Information Desk, where our specialists answer reference and research questions, provide course reserve material, and perform circulation functions.

To the left of the Information Desk is my office, that of the director of libraries, and twelve PCs with dedicated access to the libraries’ Virtual Library. Electronic resources available via the Virtual Library can be accessed from your home via a login and password that can be obtained by contacting your local library. Also to the left of the Information Desk is a quiet study area with lounge seating, study carrels, group study tables, and a self-service photocopier and computer laser printer.

To the right of the Information Desk are two PCs with dedicated access to the library catalog, and the reference, circulating, and periodical collections. The collections serve the School of Health Sciences; the School of Education and Psychology, Graduate Division; the Graduate School of Business; and the New York School of Career and Applied Studies. They also incorporate the Judaica collection, formerly located at the women’s building on Lexington Avenue, which serves the Graduate School of Jewish Studies. The collections are interspersed with additional quiet study areas that also include lounge seating, study carrels, and group study tables.

All study carrels are hard-wired for the Internet and soon there will be wireless capability throughout. The new Midtown Library also sports two new features -- a Library Instruction Room and a Media Room. The Library Instruction Room, complete with 14 PCs and overhead projection, will host orientation and training sessions. The room will also host meetings conducted by Theresa A. Zahor, our information literacy librarian, and Salvatore A. Russo, our distance & off-campus services librarian, in support of the Touro Information Literacy Initiative (TILI). The Media Room houses the library’s microform and audiovisual collections and viewing equipment. This equipment includes a state-of-the-art reader-printer that can transform microform documents into pdf files that can be mailed to those who request them.

Modern ergonomic office space has been provided for Midtown Library personnel, a highly skilled team led by Marina Zilberman, chief librarian; Carol Schapiro, librarian; Amram S. Rister, Judaica librarian; Dr. Mark H. Balto and Michael F. Donovan, assistant librarians; and Mikhail Smolianskiy and Boris Kocherga, library assistants.

Midtown Library personnel would like to thank the following individuals for designing and outfitting an attractive library space, moving the collections, and installing new PCs: Akiva Kobre, senior vice president and chief administrative officer; Wanda Hernandez, director of purchasing; Giuseppe Caradonna, director of facilities; Mark Shor, chief information officer; the Information Technology Department; Issac Herskowitz, chief academic computing officer, and the Academic Computing Department.

The Midtown Library is open 61 hours a week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday (except during August), and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Stop by, enjoy our new setting, and let our experienced and competent staff fulfill your information needs!