The Harry Belafonte 115th Street Branch of the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

is a historic

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

building located in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It was designed by

McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

and built in 1907–1908 and opened on November 6, 1908. It is a three-story-high, three-bay-wide building faced in deeply rusticated gray

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

in a Neo Italian Renaissance style. The branch was one of 65 built by the New York Public Library with funds provided by the philanthropist

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

, 11 of them designed by McKim, Mead & White. The building is 50 feet wide and features three evenly spaced arched openings on the first floor. ''See also:'' The branch served as Harlem cultural center and hub of organizing efforts. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1980. In 2017, the branch was renamed to honor

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

who lived near the branch. Another branch of the Library, the Schomburg Center holds Belafonte's archives.

References

Library buildings completed in 1908 Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Renaissance Revival architecture in New York City Carnegie libraries in New York City 115th Street Branch 1908 establishments in New York City 1900s architecture in the United States Education in Harlem {{Manhattan-struct-stub