NYPL Blogs

July is almost here and Independence Day isn't the only time you'll see sparks! (And we don't mean Nicholas!) Head over to New Dorp Library and get involved in some of our amazing programs for all ages, without the fear of being burned by a sparkler!

This month you can look forward to attending our classic programs such as Read Aloud, Teen Cafe and Exercise Programs! But to add a little color this summer we're throwing in some other awesome programs! Check them out and have a blast at your favorite library!

Dangers of the 'foodopoly'... secrets of the original West Village... how Manhattan became capital of the world... a survey of time in love, war, crime, art, money and media... the spectrum of canine-obsessed craziness... 20th century graphic design and architecture... 75 personalized maps of Manhattan... the magic of cacao... a cynic's guide to happiness... Frankenstein's cat... true love lost and found... New York Neon... 1500 years of Islamic leaders... a cultural history of the American middle class... the first 50 years of the American Red Cross... the FBI's manufactured war on terror... the cost of American militarism... habitats of real New Yorkers...

Though not as well remembered today as Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, in the 1950s, William Inge was the most successful and acclaimed playwright in America. During that decade, Inge produced an unbroken string of successful plays: Come Back Little Sheba (1950), the Pulitzer Prize winner Picnic (1953), Bus Stop (1955), and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1957). He also knocked it out of the park with his Oscar-winning original screenplay for Elia Kazan's Splendor in the Grass (1961).

Given yesterday's historic Supreme Court decision overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, it's good to take a moment to look back at the struggles for marriage equality.

Continuing with a theme of reading historical fiction the book group read The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman. This novel is a sprawling tale based on another event in history. It was our largest book to date at 500 pages but almost every member managed to finish it in time for our meeting. Perhaps this is a testament to Hoffman's storytelling.

Until relatively recent decades, women have had severely limited opportunities within Western art music especially composition. Unfortunately women were often encouraged as amateurs but not professionals. Historically, there have been many obstacles facing woman as professional performers and composers.

The Job Market for People with Disabilities is a personal journey of Steve McEvoy who was born with mild to moderate cerebral palsy and non-verbal learning disability. In the beginning of this article he mentioned four hallmarks that hold the best chance of improving the discouraging unemployment rate that people with disabilities face. Here is his Personal Journey:

Sexology, the interdisciplinary scientific study of sex has been an integral component to the study of humanity. If you are currently researching any topics relating to the areas of sexology, sexuality or sex, consider visiting The New York Public Library's research collections! Whether you find sexology to be deeply fascinating or awfully embarrassing, there is a plethora of resources available to conduct your research.

June is PTSD Awareness Month, which aims to raise awareness of PTSD and its effective treatments so that everyone can help those affected. PTSD is an anxiety condition that can develop in response to exposure to an extreme traumatic event such as military combat, violent personal assaults, terrorist attacks, disasters or accidents. And while PTSD is not unique to veterans and military service members, it is often characterized as one of the "invisible wounds of war" and a "signature injury" of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Comparta con nosotros esta breve selección de libros recientemente adquiridos de ficción y no ficción. Además de misterio y romance, esta lista también incluye historias reconfortantes y sobre personalidades importantes.

In 2005, the Internet Archive released the first version of their BookReader, a web widget that allows a user to flip through images of book pages with an animation that suggests the turning of physical paper. The current version also allows you to view the images as set of thumbnails or as a vertically scrolling set of page images (like a PDF). The code is open source and written in JavaScript (a computer language that runs entirely in the web browser), so it's very easy to install the widget on any web page. As a result, a lot of libraries and archives have used versions of the code on their own web sites (NYPL uses it on the new Digital Collections platform).

We just kicked off the 2nd year of the 67th Street Library's creative writing summer program for tweens: the Imagination Academy. This past week the focus was on historical fiction and a fantastic group of local authors came to share their insights with the kids. After a presentation by the author, which anyone is welcome to attend, the kids got to spend the rest of the afternoon crafting their own stories under the tutelage of these experienced and celebrated writers.

Relentless physical agony for a few minutes of perfection; is this dance? A whirlwind romance with Jonathan, but will it last? Soledad is an 18-year-old woman who just finished high school. She is contemplating teaching dance during the summer or portraying Carmen in a competitive drum and bugle corps. She is not the prototype stick-thin ballet dancer; would Latin Dance work for her? It's about being free, finding your way in the world, and true love.

For the week of June 23rd, 2013 we have hardcover fiction, hardcover non-fiction, and Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous.

King & King
By Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
Recommended for Ages 6 and Up

How many times has your parent told you "That's it, I've had ENOUGH!"? Nevermind, I am sure everyone reading this blog is well behaved. Ok, well it has happened to me, I remember plenty of instances when my mom had had "enough." In this book, the Queen mother has had ENOUGH too!

About a month ago, I was having a conversation with a colleague about the then upcoming film, World War Z. Our discussion turned to pop culture's fascination with zombies. Zombies have shuffled their way into books, films, comics, music, T.V., video games, etc., and it appears that nothing can stop the spread of zombie content. From million dollar franchises to low budget films, from tongue-in-cheek titles to serious drama, zombies are seemingly everywhere. This was not always the case. As my colleague Rosa demonstrated in her 2010 blog post "The Zombie Comeback", zombies have grown significantly in popularity in recent years and they show no sign of slowing down.

Here are scans of the color plates of U.S. Plant Patents received at SIBL for the weeks of May 21 and 28 and June 4 and 11, 2013.

Plant Patent plates for 2012 and 2013 have been listed, with links, in the table posted here.

Michael Anthony Pegues, a contemporary of Jean-Michel Basquiat, has been a fixture on the downtown scene and a passionate artist for many decades. A survivor and a fighter, Michael never gave up his artistic ambitions and inventions, having been through many trials and tribulations. Last year Michael had a one man show at the FB Gallery. This year, he decided to give back to his community and make a piece of art for the Mulberry Street Library.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of National Small Business Week. Although things have certainly changed since President Kennedy signed the first Presidential Proclamation in 1963, one thing that hasn't changed is America's entrepreneurial spirit and the important role that small business owners play in our economy and our communities.