Off the Shelf

BKLYN BookMatch: Earth Month

 Bklyn BookMatch is a readers' advisory service that uses what readers like (and dislike) to create customized reading recommendations based on the interests or needs of patrons. Kimberly Behan, a children's librarian at Adams Street Library, created an Earth Month-inspired reading list for all ages. Visit bklynlibrary.org/bookmatch to request your own BookMatch, and check out BPL's upcoming environmental programs.The Day the River Caught Fire by Barry Wittenstein: The True story of how a 1969 fire in one of America's most polluted rivers brought the environmental movement to the…

Wicked: An Untangling of Adaptations

Chelsee Morris

My introduction to the land of Oz came when I was a child via my mother’s VHS tapes. I was four, five and six, and at least once every weekend I watched our tape of The Wizard of Oz. It was a good deal: my mom would have a designated time to nap while I sat spellbound for hours by the colors and music and wonder.My first encounter with Wicked was more incidental, through the mercy of an iHeartRadio's shuffled radio station when I was still too young to have money for music streaming services. I loved the songs, and when I was a teenager, I was given tickets to see the musical which I loved…

11 Holiday Gifts for the Library Lover in Your Life

Jennifer

The holiday season is upon us. If you have a library lover in your life, then Brooklyn Public Library has the perfect gift for them. From hoodies and tote bags to scarves depicting your favorite historical architecture, supporting your library has never looked so good! Card Catalog Holiday Cards  Are you lucky enough to remember the joys of using the card catalog to search for a book at the library? Fall into some book-ish nostalgia with these illustrated holiday cards--featuring a range of celebrations from Christmas to Ōmisoka, Hanukkah to Lunar New Year--as a reminder…

Haitian Heritage Book Bingo Reading Challenge

As soon as you step out of the Newkirk Avenue-Little Haiti subway stop, it's obvious that Haitian heritage has deep roots in Brooklyn. Haitian-American literary culture has a great history here, with so many incredible writers calling Brooklyn home, such as author Edwidge Danticat, New Yorker staff writer Doreen St. Felix, and poet Anaïs Duplan.This fall, we invite you to honor Haitian literature, culture, and history with a book bingo reading challenge!From now until November 21st, we challenge you to:Read or listen to a book about Carribean historyRead a book written in Haitian KreyolRead…

New, Quality Books to Help Celebrate the Jewish Holidays

There is a Jewish holiday every month in the Jewish calendar, each with its own story, celebrations and unique foods, and each celebrated a bit differently by various Jewish communities from around the world. Without Jewish books showing the authentic Jewish holiday experience, it can be hard to learn about these holidays.According to two veteran Jewish librarians, Susan Kusel and Heidi Rabinowitz, many of the popular Jewish holiday books that make it front and center in bookstores and library displays are not contemporary books nor do they highlight the diversity of the Jewish people. As the…

Literary Matchmaker: Brooklyn Parks Edition

Refreshing Recipe Books for Summer Cooking

 This post was written by Emily Chao, who is completing a marketing internship at Brooklyn Public Library. From picnics and barbecues to pool parties and beach days, summer cooking is all about balancing the outdoor heat with savory meals and refreshing treats. If you’re looking to expand your palate and cooking expertise before the season ends, here are some recipe books that stand out:  Salad Party: Mix and Match to Make 3,375 Fresh Creations by Kristy Mucci With its flip book design, say goodbye to decision fatigue by mixing and matching dressings, toppings, and…

Audiobooks for Every Occasion

Audiobooks meet readers at a cross section of ages, literacy skills and/or physical mobilities. This summer, line up some good ones for when you’re outside (say, browsing the branches) or enjoying a solitary moment. Commercial audiobooks are searchable in BPL’s catalog, while accessible talking books are available for request from National Library Services here. Here are our recommendations: For doing dishes with headphones onLend charm to an unremarkable domestic act.The Guest Cat by Takashi HiraideNegroland by Margo JeffersonPostcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher For gardening…

Beat the Heat with BPL

 This post was written by Emily Chao, who is completing a marketing internship at Brooklyn Public Library. The summer is off to a sweltering start, but don’t let the heat stop your fun. If you’re looking for a place to cool off and enjoy eclectic activities from fitness classes to live performances, be sure to check out Brooklyn Public Library! Live PerformancesBPL hosts great artists all summer long, and the performances are free for everyone! Enjoy outdoor evening shows with BPL Presents on Central Library’s Plaza, including musical performances like the charismatic music and…

Celebrating Pride and Joy

During the month of Pride, it can sometimes be difficult to find the joy in Queer media. So many tropes emphasize the pain, suffering and angst of Queer existence—and while these stories do reflect many aspects of Queer culture, we are not a monolith. Many members of the LGBTQIA+ family have uplifting moments of life that they wish to express with the world. Queer joy is as hard-won as our rights and it should be celebrated, too. As Pride 2024 comes to an end, we encourage you to check out this selection of books and films for adults that embrace the lighter side of queerness, as well as…

An Interview with "Browse the Branches" Winner Penelope Pigeon

Browse the Branches invites Brooklynites to visit all 62 locations in person to see for yourself the unexpected treasures you can find at each Brooklyn Public Library location. We've been amazed by how many winners have already completed the challenge, but this week a very special winner flew into Central Library to collect her prize: Penelope Pigeon. As the first of her species to finish, she was kind enough to let us share her winner questionnaire to help encourage the city's feathered friends to take part in the Browse the Branches challenge. Your name: Penelope PigeonTelephone number…

Book Bingo Round-Up! My 23 Books of 2023

While the very first book I finished in 2023 was for BPL’s Book Bingo game, I crammed most of the squares into the last three months of the year, furiously flipping pages to complete my bingo card. And I can very happily say that, despite my procrastination, I completed the whole thing—bonus square included! Here’s my 2023 BPL Book Bingo list in the order in which I read them, and with the corresponding bingo category in bold: I began with a classic graphic novel in January, Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman, which I purchased from Books Are Magic on Smith Street. It was a somber read, but I’…

Spoonable Wonders: Cookbooks to Carry You Through the Cold Months

A fig tree beside my building fruits in late August. If both hands are free, and private property isn’t sacred to you, either, you can munch figs while plucking their Matisse-shaped leaves to wrap fish in for dinner later. Fall begins when the fruits shrivel and plop to the sidewalk. This is now. Nature is telegraphing that it’s time for soaking beans, preheating ovens and waking the heavy beast that is the cast iron pot. Staying warm indoors is the goal of autumn cooking. So too, perhaps, is making a meal that requires one table setting: a spoon. For that, you cannot go wrong with the books…

Viewing the October 14 Solar Eclipse

Have you ever witnessed a solar eclipse? When the moon passes over the sun at just the right angle, it can look like the sun is missing in the middle of the day! While eclipses happen every year, it's not common to see one where you live. In October and April, there will be two partial eclipses visible from Brooklyn!  On Saturday, October 14 we will be able to see an Annular Solar Eclipse. This celestial event will cross over the US from Oregon to Texas. In Brooklyn, you won’t see any daytime darkness. This eclipse will cover about 20% of the sun at its peak at 1:22pm. The annular…

Make Fall Fun with BPL

Ahhh....autumn in Brooklyn! Ideally the season means crunchy leaves, sugary apple cider donuts, and sunny walks through Prospect Park. I love to plan trips upstate for hiking and pumpkin picking and excitedly swap out my summer dresses and sandals for sweaters and boots. Unfortunately, a New York fall can also look like rain-soaked leaves and chilly weekends where you're better off staying inside instead of searching your closet for waterproof shoes. Luckily, the Library has tons of books and programs to carry us through the wind, chill, and precipitation so we can…

20 Books By Your Favorite Podcast Hosts

Yesterday, I was trying to convince a friend that we had to see a movie because “a lot of people had told me it was really great,” but, when pressed, I admitted “people” was just the host of a podcast I had recently listened to. In fact, I frequently find myself making this confession or prefacing an anecdote, fun fact, or recommendation with, “So I heard on this podcast...”   More often than not, I’m talking about BPL’s flagship podcast Borrowed.  Podcasts are one of my favorite sources of information because they, like books, are educational and accessible, and foster a…

Audiobooks for Your August Adventures

It’s that time of year, when New Yorkers with a car are headed out of town for beaches, mountains, tents—anywhere that isn’t miles of uninterrupted concrete and squashed lanternflies—while those who don’t have wheels are making beelines for New York City’s great parks, equipped with cold beverages, blankets, and the desire not to use one’s eyes for anything other than cloud-gazing and staring into long, green blades of grass. If you’re like me, you like to have a story to disappear into as you do all this escaping and relaxing (and because you’re reading a library blog, you probably are like…

Make Summer Fun with BPL

Summer. The season of sunshine, perspiring drinks, outdoor activities, and grains of sand that show up in every space and surface you encounter well into December. School is out—and even for those of us who left academic lives several moons ago – the freedom and possibility of these days are as wired into our collective DNA as is the urge to seek shelter from a rainstorm, hot chocolate from frigid temperatures, or binge watch episodes of Atlanta after a long, exhausting day.  (Just me?)  Summer is a break from our normal lives.  A chance to seek blue skies, rocky…

This Is How You Lose the Time War (and Win at Book Publicity)

It all started with a Tweet. Twitter user @maskofbun posted a picture of This Is How You Lose the Time War, a 2019 novel by Amal El Mohtar and Max Gladstone. The tweet said:    read this. DO NOT look up anything about it. just read it. it's only like 200 pages u can download it on audible it's only like four hours. do it right now i'm very extremely serious. pic.twitter.com/Pzb2FWvFlg — bigolas dickolas woIfwood (@maskofbun) May 7, 2023   And the Internet paid attention. A book that got reasonable critical acclaim when it was first published has now rocketed up sales…

The Families We're Born Into & the Families We Create

In honor of LGTBQIA+ Pride and considering that Father’s Day also happens to be in the same month, here are some suggested readings that discuss families we are born into and families we create. These books expand an understanding of queer and trans life, which may to some seem lonely, isolated or disconnected from the concept of a family, and for those of us continuing to work through relationships with the families we are born into these books could provide insight into similar experiences or new ideas.   In Our Work is Everywhere: An Illustrated Oral History of Queer and Trans…

Celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month with Yiddish Fiction in Translation

Danielle Winter

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…

It's Complicated: A Mother's Day Booklist

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…

The Poetry of Hip-Hop

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…

Make Spring Fun with Brooklyn Public Library

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…

A New Direction in Women's Liberation

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…

Pi Day: Celebrate Literary and Mathematical Constants  

BPL Book Bingo: Reading Across the Ages

Kimberly Behan

In the Spirit of Collaboration: Virgil Abloh at the Brooklyn Museum

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…

BPL Book Bingo! 23 Books for 2023

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 …

Make Winter Fun with Brooklyn Public Library

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: Our New Audio Tour of Central Library

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…

Protect Yourself! Resources for NYC Library Privacy Week

Melissa Morrone

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?…

The Surprisingly Local Roots of Classic Thanksgiving Dishes

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…

Department Spotlight: Government & Community Relations

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…

What We’re Reading on the 10th Anniversary of Hurricane Sandy

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…

Halloween BookMatch! Costume-Based Reading Recommendations

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…

A Global Look at Indigenous Peoples Day

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…

Reproductive Injustice: the Overturning of Roe v. Wade & What that Means for US

Words Hold Power: Reclassifying Library Materials

“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…

Author Interview: Max Gross

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…

Books to Help You Get Moving

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.…

Summer Reads for City Wanderers

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,…

The Secret to Limitless Urban Gardening

Orla O.

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…

Summer Solstice Reads: How to Handle 15 Hours of Daylight

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…

Happy Birthday, BPL!

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…

Books with a Hook: For Mateys Who Love Our Flag Means Death

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…

Dear Class of 2022:

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…

A (Folk)Tale as Old as Time: 3 Folklore Retellings

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…

Author Interview: Elisheba Haqq

Lauren

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…

Read it on the Page, See it For Yourself: What to Read on International Museum Day

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…

Borrow a Telescope: One Teen's Mission to Share the Stars

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…

Poem in Your Pocket: 7 Poems & Their Reverberations

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.…

PowerUP! to the People 

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. …

Poem in Your Pocket: 7 Stages of Grief

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.…

Poem in Your Pocket: 7 Poems by Women

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.…

Poem in Your Pocket: 7 Poems for National Poetry Month

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.…

Earth Works: Books, Music, and More for our Planet

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…

Spotlight: Macon Library, a Classic Carnegie Representing the Bed-Stuy Community

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…

Finding Hope & Recovery Between the Pages

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 Change the Subject Project: Addressing Bias in the Library Catalog

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…

What to Read for Read in the Bathtub Day

Historically, I have not been a bathtub person. I was in fact anti-bath for many years. Apparently, it only takes a global pandemic to make me a bathtub devotée. As with many in the world, these past two years have confined me to my apartment much, much more than I would like. So last winter, desperate to discover a new space in the one-bedroom I share with my now-husband and dog—after first exhausting all other options (e.g. our windowless sub-basement, the bit of floor in front of our radiator), I turned to the once-dismissed fixture taking up half of our bathroom. And oh, how much I was…

Groundhog Day: Books You Can Read Over and Over Again

Ah, Groundhog Day. I grew up in Pennsylvania, not far from the home of the notorious Punxsutawney Phil and his yearly weather prediction on February 2. This is a ritual that derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog can see its shadow on February 2, it will retreat back into its burrow and spring won’t arrive for six more weeks. This was a relatively small, obscure rural tradition until the 1993 Bill Murrary movie Groundhog Day, which brought prominence to the event (and party that happens in Phil’s hometown). The film also forever tied the idea of Groundhog Day to…

The Fashion Show that Helped Launch a Movement

See the Movie, Read the Book: Christmas Edition

Christmas was last week, but that doesn't mean it's over. Just ask any die-hard Hallmark Channel viewer—they've been enjoying holiday flicks since before Daylight Saving Time, and will probably watch more for weeks to come. There's a definite lure to the comfort these movies depict: fireplaces galore, cups of tea and cocoa, fair isle sweaters, hats and scarves (barely worn but ever-present), and true love realized through the magic of Christmas. And guess what? All of that holly-jolly splendor is even better when it takes place in a good book.  Grab a candy cane and check out…

Happy Festivus! A Mini Booklist About Families

Raquel Penzo

"I've got a lot of problems with you people, and now you're gonna hear about it!" So began our introduction to the Festivus, a winter holiday invented by Frank Costanza (Seinfeld, 1989-1998) as an alternative to Christmas. It involves a metal pole intead of a tree, The Airing of Grievances—where you tell everyone gathered why they've pissed you off—and the very exciting Feats of Strength (which is exactly what it sounds like). Since that episode aired, Festivus has become an actual holiday celebrated by many, and I'm not sure if it's a nod to the popularity of Seinfeld or to the fact…

Keep Your NaNoWriMo Momentum Going

We’re coming down the stretch of National Novel Writing Month, best known as NaNoWriMo, in which experienced and first-time writers alike come together with the goal of converting as many ideas as possible from thought to paper before November ends. Whether you managed to get down 400 words or 40,000, congratulations!   With Thanksgiving coming near, you might have a mostly-finished story on your hands, or if you’ve been unproductive like me (thank you, writer’s block), maybe a…

In Celebration of Native American/Indigenous Heritage Month

Native American and Alaska Native Heritage Month started out as a week-long celebration as of 1986, during former President Reagan's administration. Since 1995, November has been designated as the month to celebrate and honor the cultures, achievements and contributions of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. Below are ten books of varying genres you can read to finish out this month, and all year round. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer: "An inspired weaving of indigenous knowledge, plant science,…

2021 Transgender Day of Remembrance

"Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence… With so many seeking to erase transgender people—sometimes in the most brutal ways possible—it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice." –TDoR founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith “November 20 marks Trans Day of Remembrance, an annual memorial for our murdered kin. The day gives us space to grieve the siblings—overwhelmingly Black trans women and femmes—who were pushed out of this world too soon. Our rebellious mourning recommits…

Writing Marathon: Craft Books to Inspire You This NaNoWriMo

Jennifer

We’re halfway through my second favorite time of year: I’m not talking about preparing for Thanksgiving or Christmas or even No-Shave November. I’m talking about National Novel Writing Month, or as it is affectionately abbreviated to, NaNoWriMo. Every year, amateur and professional writers alike start November with one goal in mind: write 50,000 in one month. Where does this magic number come from? It is largely accepted that 50,000 words is the minimum required length for most adult novels. To give you a sense of context, here are a few novels that are around the 50,000 word mark: The…

Game On! It's International Games Week at Your Library

Every year the American Library Association Games & Gaming Round Table runs International Games Week, an opportunity to celebrate gaming in libraries. Taking place this year from November 7th-13th, libraries can register gaming events they hold during the week to highlight just how much fun and educational gaming takes place inside our spaces. And we do a lot of gaming: from traditional games like chess and bingo to the latest video games, not a week goes by in which BPL staff are not running a gaming session of some sort. Next week we are running more than 20…

A Halloween Tribute to Lois Duncan

Raquel Penzo

Curious about what it was like to grow up a little girl in Brooklyn with an affinity for the macabre, a non-censoring mother and carte blanche use of her library card? Well, let me tell you: her to-be-read pile was filled with copies of Clive Barker’s Books of Blood, volumes of Truly Tasteless Jokes, Judy Blume’s Wifey  and countless YA thrillers and horrors. And in the 80s, the YA horror masters were Joan Lowery Nixon, Christopher Pike (Fall into Darkness), Richard Peck (Are You in the House Alone?), and the QUEEN—Lois Duncan (1934 – 2016). Why is Duncan the uncontested…

Plot-Driven Audiobook Thrillers for Long Autumn Road Trips

By Sally Z., a BPL Librarians of Tomorrow (Lot) Intern Stories of true crime have always interested me. Whether it be a part of the daily news sequence or front page on the newspaper, the capitating thrill sequence of mystery and murder seem to capture a variety of audience. When looking at a “BREAKING NEWS” headline, emotions are being rushed in: concern, anger, fear, interest, etc. The unwelcoming setting of a crime scene with black and yellow barricade tape labeled in all bold and capitalized letters “CAUTION”. And endless searches for crucial evidence and conversations with first…

Remembering Charlie Watts: a Stones Primer

Words & Riddims: A Book (and Play) List to Survive Another Canceled Carnival

Raquel Penzo

Add to the list of things the pandemic has taken from us: the joys of playing mas on the Parkway on Labor Day.

How We Got Here: Readings on New York Politics

As we wallow in the dog days of summer, the city's political high season is around the corner. This fall, voters will elect a new Mayor and choose almost all of the City Council, as well as other state and local offices. Given the propensity of politicians to promise and boast and cajole us to win our vote, New Yorkers are understandably eager to see beyond the hype. Taking a step back from the specifics of campaigns and candidates, the books below all aim to give a glimpse into how New York City politics really works.  The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, by Robert…

Books to Bring on a Picnic

The first time I created a list of Picnic Reads, sharing a blanket with friends and family for a day of eating, drinking, fun and frivolity wasn’t that popular.  However, things have changed, and if you're going to hang out with your loved ones, an open space outdoors makes the best sense. I compiled the first list with books centered around food, summer and vacations in mind. Some of those books, alas, are no longer in our collection—something I consider a tragedy! Five years ago, I could not have conceived of a world in which future generations of library users would be deprived…

Catch the Small Press Flea This Saturday!

This Saturday, August 14th Brooklyn Public Library presents SPF21: Small Press Flea, in collaboration with BOMB Magazine. More than 20 different publishers will join us this year!  Small presses are publishers who release a limited number of new titles per year. They often focus on niche subjects and bring local voices to a larger audience. While small presses represent only 20% of the publishing market, they potentially outpace their larger counterparts in creative and thought-provoking content. Ted Dodson, Director of Circulation at BOMB, thinks of small press publishing in…

Celebrate Christmas in Summer!

Jennifer

The east coast is experiencing its last blast of heat this month before slipping into the cooler climate of the fall. For many people, post-Independence Day begins the countdown to Halloween while many others skip straight to Christmas. If you're looking forward to pine trees and twinkling lights decorating your home once again, then take some time to read a few of the Christmas books on this list that will appeal to any reader—from sweet romances and classic stories to fantastical twists on holiday favorites.  Many people believe that Christmas did not exist in the way we…

Read My Lipstick

The time has come to paint that pout again. Secretly glowing in gloss beneath a mask, my ruby rouged lips—a guilty pleasure for the last few months—have been waiting for the moment when I can proudly parade this pucker once more. Primping was out of place for a while, while we collectively embraced a pandemic makeunder, but when what we thought was a day in our pajamas here, no shower there, and a few weeks of turning off the camera on this thing called Zoom turned into sixteen months, undone became the consensus. But now that we’re scaling back the austerity of survival mode…

Essential Cookbooks by Black Chefs and Authors

Soul food has become one of most prevalent and popular cuisines in the United States. As with Soul music, when a sensory experience feels so familiar, or so American it seems to have soul, we're really talking about its roots in the African diaspora. In the African American community, the art of cooking arises from a longing to feed others, gather family and friends, and keep traditions alive. Food is not solely a way of showing love, but it's also a means to pass traditions down from one family to another and an experience that transcends geographic or cultural boundaries, so I pulled…

Cool Off With These Hot Reads

It’s official: the dog days of summer are here. Now’s the time to grab a beach blanket, find a shady tree, sit in front of a fan...you get the idea. Wherever you end up, be sure to chill out with a good book—and don’t forget the sunscreen! Something New Under the Sun by Alexandra Kleeman  Set in Hollywood in the not-too-distant future, Kleeman’s dystopian thriller features movie stars, wildfires, and privatized, synthetic water. Out in August, this book is already getting serious buzz.  Appleseed by Matt Bell  Packing your bags for a long summer vacation? At nearly 500 pages…

Author Tahmima Anam on The Startup Wife and Her Creative Influences

The Startup Wife, by acclaimed author Tahmima Anam, is a fresh and bold examination of society’s obsession with social media and glorification of its creators. At once wickedly clever, hilarious, romantic and shocking, Anam's latest is a genuine literary gem that I could not put down, and has already received starred reviews and praise from the likes of Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and author Rumaan Alam ahead  of its July 13 release. The story follows tech genius Asha Ray as she introduces a new program that replicates her husband’s ability to create profound sacred-…

Books to Inspire a Revolution (Kinda): A Mini List

Raquel Penzo

The Fourth of July is just a couple of days away—did you buy enough burgers for the grill? Fireworks to drive the neighbors crazy? Blueberries, in order to make that red, white and blue fruity cake Americans love so much? Awesome! You're well on your way to a great Independence Day. All you're missing now is a good book for when you've grown tired of the hoopla and want to escape, but you've already watched Hamilton a trillion times and could maybe use a break. Here are some books set against uprisings around the world that will satisfy your fighting spirit: Animal Farm by George…

Celebrating Queer Joy During Pride

Brooklyn by Bike: Staff Reflections on National Bicycle Month

There's a learning and comfort curve to cycling in this city that every cyclist understands. There are laws to learn, upfront costs and scary, aggressive drivers. And for those used to traveling by train, there's a whole system of bicycle-friendly routes to learn in order to get started. But despite all of this, there is a magnificent joy that comes from biking around this town. We would not do it, after all, if it weren't for the joy. And there is perhaps no easier time of year to experience this joy than in the month of May when most of the weather conditions that might dampen the…

Need to Ease Back Into Reading? We Got You!

The last book I read in full was Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson, back in June of 2019. You read that correctly: June of 2019. After that, I just dabbled with a few novels or cookbooks, skimmed Lamar Odom's memoir, Darkness to Light, for Kardashian gossip, and paged through a couple of books about late Patriots' tight end Aaron Hernandez after watching a scathing documentary about his crimes. Then the holidays occupied my time. Then COVID-19 locked us down and my brain could no longer focus. As the world begins to reopen, and more and more of us get fully vaccinated, I'm…

Reading Rut Remedies

If you’re on this blog, then I think you're well aware that reading is the best (nothing better!). But just like cooking, exercise or any hobby you practice regularly, sometimes the routine gets boring and you fall into a rut (nothing worse!).  Oatmeal with blueberries, again? Jogging the Prospect Park loop, again?? Contemporary fiction about a sad lady looking for love in the big city, again?! Don’t despair, friends—the Library is here for you. Whether you’re currently stuck in a reading rut or you simply want to be prepared, here are five BPL resources that will rekindle your love…

Get Into This AAPI Heritage Month Booklist!

Since 1992, we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in May to acknowledge the accomplishments and contributions of the AAPI communities to the United States. With the unacceptable rise in anti-Asian violence both here and abroad, it is especially vital for us to bring well-deserved attention to these amazing books written by AAPI writers of the past and present. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner: Zauner, a biracial Korean American musician otherwise known as Japanese Breakfast, shares her moving and witty story of growing up Asian in Eugene, OR…

Avoid the Allure of Easy Money, It's Financial Literacy Month!

Branch Spotlight: Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center

Your Library, Your Planet Each year we take a moment to celebrate our environment on Earth Day. Our little ones come home from school with plants and ideas for recycling and we think about how our behaviors impact our planet. But now, Brooklyn Public Library has a new branch where every day is Earth Day: The Greenpoint Library and Environmental Education Center (GEEC).  But why is this new branch in Greenpoint? Greenpoint sits at the confluence of the East River and the Newtown Creek, at the Northwest edge of Brooklyn. In the nineteenth century, Greenpoint became the…

Spring Cleaning? Dust Yourself Off While You're At It!

Peeking into the Writing Life of Author Deesha Philyaw

I’m someone who wants to be emotionally invested in the well-being of fictional characters. I enjoy worrying about them when I’m not reading and pining for them when the book has ended. And usually, I avoid short stories because I struggle to connect with the characters in so few pages. However Deesha Philyaw and her debut short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, changed my opinion entirely. Deesha's book contains nine short stories about black women, their sex lives and their varied relationships with the church, examining her tenderly-wrought characters at their most…

An Interview With Cover Designer Olivia McGiff

When people ask who my all-time favorite writer is, I never hesitate. "It’s Laurie Colwin, absolutely," I say. More often than not I’m met with a blank stare: Colwin died tragically young and her final books were published posthumously in 1993. For years, it’s been up to Colwin’s passionate fanbase to introduce new readers to the food and fiction writer’s books. But lo! This spring, the publishers Harper Perennial and Vintage Contemporaries are reissuing Laurie Colwin’s five novels, three story collections and two cooking memoirs with fresh, beautiful covers designed and illustrated by…

The Oy of Cooking

Passover with the CookMobile BKLYN CookMobile is a cooking program for teens and other beginners. We cook our way through Brooklyn’s diverse cultural heritages, with an eye to scientific inquiry and food justice. Naturally, we relish holiday ceremony and celebration! Here’s what we recommend for Passover: Leave Me Alone with the Recipes: The Life, Art, and Cookbook of Cipe Pineles by Cipe Pineles Peneles was the first female art director at Condé Nast. If her style looks familiar, it’s because food illustrators are influenced by her work to this day, often without knowing it. This is…

Three Memoirs & Biographies to Read for Women's History Month

March is a very special month, especially for me. We celebrate International Women’s Day on the 8th, and Women’s History Month for all thirty-one days. Additionally, my kind and loving mother was born in March. As a staunch queer and intersectional feminist librarian, and former women and gender studies major in college, I am forever passionate about centering ALL women’s stories and experiences. If you, too, are itching to read about the fascinating lives of three incredible women of…

Podcasts Are the Perfect Spring-Cleaning Soundtrack

Somehow, March 20—the first day of spring—has crept up on us. This means that “spring cleaning” is in full effect. To be honest, since the increase of remote work, it feels like 2020’s spring cleaning never really ended. It’s a bit cliche but having a clean and clear space has made it easier to concentrate on work during this extended work/life mashup. However, this isn’t going to be a post on tips and tricks to keep your bookshelves dust free. I’m going to be writing about podcasts! A bit random, but bear with me, I'll tie it all together soon. Outside of picking up a few bad habits (I’m…

Soda Bread & Shamrocks: A St. Patrick’s Day Booklist

We can’t give you a parade or a pub crawl, but we can offer you a celebratory booklist! Butter your soda bread, drown the shamrock and discover the history and traditions of St. Patrick’s Day with the BPL catalog.  Holiday history lessons Celebrating 250 years of the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade by John T. Ridge  NYC’s annual parade started in 1762!  The Wearing of the Green by Mike Cronin & Daryl Adair A thoroughly researched history of March 17.   Dagger John by John Loughery The story of Archbishop John Hughes, builder of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and founder of…

A Quick Chat with Brooklyn's Own Tiffany D. Jackson

Raquel Penzo

If you were to scour the twitter account of best-selling YA author Tiffany D. Jackson (Grown), you’d surely come across a few readers who adamantly cuss her out for ripping through their emotions with her characters and plot twists (see: Allegedly and Monday’s Not Coming, especially). You’d also notice that she revels in the reactions. But more than that, you’d notice that, since her first novel debuted (and even before), Jackson has been a champion, advocate, and vocal supporter of Black stories and their right to be heard. I met her about a decade ago in a writing workshop she was running…

Department Spotlight: Info Commons

Do you miss having access to amazing software resources here at the library? We’ve got you covered! Prior to the pandemic, software at BPL branches helped Brooklynites be productive and supported their creativity. At the Central Library’s Info Commons, additional software was available, including Adobe Creative Cloud design applications, as well as other audio and video production software–not to mention a recording studio. Since the start of the pandemic, how the Info Commons provides service has been altered dramatically. Reference services and programs have moved entirely online. These…

Interview with Author Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I think most people imagine a writer’s trajectory is a straight line but I’ve gone up and down...writing is a game of endurance. Like many of you this past summer, I read Mexican Gothic by the award-winning Silvia Moreno-Garcia and absolutely loved it. You clearly agree. At the time of this interview, 929 Brooklynites await their turn to read Mexican Gothic. It has all the bells and whistles of a classic gothic thriller: a once-grand estate, a misty cemetery, ghostly occurrences, a wealthy and peculiar family (complete with eligible bachelors), a beautiful young woman in…