During the years he lived in Harlem, Jacob Lawrence spent a great deal of time at the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library, what is now the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. There, he took classes as part of the Harlem Art Workshop and conducted research for many of his narrative paintings of historical events and figures. This work on paper, made decades after Lawrence moved from the neighborhood, celebrates the library and its collection. The figures are each engrossed in their reading materials, suggesting the eagerness with which they seek to learn about their history.