Library of the Performing Arts (NYPL)

Library of the Performing Arts (NYPL)
Name	Library of the Performing Arts
Established	1932 (as part of New York Public Library system)
Location	Lincoln Center, Manhattan, New York City
Type	Special collections research library
Parent organization	New York Public Library

Library of the Performing Arts (NYPL) The Library of the Performing Arts is a research and public reference library of the New York Public Library system located at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan, New York City. It preserves and provides access to collections documenting theater, dance, music, and film history, serving scholars, artists, and the general public with primary sources, archival materials, and recorded media. The Library supports research related to institutions and figures such as the New York City Ballet, Metropolitan Opera, American Ballet Theatre, Juilliard School, Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and many individual artists and companies.

History

The Library traces its origins to the expansion of the New York Public Library system in the early 20th century and the move to Lincoln Center during urban renewal projects associated with Robert Moses and the redevelopment of Upper West Side. Its institutional development intersected with cultural milestones including premieres at the Metropolitan Opera and productions by The Public Theater, collaborations with the Lincoln Center Theater, and archival acquisitions related to figures such as Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Ethel Merman. Over decades the Library absorbed collections transferred from institutions like the Billy Rose Theatre Division and responded to shifts in media formats from shellac to magnetic tape to digital preservation technologies pioneered by organizations such as the Library of Congress and the American Film Institute.

Collections and Holdings

Holdings encompass manuscript materials, playbills, scores, photographs, set and costume designs, oral histories, and audiovisual media documenting productions at venues like Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, Apollo Theater (Harlem), and the Beacon Theatre. The Library holds significant archives for creators and companies including Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, August Wilson, Neil Simon, Stephen Sondheim, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bob Fosse, Pina Bausch, Martha Graham, Isadora Duncan, and Alvin Ailey. Film and television materials include scripts and production records tied to Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Katharine Hepburn, Charlie Chaplin, and studios such as Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros.. Collections also document award histories involving the Tony Award, Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Grammy Awards, Academy Awards, and Obie Awards.

Facilities and Location

Housed within the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex near Amsterdam Avenue and West 65th Street, the Library occupies reading rooms, climate-controlled stacks, audiovisual listening booths, and exhibition galleries adjacent to performing venues including the Metropolitan Opera House, David Geffen Hall, and New York State Theater. The building’s design accommodates conservation labs influenced by standards from the National Archives and climate control systems comparable to those used by the Smithsonian Institution. Proximity to academic neighbors such as Columbia University, Fordham University, and the Juilliard School supports collaborative research and student access.

Services and Access

The Library provides public reading rooms, research consultations, interlibrary loan services coordinated with the American Library Association protocols, digitization on demand consistent with practices at the Digital Public Library of America, and rights assistance for theatrical productions and scholarly use. Services include access to specialized catalogs, finding aids linked to the Freely Accessible Archives model, listening and viewing stations for recordings from labels like Decca Records, RCA Victor, and Columbia Records, and microfilm holdings of periodicals such as Playbill, Variety (magazine), and The New York Times. Access policies balance public research needs with donor restrictions and copyright regimes governed by statutes like the Copyright Act of 1976.

Programs and Exhibitions

The Library curates rotating exhibitions and public programs in partnership with organizations including the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, Broadway League, Roundabout Theatre Company, New York Theatre Workshop, Lincoln Center Theater, and festivals such as the New York Film Festival. Programming includes panel discussions, film screenings, masterclasses, and lectures featuring artists and scholars such as Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Julie Taymor, Spike Lee, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and historians from institutions like the Museum of Modern Art and the Theatre Museum. Exhibitions have highlighted landmark productions like West Side Story, A Chorus Line, Hamilton (musical), and archival retrospectives of companies like The Royal Ballet and Ballets Russes.

Notable Items and Archives

Noteworthy holdings include original manuscripts and annotated scores by Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland, production notebooks and promptbooks for premieres by Eugene O'Neill and Harold Pinter, costume sketches by designers such as Irene Sharaff and Edith Head, choreography notation and film from Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins, oral history interviews with figures like Lorraine Hansberry and August Wilson, and photographic archives documenting performances by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk. The Library maintains rare playbills and ephemera from early 20th-century producers like Florenz Ziegfeld and records relating to companies including The Shubert Organization and Nederlander Organization.

Category:Libraries in Manhattan Category:New York Public Library system