New York Public Library: Update

[Tony Anemone]

On September 2, 2008, the Slavic and Baltic Division of the New York  
Public Library was closed. Although the division and reading room have  
closed, the Library still holds one of the greatest Slavic collections  
in the world. During the 1930s and after, the Library acquired an  
amazing treasure trove of Imperial photograph albums and association  
copies, rare volumes, and much more.  The collection continues to grow  
through the acquisition of newly published material, particularly in  
Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish and Czech and is still highly  
used. For continued access to these materials, requests can be made  
through the Rose Main Reading Room or, for “Slav Reserve” books,  
through the Rare Books reading room.

Call numbers and location information for materials can generally be  
found through the library’s online catalog http://catalog.nypl.org/  
but some older Slavic and Baltic items are not yet listed there.  To  
find them, readers must consult the red catalog: a 44- volume printed  
Dictionary Catalog of the Slavic and Baltic Division available in the  
second-floor corridor and Room 315.

Materials stored at ReCAP, the Library’s offsite storage facility, are  
delivered in two business days and can be requested in advance at callaheadhssl at nypl.org 
.

For detailed information about how to request materials in the Main  
Reading Room from the General Research Division stacks, please see the  
Library’s website at http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/grd/finding.html

Be aware that any books marked as Slav Reserve are in Rare Books.  
Requests for Slavic materials housed in the Rare Books Division should  
be made at least three days in advance by filling out the “Register as  
Reader” form located on the Division’s homepage. http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/rbk/rbooks.html

Usually within a day or so you will be notified by email that the  
books are available.

General reference assistance is available onsite in Room 315 or online  
via ASK NYPL http://www.nypl.org/questions/.  Mr. Hee-Gwone Yoo,  
reference librarian and selector for Slavic language materials, is  
available to assist with specialized research questions and to advise  
on how to gain access to specific materials, including those that have  
been digitized (hyoo at nypl.org).   Any problems with retrieval of  
Slavic and Baltic materials can be addressed to Mr. Yoo.

NYPL welcomes scholars and researchers to continue making use of these  
materials. It is important that scholars make use of these materials  
in order to keep their profile high within the library and to justify  
the continued allocation of resources to Slavic and Baltic materials.  
For a small sampling of the riches of the collection, see the digital  
images in:

Icons and Images of Cultures: Plate Books from the Russian Empire,  
Early Soviet Russia, and Eastern Europe, 1730-1935

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/explore/dgexplore.cfm?topic=all&col_id=194

Posters of the Russian Civil War, 1918-1922

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/explore/dgexplore.cfm?topic=all&collection_list=PostersoftheRussianC&col_id=195

Russia and Eastern Europe in Rare Photographs, 1860- 1945

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/explore/dgexplore.cfm?topic=all&col_id=193

In September 2009, the Committee in Support of Slavic and Baltic  
Scholarship was formed in New York to ensure the accessibility of the  
Slavic collection of the NYPL. Those interested in learning more about  
the committee may email the committee at SlavicCommittee at yahoo.com.






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