When it opened in 1859, The Cooper Union Library and Reading-Room was not just for students, but was accessible to anyone, of all genders, ages, races, and religions - no fees or letters of recommendation required – and kept late hours for the convenience of working people.
In 1873, the Reading-Room began collecting Patent Office reports. According to Cooper Union’s Annual Reports, these contained complete specifications and drawings along with index of inventors and inventions back to first issues.
Visitors to the Patent Room, or Patent Alcove, quickly grew to “several hundred every month,” and in 1875 the Board of Trustees decided to establish an accompanying Department of Consultation, staffed by Prof. Plympton (Professor of Philosophy, Mechanism and Astronomy) and Prof. Stone (Professor of Chemistry), to assist inventors and manufacturers of new processes.
Today, patents are searchable online (ask one of our librarians if you ever need assistance finding one!), but we believe that the spirit of invention still deserves to be celebrated in Alcove form.
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