NYPL Blogs

We often get asked about firsts in printing history in the Rare Book Division. Machinae novae Favsti Verantii siceni (Venice, 1595) known as Machinae Novae, or New Machines, contains some of the first printed images related to engineering and machinery.

Here are scans of the color plates of U.S. Plant Patents received at SIBL for the weeks of May 1, 8 and 15, 2012. These follow from the earlier Plant Patent plates posted for the weeks of April 17 and 24, 2012.

May contains National Police Week (this year, May 13-19). This is only appropriate, since America, as evidenced by the literal plethora of fictional as well as real life crime books and shows, has a fascination with the realm of law enforcement that spans decades.

Carlos Fuentes falleció hace pocos días, el 15 de Mayo del 2012. Nació en Panamá de padres mexicanos el 11 de Noviembre de 1928. Su padre era diplomático, lo que le brindó la oportunidad de vivir en diferentes ciudades en Latinoamérica.

The exhibition, The Great American Revue, focuses on Broadway revue series, 1907–1938. But they were not the only shows on Broadway. During those three decades, dozens of musical comedies by African American songwriters, featuring African American casts were presented successfully in Broadway theaters. They were musical comedies, not revues. They were written for (and, frequently by) the African American character comedians and had complicated plots setting them in comic situations.

Black Storm Comin'  by Diane Lee Wilson, 2005 

12-year-old Colton first becomes entranced by the Pony Express when travelling in the 1860 westward expansion on a wagon train. A horse and clinging boy sped past him and did not look back. Got him to wonderin' what kind of excitement it would be to taste that speed and urgency. So, he tries his luck and gets hired (even tho' the manager would have preferred if he were 14 years old). And to prove his meddle, he tames a black demon. But that demon ends up waking Colton up when he was 'bout to die of hypothermia. Horse wasn't much to look at, but Colton says the following about 

My favorite stories are the ones about the ordinary people who, while going about their daily lives, encounter strange and/or inexplicable events. How they behave in the midst of weirdness is more interesting than the phenomenon itself. I've always been a sucker for a well-told vampire tale. (Sorry!) Or an off-center ghost story or strange-baby story... Here, in no particular order, are a few of my favorite, wonderfully odd movies.

It's not quite time to worry about choosing your beach reading yet. But Memorial Day is coming, and so it is time to think ahead just a little. With that in mind, here is a selection of books new to the New York Times list of Business Best Sellers published this last Sunday, May 13th.

Katherine Anne Porter's 1962 Ship of Fools was the best selling novel of the year and assured her financial security. She is generally more admired for her shorter works, however, such as Pale Horse, Pale Rider and her collections of short stories.

The field of project management is growing fast in a wide range of industries especially in the biotech and high-tech arenas. The growing demand for project managers is due to the replacement of retired workers and the growth in global projects.

If you are a competent and consistent planner with good communication skills and an analytical mind, project management may be for you.

For the famous or for those aspring to be, for those who have a job to do, an assignment to finish, or for those just doing what they love, the Picture Collection has long been a valuable resource and source of inspiration.

On May 20, 1944 the Picture Collection received a thank-you letter from Louis Slobodkin.

Please help PROTECT YOUR BRANCH nypl.org/speakout
It takes just seconds to sign a letter urging elected officials to reverse the harshest cut to The New York Public Library in its history. 

For the week of May 13, 2012 we have hardcover fiction, hardcover non-fiction, and children's picture books.

If you have an iPhone, iPad or Android phone, there is a free app! Use it with your library card/username and pin.

Click on any of the titles below and place a hold to request the item. Remember to update your contact information (phone number or e-mail address), so you are notified when the book arrives for you 

Join us on Tuesday afternoon for a screening of King of Jazz (Universal, 1930) at LPA. Hollywood's Rave Revues is a film series programmed by John Calhoun in conjunction with the exhibition The Great American Revue, across the lobby in the Vincent Astor Gallery.

Welcome to week three of May in the Reader's Den! This week, we continue our discussion of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, focusing on Part II — chapters fourteen through twenty-six.

Early into my project, I opened a box and found a folder that caught my eye. It was labeled “Minor White.” A famous American photographer (b. 1908, d. 1976), White is known for his work with Aperture Magazine, the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco and the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. Most research libraries and museums with major American photography collections own his works, including the NYPL Division of Arts, Prints and Photographs.

Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Friday, May 18 from 2 to 5 p.m.

In celebration of its 20th Anniversary, our bestselling journal line Paperblanks and The Library Shop are hosting a unique event for fans of the beautifully crafted, high-quality writing journals. Visitors to the Library who purchase a Paperblanks journal will be able to have their journal personalized by on-site calligraphers at no additional charge.

Let's face it; many different research tasks cause people to want, and in a lot of cases need, government information. Government information is on the Internet: result - happiness. Government information disappears from the Internet (or becomes nearly impossible to find, which is sort of the same thing): result - unhappiness. And then there are libraries.

For Bronx teen Jacques Jones, the Clason’s Point Library has long been a safe haven that has kept him off the street.

Now the branch and its staff have helped him finish his high school education. The 18-year-old from the Soundview section of the borough is proud to be getting his diploma this spring thanks to NYPL’s Wanda Luzon, who runs the Teen Zone at Clason’s Point. 

“Wanda really encouraged me,” says Jones. “The Library is my stay-out-of-trouble domain. If I didn’t have the Library, I’d be outside.”

Gravity by Leanne Lieberman, 2008

Ellie, a 15-year-old Orthodox Jew, is happy to go to Bubbie's (her grandmother's) cottage this summer to learn about the flora and fawna. There, she meets Lindsay, a beautiful, provocative blond girl, whom Ellie is attracted to. Unlike boys, whom she is supposed to like, Ellie is captivated by Lindsay. They swim together in a canoe, and she visits Lindsay at her cottage.