Results tagged “publiclibraries”

The libraries of the borough of Queens were announced as being the most utilized in the entire country. The Public Library Statistical Report just announced that Queens public libraries loaned 20.2 million items to residents in 2006, and the borough's on track to retain the top spot after loaning 21 million items in 2007. According to the 2000 federal census, Queens had 2.2 million residents, so that means the average person in the borough is borrowing approximately nine items a year.

You may remember Christopher X. Brodeur from his unexpectedly successful run for mayor, or from his spectacularly unsuccessful fight against aggravated harassment charges that landed him in the clink for six months last year. Well, he's back, and he's taking the fight to a new enemy: the Con Edison bill printing department! From an email he sent us this morning:

- Yawn. The Post goes all gawkerstalker in oh so hot, hot Brooklyn.

In a stunning, yet not all that surprising, move that speaks volumes of about dwindling city funding, the NY Times reports that the New York Public Library hopes to raise millions by selling some of its artwork. Sotheby's will be handling the sale, which is expected to bring in $50-75 million, with Asher B. Durand's Hudson River School painting, Kindred Spirits, and two Gilbert Stuart portraits of George Washington in the lot. The main goal is for the NYPL to "better compete" when acquiring books and to add to its endowment. The NYPL would like the paintings to be sold to a public institution, with "preferential payment terms" given to NY institutions interested in the artwork (calling Philippe de Montebello!). Gothamist wonders if people will complain that would be unfair and sue the NYPL for fixing the auction.

company, and guess what? We don't have Martin Luther King, Jr. Day off! I'm kind of ticked at this, not just because I want a 3 day weekend, but I don't like how it's treated as a 2nd-tier holiday. Do most people have to work on Monday? How are you commemorating the holiday?