

Jason Robards whispers you through NYC's most overstuffed basement of human knowledge.
A documentary about the New York Public Library, including the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts and the Schomberg Center in Harlem.
Production
Pre-digital library porn: endless stacks, pneumatic tubes, actual card catalogs.
Acting
Robards' voice could narrate a power outage and you'd feel cultured.
Director
James A. Edgar
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This aired on PBS during peak 'institutions are good, actually' era, before libraries became culture war fodder.
The NYPL's main stacks extend 75 feet underground—built over a former reservoir because Manhattan real estate has always been unhinged.
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