More Fallout from Local Library Budget Cuts

Patrons of most New York Public Library branches will have to check their libraries' opening hours: starting February 16, service hour reductions will take effect at 58 locations. Blame Mayor Bloomberg's $5.9 million cut in library funding for this latest hardship.

In happier NYPL news, the system's St. Agnes Branch is set to reopen on February 11th after undergoing a top-to-bottom renovation.

NYPL Announces Longer Hours and Free Timbits (Today!)

To think that just three months ago threats to library funding had New York Public Library officials forecasting severe service cuts, with branches opening a mere 4 days per week. Today, NYPL announced expanded hours at 10 libraries in The Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. Mid-Manhattan can now boast 88 hours of service per week, including stints from 8am-11pm, Monday through Thursday. To celebrate, their Cover-to-Cover Café is offering free Tim Hortons coffee and doughnuts all day TODAY.

Will Queens Library join its sister systems in extending opening times? The 2009 Library of the Year has maintained Sunday service at its Central Library and Kew Gardens Hills branch, and the South Hollis branch re-opened last week after six months of renovations.

BPL Restores Scraps of Sunday Service & So Much More

Um, hello! I've been clinging to the waning summer, ignoring responsibilities left and right. (This blog is on the left, of course. To the right: bills, toilet-cleaning, passport renewal.) So now that the school year has begun and the days of sun and make believe are over, here's a run-down of the library newsie events of the past few weeks.

• Brokelyn reported on a do-it-yourself library project called, simply, Branch. According to their bare-bones website, "Branch is a community design and planning project to create a temporary public space on Sundays that will offer books and computer usage, as well as performances and workshops. Branch will be free and open to the public." They opened last Sunday in the Citibank parking lot on the corner of Myrtle and Clinton, and will reappear each week through the end of November. A fundraiser is scheduled for the 16th (see calendar at left).
• Not to rain on Branch's static, parking lot parade, but Brooklyn Public Library's Sunday service is back! Kind of. The Central and Kings Highway libraries will open year-round starting September 13, while Sunday access to the McKinley Park and Borough Park branches will be limited to the school year. Sixteen additional branches have extended their evening service to twice weekly.
  
• The BPL's Park Slope branch will close for renovations sometime this fall (date TBA). Work to improve the library's handicapped accessibility will take anywhere from one to two years. The infamous mommy brigade can't be pleased, but Fucked in Park Slope is looking on the bright (dark)side.
  
• Sony debuted its Daily Edition touchscreen ebook reader on August 25 at New York Public Library on 42nd Street. It goes on sale in December for $399. NYPL worked with Sony to expand its selection of ebooks, all of which will be downloadable to any brand of ereader or appropriate electronic device.
  
• City Room asked straphangers "What was the last book, magazine and newspaper you read on the subway?" The results seem surprisingly erudite...until you realize that the 8,000 respondents are all NY Times readers, and self-selected ones at that.
• The Brooklyn Book Festival is coming to Borough Hall this Sunday. With over 200 authors expected, you'll need to prioritize! Check out Brooklyn Based's game plan for hitting the best of the best.
  

More Branch Library News

The NY Times recently published an interview of Tatyana Magazinnik, a librarian at Queens Library's Broadway branch. So it seems Brooklyn Public isn't the only NYC library system celebrating a reopening this week: service will resume at Mrs. Magazinnik's Broadway Library this Saturday, June 13, with music, dancing, and magic to entertain the L.I.C. crowd. This may sound somewhat derisive, but enjoy Saturday service while you still can!

Good Fortune Comes Our Way: Field Trips, Week of June 8, 2009

Thursday marks the long-awaited reopening of Brooklyn Public Library's Kings Highway branch. Shuttered for two full years, patrons can celebrate their newly renovated and handicap accessible library with live music and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

For the rest of us, this week is rife with serious learning opportunities.

• June 9: Get your job search advice from high-powered career consultant Laura Hill, courtesy of SLA-NY.
• June 10-12: The International Conference on E-Learning in the Workplace: "By uniting the corporate and academic worlds, ICELW is creating a new synergy — one with the unique capability to realize the vast potential of e-learning in business and industry." And libraries, says I.
• June 10: Twitter talk for librarians at the CUNY Graduate Center.
  
• June 12: Learn the basics of media preservation and the history of the videotape at this IMAP workshop.
  
• June 12-13: Do the vagaries of intellectual property rights make you all hot and bothered? Well then, does Iona have a conference for you!
  

Branch-free Bay Ridge

Residents of Bay Ridge will soon face an extended commute for library services: from April 18 through May 10, Brooklyn Public Library's Bay Ridge branch will close while its circulation system gets a re-vamp. The neighborhood's other branch, Fort Hamilton, has been closed for renovations since last year and will remain shut until Spring 2010. (According to The Brooklyn Paper, a termite infestation has delayed re-opening. Ew!) BPL is encouraging residents to patronize branches in surrounding neighborhoods.

Long Live NY Libraries, Long Live the King & Other Tales

In lieu of a weekly activities update (offerings are slim, but do check the calendar), allow me to present a smattering of noteworthy news items:

This year's Library Lobby Day is especially significant as we face an 18% decrease in state Library Aid funding. At a time when public library use is skyrocketing, our patrons can't afford cuts that limit their access to library services. So hop Metro-North to Albany this Tuesday morning and join NYLA in support of New York's libraries.

Celebrate the 500th anniversary of that lovable rapscallion Henry VIII's accession to the throne with VIVAT REX! at the Grolier Club. " 'VIVAT REX!' takes its title from the Latin version of the familiar English phrase 'Long live the King!,' which appears in a woodblock print in the first sanctioned English Bible (1539). This work is among the 140 items that shed light on Henry VIII as man and monarch—his education, character, and unrelenting attempts to father a male heir." This exhibition—created in partnership with the Folger Shakespeare Library, Harvard's Houghton Library, and the Morgan Library—is accompanied by three lectures.

Starting in Fall 2009, Pratt Institute will offer a dual-degree program in Digital Arts and Information (the acronym-tastic MSLIS and MFA in DA).

NYU has begun their renovation of a portion of Bobst Library Lower Level 1 formerly occupied by technical services staff (see this previous post for commentary on the move). As a former NYU employee, I'm particularly thrilled to hear that the high school horror-fest restrooms are slated for upgrade.

Gothamist interviewed NYPL's "Librarian to the Stars," David Smith.

Since I've Been Gone: Kindle 2 and BPL Branches Renewed

Amazon has planned a mysterious press conference at the Morgan Library for February 9. Engadget, the NY Times' Bits Blog, and others have put two and two together: the new Kindle shall be revealed! Bits speculates that, along with a host of physical design changes, Kindle 2 will follow Sony Reader 700's lead and incorporate the new Broadsheet microchip from Epson with the now ubiquitous E-Ink.

[One of the "leaked" next-gen Kindle photos on Boy Genius Report.]

Also in the news, Mayor Bloomberg referred to the reconstruction of Brooklyn Public Library's Kensington branch while outlining his job creation plan. It looks like this sustainable design project, in the works since 2001, may actually get underway this June. Renderings and details are available at the City's Department of Design and Construction site.

Finally, BPL will re-open the doors of a fresh, shiny, elevatored(!) Kings Highway Library sometime this summer.

NYPL Stacks Closure Follow-up

The NY Times reports that the Humanities & Social Sciences Library's central stacks area, closed since December 20th due to possible lead contamination, will reopen sometime this week.

NYPL Gets the Lead Out

There's still no access to books in the Humanities & Social Sciences Library's central stack area, where 65% of the General Research Material resides. The stacks were closed on December 20th "due to testing for possible presence of a lead paint hazard". Er, I know NYPL employs high school-aged pages, but who's been chowing down on paint flakes? (I kid; lead poisoning is a serious concern.) Can we assume this is somehow related to the upcoming HSSL renovation during which the stacks will be transformed into a "multi-leveled, light-filled new library"?

Here's how to play it safe when removing lead paint: