Today, the New York Public Library’s stacks are largely housed underneath Bryant Park, and the process of requesting and receiving many titles is accomplished with the help of tiny “magical book trains”—a conveyor belt and small book carts (you can see them at work by visiting nypl.org/blog/2016/09/30/magical-mystery-machine-librarians-summon-books-rose-main-reading-room). The NYPL system is made up of ninety-two branches and serves more than seventeen million patrons a year. It currently houses more than fifty-one million items. For more information about the NYPL, including photos of the many world-famous rooms mentioned in this story, visit nypl.org.
My sincerest thanks to Matthew Kirby, executive assistant to the chief external relations officer, for giving me an in-depth, behind-the-scenes tour of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. The library truly came alive as I saw it through Matt’s eyes. Another huge thank-you to Joseph Cahalan, who also grew up as a “super’s kid” in Manhattan and who endured many hours of my questions. Joe’s stories of growing up in the (now demolished) Brokaw Mansion and playing after hours at the Met with his buddies added much spice and insight to Viviani’s childhood. (Is it ratting you out, Joe, to let readers know that a similar version of the Master Thief game was real?!)
The moral of this story is that many amazing, sometimes hidden, things happen in a library. What’s the story behind yours? What’s your tale? The world is waiting to hear your Once Upon a Time.
TIME LINE
NOVEMBER 10, 1902 – The cornerstone of The New York Public Library is laid into place on Fifth Avenue between Fortieth and Forty-Second Streets. The cornerstone holds a relic box containing photographs, newspapers, and letters from the era.
1902 – Five Children and It by E. Nesbit is first published. It hasn’t been out of print since.
NOVEMBER 12, 1906 – John Jr. is born to John and Cornelia Fedeler at the Produce Exchange Building during a blackout.
MAY 13, 1908 – Edouard Fedeler is born, also at the Produce Exchange Building.
JULY 1910 – The Fedeler family moves to the library, into an eight-room apartment on the second floor, before the building is open to the public.
MAY 23, 1911 – The library’s opening ceremony occurs, presided over by President William Howard Taft.
MAY 24, 1911 – The library opens its doors to the public. Approximately fifty thousand visitors visited the building on that first day.
1914 – World War I (then called the Great War) begins in Europe.
APRIL 6, 1917 – The United States enters World War I.
MAY 8, 1917 – Viviani Joffre Fedeler is born in the Central Building of the New York Public Library.
1918 – Many consider this year the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance, an African American cultural, social, and artistic movement anchored in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. Throughout the 1920s and ’30s, influential artists like Langston Hughes and Duke Ellington shaped the movement and gained widespread exposure.
NOVEMBER 11, 1918 – World War I ends.
AUGUST 18, 1920 – The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, giving women the right to vote.
1928 – The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne is published. It would have been brand-new when Viviani and her gang used it as home plate!
MAY 20–21, 1932 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo nonstop over the Atlantic Ocean.
1933 – Viviani meets and eventually marries Charles Voelker, also a building superintendent, at the annual Building Superintendent’s Ball.
1941 – John Sr. retires as library superintendent. John Jr. takes on the job next.
JUNE 1949 – John Jr. resigns as the library’s chief engineer.
A LOOK INTO THE LIBRARY ARCHIVES
This photograph shows the administrative offices as they would have looked when Viviani lived in the library. Doesn’t it look like a tempting playground?
Viviani’s bedroom window overlooked this fountain in a courtyard at the back of the building, adjacent to Bryant Park. The library’s famous seven-story bookshelves were housed behind those long, thin windows to the left of the fountain. This courtyard no longer exists; it is now additional library space. This photograph was taken in 1912.
Acknowledgments
This book that you’re holding right now, Friendb? Lots of people helped make it the very best story it could be. Thank you:
To the team at Henry Holt Books: Lauren Bisom, Christian Trimmer, and Tiffany Liao—you are all Story Collectors Extraordinaire. Thank you, too, to the amazing Iacopo Bruno, whose beautiful artwork makes Viviani’s story that much more lively and lovely.
To Josh Adams of Adams Literary, whose wisdom I value.
To Kathleen Albritton, whose research assistance was so thorough and helpful.
To Matthew Kirby, Carrie Welch, and the team at the top-notch New York Public Library. Your passion for NYPL is contagious, and your knowledge of NYPL is inspiring.
To Joe Cahalan, who let me see through the eyes of a “super’s kid,” and his daughter Tina Cahalan Jones. Thank you Tina, Roger, Mary Clare, and Erin for always cheering me on!
To the Goodmans, the Grishams, the Kites, the O’Donnells, and the Tubbs, especially Byron, Chloe, and Jack. You are loved more than words can say.
About the Author
Kristin O’Donnell Tubb is the author of several middle grade novels, including A Dog Like Daisy, Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different, Selling Hope, and The 13th Sign. She lives in Tennessee with her family.
Visit her online at kristintubb.com, or sign up for email updates here.
About the Illustrator
IACOPO BRUNO is a graphic artist and illustrator who lives in Italy. He illustrated James Preller’s Home Sweet Horror, I Scream, You Scream!, Good Night, Zombie, and Nightmareland. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Text copyright © 2018 by the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations
Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Iacopo Bruno
Henry Holt and Company, Publishers since 1866
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All rights reserved.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition of this title as follows:
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tubb, Kristin O’Donnell, author. | Bruno, Iacopo, illustrator.
Title: The story collector / Kristin O’Donnell Tubb; with illustrations by Iacopo Bruno.
Description: First edition. | New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2018. | Summary: A fictional account of eleven-year-old Viviani Joffre Fedeler, who was born and raised in the New York Public Library, and her older brothers and best friend Eva, who all try and find out if the library is haunted.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018003709 | ISBN 9781250143808 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Fedeler, Viviani Joffre—Juvenile fiction. | New York Public Library— Juvenile fiction. | CYAC: Fedeler, Viviani Joffre—Fiction. | New York Public Library—Fiction. | Libraries—Fiction. | Haunted places—Fiction. | Mystery and detective stories.
Classification: LCC PZ7.T796 St 2018 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018003709
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eISBN 9781250143815
First hardcover edition 2018
eBook edition August 2018
CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
1: Baseball, Dewey Decimal 796.357
2: Games, Dewey Decimal 790.1
3: Superstitions, Dewey Decimal 133.43
4: Inventions, Dewey Decimal 609.2
5: Ghosts, Dewey Decimal 133.1
6: Biographies, Dewey Decimal 937.09
7: Storytelling Techniques, Dewey Decimal 372.64
8: Stamp Collecting, Dewey Decimal 769.56
9: Rites and Ceremonies, Dewey Decimal 394.21
10: Errors, Dewey Decimal 153.4
11: Truthfulness & Falsehood, Dewey Decimal 177.3
12: Collectors & Collecting, Dewey Decimal 790.1
13: Lying, Dewey Decimal 363.25
14: Data, Dewey Decimal 005.8
15: Public Libraries—United States, Dewey Decimal 027.4
16: Cameras, Dewey Decimal 770
17: Journal Keeping, Dewey Decimal 808.02
18: Stage Presentations, Dewey Decimal 792.02
19: Carousels, Dewey Decimal 745.592
20: Haunted Places, Dewey Decimal 133.12
21: Secrets, Dewey Decimal 155.4
22: Clocks, Dewey Decimal 749.3
23: Pranks, Dewey Decimal 818.607
24: Chores, Dewey Decimal 331
25: Crime Scenes, Dewey Decimal 363.25
26: Suspects, Dewey Decimal 364.15
27: Negotiation, Dewey Decimal 303.69
28: Photography, Dewey Decimal 770.28
29: Crime, Dewey Decimal 364
30: Traps, Dewey Decimal 639.1
31: Surprises, Dewey Decimal 152.4
32: Justice, Dewey Decimal 172.2
33: Friendship, Dewey Decimal 158.25
Author’s Note, Dewey Decimal 809.33
Time Line
A Look into the Library Archives
Acknowledgments
About the Author and Illustrator
Copyright
The Story Collector Page 14