Gift Puts Food Library At N.Y.U. in Big Leagues.

Anna Bennett, a senior at New York University, was puzzled about where to find research material for a nine-page paper. ''The topic was 'Write whatever you want about a food group, recipe or ethnic food,' '' she said. ''The first thing that came to mind was Ethiopian food.'' She went online and started an instant-message chat with a librarian deep inside the university's fortresslike Bobst Library, across West Fourth Street from Washington Square Park: Do you have any cookbooks? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]