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NYC Research Libraries

 

The New York Public Library System

The New York Public Library (NYPL) system includes several major public research libraries, each with strong collections in specific subject areas: the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the Mid-Manhattan Library, the Library for the Performing Arts, the Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL), and the Scomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. In order to use the NYPL Research Libraries, you must first obtain an ACCESS Card. Please see the ACCESS Card page for more information.

Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (formerly the Humanities and Social Sciences Library)
476 Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street
917-ASK-NYPL

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building houses the Library’s research collections in the humanities and social sciences:

 

Mid-Manhattan Library
455 Fifth Avenue at 40th Street
212-340-0833  

The Mid-Manhattan Library collections include the following subjects: applied art and art history, consumer health, cookbooks, education, history, language, literature, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, sociology, travel, and world languages. The Library also provides accessibility services and assistive technologies. To learn more, you can visit their pages on:

 

Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
212-870-1630

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts houses the world's most extensive combination of circulating and non-circulating reference and research materials on music, dance, theatre, recorded sound, and other performing arts, including:

 

Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL)
188 Madison Avenue at 34th Street

212-592-7000

SIBL includes both circulating, research, and rare book collections as well as research guides in all areas of science, industry and business. Subjects include:

  • Business: Advertising, Banks and Banking, Economics, Finance, Industrial Relations, International Trade, Labor, Management, Marketing, Personnel Management, Public Relations, Small Business, Statistics, Unions, Urban Affairs

  • Science: Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Science, Mathematics, Physics, Robotics

  • Industry: Aeronautics, Apparel, Biotechnology, Computer Industry, Construction, Food Industry, Industrial Relations, Insurance, Real Estate, Telecommunications,Textile Industry, Transportation

Additional services offered at SIBL include:

 

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard at 135th Street

212-491-2200

 

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a national research library devoted to collecting, preserving and providing access to resources documenting the history and experiences of peoples of African descent throughout the world. Subject strengths include: African, Caribbean and African American literature, History of the Americas, History of New York metropolitan area, Harlem and Blacks in the performing and visual arts, African American, Caribbean, and African newspapers. Collections/divisions include:

 

Additional Libraries and Collections Throughout NYC

New York City is also home to many other libraries and collections of interest to researchers. Below are a few that may be of interest to Hunter graduate students.

City Hall Library
31 Chambers Street between Broadway and Lafayette
Room 112
212-NEW-YORK

The City Hall Library is New York City's official depository for all agency published reports and studies. Collections of note include:

  • Biographies of city and state officials

  • Mayoral committees and commissions

  • New York City neighborhood files

  • New York City history

  • Annotated New York City street name index

  • Rules and regulations of New York City agencies

  • Civil service collection of job descriptions, previous examinations, eligibility list and salary ranges for New York City positions

  • Annual Civil List of current New York City employees

 

The New York Historical Society
170 Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets
212-873-3400

The library at the New-York Historical Society is one of the oldest independent research libraries in the United States. Collection strengths include:

  • Local history of New York City and State

  • Colonial history

  • Revolutionary War

  • American military and naval history

  • Religions and religious movements, 18th and 19th century

  • Anglo-American slave trade and conditions of slavery in the United States

  • Civil War

  • American biography and genealogy

  • American art and art patronage

  • Development of American architecture from the late 18th to the present

  • 19th and 20th century portraiture and documentary photographs of New York City.

 

Government Documents Depository Libraries
There are a number of Federal Depository Libraries in New York City. Depository libraries collect, organize, maintain, preserve, and assist users with information from the Federal Government.

  • City College of New York (CUNY)
    160 Convent Avenue at W. 138th Street
    212-650-7611
    The primary mission of the depository collection is to reflect and support the research and teaching needs of the students, faculty and staff of the CCNY community, as well as the government document needs of the residents of the 15th Congressional District of New York. Depository items are selected based on a combination of current and anticipated usage, format and timeliness.

Updated 8/31/09/DB