New York Public Library: A Universe of Knowledge

Contents: Preface / by Paul LeClerc Prelude "A free library for the use of the people": predecessors and founders A dream fulfilled, 1913-1945 "Intellectual hospitality": the research collections "The sovereign hope of learning": neighborhood library service Building libraries in a new world, 1945-2000 "An empowering mechanism": modernization and growth "A metaphor for an ideal city" : creating a 21st-century library