Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

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Frances H Interesting, but a bit too much without structure for me and too long. The best parts were how young students learn to use it. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/08/19 Full Review Audience Member too little internal structure, lacked identification of people speaking Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member In a word: torturous. In several words: an exercise in interminable arbitrariness. It's not the 3.5 hours - I prepared to enjoy and in-depth examination of the NYPL, after all - rather, it's the categorically uninformative, maddeningly unattributed nature of it. What's the point of holding the camera overlong on innumerable lectures from authors and musicians - don't expect to be told who they are, by the way - and interspersing them with pointless and, again, utterly arbitrary shots of street corners, a handicapped or homeless person, somebody taking a picture of something, another person asleep in his chair, a traffic light..? I mean, huh? Besides the agonzingly, bafflingly out of context scenes of the library staff meetings, mostly the higher level administrators yammering on about this or that socio-economic-political red tape nonsense that everyone copes with at their own job. I don't know, if the director thought he somehow demonstrated the depth and breadth of the library's influence or the part it plays in the life of the city, well, sort of. It seems to me he just said "roll tape" and walked away. A frustrating snore. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Fascinating subject matter, but it's in dire need of editing; I fell asleep about 2-1/2 hours in, during a too-long filmed staff meeting. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review david f An excellent, stripped-down documentary about the New York Public Library. From the boardroom to the reference desk, this film presents, without narration or commentary of any sort, a glimpse of the many activities of the library's staff and patrons. There are beautiful shots of the main branch, job fairs, books being sorted, deaf patrons learning to read braille, and on and on, for over 3 hours. It's actually riveting and there is a bit of humour here and there, like the fire fighter speaking at the job fair and describing how he found himself delivering a baby followed by a border control agent with a lame presentation that would appeal only to those in desperate need of a job. Also interesting, just how fatuous and extraneous the administration seems to be, based on their meetings. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A fascinating look at one of the largest public library systems in the country. It reminds us that libraries are living organisms that serve to help people gain knowledge rather than warehouses for books, as some might think. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Ex Libris: The New York Public Library

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