Series X. Public Service (RESTRICTED IN PART), 1829-2011

The subseries primarily includes the books or loose sheets that visitors were required to sign when using N-YHS's resources, principally in connection with access to the library's holdings. The bulk of these records date from about 1909-2010 and record both member and non-member use of the library. A few records from the nineteenth and early twentieth century, from as early as 1838, include non-member visits, but there are relatively few of these, and there are sizable gaps in the date coverage. These records hold only spare indicators of individual visits, with no details such as specific resources used. Any such detailed records that might exist are not held in the institutional archive.

In addition to the required sign-ins, the subseries includes a ceremonial "Register of Distinguished Visitors" that includes signatures from three events: the 1939 opening of the renovated N-YHS building, the 1954 dinner held at the Union Club to celebrate N-YHS's 150th anniversary, and the 1957 event for the 200th anniversary of Lafayette's birth. Other registers include visitor comment books (1990-1992, 2005-2007) on the galleries and various exhibitions. The subseries does not include comment books from specific exhibitions; these can be found with the files of the pertinent exhibition, principally in the New-York Historical Society Museum Department records (NYHS-RG 20).

The subseries also includes various documents related to visitors and access to N-YHS resources. These include a Librarian Receipt Book in which books borrowed from the library, a member privilege in the organization's early years, were recorded (1829-1853); daily visitor counts from certain periods (1869, 1918-1937, and 1987-1990); and member and non-member admission cards (mostly undated but likely from the mid-late 1800s).

The bulk of the subseries includes late twentieth and early twenty-first reference inquiries in the form of correspondence and print-outs of emails; these recent documents, however, are currently restricted and are not available for public access. Earlier materials and logs are accessible. These include the correspondence of Geraldine Beard, the head of the Reading Room from the late 1940s until the early 1960s. There are also a few logs of books called and letters received for some periods in the 1960s and 1970s.

The subseries primarily holds the sign-in sheets and appointment calendars for users of material in the Print Room, which was run apart from the library's main Reading Room. The subseries also holds a small amount of reference inquiries, which are currently restricted and are not available for public access.