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The Library


I have come inside to feel the silence.

Eighty seven people sit within twenty metres of me - I know because I counted them. And yet all the noise they make pales in comparison with the World outside the huge glass windows.

Thirty five panes of rectangular glass make up the fifteen arched windows in this main reading room of the New York City Library.  Vintage marble lets in brief glimpses of monstrous glass and concrete beasts lurking on the boundaries of itself.  They bend and reflect light off their polished exteriors and offer no warmth or protection. 

It is only from deep within this library, a vessel of precious words, that I sit and watch the beasts marching down 5th Ave and feel safe surrounded by solid oak and tons of ink. The relentless roar of yellow cab traffic can’t permeate the walls of books and the snap of cameras stops within this gentle lit room. 

I am quite totally alone in the midst of a crowded room. 

A silent humanity sitting at the heart of a raging metal city.

- Photo of NYC Library Reading Room, Library Images





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