Science, Industry and Business Library, Research library in Midtown Manhattan, United States.
The Science, Industry and Business Library is a public research library that occupied the former B. Altman and Company Building on Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York. It spread across two floors and offered computer workstations, study areas, and large collections focused on business, economics, and science.
The library opened in 1995, taking over research collections that had previously been held at the main New York Public Library building on Fifth Avenue. It remained at this location until 2020, when operations moved elsewhere.
For years, the library drew business professionals, students, and independent researchers who needed access to specialized materials on economics and science. The reading rooms had a working energy, with visitors focused on specific projects rather than casual browsing.
The building sits on Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and is easy to reach by subway or on foot from many parts of the city. Since library operations ended in 2020, visitors should check in advance whether the space is currently open to the public.
The building was originally a department store and was converted for library use by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, who kept the historic exterior while completely redesigning the interior. This kind of conversion, where a retail space becomes a public research facility, was unusual for New York at the time.
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