NEW YORK, NY.- The New York Public Library’s Beaux-Arts Edna Barnes Salomon Room is the home to a new wireless Internet reading and study room, opening July 20 on the third floor of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. In the setting of this striking room, seating will be provided for 128 users who will have access to work space and to free Wi-Fi. For the first time in the Fifth Avenue Library users will also have access to laptops available for loan from the Library (starting July 28).

"The Library's reading rooms have been filled with job seekers, freelancers, students, researchers and many others relying on it services, especially during this time of economic uncertainty," said Paul LeClerc, President of The New York Public Library. "With the Internet such an important tool for all types of research, this extra capacity will be important resource for our users, and we are sure they will enjoy working in the beautiful Beaux-Arts setting of the Salomon Room."

The 4,500 square foot room will be able to seat 128 readers and has been upgraded with new furniture including 16 custom made, solid black walnut tables and dark brown leather chairs that will match the rooms’ dark maple wood floor.In order to improve the ambient light in the room, there has also been an upgrade to the lighting fixtures.

The Edna Barnes Salomon Room was originally designed by architects Carrere & Hastings as a 19th-century picture gallery; the room was restored and renamed The Edna Barnes Salomon Room on May 22, 1986, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the opening of The New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. The room is named in honor of Edna Barnes Salomon, wife of former NYPL Chairman of the Board Richard Salomon, whose leadership helped restore confidence in the viability of the Library after the economic difficulties in the 1970s. The room also served as the headquarters for the Library’s Special Collections.