A Memoir, part 4," Notes vol. 38, no. 1 (September 1981), p. 15.Since the late 1990s, NYPL's exhibitions program has added online exhibitions. Online exhibitions serve as an extension of physical exhibitions, adding more material or allowing a greater depth of exploration.