his
opinion of the building is shared by the architectural profession of the
country. Of course, it does not please everybody; but if American
architects in good standing were asked to name the one building which
embodied most of what was good in contemporary American architecture,
The New York Public Library would be the choice of a handsome majority."

Mr. David continued: "The Library is not, then, intended to be a great
monumental building, which would look almost as well from one point of
view as another, and which would be fundamentally an example of pure
architectural form. It is designed rather to face on the avenue of a
city, and not to seem out of place on such a site. It is essentially and
frankly an instance of street architecture; and as an instance of street
architecture it is distinguished in its appearance rather than imposing.
Not, indeed, that it is lacking in dignity. The facade on Fifth Avenue
has poise, as well as distinction; character, as well as good manners.
But still it does not insist upon its own peculiar importance, as every
monumental building must do. It is content with a somewhat humbler role,
but one which is probably more appropriate. It looks ingratiating rather
than imposing, and that is probably one reason for its popularity. It is
intended for popular rather than for official use, and the building
issues to the people an invitation to enter rather than a command....

[Illustration: TERRACE IN FRONT OF LIBRARY

LOOKING SOUTH]

"The final judgment on the Library will be, consequently, that it is not
a great monument, because considerations of architectural form have in
several conspicuous instances been deliberately subordinated to the
needs of the plan. In this respect it resembles the new Museum of Fine
Arts in Boston. The building is at bottom a compromise between two
groups of partly antagonistic demands, and a compromise can hardly ever
become a consummate example of architectural form. But, on the other
hand, Messrs. Carrere and Hastings have, as in so many other cases, made
their compromise successful. Faithful as they have been to the
fundamental requirement of adapting the building to its purpose as a
library, they have also succeeded in making it look well; and they have
succeeded in making it look well partly because the design is
appropriate to its function as a building in which books are stored,
read and distributed. A merely monumental library always appears
somewha