Tompkins Square Branch, New York Public Library

History and architecture

Opened on December 1, 1904, the Tompkins Square Branch of The New York Public Library is one of the earliest Carnegie branch libraries in New York City. It is one of twenty in Manhattan and one of sixty-seven in New York City, built when Andrew Carnegie donated $5.2 million in 1901 to establish a city-wide branch library system. The preeminent and nationally influential architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White designed the Tompkins Square Branch and twelve other Carnegie branch libraries. The library, with its characteristic vertical plan and arched entrance offset to one side, classically-inspired style and carved stone ornament, and tall, arched first and second floor windows providing abundant lighting to a simple interior, is characteristic of the urban Carnegie library type. The library has played a prominent role in the neighborhood for nearly one hundred years.