“In 1935, during the depths of the Depression, the Bryant Park Open-Air Reading Room was established in the backyard of the New York Public Library to engage the minds of the jobless thousands.”
“Now, during another economic crisis, and after an absence of 60 years, the reading room will return. Is this the dire omen of a new depression?”
“The timing is coincidental,” said Daniel A. Biederman, executive director of the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation, sponsor of the new outdoor library. “But in a bad time, it’s nice to have a good book, and a nice place to read it.”
“That nice place will be available next month under a new name, the Bryant Park Reading Room. The free lending library will offer 700 books and 300 periodicals to park visitors, who can informally check the publications out with library volunteers.” (from The New York Times)
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