NYC: City-Wide Day of Rallies 5/28/2013

 

Come out, come out, wherever you are and show some love Tuesday, May 28, 2013!

(Via Urban Librarians Unite)

Citywide Day of Rallies In Support of NYC’s Public Libraries
Rallies in Across the City Call to Restore Proposed Budget Cuts

New Yorkers love their libraries and they show it but the current NYC
budget proposed cuts of more than $106 million threaten to shut down
community libraries across New York City. In response to this, a
citywide day of action will take place on Tuesday May 28th. NYC’s
three public library systems will participate along with the Queens
Library Guild Local 1321 and Urban Librarians Unite. There will be
library love going on across New York City.

Bronx
3:00 – 4:00PM
Kingsbridge Library, 291 West 231st Street, Bronx, NY

Wrap yourself up in library love. The activists in the Bronx will be
hugging the library with the help of local students and community
groups. These crafty activists have been knitting furiously in
protest of the cuts. They expect lots of pint-sized protesters as
their youngest supporters, the storytime set, will be out in force.

Brooklyn
9:00am
Bushwick Branch, 340 Bushwick Ave. at Seigel St, Brooklyn, NY
Council Member Diana Reyna will attend

9:00am
Park Slope Branch, 431 Sixth Ave. at Ninth St., Brooklyn
Council Member Brad Lander will attend

Hug the Libraries! Two Brooklyn Libraries will be literally embraced
by their communities. The Bushwick Branch and the Park Slope Branch
will be surrounded by crowds clasping hands and embracing the library
buildings.

Manhattan
3 to 4 PM
Jefferson Market Library, 425 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY

Manhattanites are hoping the city will “cut it out” with slashing
library budgets. Children of all ages will attend a craft event,
featuring a special paper cut-out celebrating the Library, which will
be displayed for all New Yorkers who love their libraries, and to make
a statement about their importance.

Queens
11:00 – 1:00PM
Central Library, 89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica
Council Member Leroy Comrie expected to attend

The Queens Library Guild, Local 1321 Rally at the Queens Central
Library will be a vocal celebration of love for the library. Staff and
customers will take it in turn to come forward and speak up about
their personal love for the library.

NYC Neighborhood Library Awards = Get $$$ to Your Favorite Local Branch. Do It.

New York City’s 206 public libraries play important roles in communities across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Since New York City’s neighborhoods are very diverse and each library is unique, the Charles H. Revson Foundation is asking: How does your local library help your community? What makes your local library special?

The strongest nominations will explain why a library branch should win this award, using specific examples and personal stories or anecdotes.

Five outstanding neighborhood libraries will each win a cash prize of $10,000. Nominate your neighborhood library today!

www.savenyclibraries.com

The Bloomberg Administration’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget proposes slashing funding to libraries citywide by $106.7 million. Read more here: Albor Ruiz – New York City’s public libraries need their patrons to stand up against mayoral budget cuts (Daily News).

And while you are at it PLEASE sign a petition to let your city council member know that you love your library.

Queens Library

Brooklyn Public Library

New York Public Library

 

 

Baked at the Library

While searching for inspiration to satisfy my sweet tooth recently, I checked out “Baked Elements” by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito of Baked/Red Hook fame. I was most certainly inspired (hello booze, peanut butter, and malted milk powder), but something else also caught my attention. The authors’ photo wasn’t set in their bakery, but at the reading room of the New York Public Library on 42nd Street. Furthermore, librarians are acknowledged in their “thank yous”, so these gentleman bakers must have done research there, to boot! This GQ article will get you their recipe for Bourbon, Vanilla, and Chocolate Milkshakes. You’re welcome.

The People’s Budget NYC

Click the link, register, and vote for the EXTEND LIBRARY HOURS proposal! John Liu will testify on behalf of the top three vote getters at an upcoming budget hearing (via Urban Librarians Unite)

http://peoplesbudgetnyc.com/

Take action to stop the Central Library Plan and save the 42nd Street Library!

The Central Library Plan (CLP), at enormous cost to New York City and its taxpayers, would irreparably damage the 42nd Street Research Library – one of the world’s great reference libraries and a historic landmark. The CLP would demolish the library’s historic book stacks, install a circulating library in their stead, and displace 1.5 million books to central New Jersey. The new circulating library would replace the Mid-Manhattan Library (at 40th and 5th Avenue) and SIBL (Science, Industry and Business Library, at 34th and Madison), which would both be sold off. Take action to stop the Central Library Plan and save the 42nd Street Library!  Please join us for a week of leafleting at the 42nd Street Library culminating in a rally on Wednesday, May 8th, during the meeting of the New York Public Library Trustees at the 42nd Street Library. Click here for more info.

Support NYC Libraries This Week

NYC: want to show support for libraries? Come out for these events THIS week!

Monday, April 15th from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Sit Out and rally in front of the 42nd Street Central Reference Library and Mid-Manhattan Branch to express outrage about the demolition of the research stacks there and the consolidation/shrinkage of the libraries.  SIBIL library will also be demolished, sold for private development. Lets show the public what is happening to our libraries. 

Wednesday, April 17, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Rally for Donnell Library, closed in 2008 and still no promised replacement. 20 West 53rd Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues, (meet on 40 West 53rd).

Thursday, April 18th between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. Steps of City Hall, City Hall Park, Broadway and Chambers Streets in Manhattan, City Comptroller John Liu will discuss the administration’s funding cuts and sell-off of the public libraries at a press conference.

SOS NYC Libraries

http://magpielibrarian.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/savenyclibraries-or-youre-going-to-have-to-read-another-post-like-this-next-year/

“If you care about New York, if you care about libraries, if you care about teens and toddlers and immigrants and parents and jobseekers and seniors and schools and literacy and serving the under-served and the digital divide and books and literature and culture, then you should be really worked up about these budget cuts. You should be spitting mad. You should be emailing Mayor Mike Bloomberg right now. Seriously. Mega-Library Advocate Marilyn Johnson suggests categorizing your message under “Quality of Life”. You don’t need to be a New York resident or a librarian to tell our Mayor that libraries are essential.” –Urban Librarians Unite

Want to buy some books for Sandy Children’s Book Relief?

 

Urban Librarians Unite (ULU) has started a public wishlist on Powell’s. Feel free to buy used copies!  All books can be shipped to:

Urban Librarians Unite
45-06 Queens Blvd
Suite 120
Sunnyside, NY 11104

NYC Libraries Situation Post-Sandy

Looks like Hurricane Sandy wrecked havoc on the public libraries’ websites, or else they’ve been temporarily shutdown to minimize damage from the hurricane.  Some items to note:

Per Brooklyn Public Library’s Facebook fan page, for today 11/1/12: Most Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) locations, including Central Library at Grand Army Plaza, will be open from 10 AM – 5 PM today, Thursday, November 1. The following branches will NOT be open this week: Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Flatlands, Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend, Jamaica Bay, Kensington, McKinley Park, Red Hook and Sheepshead Bay. Fines will not accrue at this time.

Most Queens Library branches will resume their normal schedules on Friday, November 2., but branches in low-lying areas (Arverne, Broad Channel, Peninsula and Seaside) will remain closed, temporarily, while extensive repairs are made. Fines and fees will be waived from October 29 through November 5, 2012.

New York Public Library remains closed today, 11/1/12. Per their website: “The New York Public Library has sustained virtually no structural damage as a result of Hurricane Sandy; any minor damage was repaired very quickly by the Library’s Facilities team. As a result, 62 branches (including six that are not open on Nov. 1) will be open on November 2, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. We are proud that we can open our doors and serve the various needs of New Yorkers, but please note, due to power outages, services will vary location to location. For example, patrons may not be able to check out items or pick up holds.” Contact ASK-NYPL for more information.