A public living room for the curious since 1911
Sablewood Study Library began with 4,000 donated books and a single reading room above Madison Avenue. Today it holds more than 900,000 volumes, eleven miles of archival shelving and some of the busiest study rooms in the city — and it still lends every book for free.
Vision, Mission & Values
Vision: a city where everyone can learn anything. Mission: to keep knowledge free, rooms quiet and doors open — 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM, six days a week. Our values are simple: welcome every reader, protect every right to read, and treat the collection as a public trust.
Customer Feedback Standards
We answer every message within two working days and publish what we learn. Tell us what worked, what didn’t, and what we should buy next — the form below goes straight to the library’s front office.
Strategic Plans, Annual Reports
Our current three-year plan funds longer Sunday hours, 200 new study seats and the digitisation of 50,000 archival pages. Annual reports for 2024 and 2025 are available at the front desk and as print publications — circulation passed 1.2 million loans last year.
History of the Library
Founded in 1911 by the Sablewood Reading Circle, the library survived the Depression as a job-seekers’ refuge, the war years as a letter-writing room for soldiers, and the digital age by becoming the city’s most-booked study space. The 2019 restoration returned the facade, the oak catalogue hall and the rooftop reading garden to their original drawings.
Library Board
The library is governed by a nine-member public board that meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 6 PM in the Board Room. Agendas are posted a week ahead; every meeting reserves thirty minutes for public comment.
- Margaret Osei — Chair, appointed 2022
- Daniel Reyes — Vice-Chair, appointed 2021
- Priya Raman — Treasurer, appointed 2023
Jobs at the Library
We are hiring weekend shelvers and one children’s librarian this season. All openings are posted on the notice board by the entrance and answered within three weeks. Volunteers shelve, garden and read aloud — apply at the front desk any morning.
Library Policies
Open Data & Feeds
Catalogue records, event calendars and branch hours are published as open feeds for researchers and app builders. Ask at the reference desk for the current endpoints and reuse terms.
Print Publications
The library prints a monthly events bulletin, a seasonal reading guide and the annual report. Pick them up free at any branch or read them in the periodicals room.
Local History Publications
Our local-history desk publishes street-by-street guides, oral-history transcripts and the yearly Sablewood Almanack, all shelved in Special Collections and sold in the Store.