Thomas J Watson Library

Hands down, the best art history library anywhere. Well, OK, it’s not quite as spectacular if you’re not a staff member at the Met (ie, you have stack access). But, if you’re allowed down into the stacks at Watson, it is a magical wonderland of library bliss. Rows upon rows upon rows of art books (well, duh, it’s an art library). And the books! A treasure trove of the truly random! Books that makes one squeal with glee «ohmygodIcan’tbelievetheyhavethis» (all said in a gleeful run-​on, almost one-​word exclamation of pure joy), all discovered while looking for something else equally random.
Worldcat seems not to reflect truly the bounty that is Watson Library. Heck, I’m convinced Watsonline still doesn’t reflect that bounty completely: there are little library gnomes that push out amazing books as you walk by them, if you and your research project are deemed worthy, that somehow just don’t come up in a regular search. But, then, I do get misty eyed when I think of the amazing resources Watson has. And how I’m now kind of cut off from them, now that I no longer am allowed into the stacks. Part of me wishes that maybe I had never been allowed to sample the bounty: it’s hard going back, knowing all the books that are squirreled away from me, as I sit in the reading room, waiting for my books to be paged. It breaks my heart, actually. But, that’s how they get you: maybe the Met thinks ha! We’ve got you suckers! You’ll put up with lousy pay and a host of other miseries, so as never to be expelled from the heaven that is access to the stacks of Watson Library.