epartment of the Library performs its work through
forty-four Branch Libraries in the Boroughs of Manhattan, Richmond
(Staten Island), and The Bronx. (Each of the other two Boroughs of
Greater New York, Brooklyn and Queens, has its own Public Library.)
These Branches are in separate buildings, with the exception of the
Circulation Branch in the Central Building. That is supported by the
funds of the Library; all the others are maintained by the City.
Thirty-seven of the Branch buildings were erected from funds given by
Mr. Andrew Carnegie. The collections of books in the Branches number
from ten to fifty thousand, with a total of about 1,100,000 books.

Each Branch has an adult department, with its collection of books for
adult readers, a children's room, and a reading room with current
magazines, reference books, and, in many cases, daily newspapers. Many
of the Branches contain lecture or assembly rooms.

These Branch Libraries serve a population estimated at above three
million. The Branches are spread over a large territory, and from the
northernmost of them, in the Borough of The Bronx, to the one farthest
south, on Staten Island, the distance is about forty miles. A directory
of Branches is on page 77.

=Circulation of Books.= The New York Public Library, according to the
general custom of American libraries, imposes few restrictions upon its
readers. This fact, together with its situation in the metropolis of
the country, is the reason why it is probably used more than any other
library under one management in the world. The use is constantly
growing. In 1915 there were borrowed from the Branch Libraries, for home
use, 10,384,579 books.

[Illustration: SEWARD PARK BRANCH]

=Special Collections.= There are books in foreign languages, especially
French and German, in all the Branches. The principal collections of
books in foreign tongues other than French and German, are these:

_Language Branch_

Bohemian Webster.
Chinese Chatham Square.
Danish Tottenville, 125th Street.
Dutch Muhlenberg.
Finnish 125th Street.
Flemish Muhlenberg.
Greek (Modern) Chatham Square.
Hebrew Seward Park, Aguilar.
Hungarian Tompkins Square, Hamilton Fish Park,
Yorkville, Woodstock.
Italian Hudson Park, Aguilar, Bond Street.
Norwegian Tottenville.
Polish Rivington Street, Tompkins Square,