EP 6.12

EP 6.12

The Building finally opened January 9, 1854, and the hours were to be fixed at 10 am to 5 pm. The doors were open, though books were not available to read until Feb 1, and no books were to be taken from the library for any purpose, a policy scrutinized for is apparent unavailability to the working class. By opening day Joseph Cogswell had managed to pack the library with between 80 – 90k books, said to have expended the Trustees around $100k. Being the Trustee of the Astor Library, by the Grantor of the Trust himself John Jacob Astor, with the responsibility of continuing to stock the library he would work tirelessly to accomplish his task. By the time it was all said and done, the library would undergo 2 expansions to the building to make room for more books. “There were few scholars or investigators in the latter half of the nineteenth century who had not at some time used its collections.” Until 1895 the Astor Library would be in the public spot light, as always more for the Upper Tens than the general Public who were the supposed beneficiaries of Astor Library Trust. “The Astor Library suffered from its name”, and would be the ultimate demise of the space and would eventually be absorbed into the New York Public Library for lack of public support. “...the public, though free to criticize, was reluctant to contribute towards its support, that was left to the Astors.”