Posts from Ottendorfer Library

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:

This summer, children at the Ottendorfer Library are participating in our library advocacy campaign. Children are invited to tell Mayor Bloomberg how much they love their library by stopping in our children's room to write or color a special letter to the Mayor.  Support for our libraries is more important than ever before, so parents don’t forget to sign your own letter while visiting the library!

Stop by our children's room to see the amazing work of local Brooklyn artist Naoko Stoop. Naoko has graciously lent the Ottendorfer Library several of her pieces from her series "Red Knit Cap Girl."

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:

Every November, thousands of aspiring authors and literary daredevils from around the world attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days as part of National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo for short.)

The New York Public Library is hosting NaNoWriMo Write-ins all over the city, creating an opportunity for you to meet other participants, work on your novel, and be cheered on to the lexical finish line. Some do it for the digital certificate and sense of achievement, while other NaNoWrimo novelists eventually go on to have their works published. Why you write, what you write, and how you write it, is all up to you!

Once a month, Beth Neuman and her dog Forest, an 11 year old toy poodle, volunteer at Ottendorfer Library’s Paws ‘n’ Books program. The literacy program offers children ages six and older the opportunity to read aloud to a four legged friend for 15 minutes, helping to boost their reading confidence. We interviewed Beth before one of their Paws 'n' Books sessions.

April showers bring Sydelle's flowers at Ottendorfer!

In her January/February exhibit at the Ottendorfer Branch longtime Lower East Side resident and artist Anne Stanner showcases some of her sculptures which were created from recycled scrap metals. You can view three of her pieces here (The Bear, Horses and Antelope, and The Bull) from her series "Dreams of Lascaux."  You can view the rest of her exhibit on the first floor of the branch until the end of February.  I sat down with Anne to discuss her work:

With one of the coldest winters in recent memory upon us what better time to learn the art of knitting? I joined some of the ladies of the Ottendorfer Branch knitting circle on one blustery cold Saturday afternoon to chat.

Zombies are making a comeback thanks to the critically acclaimed television series The Walking Dead on AMC. Vampires everywhere must be rolling in their graves. This past Sunday marked the season finale of the show but never fear, a second season will soon begin production. For now you can get your zombie fix with these reads:

On December 8, 1884 the Ottendorfer Branch opened its doors to the public.

You can relive that day 126 years ago thanks to this article, "Mrs. Ottendorfer’s Gift, The New Branch of the New York Free Circulating Library" which appeared in The New York Times on December 7, 1884.

It is 8th Street, but from Third Avenue to Avenue A it is called St. Marks Place and is named for St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, which is not even on 8th Street, or St. Marks Place, but at the intersection of 10th Street, Second Avenue, and Stuyvesant Street. The land there has been a site of Christian worship since 1660. The history of St. Marks Place doesn’t go back that far, but a surprising amount of history has happened on these four blocks.

January 23, 2010 marks the centennial of the birth of Django Reinhardt. Reinhardt grew up in gypsy camps outside Paris and began playing violin, banjo, and guitar at a young age.

After a number of years in an historic Greenwich Village library I’ve spent the past few weeks in an equally historic East Village library. The Ottendorfer Branch of The New York Public Library is surrounded by literary, political, and musical history. From Leon Trotsky and Abbie Hoffman to Allen Ginsberg and Joey Ramone,