Library Stuff

“I’m truly pleased to announce the launch of NYPL’s new home page! It has more and better feature items for us to share great NYPL activities and materials with you, and a new book recommender tool that we’re really excited about. This new design–which we will continue to improve–builds off of a history of Web research, as well as a lot of recent work at NYPL suggesting we should do a better job of exposing our patrons to the full breadth of great NYPL services, programs, and other offerings. If you’re here just to share thoughts about the new home page, feel free to skip down to the comments section and tell us what you think! Otherwise, read on for more detail on how we came to this design, our goals for it, and how we’ll try to figure out whether or not we’ve succeeded.” (via The New York Public Library)

“New York writer and journalist Pete Hamill once said, “For those without money, the road to that treasure house of the imagination begins at the public library.” Blocking that road would be nothing short of tragic, but Mayor Bloomberg, who does not belong to the category of “those without money,” doesn’t seem to care.” (via NY Daily News)

“The New York Public Library’s new Donnell Library in midtown Manhattan will be housed in a new hotel and condominium hi-rise. The $20 million design features a wall of glass at street level revealing bleacher seating. The library is slated to open in 2015, seven years Donnell closed.” (via WSJ.com)

“The American Library Association National Preservation Week is taking place between April 21–27, 2013. As part of this annual effort, NYPL is joining institutions across the country in highlighting the work of its own program as well as helping to inform the public about how to care for personal collections.” (via The New York Public Library)

“There was no grand entrance at this library, no sweeping staircase to preside over, and certainly no tourists to pose with for photos. Maybe that’s why this pair of stone lions was sleeping on the job. The Bronx cousins to that grand pair on Fifth Avenue, Patience and Fortitude, could use a few pointers in looking lionly. The lions, each weighing about 900 pounds, sprawled lazily on stone pedestals in the late afternoon sun on Wednesday, their eyelids closed to the busy stream of children and stroller-pushing mothers passing between them every few minutes to go in and out of the New York Public Library branch in Riverdale.” (via NYTimes.com)

“The New York Public Library is pleased to announce the release of its Digital Collections API (application programming interface). This tool allows software developers both in and outside of the library to write programs that search our digital collections, process the descriptions of each object, and find links to the relevant pages on the NYPL Digital Gallery. We are very excited to see what the brilliant developers who use our digital library will create. In the following post, Digital Curator for the Performing Arts, Doug Reside, reflects on the importance of APIs in our age of digital information.” (via The New York Public Library)

“New York Public Library President Tony Marx has appointed Mary Lee Kennedy to a newly-created position, Chief Library Officer. Tasked to accelerate the Library’s digital initiatives and further strengthen through cooperation both the research and circulating divisions of the Library, Kennedy is a nationally respected leader in the library community. “Building on the tradition of 100 years of service to New Yorkers and researchers from around the world, The New York Public Library is keenly aware of this moment of transformation in the universe of information,” said NYPL President Tony Marx. “With Mary Lee we will be able to embrace this opportunity, as she has the perfect combination of digital intelligence, appreciation of the history and role of libraries in civic society, and thoughtful leadership.” (via NYPL)

“The South By Southwest 2013 conference is coming up quickly and we’re getting excited for the numerous library/archive and museum activities that will be happening (look for an update on this year’s activities soon). One thing we know is happening is the panel we’re moderating on Why Digital Maps Can Reboot Cultural History.  Matthew A. Knutzen, the Geospatial Librarian in the Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division at the New York Public Library, will be part of the panel and we couldn’t be happier. In this installment of our Insights interview series, we’re excited to chat with Matt about the work of the Map Division and their innovative approach to developing and utilizing digital geospatial tools and technologies.”

via The Signal: Digital Preservation.

“In the days before Google, librarians at the New York Public Library hand clipped hundreds of thousands of photos and illustrations from magazines and books to create over 12,000 different files for its Picture Collection. Visitors could search for images of, say, rat catching or handshaking.”

via NY Times

“For two years, New York’s three separate library systems have been working on a plan to offer a single, seamless library account for all New Yorkers that would unify checkouts, returns, deliveries and even late fees for the New York, Brooklyn and Queens public libraries.

Now, two of the libraries are taking a significant step forward, laying the groundwork for patrons to drop off books at any branch in at least four boroughs, if not citywide. By May, the New York Public Library—which serves Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island—will consolidate operations with the Brooklyn Public Library at the New York library’s book-processing center in Long Island City, Queens. The move will save the two systems about $3.5 million per year combined, the libraries said.”

via WSJ.com