Off the Shelf

In honor of Jewish American Heritage Month, here are some books to check out from Brooklyn Public Library that are Yiddish fiction in translation. You will find the themes in these stories are not foreign to today’s reader; they focus on the immigrant experience, women’s issues, love, fitting in and standing out, and the inner mind. Oedipus in Brooklyn and Other Stories was written by the Galician-born Yiddish female writer Blume Lempel (1907-1999) and translated from Yiddish by Ellen Cassedy and Yermiyahu Ahron Taub. Lempel moved to Paris in 1929 and emigrated to the United States in...

Today we’re considering literature that spotlights complex and chaotic motherhood through themes of upheaval and diaspora, shame and the supernatural. Being a mother is intense (understatement) and these titles take it seriously, using it as a springboard for creating rich, challenging art. So we don’t skim over books in which motherhood is the least complicating factor characters deal with: try Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street (1984), in which Esperanza’s artistic, kind mother is a protective presence in abrasive surroundings. Or Jan Morris’s Conundrum (1974), in which receiving...

What counts as poetry? Is it always tidy print marching down the path to find two roads diverging in the woods then stopping to wait for a death metaphor? Is it a barbaric yawp from the best minds of your generation from a poet who doesn’t even know it? What if we went beyond the confines of Western Lit 101 to uncover poetry that resonates with us now? At the most fundamental level, hip-hop and poetry both play with sound, turning them into meaning and then back to sound again, declaimed alone or to the sound of a drum machine or coiled inside a catchy song, verse/rhythm/rhyme from Tupac...

Let me get this out of the way first: spring is my least favorite season. I think it’s a tease. If it’s gray and frigid in the morning, you’ll be sweating through your work shirt and squinting in the sun by the afternoon. Sure, there are daffodils and magnolia trees—but are the buds really worth the sneeze sessions that come with them? Easter egg hunts were fun when we were kids, but now I contemplate lanternfly egg hunts, and spring is full of trepidation! But I don’t want to be the curmudgeon who wears turtlenecks until Memorial Day. I’d like to be the kind of person who delights in the...

My family thought I would be different than the other Neal women. I was born in 1979: disco was waning, hip-hop was burgeoning, and punk was morphing into New Wave. The dust was settling on many revolutions. It was a period of coasting on the waves of all that was won for the women before me. I took advantage of the opportunities afforded to Gen X women. I moved around the country at will and without care. I was the first in my immediate family to earn a bachelor's degree and then the first to receive a graduate degree. I've sat in rooms with corporate executives; I have my own stock...

We all have stories that stick with us long after we finish them. Sometimes they are childhood favorites that we have memorized every word of (for us, it’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Ella Enchanted). Other times, they are single scenes from books that send us racing to the reference desk at our local branch to play “name that title” with a librarian as we provide them with the few disjointed details we can recall (I just remember an old guy named Barney). In our experience, BPL librarians...

"Mommy, did you bring me another book from the libralee?"   This is what my five-year-old greets me with as soon as I come home from work. (“Librarlee” is what he currently says instead of "library," and since he's getting older and...

A few weekends ago, after a beautiful Saturday morning of yoga on the Brooklyn Museum stoop, I had the chance to make it out to their special exhibition: Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech.” It celebrates the life and work of the late fashion designer, architect, DJ, artist and entrepreneur Virgil Abloh, well-known for his fashion brand Off-White, among many other projects.         View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Brooklyn Museum (@brooklynmuseum...

Each time a new year rolls around, it seems the age-old resolution to “read more books” does too. This year, we challenge you to not only read more books but to read 23 books for 2023! And, we've developed a list to guide your reading and encourage you to step outside your comfort zone.   So, in 2023, we challenge you to read: A book for the new year (check out some of our New Year's booklists for inspiration!)  A book with a bookmark from a previous patron   A book in translation   An audiobook or eBook ...

Struggling with the post-holiday blues? Brooklyn Public Library offers a variety of free activities that can help you stay busy, engaged and warm this season—here are just a few! Culture Pass There are dozens of arts and cultural activities you can access completely free of charge by making a reservation through Culture Pass! Sign in with your library card credentials at culturepass.nyc and you’ll find free passes for more than 75 different locations around the city. You can use Culture Pass to visit museums, take a brisk stroll through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden or Wave...

An Open Book   By design, BPL’s Central Library has always been an open book. Now patrons can step into a multi-storied journey through the building designed to mimic the pristine pages of a new book with our recently-launched Central Library Audio Tour. From the Art Deco styling of the limestone façade to the aborted subway platform many floors below, you can take our audio tour with you as you wander around our historic building. If this legendary listen leaves you craving more, check out the reads below.   Style of the Period  The most striking features of Central...

Once again it's Library Privacy Week here in New York City! This is the time of year when New Yorkers can take advantage of an extra concentration of classes and other resources at library branches throughout the city, as well as virtually. Library Privacy Week is an initiative of NYC Digital Safety, a collaborative project of Brooklyn Public Library, the New York Public Library, Queens Public Library, and METRO Library Council that helps train library staff to be reliable sources of information on digital privacy and security. Want to dive into some of these resources yourself?...

As I flipped through cookbooks for Thanksgiving prep, I encountered one that shifted my perception on our world and its history: The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman and Beth Dooley. Sherman is an Ogalala Lakota Sioux and James Beard Award-winning chef who runs Owamni, a highly esteemed Indigenous restaurant based in Minneapolis. His cookbook only uses ingredients native to the Americas, with a heavy emphasis on North American ingredients, such as trout, cranberries, duck, juniper, maple, wild rice and the three sisters. Notably, it does not use any European staples such as...

Over the summer, I hosted some family members who were visiting New York City for the first time. They experienced the typical city sights: towering buildings, crowded trains, garbage-covered sidewalks, and endless options for lunch—but with the August 2022 primary elections just a few weeks away, they also observed an impressive number of campaign posters decorating store windows and campaigners handing out fliers on street corners. While they had anticipated the gigantic buildings and subway rats, they were surprised by the bold strangers asking if they were registered to vote. They were...

Bound by the Atlantic Ocean and the Hudson Estuary, the land on which New York City sits has always been a place defined by water. But it wasn’t until the devastation of Superstorm Sandy, which hit New York 10 years ago this week, that many of us began to understand what being surrounded by water means for our city’s safety and future. Superstorm Sandy, which made landfall in New York City on October 29th, 2012, devastated neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs. Streets, houses and subway stations were overwhelmed with water as New York’s aging infrastructure faced historic storm surges...

What are you going to be for Halloween?! Much like an astrological sign, a Halloween costume can reveal an awful lot about a person—so in the spirit of spooky season, step into Off the Shelf's office and we'll advise what book pairs best with your holiday attire. Psst! Don't see your costume on the list? Try the Library's free BookMatch service to receive personalized book recommendations for your friends, your family and even your most fiendish foes!   VAMPIRE Fledgling written by Octavia E. Butler You thought I was going to say Dracula, right? While it is a classic, I...

I come from Australia, a country that has a terrible history with the treatment of its own Indigenous peoples, Australian Aboriginals. The grievous atrocities committed upon these people since the arrival of white colonialists from England in 1788—and throughout colonial times and onwards—are too numerous and horrific to mention, ranging from genocide to diaspora.  When Captain James Cook first landed on the shores of what is now called Botany Bay, encountering the local Aboriginal people, it was declared that this land was “Terra Nullius.” The literal translation is a land that is...

Ever since Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court in 1973, it has been under threat of rollbacks and restrictions. The Hyde Amendment, enacted just four years after Roe, may be the most widely known example. Although many of us had been expecting the new conservative majority on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe, the Dobbs decision still came as quite a blow to the rights of anyone able to become pregnant. Limiting abortion access and reproductive care will have far-reaching implications for...

“Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge...it must be rejected, altered and exposed.” -Toni Morrison, Nobel Lecture December 7, 1993 The categories we use to refer to groups of people are not simply neutral descriptors but often implicitly come with various associations or value judgements, which influence how society perceives them. Language is not stagnant and tends to change to better fit how we see ourselves. The Alternative Classification Committee works to address and interrupt...

I’m always excited when an author agrees to participate in an interview for Off the Shelf, so when Max Gross, author of rave-reviewed The Lost Shtetl, agreed to sit for an interview and join the New Utrecht branch for a discussion of his debut novel, let’s just say I was exceedingly happy. Gross’s book is an attentively crafted thought experiment on what might happen if a Polish shtetl slipped away from the outside world, unwittingly escaped the Nazi’s warpath, then collided with modern society. The catalyst for this “lost'' shtetl's reconnection with the modern world? The suspected...

If there is one thing I really hate, it's moving. Naturally, I seem to move almost every year. My most recent move was last month—to Brooklyn with my husband and son, so I could commute to my public library job more easily. After so many moves, you might assume I am an expert, but I admit the stress and difficulty has caught me off guard each time. Until this time. This time, to ease my dread of the task ahead, I decided to hit the books at the library beforehand. Here's a list of some of the fiction and nonfiction that resulted from this process, in case you are planning a move too....

With the summer solstice now behind us, the days are going to start getting shorter, bit by bit. But don’t despair—there are still plenty of brightly lit evenings ahead! Taking a long, meandering walk is one of the great pleasures of living in a big city, and the extra daylight means this is one of the prime times of year for aimless urban ambling. If you need a bit of inspiration to get off that couch, we’ve got you covered with this list of books that explore the art of walking in the city. Bon voyage! Twenty Minutes in Manhattan - One-time Village Voice architecture critic,...

I first became interested in gardening in middle school. My friends and I found ourselves at a farmers market one day after school and we immediately noticed the rows of plants in black plastic pots. Right away I was fascinated by all of the tiny green sprouts and I couldn’t believe how many different varieties of plants they had that I was used to seeing in recipes. I went home with a basil plant and a mint plant that day and I did my best to keep them alive and thriving in little pots on my window sill through the summer. While I enjoyed caring for these two plants, I didn't think that...

The summer solstice is upon us once again. I’ve always loved the solstice. Who doesn’t love the start of summer and all it entails: ice cream cones, flip-flops, the smell of sunscreen on the beach? But this year, the solstice feels even more fitting to the timeline in which we are existing. The longest day of the year? That is exactly what the past few pandemic years have felt like: one weird, nebulous, chaotic and LONG year spanning multiple years. In the year of our lives, 2020 to present has been its longest day. Linear time no longer feels true to experience, so even a day where the...

If there is one thing I love it’s a birthday—especially mine (September 2; send books!) and that of my most loved ones. Something about turning a year older and celebrating the day you were born is just so special to me. So it’s with extreme excitement that, my first summer as a librarian at Brooklyn Public Library (BPL being a loved one for me), I get to celebrate the Library’s 125th birthday (BPL, you look great. You don’t look a day over 21.). All summer long, BPL will have programming for all ages to commemorate this epic birthday bash, and to get you into the spirit of...

How did we luck into such deeply funny, sweet and dramatic queer-pirating adventure as Our Flag Means Death (OFMD)? Pirate movies and shows are known, by and large, for being neither sweet nor queer (not a lot of matey¹-cuddling in Black Sails, alas). And yet, for all of the de rigueur tropes–leather-clad pirates, pitched battles, swordfights, swashbuckling, treasure-hunting–OFMD sails past the commonplace gritty sea tale and glides into a rainbow sunset of love and friendship, where men have a chance at gentleness and women are people too.   The show follows...

You’ve put in all the work, crossed that grand stage, moved your tassel from right to left, and had the big celebration with family and friends. Perhaps a great many of you already know your next steps: offers from colleges or potential employers, maybe a new city or country to explore, maybe staying home for an extended break before the “real world” begins? Wherever you may find yourself, Brooklyn Public Library provides resources and guidance on what’s next through our Business & Career Center (B&CC). Your library card is the key to accessing sites like Brainfuse JobNow or Career...

I recently went to see Hadestown on Broadway. If you’re unfamiliar with the musical, it is a retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. The story goes like this: Eurydice is trapped in the Underworld as a result of a deal she made with Hades. Orpheus travels there to rescue her, and they are told that they can walk out of Hell, but if he looks back at Eurydice as they walk out, she has to return to the Underworld permanently. Just as they’re about to escape, Orpheus is plagued by doubt and turns to make sure that Eurydice is still following him. She gets pulled back into Hell as he laments...

Elisheba Haqq is a writing professor at Rutgers University, a registered nurse, and the author of Mamaji, a memoir about the loss of her mother, growing up as part of an immigrant family in Minnesota, and persevering through an abusive childhood. In this interview, she discusses her writing career, explains her research process, and recommends a few of her favorite books. Off the Shelf (Ots): Mamaji is an extremely personal memoir about the loss of your mother, as well as the horrific emotional, physical and financial abuse that you and your older siblings endured. I felt like I was reading...

Books have a unique power to transport us to faraway places both real and imagined—but they can also bring us fresh perspectives on places that are right down the street! In New York City, we’re surrounded by an incredibly diverse collection of collections: museums of all sorts and sizes, filled with everything from modern art and detailed dioramas to abstract sculpture and period furniture. Whatever you find fascinating, there’s likely an exhibit on it tucked away somewhere in the five boroughs. This year, to celebrate International Museum Day, we’ve rounded up eight of our favorite books...

The Telescope Lending Library launched on a clear night in November 2021, with an outdoor viewing event attended by an enthusiastic mixture of public, library staff and members of the Amateur Astronomy Association (AAA) of New York. Absent from this experience, however, was the eleventh-grade astronomy lover whose plan to lend telescopes as freely as books—evolved over months of proposals and Zoom conferences—was finally coming to fruition.  Yui H.’s passion for astronomy began with a different plan, formed at age nine while living in Singapore, after several screenings of...

The Academy of American Poets launched National Poetry Month in April 1996. The goal of National Poetry Month is to remind all that in a world awash in text, poetry matters. Every April since, poetry readers and nonreaders alike can’t help but notice poetry cropping up amongst the blooms of spring—poems suddenly adorning sandwich boards and subway cars, Instagram feeds, drivetime radio and especially in local library displays. This year, Off the Shelf invited four lovers of poetry to contribute a post for a Poem in Your Pocket series to gift our readers a new poem for every day of the week....

In 2003, the PowerUP! Business Plan Competition launched to support and grow Brooklyn's entrepreneurial spirit and small businesses. Since then, PowerUP! has nurtured 9,000+ individuals with 1,200+ business plans and awarded more than $500,000 to Brooklyn entrepreneurs. Some of our most notable success stories are the Bogota Latin Bistro, Greenlight Bookstore and Island Pops. Although the pandemic brought many challenges to Brooklyn neighborhoods, and to our city as a whole, PowerUP! continues to be an exciting presence and program supporting local business startups. ...

The Academy of American Poets launched National Poetry Month in April 1996. The goal of National Poetry Month is to remind all that in a world awash in text, poetry matters. Every April since, poetry readers and nonreaders alike can’t help but notice poetry cropping up amongst the blooms of spring—poems suddenly adorning sandwich boards and subway cars, Instagram feeds, drivetime radio and especially in local library displays. This year, Off the Shelf invited four lovers of poetry to contribute a post for a Poem in Your Pocket series to gift our readers a new poem for every day of the week....

The Academy of American Poets launched National Poetry Month in April 1996. The goal of National Poetry Month is to remind all that in a world awash in text, poetry matters. Every April since, poetry readers and nonreaders alike can’t help but notice poetry cropping up amongst the blooms of spring—poems suddenly adorning sandwich boards and subway cars, Instagram feeds, drivetime radio and especially in local library displays. This year, Off the Shelf invited four lovers of poetry to contribute a post for a Poem in Your Pocket series to gift our readers a new poem for every day of the week....

The Academy of American Poets launched National Poetry Month in April 1996. The goal of National Poetry Month is to remind all that in a world awash in text, poetry matters. Every April since, poetry readers and nonreaders alike can’t help but notice poetry cropping up amongst the blooms of spring—poems suddenly adorning sandwich boards and subway cars, Instagram feeds, drivetime radio and especially in local library displays. This year, Off the Shelf invited four lovers of poetry to contribute a post for a Poem in Your Pocket series to gift our readers a new poem for every day of the week....

In honor of our March 13 concert with the Orchestra of St. Lukes, "Earthworks", we have put together a list of books and more to get you thinking about the intersection between music, nature, and climate change.  Silences So Deep: Music, Solitude, Alaska by John Luther Adams is a meditative memoir about the composer’s time in Alaska, in which he reflects on friendship, music and art, framed by a landscape facing a climate crisis.  But you don’t have to travel so far when thinking about the natural world. It can be easy to overlook the vibrancy of urban...

Macon Library, located at 361 Lewis Avenue, is one of the best-preserved Carnegie branches in Brooklyn. Opened in 1907, the two-story, Classical Revival-style building retains its original fireplaces, oak paneling, alcoves and wooden benches, along with the warm charm that has welcomed the Bedford-Stuyvesant community for more than one hundred years. With Bedford-Stuyvesant being rich with African American history, BPL staff. local residents and community leaders made the preservation of that history a priority with the Dionne Mack-Harvin Center, Macon Library's African American...

The past several years have been tough for all of us, whether we found ourselves dealing with the pandemic directly, watched the devastation it caused around the world, or felt its impacts on work, school and our social lives. Every time we have taken a few steps forward, it has frequently felt like several steps back and it’s been hard, I think, for us all to catch our collective breath before there’s something new to worry about. As we inch towards the promise of spring and renewal, here are some books that deal with carving out space to heal, grieve and take care of our minds and bodies...

The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) is a thesaurus of controlled vocabularies used in subject indexing of bibliographic records by libraries, archives and museums. Subject headings are assigned to items in a library catalog to facilitate users’ search and discovery of resources relating to similar subject matter. In Brooklyn Public Library’s catalog, subject headings are listed as tags under the details tab in the bibliographic record. Users can click the subject heading tags and explore related resources in the library’s collection. Subject headings facilitate access and...