THE
COLLECTION
The Library's collection of over 275,000 volumes emphasizes its historic mission as a reader's library. The nine open stacks and two closed stacks, which include over 10,000 volumes of the
special collections, reflect the reading and intellectual interests of the members over the last 253 years. Strengths of the collection are British and American literature and criticism, biography, history, the social sciences, the arts, exploration and travel, and books relating to New York City. There is an impressive Children's Library collection as well.
The Library attempts to purchase important titles in many areas of knowledge and interest. As of 2007, approximately 4000 volumes are added to the collection each year.
Many of the Library's current acquisitions are generated by member requests; others reflect the anticipated interests of readers. Members are encouraged to
suggest a purchase through the website or by filling out a form at the front desk. Multiple copies of currently popular titles are purchased to meet the high demand.
The Library subscribes to over 100
periodicals, magazines, and literary journals and has a quality collection of unabridged books on tape, books on CD, and large-print books.
Electronic resources, including the New York Times archive, JSTOR Scholarly Journal Archive, WilsonWeb Readers' Guide Full-Text, Oxford English Dictionary, New York Review of Books and other electronic reference sources and dictionaries, are an increasing feature of the Library's collection.
The Library maintains a small book sale in the front lobby of the building. Proceeds from the sale are used to purchase new titles for the collection.
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