In a city defined in no small measure by its towering architecture, Brooklyn Public Library archivist Ivy Marvel believes there is "civic pride" in knowing that window cleaners exist.

WSJ: Window-Washing Robots Rise; Humans Balk

He had no mechanical ability, but his wife, Edith, whom he met at Brandeis, recalls that when they went to the college library Walt would spend time scanning architecture magazines.

NEWYORKER: Critical Mass

Thus, says Mr Rybczynski in these lectures given at the New York Public Library in October 1999, people appreciate architecture, among other reasons, because it prompts them to think who they might have been in the past and how far removed they now may be from that age.

ECONOMIST: Architectural styles

Palladio's "Four Books of Architecture" became an essential part of every distinguished library, including that of Thomas Jefferson, who helped himself liberally to their examples.

WSJ: Ada Louise Huxtable | Her Critical Judgments Were Built to Last

Translated into French in 1650 and retranslated into English in 1663, with expanded English versions in 1715 and 1720, Palladio's "Four Books of Architecture" became an essential part of every distinguished library, including that of Thomas Jefferson, who helped himself liberally to their examples.

WSJ: Palladio & His Legacy, at the Morgan Library & Museum | By Ada Louise Huxtable

Ware, the founder of the Columbia School of Architecture, and incorporated into the competition to design the library.

WSJ: New York Public Library | Undertaking Its Destruction | By Ada Louise Huxtable