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Located far aft on the Shelter or C-deck, the Second-Class Library served as the main lounge for the second-class passengers. It was easily accessed from the main second-class staircase and was adjacent to the enclosed second-class promenade area.
Decorated in the Colonial Adams style, it had the distinction of being the only room onboard to use an American décor rather than a European one.
Many stories exist of passengers who spent time in the library writing postcards (93/0292.05/38), checking the Ship’s location on the progress charts posted there, or simply just relaxing. Among those who lived to recount their experiences in the room was English science teacher Lawrence Beesley. He wrote the following keen observation of those last hours:
“The library was crowded that afternoon, owing to the cold on deck: but through the windows we could see the clear sky with the brilliant sunlight that seemed to augur a fine night and a clear to-morrow, and the prospect of landing in two days, with calm weather all the way to New York, was a matter of general satisfaction among us all. I can look back and see every detail of the library that afternoon—the beautifully furnished room, with lounges, armchairs, and small writing-or card tables scattered about, writing-bureaus around the walls of the room, and the library in glass-encased shelves flanking one side—the whole finished in mahogany relieved with white fluted wooden columns that supported the deck above. Through the windows is a covered corridor, reserved by general consent as the children’s playground, and here are playing the two Navratil children with their father—devoted to them, never absent from them.” (Mr. Navratil would lose his life later that night, but saved his two sons by sending them to a lifeboat in the arms of strangers.) |
