Housed within the John S. Rogers Mansion of Manhattan, the New York Society Library is the oldest cultural institution in the city. The subscription library traces its roots to an older building of 1734, however it was moved to its current location only in 1937. NYSL has had the honor of functioning as the Library of Congress for the duration of time when New York was deemed the capital of United States. Until the creation of New York Public Library, it has also served as city's official library.
Brooklyn Public Library is the fifth largest library system in the United States. The system was approved by a legislation of the state of New York in 1892. The system consists of more than 55 branches, a business library in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., and a public bookmobile. It serves more than 2.5 million residents, offering thousands of public programs, millions of books and more than 850 free Internet-accessible computers. It also offers public programs, such as author reading, Chinese opera performance and poetry discussion.
