1. You can sharpen your pencil AND you can sharpen your mind at NYPL’s Baychester Library. (Yes, this is one of their pencil sharpeners) They even have a chess program for the kids! Now that takes some serious mental sharpening! Visit this photograph at the exhibition, Reading Room at Mid-Manhattan Library, stop by Baychester Library for some interesting chess play, or you can just stop by your local branch and sign a letter to let the City know how awesome your library is. (That concludes the PSA portion of this post)

    You can sharpen your pencil AND you can sharpen your mind at NYPL’s Baychester Library. (Yes, this is one of their pencil sharpeners) They even have a chess program for the kids! Now that takes some serious mental sharpening!

    Visit this photograph at the exhibition, Reading Room at Mid-Manhattan Library, stop by Baychester Library for some interesting chess play, or you can just stop by your local branch and sign a letter to let the City know how awesome your library is. (That concludes the PSA portion of this post)

  2. Hey New Yorkers: Can you tell us who was the first mayor of New York City in 1898 after all five boroughs were consolidated? I’ll give you a hint…He’s the man with the mustache! You’ve guessed right, it’s Robert Anderson Van Wyck, an attorney turned politician, who served as mayor of NYC from 1898 to 1901.  Want to learn more about the mayors of New York City? Check out ‘Part II: The Mayors of Greater New York From 1898’ at NYPL to get the scoop on Mr. Van Wyck and those who followed him! (Image: NYPL Digital Gallery.)

    Hey New Yorkers: Can you tell us who was the first mayor of New York City in 1898 after all five boroughs were consolidated? I’ll give you a hint…He’s the man with the mustache!

    You’ve guessed right, it’s Robert Anderson Van Wyck, an attorney turned politician, who served as mayor of NYC from 1898 to 1901. 

    Want to learn more about the mayors of New York City? Check out ‘Part II: The Mayors of Greater New York From 1898’ at NYPL to get the scoop on Mr. Van Wyck and those who followed him!

    (Image: NYPL Digital Gallery.)

  3. 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? 

  4. The Woolworth Building: The Cathedral of Commerce →

    Want to learn more about the iconic Woolworth Building on its 100th birthday? Visit this blog post from one of our librarians at NYPL’s Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy - it contains all the details you never knew! (Well, maybe you knew, but it is chock full of information that you should read it no matter what you knew.)

    April 24th sees the one hundredth anniversary of the opening of the Woolworth Building, at 233 Broadway. In 1913 the Woolworth Building was the tallest inhabited building in the world, and would remain so until the opening of the Chrysler Building, in 1929. 

  5. Today would have been the 77th birthday for music icon and legend Roy Orbison. You want to read about Roy’s life? You want to listen to his solo albums? Or how about checking out the great Traveling Wilbury’s album that Roy was a part of? Well as Roy would say, YOU GOT IT! Or in this case, the NYPL has all of your Roy Orbison materials available at your local branch. Happy birthday Roy!  

    Today would have been the 77th birthday for music icon and legend Roy Orbison. You want to read about Roy’s life? You want to listen to his solo albums? Or how about checking out the great Traveling Wilbury’s album that Roy was a part of? Well as Roy would say, YOU GOT IT! Or in this case, the NYPL has all of your Roy Orbison materials available at your local branch. Happy birthday Roy!  

  6. The NYPL has been nominated for a 2013 WEBBY Award in the Social Education & Discovery category for its social web presence (like this Tumblr!) and creating projects such as the fantastic What’s on the Menu? site. But in order to win this wonderful category The NYPL needs your help and vote! You can click here to vote and don’t forget to spread the word! 

    The NYPL has been nominated for a 2013 WEBBY Award in the Social Education & Discovery category for its social web presence (like this Tumblr!) and creating projects such as the fantastic What’s on the Menu? site. But in order to win this wonderful category The NYPL needs your help and vote! You can click here to vote and don’t forget to spread the word! 

  7. The balcony has closed. It is with great sadness that the NYPL learned of the passing of the legendary film critic Roger Ebert today. We were enormous fans of both Ebert’s film reviews - in print and on television - as well as the many different books that he penned. You can find all of his great books such as  I HATED, HATED, HATED THIS MOVIE, and his fantastic memoir LIFE ITSELF at branches throughout the entire New York Public Library system. We give the great Roger Ebert two very big enthusiastic thumbs up, WAY UP. You will be missed. 

    The balcony has closed. It is with great sadness that the NYPL learned of the passing of the legendary film critic Roger Ebert today. We were enormous fans of both Ebert’s film reviews - in print and on television - as well as the many different books that he penned. You can find all of his great books such as  I HATED, HATED, HATED THIS MOVIE, and his fantastic memoir LIFE ITSELF at branches throughout the entire New York Public Library system. We give the great Roger Ebert two very big enthusiastic thumbs up, WAY UP. You will be missed. 

  8. 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…

  9. Can’t join us in person? Tune in online!

    Can’t make it to the Library for the Performing Arts tonight for “Platinum Punk,” Debbie Harry and Chris Stein’s conversation with Will Hermes? Didn’t snag tickets to tomorrow’s sold-out installment of LIVE from the NYPL with Sandra Day O’Connor, Madeleine Albright and moderator Anne-Marie Slaughter? If you can’t join us in person, you can still join us online. We’ll be live-streaming both events!

    Click here to watch tonight’s program - part of the Rhapsodic City: Music of New York series - with Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, and Will Hermes, starting at 6pm EDT. 

    And tune in here tomorrow night at 7pm EDT, to watch Sandra Day O’Connor and Madeleine Albright in conversation with Anne-Marie Slaughter.

  10. 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.