North to the Bronx!

Sonnets and coffee in the morning

Today was an extremely full, exciting, and rewarding day. I began with heading up the street to Zebar's to pick up some groceries. After dropping them off and wishing Whitney and Ashley a lovely day at work, it was up to the Coffee Bean and Tea coffee shop. This was my meeting location because I was going with Brigid, a NYPL librarian who works in the community outreach department.

Once I met up with Brigid, it was off to the Bronx. Our first stop was the Methodist Home for Nursing and Rehabilitation. We checked in and headed upstairs to their Great Room. It was a magnificent room, with a high ceiling. Fifteen people showed up and they were a chatty group. Brigid and I read some information on Martin Luther King Jr. along with some African folktales and poetry. My favorite moment at the nursing home was when Brigid read the poem, "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer. I think every person there chimed in, creating a roaring rendition of the poem.

This is the sort of outreach I treasure as a librarian. The smiles on their faces as the reading was going was priceless. This is why libraries matter. This is what keeps me coming back. The joy that knowledge and literature brings to anyone, regardless of age.

Since we were up in the Bronx, Brigid gave me the whole tour. We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant and talked all about libraries, librarians, and the NYPL. Brigid has worked with NYPL for over 30 years, beginning in the Bronx and eventually ending up at the Mid-Manhattan branch. What is amazing about Brigid is the NYPL history she knows. I heard all about the librarians who helped bring NYPL to the level it's at today. I can't tell you how inspiring that was.

Our restaurant was only a block away from one of the Bronx library branches, Kingsbridge. This branch just moved into a brand new building and boy, is it beautiful. Brigid took me in, showed me the place, and introduced me to the young adult librarian, Andrea.

Part of Heritage Collection

From there, we moved over to the Bronx Library Center, aka Mid-Manhattan's counterpart. It was a beautiful branch, five stories tall with a large computer lab, a wonderful children's section, an active teen department, a large auditorium, and a reading and writing center, especially focused on teaching English. The clerks and librarians were extremely friendly and I met several, thanks to Brigid. We also got a sneak peek in their Puerto Rican Heritage Collection, which was fascinating.

Right next to the library is Edgar Allen Poe Park. I need to do a little more research on Poe but according to Brigid, Poe lived in the Bronx for a period of time. Poe's house is in the park along with a...RAVEN (yes a raven) shaped building. Pretty neat?

But the day wasn't over yet. From the Bronx, we headed back to Manhattan and over to the Modern Museum of Art Education Center for: Adults on the Spectrum Share Their Experiences at Museums. A panel, composed of three woman and a male moderator, discussed their experiences in museums as someone with either autism or Aspergers. It was a fascinating panel and I learned a lot.

A final highlight of this day was talking to Brigid about a big project I could work on. I won't give it all away (I need to do some research and exploration) but it deals with helping Alzheimer patients and working with teens. I'm thrilled and already hard at work putting together a proposal.

So yes, that's a pretty quick run down of my day. Probably my favorite day in NYC so far and much thanks to Brigid for showing me around and spending time discussing libraries. An incredible day in the world of NYPL and Hailley Fargo! :)