=Use of Books.= The Library's situation in the metropolis, and its freedom from restrictions (according to the custom of American libraries) have caused the use of its books to become two or three times greater than that of any of the other large libraries of the world; the average daily number of readers is more than double the number in any foreign library. [Illustration] =Stack.= Underneath the Main Reading Room is the steel stack, in seven decks, containing 334,500 feet, or 63.3 miles, of shelving. It has room for about 2,500,000 books. (The special reading rooms have a shelf capacity for about 500,000 books.) The books in the stack are brought by electric elevators to the Main Reading Room, as they are called for by readers. The stack is not open to readers or visitors. =Genealogy Room.= At the northern end of the Main Reading Room is the room devoted to Local History and Genealogy (No. 328). The collection numbers about thirty thousand volumes. [Illustration: PART OF MAIN READING ROOM] =American History Division.= At the southern end of the Main Reading Room is the room devoted to American history (No. 300). It is one of the strongest divisions of the Library, since its books are so distinguished among collections of this kind as to make them of the greatest importance to students and scholars in the field of American history. The foundation of this collection was formed by the books on American history owned by James Lenox, the founder of the Lenox Library, one of the components of the present New York Public Library. The tablet in the floor near the entrance of Room 300 is inscribed as follows: IN MEMORY OF JAMES LENOX A NATIVE AND RESIDENT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK BORN AUGUST 19 1800 DIED FEBRUARY 17 1880 THE TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY ASTOR LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS IN PERFORMANCE OF A GRATEFUL DUTY HAVE CAUSED THIS TABLET TO BE PLACED HERE AMONG THE BOOKS HE CHERISHED AS A MEMORIAL OF HIS SERVICES TO THE HISTORY OF AMERICA From the corridors on the front and sides of the third floor, rooms open in the following order, beginning with the corridor at the south, running along the 40th Street side of the building: =Reserve Books= (No. 303): In this room are kept the rare and reserved books of the Library.