The New York Public Library, with nearly 53 million items, is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) and fourth largest in the world.  As part of the John Astor will conditions the Astor Library was built in 1854 in the East Village area of New York the library created was a free reference library.  The library was built in 1877, on 5th Avenue between 70th and 71st Street thanks to an act of the New York State Legislature.  on May 23, 2011, the main branch of the New York Public Library was officially opened in the current location on Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Street.  Dr. John Shaw Billings designed the eight story building that had a huge reading room on top of seven floors of bookstacks.