NYPL St. Agnes Library (New York City, New York)

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4-story Renaissance Revival library completed in 1906. Designed by Babb, Cook & Willard for the New York Public Library, it is clad in granite and limestone. The 3-bay facade has large round-arches at the ground floor, with tripartite windows in the southern two, and the main entrance in the north bay, with wood-and-glass double-doors below a fanlight, flanked by wall lanterns. The entry is atop a short set of steps, with iron fencing to the left enclosing a basement areaway. The doors themselves are framed by a molding, with a cornice on top, just below the fanlight. Keystones top all three arches.

The 2nd floor is set off by a band course and also has round-arched bays, with multi-paned double-windows flanked by paneled pilasters. Pairs of rosettes adorn the spaces above the arches, surmounted by horizontal panels decorated by a row of smaller rosettes and topped by cornices. The 3rd floor has three smaller double-windows with projecting, bracketed sills and simple surrounds. There are no openings at the top floor. The facade is crowned by a projecting stone cornice with modillions, and egg-and-dart molding, and dentils, above a frieze inscribed with the words "NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY". A balustrade rises above the cornice.

In 1893, the St. Agnes Chapel created a parish library now known as the St. Agnes Library. Originally located on West 91st Street, the library contained a small collection of literature for the blind, in addition to the standard books of the time. The following year, the library was extended to accommodate the Upper West Side’s growing population. It changed its locations a few more times until it found its present home at 444 Amsterdam Avenue in 1906, as part of the New York Public Library system.

www.nypl.org/locations/st-agnes