The New York Society Library451

Don't let the name throw you. The New York Society Library isn't stuffy (though it is beautiful and dignified), and it has one of the best children's rooms in the city.

The handsome Italianate town house, built in 1917, was designed by Trowbridge and Livingston, the architects of the Wall Street headquarters of J.P. Morgan & Co and the St. Regis Sheraton Hotel. The building was converted for use as a library in 1937 and is a New York City landmark.

The Library is filled with art and other objects from all periods of its history, including its original charter granted by George III. Over the years, members have donated paintings by Samuel Lovett Waldo, Adolphe William Bouguereau, and Joseph Wright; graphic works by John James Audubon and Will Barnet; and sculptures by Hiram Powers and Thomas Crawford.

As the Library building was originally a large town house, the reading and study rooms, which occupy parts of the five floors at the front of the building, are well-proportioned and comfortable. Members can easily reach the upper floors in the paneled elevator.

Activities for children and grandchildren of members include story and craft times, Lunch in the Library, and Bedtime Stories (kids come in the evening in their pajamas). Guest storytellers, authors, and performers often appear here as well.