Cultural     Historically, libraries in New York were private collections open to scholars by appointment or invitation. During the 19th century the idea of publicly accessible libraries began to develop, as with the Astor Library which opened in 1854. By the 1880s individal local public libraries had begun to appear, as the result of private philanthropic activity. The New York Public Library was formed in 1901 through the merger of various of these institutions. The Carnegie endowment financed the construction of 100 libraries, the core of the present NYC branch library system. Many other specialized libraries exist in New York as well, devoted to particular specialties. Macrae-Gibson Architects has been fortunate to have been involved with several of the city’s most interesting libraries.