Posts from Jefferson Market Library

Needless to say (but apparently I’m saying it anyway!), one can be moved, changed, and inspired by words. Or disgusted, angered, and bored — but that’s a different blog post — or is it?

Has somebody recently called you Miss Fairgrounds or wished you a Happy Easter, Sugar... in June? You can find out what they meant in the basement of Jefferson Market Library.

What are you reading this summer? At Jefferson Market Library, we want to know!

Are you sanguine, choleric, melancholic or phlegmatic?

A visionary? A judger? A thinker or feeler? A catalyst? A diamond? A three?

In 1921, the grandad of Psychological Typology, Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), defined "introversion" and "extraversion," laying the groundwork for today's psychometric questionnaires and self-reflection gimmicks. 

Here are some recently published, non-academic books, all available at NYPL, that are designed for "discovery" and self-reflection:

When Bill German was a teenager, he created a zine about his favorite band, The Rolling Stones, called Beggars Banquet. The year was 1978, and little did he know, but the pages he was diligently printing at his Brooklyn High School would later lead him to become the band’s official historian for over two decades. He traveled the world with them, stayed at their homes, witnessed their concerts, recording sessions, and in-fights and lived to write a book about it: Under Their Thumb. Saturday May 21st 2pm at Tompkins Square Library, Bill German will share humorous Stones anecdotes and never before seen photographs. 

I'm getting married next week, and if you, like me, are planning a wedding and wondering why you didn't just go to city hall, you should know that there are a wealth of resources at the New York Public Library. Whether you are trying to be thrifty, crafty, design your own flowers, or pick a location, you can find ideas at the library, and you won't have to pay a wedding planner for them.

The first Saturday of May is approaching, and with it comes derby day in Louisville, Kentucky, the city where I was born. It's a time when celebrities flock to town, the bars stay open all night, and the nation focuses on Louisville for the two minutes the Kentucky Derby takes to run. These books, films, and recording artists will give you a little bit of Kentucky any time of year.

Sometimes it isn't about the destination. Here's a list of all things that take me on a mental trip across America's highways.  

Did you know that the Jefferson Market library has an archive of images, papers and press clippings dating back to the 1800s?  This collection of Greenwich Village history has recently been processed and made available to the public by archivist and librarian Barbara Knowles-Pinches, who began working at Jefferson Market in 2009.  The digitizing process has just begun; images and a finding aid will be available online in the near future. Here, Barbara tells us about some of her favorite items from the archive. 

Debbie is a literary agent and all-around superpatron at Jefferson Market.

Whether you grew up there or just read about it in books or seen it in the movies, Suburbia is a most definite and unique place.  With these books, movies and CDs you can visit without ever having to take the Long Island Railroad!  So if you did grow up there—maybe it’s time to go home again. And if you didn’t—scroll through this list and see what you missed!

In celebration of Women's History Month, I have put together a list of works that I feel are essential to feminist theory/feminist thought. From proto-feminism to third-wave post-modernist, here are some of my (mostly Western) favorites. What are some feminist works you favorite or feel are essential to the canon?

Karoline Barwinski is currently teaching our 4 session Intro to Yoga series.  Here's the interview we did with her:

Last week I finished an amazing book about Greenwich Village in the 1960s called A Freewheelin' Time. This weekend, I found out that the author of the book, Suze Rotolo, passed away on Friday. Her death also coincides with the 50 year anniversary of Bob Dylan's first arrival in Greenwich Village. I figured that such a synchronicity calls for a blog post!

Ready to get away? Craving some Hollywood glamour? The roiling surf of Malibu? The sunny So-Cal lifestyle? Well, pop in one of these CDs, throw on one of these movies and open up one of these books and you'll be THERE!

On January 31st 2011, President Barack Obama proclaimed February 2011 as National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. In his proclamation Obama stated,

"Each year, about one in four teens report being the victim of verbal, physical, emotional, or sexual violence.  Abusive relationships can impact adolescent development, and teens who experience dating violence may suffer long-term negative behavioral and health consequences.  Adolescents in controlling or violent relationships may carry these dangerous and unhealthy patterns into future relationships.  The time to break the cycle of teen dating violence is now, before another generation 

A library patron (Marie Hansen, Young Adult Librarian) is returning her overdue items at the Jefferson Market Library in New York City. She soon discovers the library to be inhabited only by a strange and terrifying Ghoul (Frank Collerius, Branch Manager)! Created for The New York Public Library.

The finale of the Indie Film Series presents Emmy Award winning filmmaker Ken Kimmelman.  Here's our interview with him: