1. The National Archives has released the 1940 Federal Census! But, finding a name among the millions of handwritten records is like looking for a needle in a haystack. That’s where NYPL comes in! The Milstein Division of US/Local History & Genealogy, together with NYPL Labs, has built Direct Me NYC 1940. The website features freshly digitized 1940 telephone directories from NYC’s five boroughs and enables users to locate the residential street addresses of New Yorkers from the 1940s, thereby providing the census enumeration districts they need to start their research.  To get you started, this little image is a screenshot of our search for the illustrious Dorothy Parker. 

    The National Archives has released the 1940 Federal Census! But, finding a name among the millions of handwritten records is like looking for a needle in a haystack. That’s where NYPL comes in!

    The Milstein Division of US/Local History & Genealogy, together with NYPL Labs, has built Direct Me NYC 1940. The website features freshly digitized 1940 telephone directories from NYC’s five boroughs and enables users to locate the residential street addresses of New Yorkers from the 1940s, thereby providing the census enumeration districts they need to start their research. 

    To get you started, this little image is a screenshot of our search for the illustrious Dorothy Parker. 

  2. “R is for the runner who tears around the track like a human express,” states the back of this cigarette card, which was part of a 25-card series from Ogden’s Tobacco called “The ABC of Sport” (I is for ironic). We thought it was fitting to share the card - which was printed between 1922 and 1929 and is currently located in our George Arents Collection - today in honor of the ING New York City Marathon! Good luck, runners!

    “R is for the runner who tears around the track like a human express,” states the back of this cigarette card, which was part of a 25-card series from Ogden’s Tobacco called “The ABC of Sport” (I is for ironic). We thought it was fitting to share the card - which was printed between 1922 and 1929 and is currently located in our George Arents Collection - today in honor of the ING New York City Marathon! Good luck, runners!

  3. Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

    — RIP, Steve Jobs

  4. Kids And Teens: Have Your Fines Waived!!

    Mayor Bloomberg joined NYPL Prez Anthony Marx (at the podium in the photo), Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, NYPL Trustee Terry McGraw, the heads of the Brooklyn and Queens Library systems and several other elected officials at our Seward Park Library yesterday to announce the citywide New Chapter initiative to give patrons under 18 the opportunity to eliminate all of their prior fines. That’s right - all of ‘em. All kids have to do is return their materials (so grab those overdue Harry Potter books from under your bed and return them, kids, cause you won’t be penalized) or check out a new book and, poof, their fines are waived. The goal - to get kids back in the libraries reading, instead of afraid that they can’t afford the fine. As Marx said, “Our priority was students reading more than collecting the fines, 95 percent of which we weren’t going to collect anyway based on past history. Those folks were not coming to the library because their fines were keeping them away.” Well, come back guys! This program - which was made possible because of a generous donation from McGraw-Hill - lasts till Oct. 31, so spread the word!!

  5. Landmark 42nd Street Building Closed Today

    The Library’s landmark Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue is closed today for a special event. Sorry everyone! But the rest of our locations are open, including our Mid-Manhattan Library right across the street on 40th and Fifth. Thanks for understanding, everyone! We’ll be back open tomorrow!

  6. The Library's Resources Help A Woman Find Her Birth Mom . . . 34 Years After She Was "Sold" On The Baby Black Market →

  7. With all the depressing financial news these days, maybe we should go back to the drawing board. This photo of a man using a chalk board to change stock quotes is from our “Pageantry of America” collection of over 8,000 photographs taken between the 1860s and the 1920s. It is currently in our Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs.

    With all the depressing financial news these days, maybe we should go back to the drawing board.

    This photo of a man using a chalk board to change stock quotes is from our “Pageantry of America” collection of over 8,000 photographs taken between the 1860s and the 1920s. It is currently in our Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs.

  8. Read Away Your Overdue Book Fines!

    So let’s face reality - everyone forgets to bring back Library books sometimes. And when they do, they rack up fines. Sure, the fines aren’t that steep, but over time, they can add up. Here at NYPL, if you rack up $15 or more in fines, your card gets blocked and you can’t check out books anymore … and that’s sad. In this economy, even a small amount of money might be too much for some families, so one forgotten returned book becomes the end of the library for a while. So this summer, we are helping kids eliminate those fines (whether they be $1, $15 or more) with our new Read Down Your Fines program! Kids should sign up for our Summer Reading Program, then head down to their local library and explain that they want to read down their fines. For every 15 minutes they read, they get $1 off their fine. Great, right? We think so. Our priority is to get kids in the library, reading and learning all summer. So this is what we’re trying. This program goes until Sept. 9 - so hop to it! And in the meantime, enjoy the image above from the early 20th Century of “Heidi and Her Uncle Reading” from our Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection.

  9. In light of the historic news that just took place in New York State, we thought we’d share a historic photo from our collection of the first demonstration for marriage equality in New York State way back in 1971. Jim Owles from the Gay Activist Alliance is pictured next to a wedding cake at the city clerk’s office in the photo by Richard Wandel. The image is from the International Gay Information Center Collection of the Library’s Manuscripts and Archives Division. For more info on the Library’s LGBT collections check out the division’s blog.

    In light of the historic news that just took place in New York State, we thought we’d share a historic photo from our collection of the first demonstration for marriage equality in New York State way back in 1971. Jim Owles from the Gay Activist Alliance is pictured next to a wedding cake at the city clerk’s office in the photo by Richard Wandel. The image is from the International Gay Information Center Collection of the Library’s Manuscripts and Archives Division. For more info on the Library’s LGBT collections check out the division’s blog.

  10. Today is the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that took the lives of 146 garment workers in downtown Manhattan. The fire - the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of NYC - started at about 4:45 p.m. on the eighth floor of the Asch Building, where Triangle operated on the eighth, ninth and tenth floors. There were not enough fire exits, and the few that were available were unusable, either because of flames or locked doors. To make matters worse, the Fire Department did not have a ladder that extended beyond the sixth floor of the building, so the workers were trapped. Many leaped from windows in an attempt to escape. This photo from our Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection shows the interior of the Asch Building after the fire. The horrific incident had some positive results, prompting lawmakers to improve labor and workplace safety laws. A ceremony will take place at the site today at 11 a.m. to honor those lost. It is being held by the Remember The Triangle Fire Coalition, which is organizing other events to memorialize the historic tragedy.

    Today is the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that took the lives of 146 garment workers in downtown Manhattan. The fire - the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of NYC - started at about 4:45 p.m. on the eighth floor of the Asch Building, where Triangle operated on the eighth, ninth and tenth floors. There were not enough fire exits, and the few that were available were unusable, either because of flames or locked doors. To make matters worse, the Fire Department did not have a ladder that extended beyond the sixth floor of the building, so the workers were trapped. Many leaped from windows in an attempt to escape. This photo from our Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection shows the interior of the Asch Building after the fire. The horrific incident had some positive results, prompting lawmakers to improve labor and workplace safety laws. A ceremony will take place at the site today at 11 a.m. to honor those lost. It is being held by the Remember The Triangle Fire Coalition, which is organizing other events to memorialize the historic tragedy.