Linda Hall Library

Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology
Country	United States
Type	Special library
Established	1946
Location	5109 Cherry Street Kansas City, Missouri
Coordinates	39°1′59″N 94°34′44″W
Collection
Items collected	Books, journals, and pamphlets
Size	500,000
Website	http://www.lindahall.org/
Phone number	800-662-1545

The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, about a "five-minute walk from Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art." It is the "largest independently funded public library of science, engineering and technology in North America" and "among the largest science libraries in the world."

Description

Established in 1946 through the philanthropy of Linda (1859–1938) and Herbert F. Hall (1858–1941), of the Hall-Bartlett Grain Co., the library has achieved global recognition and stature. The library is open to the public with individual researchers, academic institutions and companies from Kansas City and around the world using the library’s extensive research-level collection. Though not affiliated with its neighbor, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, many students and faculty from UMKC and other local colleges and universities utilize the library each day.

The library's collection was initially established by the purchase of the 62,358 books and other items—assembled by John Adams before he became president—that had belonged to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. It includes academic journals, academic conference proceedings, reference works, publications by the government, and technical reports, industrial standards, engineering society conference papers, U.S. patents, and monographs. The library's distinguished History of Science Collection contains first editions of many landmarks of science and technology. Some of the oldest books in the collection date back to the fifteenth century.

The 14 acres (57,000 m²) surrounding the library are home to over 450 trees representing 58 genera and 165 species.^{[citation needed]} The arboretum and gardens are further embellished by beds of viburnum, tree peonies and Missouri native woodland plants. Seven trees on the property have been designated Greater Kansas City Champion Trees and represent the largest specimens of their species in the metropolitan area: Sweet Birch, European Hornbeam, Hardy Rubber Tree, Double Flowered Horsechestnut, Rivers Purple Beech, Yulan Magnolia, and Anise Leaf Magnolia. The National Wildlife Federation’s Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program has awarded a certificate of merit to the library for its efforts in preserving the natural habitat of the grounds.^{[citation needed]}

The library's William N. Deramus III Cosmology Theater shows images of the cosmos from the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA science missions. These images are delivered via ViewSpace to the library with daily updates (via the Internet) that provide the library with new content for visitors.

The Tazza, a gift from Czar Nicholas II.

Plaque on The Tazza.

"The Tazza", one of the largest pieces of malachite in North America, stands as the focal point in the center of the main reading room, which features parquet wood floors, paneling and bookshelves of oak, and large windows that overlook the south lawn.

Collections

Linda Hall Library houses several collections in addition to its own:

• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
• Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS)
• American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
• American Petroleum Institute (API)
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

Examples of rare books

Online

• Tycho Brahe's 1632 Astronomicall Coniectur [A New Star]
• Georg Joachim Rheticus's Narratio Prima
• George Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio

Archives

• Georg Joachim Rheticus, Narratio Prima (Gdansk 1540).
• Nicolaus Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (Nuremberg, 1543).
• Leonhard Fuchs, De historia stirpium (Basel, 1542).
• Galileo Galilei, Sidereus nuncius (Venice, 1610).
• Francis Bacon, Instauratio magna [Novum organum] (London, 1620).
• Isaac Newton, Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (London, 1687).
• Georges Buffon, Histoire naturelle (Paris, 1749–1804).
• Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species (London, 1859).

External links

• Official website
• Linda Hall Library at Flickr
• Linda Hall Library at Twitter