Posts from 67th Street Library

Thanks to Lifetime Arts for securing funding and inviting our library system to participate, NYPL is once again able to offer free sustained art courses, taught by professional teaching artists, for adults age 55 and over. Seventeen branch libraries have received funding that enables them to host these classes, which will take place from February-November 2013, and which cover a wide variety of arts including: painting, sculpting, collage, memoir-writing/performance, drawing, and quilt-making.

The fourth and final week of the 67th Street Library's Dream Big Imagination Academy has ended with a bang and several short stories! Each day from Tuesday through Friday these promising young writers met at the library from 1-4 p.m. as part of this free writer's workshop for 9-12 year olds. And with the support and guidance of several local authors, these up and coming talents realized their dreams as we spent the week celebrating fiction!

The young writers of the 67th Street Library continue to impress local authors, library staff and even themselves as session three of the four session Dream Big Imagination Academy, a free writer’s workshop program for 9-12 year olds, culminated this Friday with each writer creating their own graphic novel! All week long this talented young group met at the library from 1-4 p.m. and with the guidance of local graphic novelists, authors and illustrators, realized their dreams of writing and illustrating their very own books.

Last week was an exciting one for the young writers of the 67th Street Library! It was poetry week for the Dream Big Imagination Academy, a free writer’s workshop program for 9-12 year olds. All week long, Tuesday through Friday, these budding writers met at the library from 1-4pm and honed their skills learning more about writing poetry and how they can use it to share their big ideas and dreams with the world.

Visit NYPL's BiblioCommons for these lists and many more. You can also create your own and share them with us in the comments! See below for some interesting staff picks from the past month, on topics both timely and timeless:

If you haven't experienced, or perhaps even heard about, ReelAbilities, this may be the year to discover this unique festival, which is a film festival, but also so much more.

Below are a few of the newest books to hit NYPL shelves:

If you see something you like, simply click on the title and request a copy from the NYPL catalog.

I would say that I am rather familiar with Tina Fey’s work and I would declare myself quite a fan of her talent. From watching her in Mean Girls on the big screen and laughing at her hilarious Sarah Palin impressions to officially making Date Night one of the top five movies to make me laugh so hard I had tears streaming down my face — she is indeed amazing. So how is her New York Times best-selling book Bossypants? Well, a good book is in the eye of the reader, but here's my take on it.

Below are a few of the newest books to hit NYPL shelves...

If you see something you like, simply click on the title and you will be able to request a copy from the NYPL catalog.

To learn more about a particular author or book, click on the person's name to be redirected to a biographical summary or book review within the NYPL database Biography in Context.

The following summaries were taken from the NYPL catalog.

FICTION

Caleb's Crossing

What initially drew me into reading The Dressmaker of Khair Khana was the beautiful book cover and title. Call me superficial but yes, I am indeed guilty of judging many a book by its cover. But as I went on to read the summary on the inside of the book jacket, I found myself even more interested and so I began reading what is now one of the most memorable books I've ever read. The best part is, this is actually based on a true story.

Below are a few of the newest books to hit NYPL shelves...

When I first requested the book The Rules According to JWoww: Shore-Tested Secrets On Landing A Mint Guy, Staying Fresh To Death, And Kicking The Competition To The Curb (deep breath...), by Jenni Farley, aka JWoww from MTV's Jersey Shore, I must admit that I felt a little bit iffy about it. The mere title and cover image alone of JWoww in a sexy schoolgirl uniform is enough to make one feel as if this book is not really meant to be taken seriously.

The Rite, starring Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs, The Wolfman) was released in theatres late last month and was #1 at the box office on its opening weekend. It has since received mixed reviews but did you know that this film is actually based on a book written by Matt Baglio in 2009?

The name of the book is The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist and it tells the true story of a California priest and his astonishingly scary experiences in 2005 while studying exorcisms in Rome.

Here is an inside look on all the great movies being featured by this year's Movie Theatre Thursdays at the 67th Street Library! Click Place Hold to request a copy from NYPL. Click on the title to read more information from The Internet Movie Database and view clips. Summaries taken from the NYPL catalog.

Below are a few of the newest books to hit NYPL shelves...

Recently, The New York Public Library hosted JAY-Z in conversation with Cornel West and Paul Holdengräber where the rapper spoke about his newly released book Decoded. Now, this is my feedback as both a librarian and a fan.

Rapper Jay-Z is known by many as being a living legend. The truth is, with some of the best rap lyricists such as Biggie Smalls, Tupac, and Big Pun succumbing to tragedy, Jay-Z is a reminder not only of hope but of a particular generation of evolved rap music makers and their ability to artistically express their visions and perspective on life to their audience using wit, street knowledge, and a deep desire to share the world 

Below are a few of the newest books to hit NYPL shelves...

For Colored Girls, Tyler Perry's latest film, was released in early November and has since received some mixed reviews. Tyler Perry as a director is known for addressing what can be very sensitive topics: for example, drug abuse in Daddy's Little Girls and unhappy marriages in Why Did I Get Married? The casts of his films are usually made up of actors and actresses who are well-known especially amongst the black community. However, it is his ability to capture basic human emotion on camera that has led to his success among of a diverse audience. Did you know that the film For Colored Girls is actually based on a choreopoem book 

Curtis Jackson, a.k.a. rapper 50 Cent, is known for a lot of things. To many, he's known for his controversial blunt honesty that is often especially geared toward fellow rappers. He is also the epitome of a person living the American Dream, coming from nothing in Southside Jamica, Queens and eventually becoming a millionaire mogul with his own clothing line, vitamin water drink, books (fiction and non-fiction) as well as a few acting roles (Righteous Kill also starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.) For those who don't listen to his music, he may be identified as the guy who got shot "9 times!" But