Welcome to the Library for the Performing Arts Music and Recorded Sound Division: About the LPA

The NYPL is, largely, divided into two types of libraries - the 88 Circulating Branch Libraries in your neighborhood and 4 Research centers.

The Library for the Performing Arts, or LPA, is the only one that serves both purposes.

On the first and second floors of the building are the circulating materials - books, CDs, DVDs, and scores.  You can look up a call number in the catalog, go to the shelf to retrieve the item, and then check it out to take home. There are also photocopiers, computers, restrooms, and a cafe on those floors. 

The third floor is the "Research Floor." It houses several distinct spaces:

• the Research Reading Room, 
• the Special Collections Reading Room,
• the Theatre on Film & Tape (TOFT) viewing room,
• the Screening Room, which is used to show 16mm films & host talks for small audiences.

 Anyone may use the materials here, but there are rules about how you access them. There is a coat check before entering the research room where you must check all jackets, coats, and bags/backpacks. Patrons are allowed to bring a laptop or a small notebook to take notes in. You may also bring a small camera (no tripods) or your phone to take non-flash photos. Special Collections has additional restrictions because so much of their materials are rare and fragile. 

This is a 'closed stack' collection. This means the books, scores, recordings, etc. are housed in an area that is closed to the general public. Patrons search the catalog to find what they want, confer with a librarian who will make sure that the materials are available and help you fill out a request form -called a 'call slip.' Then the materials are retrieved from the stacks and brought to you.

Print material - like books, scores, photographs, archival papers - are brought for you to look at in one of the two Reading Rooms, depending on what it is. The general materials will be in the main Reading Room. If you are looking at rare materials or specialized archival collections, they will be brought to the Special Collections Reading Room. 

Audio and video are played for you through a remote streaming system, which means you don't get to handle the items yourself, but if you want to see the recordings or accompanying booklets that can be arranged. We allow patrons to view the discs in Special Collections with permission.

If you search the library catalog and see the phrase "Off Site,"  this means that the materials are located in a our off site storage facilities and you'll have to request that they be brought to LPA several days before you plan to visit. You can make that request right from the catalog by clicking the 'request' button.