The names of the two stone lions in front of the New York Public Library are Patience and Fortitude. They were named by then-mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.

On May 23, 1911, the main branch of the New York Public Library was officially opened in a ceremony presided over by President William Howard Taft. After a dedication ceremony, the library was open to the general public that day. The library had cost $9 million to build and its collection consisted of more than 1,000,000 volumes. The library structure was a Beaux-Arts design and was the largest marble structure up to that time in the United States. It included two stone lions guarding the entrance were sculpted by E. C. Potter. Its main reading room was contemporaneously the largest of its kind in the world at 77 feet (23.5 m) wide by 295 feet (89.9 m) long, with 50 feet (15.2 m) high ceilings. It is lined with thousands of reference books on open shelves along the floor level and along the balcony. The New York Public Library instantly became one of the nation’s largest libraries and a vital part of the intellectual life of America. Dr. Harry Miller Lydenberg served as director between 1934–1941.