The area of the library floor and connecting rooms is about 111,000 square feet; while the total floor space of the whole building is 327,000 square feet, or nearly eight acres. For the cost of the building a sum of $6,175,000 has been voted by Congress, and it is expected that the entire cost will be a little less than this amount.
The library is not only the great national collection of books, but has to answer the purpose of a general reference library for the use of members of Congress meeting in the Capitol, a quarter of a mile away. To enable this to be done without undue delay, a subway 1300 feet in length has been constructed between the two buildings. This is deep enough to permit workmen to pass through for the necessary repairs, &c. It carries pneumatic tubes and telephones, and a wire cable carrying book holders (shown in Fig. 45), driven by an electric motor. These carriers travel at a high rate of speed, and do not occupy more than two minutes in transit between the terminals.
The Mercantile Library Association of New York was founded in 1870, and, after several removes, is now located on the two top floors of a fine corner building, which is its own property. It was opened in 1891, on the seventy-first anniversary of the founding of the Institution. It is a fireproof structure of sandstone and brick, seven storeys in height, with a frontage to three streets. The site is an oblong wedge in shape, its average width being about 150 feet, and its depth varying from 52 feet to 98. The library occupies the sixth and
