SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

November 17, 2008 by Betsy Bird

Introducing the Children’s Center at 42nd Street

November 17, 2008 by Betsy Bird   22 comments

It’s what they call in the business a "soft" opening.  Not a lot of hullaballoo at first.  You just open the doors and wait for people to wander in.

About a half a year ago, as some of you might recall, I was desperately worried about the potential fate of New York Public Library’s Central Children’s Room.  Through a series of steps that I will be happy to relate in my memoirs someday a place was secured for the room and in a location I could only have dreamed of.  Now my front door has gone from a perfectly serviceable this:


To this:


As you might imagine, I am elated with the change.  I work with the lions.  I get to work with the lions.  I am arguably in the most famous library in America and I work with the friggin’ LIE-ONS.  Patience and Fortitude are my co-workers.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Well, I’m a lucky duck to say the least.  It’s not every children’s librarian that finds his or herself in this situation.  Not that "we" as a collection weren’t here at the start.  This collection originated in this building.  It was only when we ran out of room in the 60s that we moved to Donnell.  The proof?  Here was the Children’s Room in this building back in 1913:



That was then.  This room is now actually just down the hall from our current location.  A location that looks just a little something like this:



Yep.  That’s a flat screen tv. 

Note: Actual desk much brighter and greener than pictured above.


If you look closely at the bookshelves above and then look at the shelves in the second of the black and white pictures, you will notice that they are one and the same.  Original shelving, all the way.

The original room had window seats.  No seats in this room, so we’ve had to put in couches instead.  It should be effective and cozy anyway, though.


The effect is startling, isn’t it?  And if you look out the window at the back of the room you can even see the ice skaters in Bryant Park:


We even have a mural by one Susy Pilgrim Waters, seen here:


At first we weren’t certain that she’d done any children’s literature work, but after some digging it was discovered that she was responsible for the cover of Ruth White’s Way Down Deep.  Which is neat.

Want to come on by?  We are open every day of the week (check our hours here and we are open when the rest of the library is) and anyone can drop by.  After Thanksgiving we will be having one slambang humdinger of an opening.  We’ll have Chris Raschka, and live owls, and a play version of Pinkalicious and all KINDS of stuff.  So stop on by! I’ll be here.  And we’re easy to find.  Just come to 5th Avenue and 42nd Street.  Walk to the ONLY entrance on the 42nd Street side.  Take an immediate right and voila!  Instant Children’s Center. 

Filed under: Uncategorized

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

Announcing the Stinetinglers Winner! The Kettle's Dark Secret by Clara J.

by Betsy Bird

March 2023

Bologna Presentations: IBBY Doing the Good Work That Needs to Be Done, Worldwide

by Betsy Bird

February 2023

Sydney Taylor Book Blog Award Tour Interview: Featuring Mari Lowe of Aviva Vs. the Dybbuk!

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

The Top Ten Most Disappointing Edibles and Potables of Children's Literature

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

Announcing the 2023 Newbery/Caldecott/YMA Pre-Game Show!

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

U.S. Gov: ‘All Books Must Have Round Corners’

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day – Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories by Jarvis

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Swim Team

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Write What You Know. Read What You Don’t, a guest post by Lauren Thoman

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Top 10 Audiobooks of 2022

4 Books To Introduce Holi to The Littlest Readers

Hippity Hoppity Easter's On Its Way! 7 Board & Picture Books Starring the Easter Bunny

8 Pitch-Perfect Manga for Music-Loving Teens | Mondo Manga

15 Nonfiction and Fiction Titles for Young Readers About Slavery in the United States

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Beth kephart says

    November 17, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    Heartfelt congratulations. Such good news could not come at a better time.

  2. Beth says

    November 17, 2008 at 12:19 pm

    That’s so funny, I was scrolling past the pictures quickly and had a flash of WAY DOWN DEEP and went back to see if it was prominently displayed somewhere, but no. But of course it was Susy’s wonderful murals that I was responding to! I believe she also did a paperback of ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME MARGARET but maybe I am thinking of someone else…

  3. Stacy DeKeyser says

    November 17, 2008 at 2:02 pm

    Congratulations!! I can’t wait to see it. The Library is one of the places I always stop at when I’m in the city, and now there’s even one more reason!

  4. janeyolen says

    November 17, 2008 at 3:54 pm

    Those lions are also known as Lord and Lady Astor (though they are both male) and Uptown and Downtown.

    Give them a soft back-of-the-throat growl for me.

    –Jane

  5. emily says

    November 17, 2008 at 4:59 pm

    Thanks for the update. As someone who has happily visited both your old and new libraries many times, I can’t wait to stop by and see it in person. Does you collection circulate? And is everything that was hidden in the stacks at Donnell now hidden under Bryant Park? And what about Pooh? Is he close at hand?

  6. boni ashburn says

    November 17, 2008 at 6:00 pm

    It’s beautiful!! I’d love to go there some day.

  7. adrienne says

    November 17, 2008 at 7:12 pm

    What will you-all be showing on the flat-screen TV? We’ve been thinking of putting one in our children’s room, but I’m a little eh on the whole thing.

  8. Dee says

    November 17, 2008 at 7:45 pm

    Oh, that’s GLORI-OUS! One couldn’t hope for a more wonderful space. *sigh* Wished we had the luck to have such a lovely place as our library. 🙂

  9. victoria thorne says

    November 17, 2008 at 8:27 pm

    OH! This makes me want to come back to New York, and see you, and not get lost in the rain this time (I was just a few months early, I suppose, as this is where I thought you were and wandered about daftly until I realized you were not). CONGRATULATIONS! I am so happy to think of you and all these wondrous books here! It’s just too marvelous, too marvelous for words. Now, to book that trip back & see you with the lions…

  10. Bibliovore says

    November 17, 2008 at 8:53 pm

    Wah! Library envy! For that storytime room alone, with the Cat in the Hat and the cushy cushions, I would sell major bodily organs.

  11. Abby says

    November 17, 2008 at 9:40 pm

    That is so book.

  12. Mitali Perkins says

    November 17, 2008 at 10:08 pm

    Oh the richness! I remember discovering the NYPL children’s room when I first arrived in America. We were allowed seven books a week, and we went every Saturday like clockwork. Congratulations and bon voyage.

  13. Sara O'Leary says

    November 18, 2008 at 4:59 am

    What a perfectly feathered nest for you!
    I hope to pop in for a visit one day.

  14. Fuse #8 says

    November 18, 2008 at 7:45 am

    Thanks everyone! Yes, we circulate. We are the first circulating part of the main branch, in fact. Everything from the old room is in this new building. The reference materials have merely been placed with the adult reference materials on the third floor. Winnie-the-Pooh… we don’t know. We’d like him but there may be a conservation issue with our bright lighting. We’re looking into it. And the tv is for our monthly game nights. And public performance right programs too, I suppose. Needless to say, we haven’t done anything with it yet.

  15. mhg says

    November 18, 2008 at 8:11 am

    HOORAY!!!! All the Best to the Saraswatis (Indian goddess of the arts, sciences, poets, musicians, teachers, librarians!).
    What a wonderful temple for the goddess. And selfishly, much easier for me to get to by subway.

  16. mhg says

    November 18, 2008 at 9:03 am

    ps
    Saraswati has a magical totem animal, a Bird! Go, Bird!

  17. G. Neri says

    November 18, 2008 at 2:22 pm

    So cool. I love a happy ending. Congrats.

  18. Sarah Chauncey says

    November 18, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    Congratulations on advocating for this beautiful space. This is spaces that says we value children. The children will feel it when they visit. What a gift.
    Sarah Chauncey
    Library Media Specialist
    Grandview Elementary School
    http://www.grandviewlibrary.org

  19. Julie Cummins says

    November 18, 2008 at 5:03 pm

    Thanks Betsy, for sharing the photos of past and present. I know that former Children’s Coordinators would be pleased to have the home for the Children’s Room back where it began and history was in the making. Pooh and friends rule! Those of us who can’t “walk in” can bee-line in to one of the premier children’s rooms and see renewed history at work.
    Thanks, Julie Cummins, former Coordinator, Children’s Services, New York Public Library

  20. Alan Silberberg says

    November 19, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    Wowzer! How fantastic and magical for you (and all of NYC!) Now if only you can find Lisa Yee’s “Peepy” – all will be right in the kidlit world!

    Maybe the Lions know something….

  21. Miriam Lang Budin says

    November 19, 2008 at 7:49 pm

    I’m so glad the Central Children’s Room is back where it belongs–in the center of everything!

  22. Fuse #8 says

    November 20, 2008 at 7:50 am

    Alan Alan, you must have faith. I assure you that the story of Peepy is not yet concluded. But read Lisa Yee to find out why . . .

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023