What's in the Stacks?

An occasional look at what is available in the adult stacks of the Carroll Gardens library:

Martin Amis, author of Time's Arrow and many other novels, is represented at our branch by two of his books, The Pregnant Widow and Other People

Russian literature enthusiasts can find Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls

New Knitting/Crocheting Circle at the CG Library and Summer Reading Party

Come join the new knitting circle at the library - Tuesdays at 4:00.  Any level of skill welcome, ages 10 and up.

Go here for a complete list of on-going programs at our branch:

http://friendsofcglibrary.blogspot.com/p/on-going-programs-at-carroll-gardens.html

And stay tuned for more on the Summer Reading Kickoff Party on June 9

Quotes of the Week

The student has his Rome, his Florence, his whole glowing Italy, within the four walls of his library.  He has in his books the ruins of an antique world and the glories of a modern one.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them.

~Lemony Snicket

The first book in the "Series of Unfortunate Events" by Lemony Snicket

Meet Your Librarian! Jeff Schwartz from the Carroll Gardens branch

Technology abounds but a library still depends on engaged and caring staff to help it thrive. Meet Jeff Schwartz, the relatively new Neighborhood Library Supervisor (that's what the head librarian is called these days), at the Carroll Gardens branch library. We sent him some interview questions:

How long have you been a librarian? 17 years

How long have you been at the CG branch? Officially since September 2010.

Where were you before that? My first job at Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) was at the Midwood branch. In the late 90s I worked as the Assistant Branch Manager at both the Eastern Parkway and the Fort Hamilton branches. One of the more demanding jobs I held was helping manage our gigantic inventory project: the Catalog We Can Trust. I’ve worked at all 58 branch libraries in the BPL system.

What made you want to be a librarian?  I was attracted by the challenge of research. When I was a kid I pored over my mom’s early 1950s World Book Encyclopedia.

What do you like best about being a librarian? Reader’s advisory-suggesting what to read directly or indirectly. Recently a customer requested Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. It turned out our local copy was checked out.  We searched the Library’s catalog for additional Tocqueville titles.  To my amazement the catalog had 10 separate bibliographic records to different Tocqueville titles in English! 

Did you go to the library a lot as a child?  I used NYPL’s Yorkville branch. I made occasional forays to the Donnell and the Mid Manhattan branches.

What are some of your favorite books?  White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. The book reveals India’s class divisions in a dark but humorous light. Adiga wrote a wonderful short story “The Elephant.” The story is about cycle-cart pullers. Anyone can read it online in the New Yorker. I greatly admire all of William Steig’s children’s books. Steig wrote Shrek and Doctor De Soto. His books are funny and clever. They are accompanied by  remarkably expressive illustrations.

Do you own an eReader? No

What do you think the role of a librarian is today - are books and libraries still relevant? BPL partnered with the Gates Foundation to seed the Internet in 1996. Hundreds of thousands of library users had their first whirl with the Internet at BPL. Librarians had a pivotal role in helping the public transition to this new medium. Today the Internet is at the heart of our successful holds process. Readers can place up to ten holds per library card on books, DVDs, and CDs.

The traditional book discussion is alive and well at Carroll Gardens.  Carroll Gardens holds a monthly adult book discussion. Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel will be examined and debated on May 18. We have had occasional Young Adult book discussions. In March our Young Adults held an intimate chat on The Hunger Games. We’re planning to have a kids book discussion in late July.

Books permit serendipitous browsing. Readers can be pleasantly surprised and astonished when browsing in the stacks of a library. You can’t replicate that experience with an e-book.

Say hi to Jeff when you next visit the library!

A Wonderful Day at the Library

Thank you everyone who came out to the book sale yesterday -  it was a wonderful community event where hundreds of people came to buy thousands of books and enjoy free entertainment.  Friends of the Carroll Gardens library made $6,500 to support our library!

We thank everyone who came out to perform and show support for the library:  Karen K and the Jitterbugs, author Emily Jenkins, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, Carol Troha, Director of the Cobble Hill Playgroup, and author Mari Takabayashi.  Thanks also to New York City Councilman Brad Lander and New York State Senator Daniel Squadron who came by to say hello and show their support and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke who sent a representative to the event. Another important thanks to the staff of the Carroll Gardens branch library, led by Neighborhood Library Supervisor Jeff Schwartz, who helped out all day.

We have lots of other activities and events planned to support our branch. Keep up with all of our activities on our blog and Facebook.com/FriendsofCarrollGardensLibrary.  To join FCGL, just come to a meeting and help us organize - our next meeting is Wednesday, June 15 at 6:30 at the library. And don't forget to add your name to the Brooklyn Public Library's petition against budget cuts here and donate to the Support Our Shelves Campaign (you can designate your donation directly to the Carroll Gardens branch to be used for new books) http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/

Karen K and her Jitterbug partner Aaron gave a great show

The crowd at the library

Author Emily Jenkins read several of her children's books

Assemblywoman Joan Millman preparing to read "Whistle for Willie" by Ezra Jack Keats

New York City Councilman Brad Lander, FCGL President Nina Guralnick and Jeff Schwartz, head librarian at the Carroll Gardens branch

Author Mari Takabayashi and Carol Troha

The outside of the library was festively decorated

 State Senator Squadron came out to show support and buy books!

 Browsers

 Young readers

 Speak up for your library!  Say no to a 30% cut in the city budget (link above)

Don’t Miss the Silent Auction on Saturday!

In addition to the book sale, entertainment and bake sale planned for Saturday May 14th, there’s also a silent auction. Early birds can already get in on the bidding online at:
http://www.32auctions.com/organizations/1461/auctions/1587.
The leading bids from the online auction will be carried over to Saturday’s live event – in other words, you can bid in person on Saturday in the auditorium where the auction table will be.

Book Sale Entertainment and Activities

We're gearing up for the big book sale next Saturday, May 14 10AM-4PM at the library. Along with great bargains on thousands of books we invite the public to enjoy delicious baked treats, apply for library cards, learn more about our Friends group and enjoy free entertainment and activities:

Quotes of the Week

The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species.  I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries. 

-- Carl Sagan

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.  

--Cicero