Notable among the branches are the Music Library, 121 East Fifty-eighth
Street, the Municipal Reference Library, Municipal Building, and the Li-
brary for the Blind, 137 West Twenty-fifth Street. More than 10,000,000
books are lent to readers annually by the Circulation Department, and the
Picture Collection, with a classified stock of more than 800,000, makes
nearly 900,000 loans a year.

Madison Square Garden

8th Ave., 49th to 50th St. IRT Broadway-7th Ave. subway (local) to 50th St.; or
8th Ave. (Independent) subway (local) to 50th St.; or BMT subway (local) to
49th St.; or 9th Ave. el to 50th St.; or 8th Ave., 9th Ave., Broadway or 7th Ave.
bus to 50th St.

New Yorkers think only of what happens inside of Madison Square
Garden. The rare individual who wanders down Forty-ninth or Fiftieth
Street for a view of the building itself sees nothing but blank brick walls
and fire escapes. The main entrance opens on Eighth Avenue through an
arcade, but the Garden proper is concealed behind a smaller structure and
runs back toward Ninth Avenue.

This plain building is, however, already famous as America's chief in-
door arena. Charity benefits, national political conventions, championship
prize fights, cowboy rodeos—all draw throngs to Madison Square Garden.
The composition of the crowd on one night contrasts sharply with that of
another. From the vantage of a $315 box, the aristocracy, in evening attire,
politely applauds the horse show. Twenty-five cents is the price of admis-
sion to a Communist rally at which 20,000 people rock the Garden with
cheers. Politicians, sportsmen, and socially prominent personalities occupy
$16.50 ringside seats to watch a pair of heavyweights in action for an hour
or less, while hoi polloi sit in cheap seats under the roof. On a good night
patrons eat 12,000 hot dogs, washed down with 1,000 gallons of beer and
soda pop, while sixty private policemen, unarmed, are stationed there to
prevent disorder.

From the top balcony at the Ninth Avenue end, an Olympic ski jumper
darts down a slide, hangs momentarily in the air, lands on a snow mound,
and stops near the Eighth Avenue end of the arena. Children crowd under
the big top for circus matinees. For seventy-five cents a sleepless night is
spent at the six-day bicycle races. Three thousand carefully reared and
pedigreed pets compete in a dog show. The President makes a speech at a
political meeting. A world champion figure skater dances the tango under