Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
Encyclopedia
The Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, often referred to as Bobst Library or Bobst, is the main library at New York University
. Located at 70 Washington Square South
between LaGuardia Place and the Schwartz pedestrian plaza, across from the southeast corner of Washington Square Park
, it is named after its benefactor, Elmer Holmes Bobst
who gave six million dollars towards its ultimate completion and opening on September 12, 1973. Mr. Bobst was a leading figure in pharmaceuticals, public health, philanthropy, and a confidant of Richard Nixon. He was also a long time trustee at New York University.
The library, built in 1972, is the largest library
at New York University and one of the largest academic libraries in the United States
. Designed by Philip Johnson
and Richard Foster
, the 12 story, ~39 500 m² (425 000 square feet) structure is the flagship of an eight-library, 4.5 million volume system that provides students and faculty members with access to the world's scholarship and serves as a center for the University community's intellectual life. Bobst Library houses more than 3.3 million volumes, 20 thousand journals, and over 3.5 million microforms; and provides access to thousands of electronic resources in the forms of licensed databases, e-journals and other formats both on-site and to the NYU community around the world via the Internet. The Library is visited by more than 6 500 users per day, and circulates almost one million books annually.
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The library provided text computer terminal
s for catalog search in the library until the terminals were replaced by PCs with Internet access in 2008.
, the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives
, and the University Archives of NYU. On the north side, on even floors, are large, double-height study rooms featuring floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Washington Square Park.
patterned marble floor below. After the second suicide, NYU installed plastic windows on each level to prevent further jumping. In 2009 a third student jumped to his death from the tenth floor, apparently scaling the plexiglass barricade.
and was profiled by the Washington Square News
, NYU's daily student newspaper. Reaction amongst the student body was mixed. Some students cited his case as an example of the university's inability to fully meet its students' financial need.
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...
. Located at 70 Washington Square South
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
between LaGuardia Place and the Schwartz pedestrian plaza, across from the southeast corner of Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
, it is named after its benefactor, Elmer Holmes Bobst
Elmer Holmes Bobst
Elmer Holmes Bobst was an American businessman and philanthropist who worked in the pharmaceutical industry.-Early life and career:He was born in Clear Spring, Maryland. He aspired to become a doctor, but instead, he taught himself pharmacology...
who gave six million dollars towards its ultimate completion and opening on September 12, 1973. Mr. Bobst was a leading figure in pharmaceuticals, public health, philanthropy, and a confidant of Richard Nixon. He was also a long time trustee at New York University.
The library, built in 1972, is the largest library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
at New York University and one of the largest academic libraries in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Designed by Philip Johnson
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson was an influential American architect.In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and later , as a trustee, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture...
and Richard Foster
Richard Foster (architect)
Richard T. Foster was a modernist architect who worked in the New York area, and also around Greenwich, Connecticut, often in partnership with Philip Johnson, including the Glass House located in New Canaan, Connecticut. He was educated at the Pratt Institute....
, the 12 story, ~39 500 m² (425 000 square feet) structure is the flagship of an eight-library, 4.5 million volume system that provides students and faculty members with access to the world's scholarship and serves as a center for the University community's intellectual life. Bobst Library houses more than 3.3 million volumes, 20 thousand journals, and over 3.5 million microforms; and provides access to thousands of electronic resources in the forms of licensed databases, e-journals and other formats both on-site and to the NYU community around the world via the Internet. The Library is visited by more than 6 500 users per day, and circulates almost one million books annually.
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Renovations
Gifts from Mamdouha S. Bobst and Kevin Brine made possible a significant renovation of Bobst Library's Mezzanine, First Floor and two Lower Levels which was completed in 2005.The library provided text computer terminal
Computer terminal
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system...
s for catalog search in the library until the terminals were replaced by PCs with Internet access in 2008.
Special collections
Bobst Library houses several distinct special collections departments, including the Fales LibraryFales Library
New York University's Fales Library and Special Collections is located on the third floor of the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at 70 Washington Square South between LaGuardia Place and the Schwartz Plaza, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It houses nearly 200,000...
, the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives
The Tamiment Library is a research library at New York University that documents radical and left history, with strengths in the histories of communism, socialism, anarchism, the New Left, the Civil Rights Movement, and utopian experiments. The Robert F. Wagner Archives, which is also housed in...
, and the University Archives of NYU. On the north side, on even floors, are large, double-height study rooms featuring floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Washington Square Park.
History of suicides
In late 2003, Bobst Library was the site of two suicides. In separate incidents, students jumped from the open-air crosswalks inside the library and fell to the stereogramStereogram
A stereogram is pair of two-dimensional panels depicting the view of a scene or an object from the vantage points of the right and left eyes. Observing the panels superimposed in a stereoscope results in the experience of three-dimensionality by virtue of the fact that object depth is encoded as...
patterned marble floor below. After the second suicide, NYU installed plastic windows on each level to prevent further jumping. In 2009 a third student jumped to his death from the tenth floor, apparently scaling the plexiglass barricade.
Bobst Boy
Also in 2003, Bobst Library was in the news for being the home of a homeless student who took permanent residence at the Library since he could not afford student housing. This student received the nickname Bobst BoyBobst Boy
Bobst Boy is the nickname of Steven Stanzak , a New York University student who spent eight months living in the basement of the school's Bobst Library from September 2003 to April 2004....
and was profiled by the Washington Square News
Washington Square News
The Washington Square News is the daily student newspaper of New York University and serves the NYU, Greenwich Village, and East Village communities. The paper, better known as WSN, has a circulation of 10,000 and an estimated 65,000 readers online...
, NYU's daily student newspaper. Reaction amongst the student body was mixed. Some students cited his case as an example of the university's inability to fully meet its students' financial need.