1. A kickboxing NYPL librarian? Believe it or not, it is true! Courtney Castellane, who is the Library Manager of the awesome Tottenville Library in Staten Island, was profiled in The New York Post this morning about her dual careers. As Courtney has said, by day she is working out people’s minds and by night she is working out their bodies! And just a little trivia about the Tottenville Library, did you know it is the oldest library on Staten Island? 

    A kickboxing NYPL librarian? Believe it or not, it is true! Courtney Castellane, who is the Library Manager of the awesome Tottenville Library in Staten Island, was profiled in The New York Post this morning about her dual careers. As Courtney has said, by day she is working out people’s minds and by night she is working out their bodies! And just a little trivia about the Tottenville Library, did you know it is the oldest library on Staten Island? 

  2. 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? 

  3. Tonight is the Super Bowl, and in its honor, we thought we’d share this unspeakably odd item from our Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. It’s a poster advertising “Football and Love,” the story of a Princeton-Yale football game from 1894 (the item is dated from sometime between then and 1924). It’s probably this game, but we’re not positive. We’re also not positive what a little, well-dressed fairy has to do with anything, and why he’s throwing a football at a very done up woman who is seemingly petrified of the football. But it doesn’t matter - enjoy the game!

    Tonight is the Super Bowl, and in its honor, we thought we’d share this unspeakably odd item from our Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. It’s a poster advertising “Football and Love,” the story of a Princeton-Yale football game from 1894 (the item is dated from sometime between then and 1924). It’s probably this game, but we’re not positive. We’re also not positive what a little, well-dressed fairy has to do with anything, and why he’s throwing a football at a very done up woman who is seemingly petrified of the football. But it doesn’t matter - enjoy the game!

  4. Francis C. Richter, influential baseball personality and editor of Sporting Life, which was published from 1883-1917. Research nerds may visit the Periodicals division to read Sporting Life on microfilm. Happy Mustache Monday! Source: The A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection

    Francis C. Richter, influential baseball personality and editor of Sporting Life, which was published from 1883-1917. Research nerds may visit the Periodicals division to read Sporting Life on microfilm. Happy Mustache Monday!

    Source: The A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection

  5. Portrait of unidentified man with mustache wearing a suit, bow tie and glasses. Photograph made at the Cincinnati studio of Charles Waldack, 28 West 4th Street. Picture in the A.G. Spalding Baseball Collection. Any baseball historians care to hazard a guess as to who this is? Help the library with identification! And, of course, happy Mustache Monday.

    Portrait of unidentified man with mustache wearing a suit, bow tie and glasses. Photograph made at the Cincinnati studio of Charles Waldack, 28 West 4th Street. Picture in the A.G. Spalding Baseball Collection.

    Any baseball historians care to hazard a guess as to who this is? Help the library with identification!

    And, of course, happy Mustache Monday.

  6. Are you gearing up for the start of the NFL season on Wednesday, when our own New York Giants take on the Dallas Cowboys? In anticipation, for this week’s Mustache Monday we bring you Walter Camp, “The American authority on football and other sporting matters.” According to the Walter Camp Football Foundation website, The year 1906 was one of the most momentous in the history of football. The game was under heavy fire for the brutality of its close order, mass momentous play, in which physical force was all important, and skill and science had little part. As the leader of the American Football Rules Committee, Camp played a leading role in adoption of far reaching changes that opened up the game, including introduction of the forward pass that brought about a revolutionary change in the pattern of play that was to add immensely to its popularity, and so saved the game. Thus Walter Camp was not only the sire of American football but also a savior. Football fans: your thoughts?

    Are you gearing up for the start of the NFL season on Wednesday, when our own New York Giants take on the Dallas Cowboys? In anticipation, for this week’s Mustache Monday we bring you Walter Camp, “The American authority on football and other sporting matters.”

    According to the Walter Camp Football Foundation website,

    The year 1906 was one of the most momentous in the history of football. The game was under heavy fire for the brutality of its close order, mass momentous play, in which physical force was all important, and skill and science had little part. As the leader of the American Football Rules Committee, Camp played a leading role in adoption of far reaching changes that opened up the game, including introduction of the forward pass that brought about a revolutionary change in the pattern of play that was to add immensely to its popularity, and so saved the game.

    Thus Walter Camp was not only the sire of American football but also a savior.

    Football fans: your thoughts?

  7. In celebration of summer, today’s Mustache Monday takes you to the beach, for “the international swimming match at Long Branch between Messrs. J. B. Johnson and Andrew Trautz.” Johnson was the champion swimmer for England, Trautz for the United States. They swam against each other in August 1874 for “the championship of the world,” according to the NY Times. Ten thousand spectators came out for the big event. Tiffany & Co. designed the winner’s cup. Johnson won the three-mile race in 1hr, 10m, 30s after breaking away with a sudden shot of speed, “as if he had been propelled from a cannon,” right before the finish line; the New York Herald has the play by play.

    In celebration of summer, today’s Mustache Monday takes you to the beach, for “the international swimming match at Long Branch between Messrs. J. B. Johnson and Andrew Trautz.”

    Johnson was the champion swimmer for England, Trautz for the United States. They swam against each other in August 1874 for “the championship of the world,” according to the NY Times. Ten thousand spectators came out for the big event. Tiffany & Co. designed the winner’s cup.

    Johnson won the three-mile race in 1hr, 10m, 30s after breaking away with a sudden shot of speed, “as if he had been propelled from a cannon,” right before the finish line; the New York Herald has the play by play.

  8. We can’t get enough of the boys in white, courtesy of our Digital Gallery. The Imperial Cricket Conference, now known as the International Cricket Council,  with representatives from England, Australia and South Africa was formed today in 1909. We couldn’t help but dig through our files and find some amazing images of cricket days gone by.

    We do have to wonder though… how do they keep their whites so white - especially while cricketing in the grass?

    Enjoy!

  9. Some delightful photos from the Library’s A.G. Spalding Collection are currently blowing up around the internet, so we thought you Tumblr fans would like to see them, too.  Click through for more.

    Some delightful photos from the Library’s A.G. Spalding Collection are currently blowing up around the internet, so we thought you Tumblr fans would like to see them, too. 

    Click through for more.

  10. It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and I think this 1908 sheet music cover from the Music Division at our Library for the Performing Arts pretty much says it all (no matter who you’re rooting for). OK, the image is actually depicting Cornell University football, but you get the idea. We have many, many other amazing old football photos in our collection that you should check out (you know, if the constant game coverage isn’t enough for you). Happy Super Bowl!

    It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and I think this 1908 sheet music cover from the Music Division at our Library for the Performing Arts pretty much says it all (no matter who you’re rooting for). OK, the image is actually depicting Cornell University football, but you get the idea. We have many, many other amazing old football photos in our collection that you should check out (you know, if the constant game coverage isn’t enough for you). Happy Super Bowl!