NYPL Blogs

By far the largest number of children's books—especially those for circulation (lending) to children and their families—is to be found at The New York Public Library. The largest collections of children's books in that you can visit are at its Children's Center at 42nd Street as well as the many children's rooms in the 87 neighborhood branches in Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island. There are also children's collections at the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Library.

However, there are also a number of smaller, often non-profit, children's libraries in New York City that are in most cases free and target the needs of children and adolescents with interests 

Yesterday I went to the independent bookstore Bluestockings for a reading of Lisa Darms' The Riot Grrrl Collection with Johanna Fateman, Ramdasha Bikceem and Molly Neuman.

While I was sitting in the audience I thought about my first encounter with the Riot Grrrl movement. I was thirteen years old when I first heard the song Rebel Girl by Bikini Kill. After hearing that song I knew I wanted more. It lead me to other bands like Bratmobile, Sleater-Kinney, The Gits, Heavens to Betsey, Le Tigre and Team Dresch. Soon after I got into the zines associated with the movement. The music and the literature provided me with a different way of thinking about beauty and 

I get asked a lot about my Union Jack tattoo. Mainly, "why?" My answer? "Why not? I just like all things British and Scottish, okay? Geesh. Leave me alone!" But the real answer is bit more complicated. Those stories, those places just always captured my imagination. Growing up in Northern Idaho anyplace outside of my corner of North America was exotic in my book. Or perhaps I should just give the simplest answer, which is, "I blame my parents."

Who is Harpo? How does one describe him? What is his role in the Marx Brothers' films? What is his role in the universe? Sometimes he is a hero; sometimes an anti-hero. He is always unique, on par with the greats: Chaplin, Red Skelton, Emmet Kelly. He is spontaneous, in continuous action, even when he freezes or stares (which are actions in themselves). He's a part of a group, but sometimes stands alone. Is he everyman, or the product of a long line of clowns?

"So all in all there wasn't anything really wrong with my life. Except that, like most everyone else's I knew about, it had a big gaping hole in it, an enormous emptiness, and I didn't know how to fill it or even know what belonged there."

What would you do to fill a similar existential hole? How does a spot of clandestine, government-sponsored time travel sound? Welcome to June in the Reader's Den! This month we're reading the classic time travel tale and novel of New York, Time and Again, by Jack Finney. This is a book that will appeal to lovers of historical fiction as well as to science fiction fans, and there's a fair bit of mystery and romance 

Jennifer Steffey's trio of paintings, grouped together under the title of Agrivulture, will be on view at the Mulberry Street Library through August 30, 2013. An illustrator for the American Museum of Natural History, Jenn also has a wide range of independent artistic projects. Using pen and ink, watercolor, and even animation to capture her inimitable style, she is Influenced by comics and superheros, surrealism, photography, pop culture, and especially her unforgettable Murphy the dog. I spoke with Jenn about her artwork.

CUNY Career PATH is a low-to no cost program funded by the grant program of the US Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training, also know as TAACCCT.

In order to ensure career advancement and successful college transition, CUNY Career PATH participants are given career-focused academic and English language skills instruction, job training leading to industry-recognized credentials and college credits, academic advisement, career counseling and employment assistance. 

Portable video, the development of machines smaller than a kitchen range and affordable on an institutional if not a personal scale, ignited a revolution in consumer and institutional video. Before the ubiquitous half inch EIAJ open reel VTR, ca.1970, early adopters employed non standard VTRs such as the Sony CV skip field recorder, circa 1965. André Eglevsky had a CV outfit that included a monitor receiver. André Eglevsky was a pioneer in time shifting, in addition to documenting rehearsals and performances of the Eglevsky Company he made early (atavistic) off air recordings of broadcast television. The screen shots below are from the Dance Division video tape *MGZIC 

In the aftermath of the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is hiring local employees to help with the recovery of many communities impacted by the storm.

"I think it's a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power." Ai Weiwei, "Ai Weiwei 'Does Not Feel Powerful'"BBC, October 13, 2011.

Ai Weiwei was commenting on being named the most powerful person in the art world in 2011 by ArtReview magazine after his three month detention by the Chinese government for alleged tax evasion. His position as most powerful art world representative is largely due to his political statements and the conscientious stance he chooses to make with his art.

For the week of June 16th, 2013 we have hardcover fiction, hardcover non-fiction, and Paperback Mass-Market Fiction.

I cataloged a couple of gay libraries in Dublin, Ireland and Albany, NY, and there has been much in the news media lately about LGBT rights since New York State began recognizing gay and lesbian marriages in 2011. I think it is awesome and terrific that people are now able to legally marry who they love regardless of the gender of the spouses. Below are some LGBT libraries and museums that I found.

My colleague MN said she would be coming the 'my' next lecture. Of course I said what?? (your friends will come to your funeral, your real friends go to your lectures). She had just discovered John Adams's opera Doctor Atomic and pointed me to the YouTube clip of the aria "Batter My Heart," one of Donne's most famous poems. Cool, as the youngbloods say (used to say?)

A death notice for the theater director Stephen Porter appears in today's New York Times. Porter, who died on June 11 at the age of 87, won two Drama Desk Awards (for They Knew What They Wanted and Man and Superman) and was twice nominated for the Tony (for The School for Wives and Chemin de Fer).

With opening titles in French, closing credits in Russian, and post-production commentary in Japanese, cataloging Mikhail Baryshnikov's audiovisual collection presents an exciting linguistic challenge. Decoding the names—and, sometimes, nuanced conversations—associated with a production is a particularly engaging puzzle. Who, for example, is that enthusiastic commentator in a Tokyo television broadcast? Could his identity and critique of a performance be useful information for our researchers? What about the cryptic videotape label, handwritten in Cyrillic script? Is this a clue to an uncredited cast?

Love history? Original archival documents? Looking for new ways to incorporate primary source materials into your lesson plans? 

NYPL is searching for you!

We are looking for innovative master teachers at the middle and high school level for a new 3 week collaborative summer exploration program based at The New York Public Library's flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue.

The Education Innovation @ NYPL Summer Institute will take place August 5-23 (Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. for 3 weeks). 

As President Obama is leading our nation in an education reform to Race to the Top and Educate to Innovate, Mayor Bloomberg of the Big Apple is following suit in raising the education standards of K-12 school students by implementing more effective teaching and learning programs. Fortifying STEM education with a focus on the knowledge and skills for the jobs of the future is also an important aspect on the agenda of Bloomberg's education reform.

Musical theater is an exceptionally collaborative art form, and finding the right collaborator can be as complicated as dating. Although New York City is filled with hopeful musical theater writers and composers, it is also, as Sondheim's Marta sings in Company, "a city of strangers" where making connections of any kind can be difficult.

One needs to only glance at the papers of Gina Blau (also known as the performer Srimathi Gina) to see that her study of Indian classical dance was truly her life's passion. From the highly detailed (and copious) writings in her many notebooks, to the intricate drawings of various hand positions—or 'mudras'—of Indian classical dance, there is a thoroughness and sense of enthusiasm that comes with true dedication.