=The rear of the building= should be viewed from Bryant Park. The long windows are to light the bookstack. Some critics have commended the rear of the building very highly. Mr. A. C. David, in the article previously quoted, says: "This façade is very plainly treated, without any pretence to architectural effect. It is, indeed, designed frankly as the rear of a structure which is not meant to be looked at except on the other sides. Any attempt, consequently, at monumental treatment has been abandoned. The building is designed to be seen from Fifth Avenue and from the side streets. The rear, on Bryant Park, merely takes care of itself; and one of the largest apartments in any edifice in the United States is practically concealed, so far as any positive exterior result is concerned." [Illustration: A RAINY DAY--FIFTH AVENUE FROM AN ETCHING BY CHARLES B. KING] The large apartment referred to in this quotation is the Main Reading Room of the Library, which is described farther on in this Handbook. FIRST FLOOR =Entrances.= There are two entrances to the Library, the main entrance on Fifth Avenue, and the side door on 42nd Street, which gives admission to the basement, where the Central Circulation Room, the Newspaper Room and the Central Children's Room are to be found. On a first visit, however, the sightseer should use the main entrance on Fifth Avenue, in order to see the lobby, which rises through two stories, with broad staircases to the right and left. The flying arches of these staircases are of seventeen feet span, and are all of marble without any brick or metal work whatever. The marble used in the lobby is from Vermont. The ceiling is a true marble vault of forty feet span, supporting itself and the floor over it, with no metal whatever, except some reinforcing rods buried in the concrete filling in the floor above. [Illustration: TRUTH BY FREDERICK MACMONNIES] Between the pillars facing the entrance are two inscriptions. At the left is this: THE CITY OF NEW YORK HAS ERECTED THIS BUILDING TO BE MAINTAINED FOREVER AS A FREE LIBRARY FOR THE USE OF THE PEOPLE [Illustration: PART OF MAIN FAÇADE] And at the right: ON THE DIFFUSION OF EDUCATION AMONG THE PEOPLE REST THE PRESERVATION AND PERPETUATION OF OUR FREE INSTITUTIONS The latter is a quotation from an address by Daniel Webster at Madison, Indiana, June 1, 1837. =Elevators= are near the northern or 42nd Street end of the building. There is also a staircase at this end of the building, in addition to the staircases near the main entrance.