Computer Assistance
People in our community often do not have access to computer technology and they rely on us to show them how to use it. For example, a gentleman came into the branch recently who wanted to apply for a job online in another city, but he knew almost nothing about computers. Because of this and technical glitches at the company website he was trying to access, it took three appointments to actually complete the application - but there was a reward -- he was contacted for an interview. Another patron heard about a site that enabled you to study for a nursing exam online - but she was baffled by the interactive nature of the site, so we helped her. The other day, she came in with a big smile and announced that she had passed the exam. A proud parent told us recently that her child had won an essay contest and attributed it directly to the research done on the web at our branch. Even in a tiny branch like ours, we have an impact on people's lives.
Jeff Sperber, Branch Librarian, Stapleton Library

Preserving Theater
When the Library's Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT) at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts videotaped our musical Passion in August of 1994, it brought full circle a project I had begun with Stephen Sondheim ten months earlier. TOFT recorded a workshop production of Passion presented by Lincoln Center Theater. As we continued to develop the work, we became regular visitors to the Library, reviewing the video of the musical as we shaped and refined it for Broadway. It was revelatory to come back several months later and watch the piece with some sense of objectivity and distance. It helped us figure out what worked and what didn't and what changes we needed to make. These tapes form a unique legacy for theatre professionals and researchers. I think it's very important that we have in the theatre a permanent record of our work.
James Lapine, Researcher, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages)
I have been in the U.S. about a year and a half. And I am lucky, because I got a job very quickly. Now I don't have any problems, except with my poor English. That's why I am here - in English for Speakers of Other Languages classes at The New York Public Library. I go to the Library 4 days a week, and listen, speak, and write with people just like me, who want to live in this country and speak the language. It's great and absolutely free. I meet many interesting people from different countries. There are very nice teachers who have a lot of patience. I really appreciate them and everybody who provides for and supports this program.
Alex Rakhlin, Student, ESOL

CLASP (Connecting Libraries and Schools Project)
You never know what will encourage a child to read, but CLASP seems to be behind so many tales of inspiration that it is heartbreaking to see cutbacks to the program. Not long ago, I visited a neighborhood school and “booktalked” Life Is Funny by E.R. Frank. The next day, I was back in the same school. One little girl, formerly a non-reader, approached me to say that she had stayed up all night the night before reading Life Is Funny. Her teacher was amazed, as she had been trying to get the girl to read a book - any book - for months with no success.
Anne Rouyer, CLASP Librarian, Bloomingdale Branch

Business Information
When I finally decided to open my own takeout cafè six years ago, I had enough contacts from my former job as a hotel executive to find a chef, suppliers, and a lawyer to help work out the contractual details. But I didn't know how to write a business plan, whether the business name I had in mind was available, or what lunchtime buying patterns were. So I went to the Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) to find out. SIBL is the first place I always think of when I need new business information. The librarians amaze me. No matter how specific your question is, they can always pull out a book or come up with a database with the answers. I took a class in trademark searches and discovered that my original choice for a business name - Habanero, which is a kind of hot pepper - was taken, and eventually settled on Mosaico - Spanish for mosaic - instead. Reference sources also gave me valuable demographic information on the Murray Hill neighborhood I planned to open in and lunchtime buying patterns in general. I learned information like how many blocks people would typically walk for takeout food, and how many restaurants per capita a business district can sustain. The information went into my business plan for Mosaico, which I put together with the help of counselors in the SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) office on SIBL's ground floor. I've since opened a second takeout cafè and went back to SIBL to do research.
Stacey Bass, Researcher, Science, Industry and Business Library

Art Projects
At our branch, a local artist was invited to do an arts and craft's project with 15 children, in which my three-year-old twin daughters participated. The artist brought in Styrofoam boards for the kids to create a collage out of maybe 30 containers full of materials like CDs, plugs, pieces of computer keyboards, buttons, ropes, necklaces, zippers, letters, and much more. The first week, the group chose and glued their items to their boards, and the second week they painted their collages. My daughters have done probably hundreds of art projects, but this was by far the coolest one they have ever done. I left the library feeling incredibly grateful that despite all the budget cuts, libraries continue to coordinate these events. I hope everyone out there knows what an impact activities like these have on children.
Jessica Ryan, User, 67th Street Branch

Talking Books for the Blind
I was declared legally blind around 1989. I didn't know how much I'd enjoy talking books until I received them. On average, I listen to talking books about three or four hours daily. I loved to read, and I think that I might have gone out of my mind without your services. I don't feel depressed about having lost my sight, because talking books have changed my whole attitude towards life. Even my doctor and friends commend my ability to deal with my disability. I hope to receive talking books for the rest of my life.
Matilda Liss, User, Andrew Heiskell Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

Rare Materials
I came to the Center for Scholars and Writers with the goal of searching for materials of Jewish popular culture that might have escaped the eyes of censors and so give us a more accurate picture of Jewish attitudes toward and knowledge of the Christian world of early modern Western Europe. I began by searching for early printed Yiddish material, such as stories, penitential manuals, Bible translations into Yiddish - anything that might be considered too common or addressed to women and thus beneath the notice of scholarly censors searching for blasphemy. The Library holds a very rich collection of these early printed Yiddish materials, but the librarian also called my attention to types of materials that I would never have thought to examine, such as Jewish calendars. The Library owns one set of manuscript pocket calendars from the mid-18th century that moved me to tears: tiny enough to fit into my palm, each one meticulously handwritten, spanning close to a decade and a half, these precious survivors, mute concerning the identity of the writer but ever so eloquent about matters such as the construction of Jewish time within the Christian world. The existence of this source sent me searching for more, so that my work expanded in directions I could not have foreseen.
Elisheva Carlebach, Fellow, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers