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student information > access to other NYC libraries

Brooklyn Museum Libraries and Archives
The Brooklyn Museum’s Library is open to the public by advance appointment. Please include a list of the materials you are interested in consulting when you make your appointment via phone or email.See http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/collections/libraries_and_archives

Columbia University
Admission to the Columbia Libraries, including the Avery Library for Art and Architecture, is gained with a METRO pass (see below for more info on METRO passes). Once you receive a METRO pass, you will need to go to the Library Information Office at Butler Library to gain entry to a specific collection such as the Avery Library. (Doctoral students at BGC will be issued personal photo ID cards for admission to the Columbia Libraries, including the Avery Art & Architecture Library.) http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/index.html

Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum Library
The Cooper Hewitt’s Library is one of several Smithsonian libraries, whose holdings appear in the online catalog for all Smithsonian Libraries (SIRIS). It is necessary to make an advance appointment to use the library.
http://www.sil.si.edu/libraries/chm/

Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)
Visitors to FIT must make an appointment one day in advance and are required to bring a METRO pass (see below for more info on METRO passes). If you are interested in looking at runs of fashion magazines, for example, you will need to know which years you are interested in consulting, and to mention this when making an appointment. http://www3.fitnyc.edu/library/services/visitor_alumni_access.htm

Frick Art Reference Library
Known internationally for its rich holdings of auction and exhibition catalogs, the Library is a leading site for researching fine art collecting and for provenance research. First-time researchers must bring a photo ID and arrive before 3:00 on weekdays or 11:00 on Saturdays for orientation. http://www.frick.org/library/index.htm

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
BGC students will be issued readers’ cards that grant them access to the Met’s Watson Library. The Watson Library is the main research library of the Museum, and its catalog, Watsonline, includes holdings of other departmental libraries throughout the museum. Some departmental libraries retain their own holdings information.
http://www.metmuseum.org/education/er_lib.asp

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Libraries
The MoMA Libraries are open to the public by appointment. Some collections are housed in the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building in midtown Manhattan and some are housed at MoMA QNS in Long Island City, Queens.
http://moma.org/research/library/index.html

The New York Public Library (NYPL)
The NYPL Research Libraries include the Library for the Performing Arts; the Science, Industry & Business Library (SIBL); the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and the flagship Humanities & Social Sciences Library (which includes the Art & Architecture research collection). One online catalog, CATNYP, catalogues the collections of all four research libraries. Readers are required to register for an NYPL “ACCESS” card in order to use special collections and research materials; you can register for the ACCESS card at any of the four research libraries.
http://www.nypl.org/research/general/collections.html

The New-York Historical Society
Through a special arrangement they have with NYU (see below), the holdings of the New-York Historical Society Library are cataloged in NYU's library catalog, Bobcat. The New-York Historical Society Library is open to the public, unless you need to consult a special collection, which requires an appointment.
https://www.nyhistory.org/web/default.php?section=library

New York University
NYU’s library catalog, Bobcat, catalogues the holdings of NYU’s main research library (Bobst Library, located on Washington Square) as well as the holdings of the library at the Parsons School of Design, New School University’s Gimbel Library, the Cooper Union, the New-York Historical Society, and NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts (IFA). Advance appointments and METRO passess are required in order to visit all NYU libraries (see below for more info on METRO passes).
http://www.nyu.edu/research/

* * * METRO Passes * * *

• Since the BGC Library is a member of the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO), the BGC Library staff may issue "METRO passes" (in the form of a blue Subject Referral Card or a yellow Title Referral Card) to our readers in order to give them access to other libraries in the New York metropolitan area.
• In accordance with the rules and regulations set forth by METRO, librarians must follow a very specific protocol before issuing a METRO pass. Usually a pass may only be issued for a specific title, and it may only be issued if the title is not held in any other area library that would be accessible without a METRO pass.
• Although METRO passes usually only permit use of the specific titles for which they are written, some libraries do not strictly uphold this rule. In some cases, a library will also accept the blue Subject Referral Card, which grants wider access to a library with significant holdings in a particular subject area.
• Please see a BGC librarian if you have any questions about METRO passes, or to be issued a METRO pass if necessary. Once you receive a pass for a title, it is always prudent to contact the library you're visiting in advance so you can find out their hours and determine if the title you require is currently available.