One Hundred Years at the Library: The Telautograph

#Antique In the 1930s, how did librarians communicate across the nine stories of the Frick Art Reference Library’s building? In this episode, Stephen J. Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian, introduces the telautograph, an innovative technology installed in the library’s original East 71st Street home. The machine allowed for handwritten notes to be transmitted from the reading room to the stacks and offices above. Used in tandem with dumbwaiters, the telautograph is an early example of the cutting-edge technology employed at the library since its founding.