Editing Roosevelt Island (section)

=== Library ===
The [[New York Public Library]] (NYPL) operates the Roosevelt Island branch at 504 Main Street.<ref name="nypl-roosevelt-island">{{cite web |title=About the Roosevelt Island Library |url=https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/roosevelt-island |access-date=March 25, 2019 |website=The New York Public Library}}</ref> The library was founded in the 1970s as a volunteer initiative.<ref name="nypl-roosevelt-island" /><ref name="Coleman 1998">{{Cite news |last=Coleman |first=Chrisena |date=June 5, 1998 |title=Library to hit big time |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-library-to-hit-big-time/144035967/ |access-date=March 24, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=49}}</ref> Two residents, Dorothy and Herman Reade, founded the island's first library within a rented space in 1976; the collection had moved to 625 Main Street by 1977.<ref>{{cite web |last=Clines |first=Francis X. |date=September 15, 1977 |title=About New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/15/archives/about-new-york-books-for-roosevelt-islanders.html |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The Reades' library was unusual in that it used a custom classification system, rather than the [[Dewey Decimal Classification]] system, which the Reades did not know much about.<ref name="Coleman 1998" /> The library moved to its own building at 524 Main Street in 1979<ref name="nypl-roosevelt-island" /> or the 1980s.<ref name="Coleman 1998" /> The library on Main Street was named the Dorothy and Herman Reade Library of Roosevelt Island in the early 1980s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Farrell |first=William E. |date=February 4, 1981 |title=About New York; Two Who Created a Library on Roosevelt Island |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/04/nyregion/about-new-york-two-who-created-a-library-on-roosevelt-island.html |access-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313134811/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/04/nyregion/about-new-york-two-who-created-a-library-on-roosevelt-island.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Residents originally paid dues to access the library.<ref name="US GPO-1998" />

The library became a branch of the NYPL system in 1998, allowing the branch to access the NYPL's much larger collection.<ref name="Coleman 1998" /> The Empire State Center for the Book dedicated a plaque on the island in 2016, marking the island's literary connections.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ala.org/united/products_services/literarylandmarks/landmarksbyyear/2016/roosevelt |title=Literary Landmark: Roosevelt Island Branch, New York Public Library – various |date=October 19, 2016 |website=United for Libraries |access-date=July 22, 2019 }}</ref> The current NYPL branch at 504 Main Street opened in January 2021 and covers {{convert|5,200|ft2}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weaver |first=Shaye |date=January 25, 2021 |title=See inside the stunning new public library coming to Roosevelt Island |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/see-inside-nypls-brand-new-roosevelt-island-branch-012521 |access-date=March 26, 2021 |website=Time Out New York |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garber |first=Nick |date=January 25, 2021 |title=Roosevelt Island Public Library Opens After Years Of Work |url=https://patch.com/new-york/upper-east-side-nyc/roosevelt-island-public-library-opens-after-years-work |access-date=March 26, 2021 |website=Upper East Side, NY Patch |language=en}}</ref>