New York City Municipal Library, c. 1920s.

Municipal Library 

The New York City Municipal Library is the premier resource for information about New York City government. Established in 1913, the Library collects, preserves, and provides access to historical and contemporary New York City government publications. In addition, the Library maintains a rich collection of books, journals, ephemera, and clippings relating to the city’s history and governance.

Collection highlights include:

• Annual Reports published by city agencies, 19th century to the present.
• Common Council, Board of Aldermen, and City Council Proceedings, 18th century to the present.
  
• Executive Orders, Local Laws, City Charters - resources for legislative intent research.
• Board of Estimate and Apportionment publications relating to the financing and development of New York City’s transit and other systems.
• Department of Health collection with historic and current reports, 19th century to the present.  
• Historic reports of the City of Brooklyn (pre-consolidation). 
• Vertical files clippings on subjects related to New York City history and neighborhoods. 
• Biographical Files - a handy resource of information about local officials.

Search: 

• Hard copy collections in the Library catalog. 
• Growing collection of digital agency reports and other online publications via the Government Publications Portal. 
• New York City government social media archives. (For access to archived versions of NYC government websites, contact library staff here.)

Subscribe to the Municipal Library Notes to receive our monthly newsletter.