1. A librarian’s work is never done! How could it be, when there is so much information to share? Today’s image is brought to you by Roosevelt Island Library and gives you a brief snapshot behind-the-scenes. The black and white photo is awesome and we’re pretty stoked about the stamp right above it. (We like stamps and stamp pads, though find little reason to use them over here in Tumblr-territory) So, in honor of today’s photo, which (as you know) is on exhibition at Mid-Manhattan Library… put your stamp of approval on one of our letters speaking out against the $47 million budget cut proposed for NYPL.

    A librarian’s work is never done! How could it be, when there is so much information to share? Today’s image is brought to you by Roosevelt Island Library and gives you a brief snapshot behind-the-scenes. The black and white photo is awesome and we’re pretty stoked about the stamp right above it. (We like stamps and stamp pads, though find little reason to use them over here in Tumblr-territory)

    So, in honor of today’s photo, which (as you know) is on exhibition at Mid-Manhattan Library… put your stamp of approval on one of our letters speaking out against the $47 million budget cut proposed for NYPL.

  2. Was one of Brooklyn’s finest in Harlem in 1939? This Sid Grossman photo of “Harlem Loiterers” from the Prints Collection at NYPL’s Schomburg Center for Research In Black Culture has created quite a stir since being posted to the Center’s Facebook page the other day. Why? Because the man on the right looks a heck of a lot like Jay-Z (for evidence, check out these photos of Jay-Z when he visited The New York Public Library in 2010). Cue Twilight Zone music, right? Schomburg’s Curator of Digital Collections Sylviane A. Diouf found the photo while researching an exhibition, and said, “I was immediately struck by the similarity to Jay-Z and actually laughed out loud … I still hope somebody will tell us who that young man really was.” So is Jay-Z a time traveler? Is this someone else - anyone know who? What do you think?

    Was one of Brooklyn’s finest in Harlem in 1939? This Sid Grossman photo of “Harlem Loiterers” from the Prints Collection at NYPL’s Schomburg Center for Research In Black Culture has created quite a stir since being posted to the Center’s Facebook page the other day. Why? Because the man on the right looks a heck of a lot like Jay-Z (for evidence, check out these photos of Jay-Z when he visited The New York Public Library in 2010). Cue Twilight Zone music, right? Schomburg’s Curator of Digital Collections Sylviane A. Diouf found the photo while researching an exhibition, and said, “I was immediately struck by the similarity to Jay-Z and actually laughed out loud … I still hope somebody will tell us who that young man really was.”

    So is Jay-Z a time traveler? Is this someone else - anyone know who? What do you think?

  3. Today is the Kentucky Derby AND Caturday, so in honor of both, we present this beautiful lithograph, created in Germany sometime between 1837 and 1842. It’s called “Staedtischer Stall,” and is currently in our Art and Architecture Collection. Is it a coincidence that most of the other animals are looking up at the cat? We don’t think so. 

    Today is the Kentucky Derby AND Caturday, so in honor of both, we present this beautiful lithograph, created in Germany sometime between 1837 and 1842. It’s called “Staedtischer Stall,” and is currently in our Art and Architecture Collection. Is it a coincidence that most of the other animals are looking up at the cat? We don’t think so. 

  4. Is there anything better than a catnap in a sunbeam? These cats - sketched by Samuel Putnam Avery in 1876 and found in the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs - have the right idea and we suggest taking a page out of their book. In fact, why not take your favorite book, find your favorite spot in the sun and enjoy a relaxing Caturday…err, Saturday we mean!

    Is there anything better than a catnap in a sunbeam? These cats - sketched by Samuel Putnam Avery in 1876 and found in the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs - have the right idea and we suggest taking a page out of their book. In fact, why not take your favorite book, find your favorite spot in the sun and enjoy a relaxing Caturday…err, Saturday we mean!

  5. This photo was taken exactly 110 years ago today … and depicts construction at the site where our landmark 42nd Street building now stands (you can still see part of the reservoir walls on our lower level). Happy history!

    This photo was taken exactly 110 years ago today … and depicts construction at the site where our landmark 42nd Street building now stands (you can still see part of the reservoir walls on our lower level). Happy history!

  6. At NYPL on April 17, Author Petra Giloy-Hirtz appears with Marin Hopper, daughter of legendary actor, director and artist Dennis Hopper, to discuss the stunning new book Dennis Hopper: The Lost Album - Vintage Prints from the Sixties. They explore Dennis Hopper’s incredible and diverse career, delving into the recently rediscovered photographs which are the subject of the book.

  7. In honor of both NY teams opening the 2013 baseball season, we thought we’d share this image from our Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs depicting Yankee “second sacker” Aaron Ward getting thrown out at third base in the fourth inning of the first-ever game played at (the now old) Yankee Stadium on April 18, 1923. The Yanks beat the Red Sox 4-1 (behind a homer by Babe Ruth), and are hoping for a similar result today when they face their Boston rivals. So let’s go Yanks and Mets! Tons more baseball photos in our Digital Gallery.  

    In honor of both NY teams opening the 2013 baseball season, we thought we’d share this image from our Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs depicting Yankee “second sacker” Aaron Ward getting thrown out at third base in the fourth inning of the first-ever game played at (the now old) Yankee Stadium on April 18, 1923. The Yanks beat the Red Sox 4-1 (behind a homer by Babe Ruth), and are hoping for a similar result today when they face their Boston rivals. So let’s go Yanks and Mets! Tons more baseball photos in our Digital Gallery.  

  8. Everyone now … “awwww.” What better way to celebrate Caturday than with a photo of a cute kid sitting with a cute cat? This image is from the Library’s 1964 World’s Fair collection in our Manuscripts and Archives Division (a collection that is the basis for the Library’s free app Biblion), and is quite appropriate, since we at the Library have babies on the brain - a baby boy was actually born in our Clason’s Point branch Thursday! Shout out to employee Wanda Luzon, who helped bring the little guy into the world, right inside the entrance of the Bronx branch! Check out the story as told by the New York Post, NBC and CBS. And, of course, happy Caturday!

    Everyone now … “awwww.” What better way to celebrate Caturday than with a photo of a cute kid sitting with a cute cat? This image is from the Library’s 1964 World’s Fair collection in our Manuscripts and Archives Division (a collection that is the basis for the Library’s free app Biblion), and is quite appropriate, since we at the Library have babies on the brain - a baby boy was actually born in our Clason’s Point branch Thursday! Shout out to employee Wanda Luzon, who helped bring the little guy into the world, right inside the entrance of the Bronx branch! Check out the story as told by the New York Post, NBC and CBS. And, of course, happy Caturday!

  9. It’s (supposedly) spring, and in its honor, this week’s Caturday features a chic, French feline stopping to smell the roses (or some other kind of flower). This 1869 work by French artist Edouard Manet is currently in the Library’s Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs (which anyone can come and use). So - since it’s actually still cold out - drop by The New York Public Library’s landmark building on 42nd Street to stop, smell the roses, and check out fine art. And happy Caturday! 

    It’s (supposedly) spring, and in its honor, this week’s Caturday features a chic, French feline stopping to smell the roses (or some other kind of flower). This 1869 work by French artist Edouard Manet is currently in the Library’s Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs (which anyone can come and use). So - since it’s actually still cold out - drop by The New York Public Library’s landmark building on 42nd Street to stop, smell the roses, and check out fine art. And happy Caturday! 

  10. It’s St. Paddy’s Day, and even though the NYC parade was actually yesterday, we wanted to share this historic photo of the famous parade marching down Fifth Avenue back in 1904. Specifically, it’s marching by 56th Street. The image is currently in our Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

    It’s St. Paddy’s Day, and even though the NYC parade was actually yesterday, we wanted to share this historic photo of the famous parade marching down Fifth Avenue back in 1904. Specifically, it’s marching by 56th Street. The image is currently in our Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!