description/

While the New York Public Library system consists of 89 individual branches, it's this austere Beaux Arts building in Bryant Park --home to 75 miles of shelves housing a massive humanities and social sciences archive--that most readily comes to mind. The library's free tours (11am, 2pm Mon-Sat; 2pm Sun) stop at the beautifully renovated Rose Main Reading Room and the Bill Blass Public Catalog Room. The program of special exhibitions rivals those of the city's finest museums; 2009 offerings include 'Between Collaboration and Resistance: French Literary Life Under Nazi Occupation' (until July 25) and 'Voltaire's Candide: The 1759 Editions' from autumn through winter.

Find more book stores at Time Out New York