Guy Wiggins “Fifth Avenue at the Library”
Source: Fifth Avenue at the Library – this amazing Guy C. Wiggins (1883-1962) of a snowy New York Public Library, recently made its way to a new home … a perfect image for today!
According to Wikipedia: on May 23, 1911, the main branch of the New York Public Library was officially opened in a ceremony presided over by President William Howard Taft. After a dedication ceremony, attended by 50,000 people, the library was open to the general public that day. The library had cost $9 million to build and its collection consisted of more than 1,000,000 volumes. The library structure was a Beaux-Arts design and was the largest marble structure up to that time in the United States. The two stone lions guarding the entrance were sculpted by E. C. Potter and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers. Its main reading room was contemporaneously the largest of its kind in the world at 77 feet (23.5 m) wide by 295 feet (89.9 m) long, with 50 feet (15.2 m) high ceilings. It is lined with thousands of reference books on open shelves along the floor level and along the balcony.