New York Public Library

The story

The New York Public Library holds nearly 53 million items — more than most countries archive — yet it is technically a private, nonprofit corporation, not a government institution. It grew from an amalgamation of foundations in the 19th century, its full charter name still carrying those original donors: Astor, Lenox, and Tilden. Today it runs 92 locations across the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, with four research libraries open to anyone who walks in. Brooklyn and Queens have their own systems entirely, a civic quirk the city has never bothered to resolve.