Ronald Clark remembers living inside a branch of the New York Public Library | StoryCorps

During the 1940s, custodians who worked for the New York Public Library often lived inside the buildings they tended. In exchange for cleaning and keeping the building secure at night, the library provided an apartment for the custodian and their families. Ronald Clark’s father, Raymond, was one of those custodians. For three decades he lived with his family on the top floor of the Washington Heights branch on St. Nicholas Avenue in upper Manhattan. Three generations of the Clark family resided in that library until Ronald’s father retired in the late 1970s. MUSIC BY ”BEEN THIS STRANGE” BY JULIAN VELARD (https://julianvelard.com/) FROM THE ALBUM THE PLANETEER Audio Card made by Amanda Meltzer