Story highlights
The historic Rose Main Reading Room in the New York Public Library has undergone a $12 million renovation
The beloved room reopens to the public this week
The New York Public Library (NYPL) sees more than two and a half million people walk through the imposing doors of its Stephen A. Schwarzman central research center every year. Located on Fifth Avenue and 42nd street, one of the highlights of the magnificent building’s early 20th century design is its historic Rose Main Reading Room.
Strahov Abbey library, Prague, Czech Republic
The Library: A World History is the most complete account of library buildings to date. Here James Campbell and Will Pryce take us on a virtual journey through some of their favorites.
Will Pryce: "Visiting this library was an extraordinary, if fraught, experience. We hiked up a mountain only to be told that we weren't allowed to photograph the interior. Fortunately we had a Korean student of James's with us who pleaded with the Abbott and little by little we negotiated our way in. First we could take a picture through the door, then from just inside and so on. The collection is revelatory because you realize that you are looking, not at books, but printing blocks and that they date from 1251 -- reminding us that the Koreans were printing for centuries before Gutenberg."
James Campbell: "This is the oldest surviving Chinese library, dating from 1561. It is very dark because you were not intended to read inside, but to take your book to the garden or perhaps your room. The books have since been removed so this is the last picture that will ever be taken with the books on the their original shelves."
Will Pryce: "This is an extraordinary space, a temple to the industrial age which creates an almost cathedral-like effect. There are thousands of books wherever you look and gorgeous ornate balustrades. Despite all the classical details it's actually made of iron and spans the weight of this huge library above the concert hall below."
James Campbell: "This is the closest you can get to what a medieval library looked like. It was built for Malatesta Novello, a member of a prominent Italian aristocratic family, and it still contains original books, in their original places."
James Campbell: "Although the building was completed in 1373 and is one of the oldest academic libraries in the world still in continuous daily use, the fittings date from the late sixteenth century. It is less ornate than Rococo libraries in palace or monastery complexes, because universities did not have access to the same amount of money, but it is still extraordinarily beautiful."
Will Pryce: "It's an extraordinary piece of design, a statement of confidence by the Venetian Republic. It lies at the center of Jacopo Sansovino's scheme to re-design St Mark's square, though the building was completed after his death. The vestibule houses the Grimani collection of classical sculpture under a ceiling by Titian. While the original lecterns have gone, the superb interior design of the library gives us a sense of the richness of Venetian cultural life in this period."
Will Pryce: "Arts End is one of most lovely corners of the group of libraries that constitute the Bodleian. Under the galleries there are little desks where readers face the bookshelves of one of the earliest wall-system libraries."
James Campbell: "This is one of the largest monastic libraries ever built. The whole thing is a complete work of art. The corridors and staircase that leads to it is relatively simple, so when you enter this stunning space flooded with light there is almost a moment of revelation, a theatrical effect. There are no desks to work at because these library rooms were never intended for study, but for impressing visitors. The books were taken back to the monks' warm cells to be read. It was built in 1776, a piece de resistance of rococo design."
James Campbell: "This is perhaps the largest high school library ever constructed. From the outside it looks like a severe brick box punctured by windows. The inside is completely different. The main space rises the whole height of the building and the bookcases are behind the dominating concrete structure. Students can read with privacy on carrels next to the windows which they can decorate with their own possessions."
Will Pryce: "This is a very imposing library from a time when Portugal was extremely wealthy and powerful. It is very dark but features intricate gold leaf which gives it magical luminosity. The backs of the bookcases each have different color, and there are integrated ladders that pull out, and secret doors that lead to reading rooms."
WIill Pryce: "This library was ground-breaking. It established the template of using books to decorate the walls of the library which we've been using ever since. The great hall is a harmonious combination of bookshelves, books and a wonderful painted ceiling. It was complete by 1585 and influenced everything that followed it."
James Campbell: "The Mafra Palace Library in Mafra, Portugal is at 88 meters the longest Rococo monastic library in the world. Sadly the original designs are lost but we think it would have been covered in gold leaf with an ornate painted ceiling. However, because the construction lasted from 1717 to 1771, by the time it was completed a simplified decoration was adopted. The library also hosts a colony of bats who come out at night to feed on the insects who would otherwise eat the books."
James Campbell: "Outside it looks like a white box, so there is an element of surprise when you go in. All light comes through the stones in the wall, and the honey-color trickle of sun rays makes it magical. It is one of the largest buildings in the world devoted entirely to rare books and manuscripts, and it is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The elegance of the Beinecke later inspired the glass-walled structure that holds the original core collection of the British Library."
Will Pryce: "This is best solution I have seen to the problems of building a library on a contemporary scale. From the outside it's a simple rectangle but inside a series of voids have been opened up creating a complete variety of spaces to work. There are secluded areas for those who like to be surrounded by books and more open ones for those who prefer to be around people. It seemed hugely popular with the students."
However, since 2014 – when one of the ceiling’s plaster rosettes fell 52 feet to the floor – the space, along with the adjacent Bill Blass Public Catalogue room, has been closed for repairs and renovation.
The newly-restored reading room will reopen to visitors this week, along with a photo exhibition of 70 images that document the library’s history.
CNN Style spoke with Bill Kelly, Director of Research Libraries at the NYPL about the spectacular $12 million-dollar renovation.
CNN: What prompted the renovation of the room and why did the NYPL feel it was important?
Kelly: One of the plaster rosettes fell from the ceiling, fortunately in the middle of the night because it was falling from a height of 52 feet (almost 16 meters) and someone could have been killed. So it was not an option.
We had to do it and we had to do it the right way. Not simply for the security of our patrons and our staff, but this is one of the greatest buildings certainly in New York City, and I would argue in the country.
We feel that we are stewards of this space and it’s our responsibility to take good care of it and to hand it off to the subsequent generations in as good of a shape as we received it and hopefully better.
CNN: What were the main challenges to restoring part of a building that was constructed in the 1900s?
Kelly: Let’s start with the fact that the ceiling is 52 feet high. We had to build scaffolding that was 42 feet (13 meters) high so we could access it. That was a time consuming and expensive process.
We also needed to act responsibly in terms of the period pieces and be faithful to the architectural vision of Carrère and Hastings, who designed the building at the beginning of the 20th century.
That meant finding people who specialize in restoration, and recasting some materials. Fortunately, all of the ceiling is made of plaster.
CNN: Where were the books stored during the renovation?
Kelly: All of the books went to storage as a formality at our space under Bryant Park.
We were so delighted to watch them come back. It was lonely to be in that space without the books.
CNN: Which features were you most impressed by after you saw the renovated reading and catalogue rooms?
Kelly: There are lots of things and everyone has their favorites. The ceiling is spectacular. The mural on the ceiling has been restored. The extraordinary rosettes, the renaissance suggestions that are up there.
Kelly: But for me the great emblem is the windows. They are a soaring space that bring natural light to the room which has a functional capacity and, for many of us, a symbolic function.
The history of evolvement we make available to people is echoed in the windows and the light and space they create for us.
CNN: What is the role of the modern library, given how much information is consumed from digital devices?
Kelly: It’s a hybrid role. We are called upon to provide access to information in digital ways, beyond what one can simply find in Wikipedia on a smartphone.
We are in the information business and while the modality for providing that information has changed, our role has not.
What has happened with the explosion of technology is that the world of the libraries has expanded and grown, I would say geometrically.