Six Degress of Separation-Fales Special Colletions

Who knew New York University had a library for special collections? I sure did not, at least not until last week. It was quite amazing to see an assortment of rare books and other material all having to do with Washington Square Park in one manner or another but what I found to be most fascinating was to see an original copy of “The Madhouse in Washington Square” with the cover art done by Andy Warhol. Most people, including myself, best know Andy Warhol as a silk screen artist but it was interesting to see the work which he did before he became famous. When I saw the cover of the book it made me think about all of the people that are connected to WSP in one way or another. I thought about the hundreds of thousands of students who have attended NYU and are connected to the square that way. I thought about all of the writers, and musicians and actors and play writes and poets who have been inspired by WSP. I thought about the political movements and rallies that have taken place in WSP over the many years. I thought about all of the architects who have made WSP what it was yesterday and what it will be like tomorrow. I mean I could just go on and on about the people who have made WSP what it is today and about the tremendous impact that WSP has had on numerous people over the decades.

Although we could not touch the pieces which we saw at Fales Special Collections library it was still a unique experience to know that held within Bobst Library are such rare and precious pieces which document the history or WSP. Because the pieces were arranged in chronological order it was fascinating to see how the rare books and magazines reflected specific moments in the history of WSP. Knowing how important it is to preserve books and other material alike, I was really pleased to discover that NYU has a deep respect for material as that which was shown to our class. I do find it to be a little bit depressing that NYU does not make it more known to students that they have a collection like Fales. I think that if more students knew about the special collections section of the library that they would definitely take advantage of such an unbelievable resource.