NYPL Abandons Central Library Plan – Roundup of Coverage

In a victory for library users across the city, the New York Public Library has announced it will abandon the hugely unpopular Central Library Plan.  The Mid-Manhattan Library will be saved and renovated, and the 42nd St. Library stacks will be kept intact “for present”.  But NYPL is refusing to return the books to the stacks!

Here’s a summary of coverage:

Wall Street Journal: “In Library’s New Plan, the Stacks Stay… Empty”
NYPL’s new plan has people “scratching their heads” – save the stacks but keep them empty?! As Pulitzer Prize-winner David Levering Lewis says, “Isn’t this pretty Kafka-esque?”  Also, the Wall Street Journal reveals that the NYPL trustees and administration have spent a jaw-dropping 18 million dollars on the plan they just abandoned.  And why did NYPL refuse to let the Wall Street Journal take a photo of the empty stacks to illustrate their article?

The Nation: “NYPL Shelves Plan to Gut Central Library”
Scott Sherman, who first broke the news about the Central Library Plan over 2 years ago, reviews the questions surrounding the NYPL’s decision to abandon the plan.

Translationista: “A Library Without Books?”
Translationista analyses the NYPL’s rationale for not returning the books to the 42nd Street stacks. Conclusion? Returning the books to the stacks is the most cost-effective way to store them. “[NYPL President Tony] Marx and [NYPL Communications Officer Ken] Weine know all these things as well as I do, so the question remains: Why are they so hellbent on keeping the books off those shelves? It just doesn’t compute.”

Melville House: “Critics of the Central Library Plan React to New York Public Library’s Change of Course”
A great round-up of reactions to NYPL’s decision to abandon the Central Library Plan.

Wall Street Journal: “New York Public Library Scraps Redesign Plans”
The initial Wall Street Journal story, which revealed that NYPL did not plan to return the books to the 42nd Street Stacks.

New York Times: “Public Library Is Abandoning Disputed Plan for Landmark”
The story which first broke the news of NYPL’s decision to scrap the Central Library Plan.