Patience and Fortitude
Power, Real Estate, and the Fight to Save a Public Library
Brooklyn : Melville House, [2017]
Format: Book
Edition: [Paperback edition].
Description: xvii, 217 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm
A riveting investigation of a beloved library caught in the crosshairs of real estate, power, and the people's interests-by the reporter who broke the story
In a series of cover stories for The Nation magazine, journalist Scott Sherman uncovered the ways in which Wall Street logic almost took down one of New York City's most beloved and iconic institutions- the New York Public Library.
In the years preceding the 2008 financial crisis, the library's leaders forged an audacious plan to sell off multiple branch libraries, mutilate a historic building, and send millions of books to a storage facility in New Jersey. Scholars, researchers, and readers would be out of luck, but real estate developers and New York's Mayor Bloomberg would get what they wanted.
But when the story broke, the people fought back, as famous writers, professors, and citizens' groups came together to defend a national treasure.
Rich with revealing interviews with key figures, Patience and Fortitude is at once a hugely readable history of the library's secret plans, and a stirring account of a rare triumph against the forces of money and power.
In a series of cover stories for The Nation magazine, journalist Scott Sherman uncovered the ways in which Wall Street logic almost took down one of New York City's most beloved and iconic institutions- the New York Public Library.
In the years preceding the 2008 financial crisis, the library's leaders forged an audacious plan to sell off multiple branch libraries, mutilate a historic building, and send millions of books to a storage facility in New Jersey. Scholars, researchers, and readers would be out of luck, but real estate developers and New York's Mayor Bloomberg would get what they wanted.
But when the story broke, the people fought back, as famous writers, professors, and citizens' groups came together to defend a national treasure.
Rich with revealing interviews with key figures, Patience and Fortitude is at once a hugely readable history of the library's secret plans, and a stirring account of a rare triumph against the forces of money and power.
Contents:
"There will never be an end to this library" -- "A great work" -- Decay and renewal -- "The greatest project ever" -- Hubris and corporate logic -- An invitation to act -- "I will raise the money" -- "Don't gut our lions" -- "The wrong plan" -- Afterword: "It shows what citizen power can do."
Subjects:
New York Public Library -- History.
New York Public Library -- Administration.
New York Public Library -- Finance.
New York Public Library -- Buildings.
New York Public Library -- Public opinion.
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (New York, N.Y.) -- Public opinion.
Public opinion -- New York (State) -- New York.
Library buildings -- Remodeling -- New York (State) -- New York.
Historic preservation -- New York (State) -- New York -- Citizen participation.
New York (N.Y.) -- Politics and government -- 1951-
New York Public Library -- History.
New York Public Library -- Administration.
New York Public Library -- Finance.
New York Public Library -- Buildings.
New York Public Library -- Public opinion.
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (New York, N.Y.) -- Public opinion.
Public opinion -- New York (State) -- New York.
Library buildings -- Remodeling -- New York (State) -- New York.
Historic preservation -- New York (State) -- New York -- Citizen participation.
New York (N.Y.) -- Politics and government -- 1951-
ISBN:
1612196675
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
GENERAL INFO Library She | Main (Downtown) | Third Level, Nonfiction | In |
"Now with a new afterword by the author" -- front cover.
Includes index.
Includes index.