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Vartan Gregorian, Charisma, and New Technology Combine to Revitalize the New York Public Library

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Vartan Gregorian, Charisma, and New Technology Combine to Revitalize the New York Public Library EUGENE GARFIELD INSTITUTE FOR SCIENTIFIC lNFORMATION~ 3501 MARKET ST, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19104 Vartan Gregorian, Charisma, and New Technology Combine to Revitalize the New York Public Library Number 22 June 1, 1987 As a child I spent many hours in the reference collections, the Astor Library Highbridge branch of the New York Public (founded in 1848) and the Lenox Library Library (NYPL). Later on in high school (founded in 1870), joined with the Tilden and college I would spend entire days in the Trust to form a new corporate entity, the Centml Research Library housed in the great New York Public Library. beaux-arts building on 42d and Fifth Ave- In 1901 the free circulating libraries that nue. Thk neoclassical palace has special had developed in New York between 1870 significance to most New Yorkers. Designed and 1890 merged with the NYPL to create by John M. Carr?xe and Thomas Hastings a coordinated, tax-supported circulating in 1897, it is one of the most impressive library system. Industrialist Andrew Carne- repositories of literature in the world, with gie offered to construct branch buildings for over 5 million volumes, 20,000 paiodicals, the library system, provided the city took 11 million manuscripts, and 90 miles of responsibility for the permanent mairtte- shelves. I nance of the buildings.4 The consolidation While the Central Research Library is im- of the research libraries and the absorption pressive, it is only 1 of 85 facilities consti- of the circulating libraries make the NYPL tuting the NYPL system. With 4 research a unique institution in that the research li- libraries and 81 branch libraries located braries are rnairdyprivately supported, while throughout Manhattan, the Bronx, and Stat- the branches are primarily publicly financed, en Island, the NYPL is considered 1 of the all within one private corporation. world’s top 5 libraries. Its peers are such Since its doors first opened in 1911, the prestigious institutions as the British Central Research Libra~ has played a role Museum in London, the Bibliothkque Na- in many exceptional achievements. For ex- tionale in Paris, the Lenin State Library in ample, Edwin Land used the library’s col- Moscow, and the US Library of Congress lection for research prior to his development in Washington, DC. ZYet the NYPL is the of synthetic polarized light, the basis for the only one of these five research libraries that Polaroid camera. Chester Carlson re- offers unrestricted access to the public. searched photoconductivity and electrostat- ics, leading to his invention of the Xerox photocopier.s NYPL History The libra~ has rdso played a crucial role in the early lives of many prominent peo- Augustine Birrell, a former British chief ple. For example, Nobel laureate Joshua seeretary for Ireland and founder of the Na- Lederberg worked there as a page, and he tional University of Ireland, once wrote, recalls that the NYPL” was as important to “Libraries are not made; they grow.”s my education as were schools and col- Such was the case for the NYPL, which was lege.”6 Lederberg believes that the NYPL created in 1895 when two privately funded opened otherwise locked doors for under- 138 privileged youth. % writes, “The New mission to promote and sustain respect for York Public Library was another important learning and respect for knowledge. [The element of ml efficient anti ea.kxdatedsystem NYPL] is not merely a repository but a liv- of Americanization. and of social mobility ing institution, which plays a dynamic role for first generation unmigrant youth.”7 in the spectrum of the city’s educational op- Budget icstraints during the 1970s caused porntnities.” 12 a period of deciine in library services and He added, “There is such a great reser- building maintenance. At one point, the voir of good feeling about this place in New Central Research Ulbrary reduced business York. There is no cynicism about this in- hours from 87 to 43 hours a week. Patron- stitution, and New Yorkers can be very cyn- age fell from a high of 3 million users in ical. But not about the NYPL; they take 1960 to 1 miliion by 1980. In addition, great pride in it. ... I have tried to rekindle reduced financiai resources forced the cu- that pride. The issue is no longer whether rators to cut back on acquiring significant the NYPL will survive or not—the issue is collections.~ The Central Research Library the quality of its survival. “tz building itself. a National Historic Land- Since Gregorian came to NYPL, fundhtg mark,g suffered severe maintenance prob- for the library has greatly increased The lems owing to ne,@cK.A leaking roof dam- Vincent Astor Foundation has bestowed a aged boons that were aiready deteriorating $10 million grant to the iibra~ and David because the building iacicedan air-condition- Rockefeller provided a $2,5 mt~lon gift. 13 ing system. The ,grand imerior of the buiid- In 1985 the library received one of the larg- ing had been diminished by pooriy executed est grants from the National Endowment for alterations. & the Humanities ever awarded to a singie in- A decade of budgetary limitations iinked stitution-$d million on a matching basis to the N-ewYoik iisctd crisis finaily ended over a three-year period. 14 In addition, with the arrivai or’Vartan Gregorian in 1981 since 1983 the operating budget has grown as NYPL president. Gregorian is considered from $71 million to over $100 million. 13 the force behind the library’s recent reju- Meanwhile, some sorely needed physical venation. Vattan’s charismatic personality renovations have begun. The building’s has brought a new vitality to the library that facade has been cleaned, advanced temper- has caught the public’s attention. Countless ature and humidity controls for the stacks articles have been written about him, includ- have been instrdled, and the Public Catalog ing a two-part profile in New Yorkerlo at- Room has undergone extensive renova- testing to his stature. tion. 15 Born in Tabriz, Iran, he came to the US Vartan’s revitalization program has been in 1956 to attend Stanford University where more than cosmetic, however. He has di- he earned a BA and PhD in history and rected the implementation of an online humanities. 10His book on The Emergence catalog system that makes access to the li- of Modern Afghanistan: Politics of Reform brary’s vast collection simpler. More recent- and Moaetnimtion 1880-1946 was pub- ly, following the recommendation of a com- lished by Stanford University Press in mittee of experts, he has appointed Richard 1969.1~ De Gemaro as director of the NYPL. For- In 1972 he ‘becamea professor of history merly director of the University of Pemtsyl- and South Asian hktory at the University vania Libraries, Dick is an internationally of Pemsyivania, Philadelphia, and held the recognized leader in library automation and Tarzian Chair for Armenian and Caucasian management. His most-cited paper discusses History. Whiie at Penn, Gregorian served the necessity and strategy of developing ef- as the first dean of the Facul@ of Arts and fective means of library resource sharing. 16 Sciences from 1972 to 1978. In 1978 he be- Vartan was provost at Penn when Dick was came provost of the university, a position librarian. Now he compares Dick’s position he held until 1980.10 at NYPL to that of a universi~ provost. 12 Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Dick’s responsibilities at NYPL include Vartan about his role as head of the NYPL. planning the policies, programs, and budgets He said, “I have always fek it was my life’s of the research libraries and the branch li- 139 Vartan Gregorian and Eugene Garjield braries. He will oversee automation, stafl liothkque Nationale and the British Muse- development, exhibitions, and public edu- um. 18No doubt we will one day see a CD- cation programs. 17 ROM version of this catalog. To search for materials acquired since 1972, 50 computer terminals were installed for users to access the online catalog of the New York Public Library, nicknamed The Public Catalog Room CATNYP. Vartan notes that “this leap in On January 18, 1985, the Public Catalog twenty-first-centwy technology affords im- Room was closed for the first time since the proved access to our collections within the Central Research Library opened in 1911. grandeur of nineteenth-century-style sur- During a year of renovation, the walls of roundings. +I19It was fun for me to try out the room were hand-scrubbed, the tile floor the new system and to think back on the repaired, the long oak tables refinished, and rows and rows of catalog trays that used to the ceiling mural restored. In addition, the occupy that huge room. 10 million cards that were stored in over The library is also a member of the Re- 9,000 catalog drawers were replaced with search Libraries Group, Inc., a consortium an 800-volume Dictionary Gualog of the of about 30 major universities and other Research Libraries of the New York Public research institutions dedicated to improving Library, 1911-1971. This book catalog con- the management of information resources. tains photoreproductions of the cards cata- This consortium enables scholars to have the loged prior to 1972. Not surprisingly, it has benefit of shared access to research materials been purchased by such libraries as the Bib- from a variety of sources. 140 Science am-lTechnology Center sional librarians and are then added to the collections. Over 1,400 institutions and in- On the first floor of the Central Research dividuals worldwide use thk bulletin to de- Library is the Science and Technology Cen- velop their own collections .22 ter, which is regarded as one of the world’s In our conversation I reminded Vartarr of greatest research collections in the pure and the librarian-educator Henry E.
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