a chilly Library has rewards

Henry Thomason, 18, studied one day last week at the Soundview library branch in the Bronx, where a thermometer showed a temperature of 70 degrees.

In the pantheon of New York City jobs, many people face rugged extremes. Ironworkers brave fierce winds high on beams. Subway track workers traverse dank tunnels. Firefighters climb through flames.

But inside some city public libraries, the definition of extreme trends more toward turtleneck than breakneck. Under a little-known contract provision titled “Extreme Temperature Procedures,” unionized workers at branches of the New York Public Library can accrue compensatory time when the temperature inside dips below 68 degrees for a couple of hours. Similar clauses exist for libraries across the city.

Not in the burbs, I'm sure.


In the United Kingdom, regulations require that workplace temperatures be “reasonable,” which the government defines generally as at least 16 degrees Celsius, or a hair below 61 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Even at 16 degrees Celsius, there shouldn’t be safety or health issues, it’s more in terms of comfort and productivity,” said Alan Hedge, a Cornell University professor who researches and advises corporations on work environment issues.