1. Happy 70th Birthday to the great Christopher Walken! In celebration our amazing librarian at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Jeremy Megraw, wrote an awesome blog about Walken. Jeremy also uncovered some rarely seen photos of a VERY YOUNG Walken from The Library’s incredible Billy Rose Theatre Collection. The photo above is from Ronnie Walken’s (his birth name) 1955 acting resume. Our friends at Gothamist also shared some of these photos as well as some that they found as well…

    Happy 70th Birthday to the great Christopher Walken! In celebration our amazing librarian at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Jeremy Megraw, wrote an awesome blog about Walken. Jeremy also uncovered some rarely seen photos of a VERY YOUNG Walken from The Library’s incredible Billy Rose Theatre Collection. The photo above is from Ronnie Walken’s (his birth name) 1955 acting resume. Our friends at Gothamist also shared some of these photos as well as some that they found as well…

  2. It rained: / telluric smell of / being forgiven, as sky / upon earth in its tears. / Give me your hand, for / I need to hold it.

    — April is National Poetry Month! Starting today, enjoy daily poems from the winners of NYPL’s National Poetry Contest. Today’s winning poem comes to us from @robinsonhasread in Henderson, TX. Congratulations Justin!

    SHARE your favorite winning poems: http://www.nypl.org/poetrycontest

  3. It’s FLAMENCO time!!! Opening this week at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in the Vincent Astor Gallery is the free multimedia exhibition 100 Years of Flamenco in NYC . The exhibition featuresall things Flamenco including costumes, photographs, posters and video. Doing the Flamenco while visiting the exhibition is optional. 

    It’s FLAMENCO time!!! Opening this week at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in the Vincent Astor Gallery is the free multimedia exhibition 100 Years of Flamenco in NYC . The exhibition featuresall things Flamenco including costumes, photographs, posters and video. Doing the Flamenco while visiting the exhibition is optional. 

  4. Lend me your ear and look at what’s here! It’s the NYPL’s first ever National Poetry Contest on Twitter! To enter, register and agree to the contest rules, follow @NYPL on Twitter, and submit three poetic Tweets in English as public posts on your Twitter stream between March 1 and 10, 2013. Three poetic Tweets constitute one entry and each poem must contain the @NYPL Twitter handle. Two of the poems can cover any topic you choose, but at least one of the three poems needs to be about libraries, books, reading, or New York City. All entries must be original, unpublished, and must not have won any award. Entrants may submit one entry per day.  You can read about the prizes, rules and regulations here. 

    Lend me your ear and look at what’s here! It’s the NYPL’s first ever National Poetry Contest on Twitter! To enter, register and agree to the contest rules, follow @NYPL on Twitter, and submit three poetic Tweets in English as public posts on your Twitter stream between March 1 and 10, 2013. Three poetic Tweets constitute one entry and each poem must contain the @NYPL Twitter handle. Two of the poems can cover any topic you choose, but at least one of the three poems needs to be about libraries, books, reading, or New York City. All entries must be original, unpublished, and must not have won any award. Entrants may submit one entry per day.  You can read about the prizes, rules and regulations here. 

  5. Look who visited The NYPL this morning! The Cat was a guest along with NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon as they - excuse me, Mr. Gordon - did a  reading of the Dr. Seuss classic The 500 Hats of  Bartholomew Cubbins which is celebrating its 75th Anniversary. So in honor of The Cat, what is your favorite Dr. Seuss book? 

    Look who visited The NYPL this morning! The Cat was a guest along with NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon as they - excuse me, Mr. Gordon - did a  reading of the Dr. Seuss classic The 500 Hats of  Bartholomew Cubbins which is celebrating its 75th Anniversary. So in honor of The Cat, what is your favorite Dr. Seuss book? 

  6. Happy 111th birthday to the legendary American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist Langston Hughes. At The New York Public Library you can find ample Langston Hughes information, including photos (the one featured here is from our Manuscripts and Archives Division), papers , books, and films. Of course, you can also go over to the NYPL’s great Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and visit the Langston Hughes Auditorium.

    Happy 111th birthday to the legendary American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist Langston Hughes. At The New York Public Library you can find ample Langston Hughes information, including photos (the one featured here is from our Manuscripts and Archives Division), papers , books, and films. Of course, you can also go over to the NYPL’s great Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and visit the Langston Hughes Auditorium.

  7. In case you missed it, on the front page of today’s New York Times is the amazing story of Kirsten the American Doll who has been in circulation with little girls at the Ottendorfer Branch of The New York Public Library for 8 years!!!! It’s an amazing story about a library, a librarian, and a community. 

    In case you missed it, on the front page of today’s New York Times is the amazing story of Kirsten the American Doll who has been in circulation with little girls at the Ottendorfer Branch of The New York Public Library for 8 years!!!! It’s an amazing story about a library, a librarian, and a community. 

  8. Congratulations to all of the Academy Award nominees today! In celebration of the nominations it has becoming an annual tradition for us to post a photo of one of our most famous treasures at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Yep, believe it or not, but The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts houses TWO Academy Awards in its collections. One is the Oscar that Paul Muni won in 1937 for Best Actor in THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR and the other belonged to Burl Ives who won it for Best Supporting Actor in 1959 for THE BIG COUNTRY. 

    Congratulations to all of the Academy Award nominees today! In celebration of the nominations it has becoming an annual tradition for us to post a photo of one of our most famous treasures at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Yep, believe it or not, but The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts houses TWO Academy Awards in its collections. One is the Oscar that Paul Muni won in 1937 for Best Actor in THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR and the other belonged to Burl Ives who won it for Best Supporting Actor in 1959 for THE BIG COUNTRY. 

  9. Need help with your iPad, Kindle, Nook, or other ereader? →

    Did you receive an e-reader this holiday season? Not quite sure how to use it? Did you know you can download Library books from the comfort of your own home? For these or any other e-reader questions, visit NYPL online or in person and let our staff help you learn the ins and outs of your new iPad, Kindle, Nook, etc.

  10. Throughout January, Citi Pond® at Bryant Park™ — NYC’s first and only free-admission skating rink — offers library cardholders who are 17 and under a reduced skate rental price of $10 per rental (a 30% discount from the usual $14) as part of its “Read To Skate” program. To get the special $10 rental price, skaters must show their New York City library cards (from The New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library or Queens Library) to rink staff at the Citi Pond Skating Pavilion, located in Bryant Park, on 40th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

    Throughout January, Citi Pond® at Bryant Park™ — NYC’s first and only free-admission skating rink — offers library cardholders who are 17 and under a reduced skate rental price of $10 per rental (a 30% discount from the usual $14) as part of its “Read To Skate” program. To get the special $10 rental price, skaters must show their New York City library cards (from The New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library or Queens Library) to rink staff at the Citi Pond Skating Pavilion, located in Bryant Park, on 40th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.