How the World's Largest Book Sorter at The New York Public Library Processes 5,000 Books Per Hour

New York Nico of Heller Films visited The New York Public Library where Sal Magaddino, a former NYPD captain and the deputy director of the library’s “Book Ops” division, talked about the largest book sorter in the world, which sorts 5,000 books per hour. He also explains how they send books to readers in any of the five boroughs from anywhere in the city.

This is our sorter that sorts to 204 different sorting branches so …no matter where the book is in the system, that branch who has the book says ‘Hey somebody wants this’. They’ll put it in a bin, they’ll put it out, my drivers pick it up. at night we bring it here we put all of those books on the sorter and then it’ll go to the branch that the person requested within the next day.

The Book Ops system is an essential part of the New York City library system.

The sorting machine sorts 5,000 books per hour, 23,000 books per day, 546,344 books per month, and 5.5 million per year. A lot of the books it sorts and delivers are reserves made by patrons. Anyone with a library card can reserve a book at any branch, and expect to receive it in 1-2 days, according to Sal.

Magaddino, like other New Yorkers, is concerned how budget cuts will affect library operations and encourages residents to make their voices heard.

The city’s three public library systems are facing $58.3M in budget cuts in the coming fiscal year, which starts on July 1. Sal is worried that the cuts will hinder the library’s ability to reach high needs communities. He is encouraging everyone to head to to send a letter to City Hall.