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Comment by karmelapple | Hacker News Reader

The most beautiful reading room I’ve ever been in. I wanted to go into NYC’s public library reading room, but they don’t allow visitors, which was a bummer. (Or at the very least it’s strongly discouraged unless you’re truly there doing work, rather than just wanting to sit there for a few minutes and soak it in or read a little)

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I was able to visit the main New York Public Library reading room without issues, maybe you're thinking of the LOC reading room in DC?

Fun factoid about NYPL: it's a private nonprofit, not a municipal establishment like many other libraries.

Maybe I'm missing something, but isn't "reading a little" the exact purpose of a reading room?"

You’d think! Whatever the sign said (I didn’t take a photo), it was clear they were discouraging people to just step in quick to look around. Perhaps truly reading wasn’t discouraged, but compared to the lack of such a sign at Boston Public Library, it felt very different.

But the number of tourists in NYC compared to Boston is probably a big difference.

It's been a few years and, at one point, they were doing renovations but I've definitely hung out in the Rose Reading Room at the NYPL in the past. And there's nothing on the NYPL's current site to suggest it's not open for just sitting and reading.

I live in NYC and showed a visitor the NYPL in July. The public was not allowed into the Rose Reading Room...only "researchers".

Bingo, it was exactly this. I was pretty bummed, being a fan of libraries in general, a fan of Ghostbusters, and a fan of nice places to read and work.

If I’m coworking in NYC sometime, maybe I’ll ask what kind of research I must be doing to get to read there. I’m guessing with the physical books only available there?

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