Pratt Institute Libraries

Pratt Institute Libraries
Main library at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY
40°41′27″N 73°57′54″W / 40.69086°N 73.96502°W / 40.69086; -73.96502
Location	224-228 Ryerson Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States
Type	Academic library
Scope	Art, architecture, design, library science
Established	1888
Architect	William Tubby
Branches	1
Other information
Website	library.pratt.edu

Pratt Institute Libraries is the academic library system of Pratt Institute. The main Pratt Library is located on the main campus in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. A branch library is located at the Pratt Manhattan Center in Greenwich Village. The Library collections focuses on the arts, architecture, design, library and information science, and allied fields. Holdings include 200,000 printed volumes, over 600 periodicals, rare books, digital images resources including Pratt Institute specific Digital Image Collection, and the Institute's Archives.^[1] It was the “first free public library in Brooklyn” ^[2] and its Brooklyn building is a New York City designated landmark.^[3]

The Library at Pratt Institute, originally called the Pratt Institute Free Library, was founded in 1888 on Pratt's Brooklyn campus. The opening day of the Library was January 4, 1888.^[4][5] At the time, the reading room contained 150 periodicals and a collection of reference materials.^[6] Patrons were able to check out one book at a time.^[7] The Pratt Institue Free Library was initially open to anyone who lived or worked in Brooklyn over fourteen.^[5] In 1891, the age limit was removed.^[2] Branch libraries of the Pratt Institute Free Library included the Astral Branch—located on the ground floor of the Astral Apartments (another Charles Pratt initiative), and the Long Island Branch at 571 Atlantic Ave.^[8]

The Library moved into a new rose brick and Belleville brownstone building located on Ryerson Street on the main campus in May 1896, with a reported cost of $190,000^[3][9] An opening ceremony was held on May 26th, 1896 and included addresses by Charles Pratt, Margaret Deland, Truman J. Backus, and Melvil Dewey, then State Librarian of New York, and music by the Daunreuther Quartet.^[9][10]

By 1940 the Pratt Libraries closed to the public, partly because the Brooklyn Public Library was able to support the needs of the community.

From 1996-2001, the Pratt Manhattan Center was located at the Puck Building. In 2001, the Pratt Manhattan Center Library moved to its present location at 144 West 14th Street in Greenwich Village.^[11]

The three-story Pratt Library building in Brooklyn, opening in 1896, was designed by William B. Tubby in a Renaissance Revival style. Tiffany and Glass Decorating Company designed interiors including glass floors designed to bring in natural light to the building. The building includes a signature marble staircase and pillars, iron railings, and balusters.^[3][12] The stacks are a design by Library Bureau, which include oak shelves and copper-plated iron shelf supports, designed to house 200,000 volumes.^[5]

Early renovations of the Pratt Library included the addition of a Children's Porch in 1912 to provide direct access to the Children's Room. The North Porch was added in the 1930s by architect John Mead Howells.^[13]

Renovations in the early 1980s by architects Giorgio Cavaglieri and Warren Gran included a new wing--an underground extension including additional stacks, study areas, and classroom with an outdoor mall above, the removal of the Children's Porch to another building on campus, and the addition of a climate-control system.^[14][15]

In 1981 the Main Library building in Brooklyn was officially designated a New York City Landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

From 1999 and 2002, renovations were done by Rogers Marvel Architects, with a budget of $2.4 million.^[16]

• Mary Wright Plummer - Founder of the Pratt Library School, director of the Pratt Libraries beginning in 1895, and director of ALA for the 1915-16 year.^[17]
• Isabel Ely Lord - Author, editor and Head Librarian for Pratt Institute from 1904 until 1910, and director of the School of Household Sciences and Arts at Pratt.^[18]
• Anne Carroll Moore - Librarian at Pratt Library from 1896-1906, and early advocate for children's libraries.^[19]
• Josephine Adams Rathbone - President of the American Library Association in 1931–32, "chief instructor" in the Pratt Institute Library School from 1895-1911, and vice-director of the Pratt Institute school from 1911-1938.^[20]
• Edward Francis Stevens - Head of Applied Sciences Reference Department at Pratt Institute Free Library from 1903-1910, and Librarian at Pratt Library and Director of Pratt School of Library Science from 1911-1938.^[21]
• Wayne Shirley - Director of Pratt Library, Dean of the Pratt Library School and co-founder of the ALA American Library History Round Table.^[22]
• Rice Estes - Director of Pratt Institute Libraries from 1955-1972, and husband of librarian and Newbery Award winning children's author Eleanor Estes.^[23]

Some scenes from the 1978 adult film Debbie Does Dallas were filmed in the library without the Library's knowledge of the nature of the film.^[24][25]

• Pratt Institute Libraries, Official website
• Pratt Institute Libraries Digital Collections, JSTOR - https://www.jstor.org/site/pratt/