Monthly Archives: January 2016

The Rose Main Reading Room at the 42nd Street Library has been closed for repairs since May 2014, when a small piece of plaster fell off the ceiling.

Last December, NYPL offered a tour of the scaffolding in the Rose Main Reading Room to interested members of the public. It’s an impressive structure, which holds up a platform (referred to as a “dance floor”) extending across the entire length and width of the ceiling.  The corrugated metal panels seen above the scaffolding in the photos below form the underside of this platform.

NYPL staff were on hand to provide information about the status of the ceiling repairs and the scope of the work that is being done.  They were very forthcoming in their answers to questions, and did an excellent job of explaining why the work is so extensive and why it is taking so long.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again:  why, oh why doesn’t NYPL post regular updates on their website detailing the work that is being done in the Main Reading Room?  There’s no reason that the information we received during the tour couldn’t be posted on line, and it would go a long way towards reassuring library users that NYPL really is doing its best to get the Reading Room re-opened as soon as possible.

Below are some photos taken during the December tour (for safety reasons people weren’t allowed to ascend the scaffolding to see the dance floor, but a good photo of the dance floor can be found accompanying a report by WNYC on the repair work).