1. A second Caturday, because you can never have enough cats (and because sometimes birds need a shout-out, too).

    A second Caturday, because you can never have enough cats (and because sometimes birds need a shout-out, too).

  2. Today in celebration of Patrick Harbron’s upcoming Rock n’Roll photography exhibition opening May 10 at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, we are going to go with this photo of The Boss from 1984. It was GLORY DAYS for Bruce in ‘84 as he had just released his iconic album BORN IN THE USA, was dancing on stage with Courtney Cox and was basically the biggest rock star on the planet (though Michael Jackson may argue with that). Glory days indeed.   

    Today in celebration of Patrick Harbron’s upcoming Rock n’Roll photography exhibition opening May 10 at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, we are going to go with this photo of The Boss from 1984. It was GLORY DAYS for Bruce in ‘84 as he had just released his iconic album BORN IN THE USA, was dancing on stage with Courtney Cox and was basically the biggest rock star on the planet (though Michael Jackson may argue with that). Glory days indeed.   

  3. A GORGEOUS piece of art in celebration of NYPL’s Jefferson Market Library, created by one of Jefferson Market’s own patrons. We just thought we would share this beauty with you today… oh, with a reminder that you can help Jefferson Market win $250,000 to replace and update the doors. After all, the doors to the Library are the doors to knowledge and we want everyone to come inside! All you have to do is VOTE online! One click and you’re done!

    A GORGEOUS piece of art in celebration of NYPL’s Jefferson Market Library, created by one of Jefferson Market’s own patrons. We just thought we would share this beauty with you today… oh, with a reminder that you can help Jefferson Market win $250,000 to replace and update the doors. After all, the doors to the Library are the doors to knowledge and we want everyone to come inside!

    All you have to do is VOTE online! One click and you’re done!

  4. The Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy K. Smith comes to the Schomburg Center this Saturday: schomburgcenter: Congratulations to Tracy K. Smith!On Monday, her birthday, Smith won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her collection Life on Mars. Brooklynite Smith, an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Princeton, is one of the poets featured in our National Poetry Month blog post, A Poem a Day. Join Tracy at the Pen World Festival here at the Schomburg Center on May 5!

    The Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy K. Smith comes to the Schomburg Center this Saturday:

    schomburgcenter:

    Congratulations to Tracy K. Smith!

    On Monday, her birthday, Smith won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her collection Life on Mars. Brooklynite Smith, an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Princeton, is one of the poets featured in our National Poetry Month blog post, A Poem a Day.

    Join Tracy at the Pen World Festival here at the Schomburg Center on May 5!

  5. According to The City Bird’s weekly report, which came out on Saturday, In Bryant Park, a male PROTHONOTARY WARBLER found Monday was still being reported today. The bird feeds in the trees surrounding the green, behind the New York Public Library just below 42nd Street, east of 6th Avenue. It circulates about the park, occasionally coming down lower. A few other species of warblers and WOOD THRUSH have also been seen there. Isn’t he cute? Send us a tweet if you track him down (http://twitter.com/nypl).

    According to The City Bird’s weekly report, which came out on Saturday,

    In Bryant Park, a male PROTHONOTARY WARBLER found Monday was still being reported today. The bird feeds in the trees surrounding the green, behind the New York Public Library just below 42nd Street, east of 6th Avenue. It circulates about the park, occasionally coming down lower. A few other species of warblers and WOOD THRUSH have also been seen there.

    Isn’t he cute? Send us a tweet if you track him down (http://twitter.com/nypl).

  6. Help our friends at Jefferson Market Library get new entrance doors. Vote every day until 5/21! →

    The Jefferson Market Branch of The New York Public Library is participating in an exciting grant program with American Express, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Forty sites throughout New York are competing online to gather the most votes to receive up to $250,000.

    Vote today… and everyday! 

  7. Eventually, Nell Freudenberger will have written so many wonderful books that we’ll stop gossiping about how success fell into the young woman’s lap at age 26.

    — 

    Ron Charles, Washington Post
    in his review of Nell Freudenberger’s new book, The Newlyweds 

    Want to learn how success “fell into the young woman’s lap at age 26”? Join us May 8, for what is sure to be a FASCINATING discussion with the author and journalist, poet Eliza Griswold. 

  8. On March 8, 1877, in the Church of St. Francis Xavier on 16th Street, “the shriek of an hysterical woman in one of the galleries, and a heedless cry of fire which followed it, created a panic.” (NYT, 3/8/1877) Seven people were killed in the ensuing chaos. This newspaper clipping from our Picture Collection attempts to illustrate the scene in an era before news photography.

    On March 8, 1877, in the Church of St. Francis Xavier on 16th Street, “the shriek of an hysterical woman in one of the galleries, and a heedless cry of fire which followed it, created a panic.” (NYT, 3/8/1877) Seven people were killed in the ensuing chaos. This newspaper clipping from our Picture Collection attempts to illustrate the scene in an era before news photography.

  9. History has secrets - and you can unlock them at the Library. That’s the theme of this pretty darn amazing new “suspense trailer” highlighting our incredible Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy (which is often featured on the show “Who Do You Think You Are?” and can be used to trace family histories). Just watch it - it’s awesome.

  10. You never know what you are going to find in the collections of The New York Public Library. The New York Times wrote a fascinating piece on Valerie Solanas - the feminist loner best remembered for shooting Andy Warhol - who actually came to The NYPL in the 1970s and marked up her own book the S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men) MANIFESTO with edits and annotations. The book is now preserved in our Manuscripts and Archives Division at The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 40th Street and 5th Avenue. Solanas story was depicted in the 1996 film I SHOT ANDY WARHOL starring Lili Taylor as Solanas.  Today is also the 25th Anniversary of Andy Warhol’s death. This is not the only Warhol related material we have at The New York Public Library as The Times reported a few weeks ago about a Christmas Card that Mr. Warhol drew and gave to our fascinating Art and Picture collection. RIP Andy.

    You never know what you are going to find in the collections of The New York Public Library. The New York Times wrote a fascinating piece on Valerie Solanas - the feminist loner best remembered for shooting Andy Warhol - who actually came to The NYPL in the 1970s and marked up her own book the S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men) MANIFESTO with edits and annotations. The book is now preserved in our Manuscripts and Archives Division at The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 40th Street and 5th Avenue. Solanas story was depicted in the 1996 film I SHOT ANDY WARHOL starring Lili Taylor as Solanas. 

    Today is also the 25th Anniversary of Andy Warhol’s death. This is not the only Warhol related material we have at The New York Public Library as The Times reported a few weeks ago about a Christmas Card that Mr. Warhol drew and gave to our fascinating Art and Picture collection. RIP Andy.