Know the Past, Find the Future
As part of its centennial celebrations, the New York Public Library asked 100 writers, artists, musicians, and scholars to name their favorite works from among the millions in the library's collections. The resulting tome isn't available for sale; instead, Penguin and the NYPL left 25,000 copies in parks, train stations, the branch libraries, and elsewhere.
Some selections are rather mundane: Zadie Smith picked Shakespeare's first folio, Lou Reed a page from Edgar Allan Poe's work. But others are as unique and interesting as the stories behind the choices: Laurie Anderson selected the Declaration of Independence, because as a child she wrote her own colonial newspapers. Ishmael Beah picked Treasure Island, evoking his own childhood in Sierra Leone, while Colum McCann ate a flake from the first edition of Ulysses. Concluding the description of her choice (photographs by Brassai), Francine Prose writes, "You don't need a borrowing card, or citizenship, or papers" to access an item in the library's collection. Anyone can walk in and arrange to see these treasures. "The only things required are the curiosity and the desire that every human creature would have, if only we were encouraged." It's a truly democratic institution, and that's a fact worth celebrating.
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Some selections are rather mundane: Zadie Smith picked Shakespeare's first folio, Lou Reed a page from Edgar Allan Poe's work. But others are as unique and interesting as the stories behind the choices: Laurie Anderson selected the Declaration of Independence, because as a child she wrote her own colonial newspapers. Ishmael Beah picked Treasure Island, evoking his own childhood in Sierra Leone, while Colum McCann ate a flake from the first edition of Ulysses. Concluding the description of her choice (photographs by Brassai), Francine Prose writes, "You don't need a borrowing card, or citizenship, or papers" to access an item in the library's collection. Anyone can walk in and arrange to see these treasures. "The only things required are the curiosity and the desire that every human creature would have, if only we were encouraged." It's a truly democratic institution, and that's a fact worth celebrating.
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