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central bay of the vaulting in the crossing contain the names 
of the Sterling Trustees and the Building Committee.
        The delivery desk of elaborately carved oak contains 
the most complete equipment for communication with the 
stack and other reading rooms. A conveyor in the form of a 
continuously moving belt brings books from any floor of the 
stack in a few minutes. Tubes and telephones connect with 
all parts of the building. The desk has separate stations for 
the sending of call slips and the delivery of books. Each station 
is connected by tube with the call slip file. Here the slips 
are checked against the records and sent to the level of the 
stack indicated by the call number. The attendant on that 
level, locating the book desired, places it on one of the baskets 
of the conveyor or, if it is an oversized book or folio, on 
one of the two electric lifts which carry it to the desk.
        At the north side of the desk is the elevator lobby under 
supervision of a member of the staff. Admission cards, without 
which no visitor is privileged to take the elevators, are 
required of all persons desiring access to the stack and seminar 
rooms
        At the south end of the crossing is the entrance to the 
Main Reading Room. Monumental in treatment and lighted 
by large traceries windows, the room by virtue of its slender 
proportion and great height maintains a quality of graciousness 
in spite of its vast size. Decorative oak bookcases form a 
wainscot on two sides. The floor, which for the sake of quiet 
had to be of some other material than stone, is made of a 
special rubber composition. Above the bookcases the walls are 
plastered, with stone trim occurring at the windows.
        From the north end of the crossing one enters a vestibule 
leading to the Periodical Room. In this vestibule the 
eight corbels which receive the vaulting ribs are carved to 
represent the heads of all the librarians. The head in the 
northeast corner is that of the present incumbent, Mr. 
Keogh.
        The Periodical Room, the shelves of which hold 1,800