Mid-Manhattan Library Art Department

Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy working with time

2008-01-18T12:06:00.000-05:00

Have you seen our video collection before? We have both DVD and VHS videos on art, architecture, design and crafts. One of our most popular videos is Rivers and Tides : Andy Goldsworthy working with time. Goldsworthy is a Scotland-based sculptor who works with natural materials like tree branches, rocks, leaves and ice. Most of his sculptures are ephemeral, like nature herself. Watching him work is immensely relaxing and inspiring. I think people love this video because Goldsworthy's methods shed light on life itself. He reminds us that each day, each hour, each minute is important and should not be taken for granted. At the same time, despite our best efforts to shape the world around us, in the end, things just take their natural course. Ice melts, leaves scatter, branches break. It might seem futile to build something just to watch it disappear, but it is through futile acts that one finds the beauty of creation and the everyday.

Making copies at the library

2007-12-14T16:11:00.000-05:00

If you've ever tried to make copies here at the library, you know that our equipment is...how shall we say it...a little outdated. Here on the 3rd floor of Mid-Manhattan Library, we have three black and white copiers and one color copier. One of our copiers, the one located near the ladies restroom, accepts bills and change. The other copiers require a copy card, which you may purchase here at the library. This is the tricky part: the copy cards must be purchased with cash, and you must first insert a one dollar bill to purchase the copy card. We know this is weird, but you can get singles for your Jacksons at the Picture Collection circulation desk. The card itself costs 30 cents, but your copiers will be cheaper -- 15 cents each with a copy card as opposed to 20 cents each when you use cash.

If you need to make lots and lots of copies, you also have the option of checking out books and bringing them to Kinko's or Staples. The closest Kinko's is located at 58 West 40th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, along Bryant Park and is open 24 hours a day. Their phone number is 212-921-1060. The closest Staples is located at 1065 Sixth Avenue at 40th Street and is open Monday through Friday from 7am to 9pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm and Sunday 11am to 7pm. Their phone number is 212-997-4446. If you want to make copies from a reference book, you may check out most reference books with proper identification for a duration of two hours. You may not check out reference books overnight and there are no exceptions, no matter how hard you bat your eyelashes at us or how much chocolate you lavish on us.

You also have the option of taking digital photos of the book pages. Please keep in mind, however, that you are responsible for researching and adhering to intellectual property laws governing the reproduction of books and images. Personal or educational use is usually allowed, but commercial use is usually not allowed.

One final tip about using our copiers: please plan ahead and leave yourself plenty of time to make copies. We often have lines at the copiers during the hour before closing. You are allowed to bring materials to other floors in the building to make copies, but you must bring the materials back to the third floor when you are finished. Our color copier is the only one in the building.

We realize that it's not easy to make copies here. The Art Collection and Picture Collection have heard your suggestions (pay with copies with credit cards, more color copiers, more paper sizes, cheaper copies) and we will try to get them heard whenever plans for new equipment are being considered.

Renew your creativity

2007-12-04T13:40:00.000-05:00

Every artist gets stuck at times. We have books here at the library that can help you get back on track (or off track?). The most popular one is Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way: a spiritual path to higher creativity. Now, normally anything with the word "spiritual" in it makes me run the other way, but the persistent popularity of this book makes me think that there must be something to it. We have many other books by Cameron including How to Avoid Making Art (or anything else you enjoy), which is a humorous look at the process of making art.

I'm not an artist but have thought about reading "The Artist's Way" just to see what it's all about. I imagine that it's something like Rhonda Byrne's The Secret, but for artists (I haven't read this book, either -- you got me). If you like books like these, you can explore the many books or videos -- art and non-art related -- that we have cataloged with the subject Self actualization (Psychology).

Oscar Wilde Bookshop turns 40!

2007-11-13T11:58:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, November 27, the Oscar Wilde Bookshop, the world's oldest gay and lesbian book store, will be offering 40% off any book price $40 or less. This offer is being extended for in-store and telephone purchases. I highly recommend the graphic novel Fun Home: a Family Tragicomic by Allison Bechdel to anyone and everyone. If you've never read a graphic novel before but have been meaning to do so, this is a great place to start. The bookstore is selling it for $13.95, so if my math is correct, you can buy it for $8.37 plus tax.

Design flaws in Frank Gehry's Stata Center at MIT

2007-11-07T13:36:00.001-05:00

MIT Strata Center
Originally uploaded by Sydneyhuang

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is suing architect Frank Gehry over serious design flaws. According to the New York Times article "MIT Sues Architect Frank Gehry,"

"The school asserts that the center, completed in spring 2004, has persistent leaks, drainage problems and mold growing on its brick exterior. It says accumulations of snow and ice have fallen dangerously from window boxes and other areas of its roofs, blocking emergency exits and causing damage."

Looks like the Los Angeles firm didn't take into account that in Boston, it's not always sunny like in Southern California (and Bilbao?).

Unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me that there are engineering problems in Gehry's building because Gehry doesn't know how to use a computer(!) Whimsical creations of the mind are all well and good on paper, but when people will be using the buildings, you better really look at the structural features.

Maybe Gehry needs to brush up on his Architectural Registration Exam (ARE) basics. He can come to the Mid-Manhattan Library and use the entire set of the Kaplan architectural exam preparation books. (The current year's edition is for reference only, and past years' editions can be brought home.) He can also check out the books we have on construction in the 690s.

Tonight at the library: Slide lecture on Georges Seurat's drawings

2007-11-07T09:16:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, Nov 7 — 6:30 PM on the 6th floor

The Museum of Modern Art @ the Library presents: "Georges Seurat: The Drawings," with Jennifer Kantanic.

Georges Seurat's mysterious and luminous works on paper played a crucial role in his short, vibrant career. This slide lecture will feature a comprehensive overview of the art and life of Georges Seurat (1859-1891).

http://www.nypl.org/branch/central/mml/programs.html

Art librarians save the day!

2007-10-24T15:59:00.000-04:00

There is an article in the New York Times about the recovery of the stolen painting "Tres Personajes" by the Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo. One Person's Trash is Another Person's Lost Masterpiece is the title of the article.

Yes indeedy, Elizabeth Gibson found the painting and then a friend went to the library and checked out a bunch of books on the artist. The lost and found painting was on the cover. The article doesn't say which library her friend checked the books out from, but it is likely the Mid-Manhattan Library.

Then an art librarian at the Frick advanced the plot further by referring Gibson to a nearby gallery specializing in Latin-American Art. Go librarians!

Libarians: what do they do?

2007-10-22T16:12:00.000-04:00

When people hear the word librarian a definite image comes to mind, and it's usually something along the lines of a bookish lady with glasses.

But what, exactly, does a librarian do? (Besides shush people. And write blogs.)

- Buy stuff. Each and every book, video, magazine and research database in the Mid-Manhattan Art Collection was hand-picked by one of us. We usually call it "materials selection" or "collection development." You might know it by its more esoteric name, "shopping."
- Throw stuff away. The library is like your apartment. There is never enough room for everything, so we have to make decisions about what books to keep and what books to throw away. Sometimes it's obvious what we need to get rid of (a book that is covered in grandma's spaghetti sauce) and sometimes it's a little bit harder (a book that no one has checked out for a year, but is the only thing on its topic). Sometimes people get stressed out when they find out that this happens, but don't worry. The Research Libraries most likely will have what you're looking for, and if not, there are other ways to get that book in your hands.
- Help you. We don't just buy the books, throw 'em out there, and expect you to know where everything is. We are at the "reference desk" or "information desk" to help you find the right information source for your needs. We do simple things like look up a book for you to see if it's available, or more involved things like name the modern artist who painted the American flag and help you find materials on the art movement he was associated with. We love to convert people to be more like librarians, so we can show you how to search the library catalog, the Internet and specialized databases like a pro.
-Other random stuff. We also take part in the many other services that the library offers. You might see us showing groups of students around, teaching free computer classes, hosting fun and educational programs and putting up art.

What does it take to be a librarian?

I'm glad you asked. We have master's degrees in information and library science and we're certified by the State of New York. A lot of us also have other advanced degrees.

But I know someone who works at the information desk and he doesn't have a master's degree.

Like any organization, we use a combination of professional and para-professional staff. So sometimes reference desks are staffed by "Information Assistants" or "Technical Assistants." It's just like being treated by a nurse or physician's assistant at the hospital or working with a para-legal at a law firm.

Why do you look at me funny when I want to check out a book at the information desk?

Sorry, we don't mean to do that. It's just that we don't do that and we don't know how to do that. Anything related to your account is handled by our wonderful Circulation Department. So if you want to check out, renew or return a book, you will need to go to the Circulation (or Check-Out) Desk. They can also answer your questions about your account, library borrowing policies or fines.
If you were working with Dunder Mifflin, the fictional company featured in the television series The Office, you would talk to Dwight or Jim about what kind of paper to buy, but then you would talk to Angela or Oscar about your invoice. It's the same here: you talk to the librarians are your informational needs and to the circulation staff about your account. Most of what librarians do is independent of your account. We don't care if you have $200 in fines. We will still answer your questions.

Do all librarians work with the public?

No. Some librarians specialize in cataloging. All that information you see in the online catalog was entered and checked by a cataloging librarian. Our colleagues make sure that every item in the building is coded so that you can find what you're looking for quickly and easily. You don't have to know the title of any books on nude photography because the cataloging librarians will make sure that most of them are grouped together on the shelf. Catalogers know the Dewey Decimal System, Library of Congress classification and Library of Congress subject headings by heart. It's really quite scary.

National Design Week!

2007-10-11T16:06:00.000-04:00

Next week is National Design Week at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. There will be free admission and various events at the museum all week.

Go to their website to cast your vote for your favorite design for the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards People's Design Award by 6:00 EST October 16, 2007. The winner of this and other awards will be announced October 18, 2007 at the National Design Awards gala.

Dahesh Museum closes to the public

2007-10-10T15:59:00.001-04:00

Sad news: I never made it to the Dahesh Museum of Art and just found out they closed to the public last month. They will continue to organize traveling exhibitions and have digital content on their website as they look for a new space. They were unable to pay their $200,000 a month rent at 580 Madison Avenue. Another victim of the New York real estate market.

Georges Seurat: The Drawings

2007-10-02T17:55:00.000-04:00

I just got my monthly newsletter from the Museum of Modern Art and I was happy to see that there will be an exhibition of Georges Seurat's drawings this fall, from October 28, 2007 through January 7, 2008. I wrote a paper on Seurat and color theory for my Impressionism and Post-Impressionism class back in grad school: I read about Seurat's drawings, but I have yet to see them in person. I remember thinking that his drawings were mysterious and beautiful, exploring tone more than line.

(To sign up for MoMA's e-news yourself, go to moma.org and enter your address at the bottom of the page.)

We have many books and videos on Seurat here at Mid-Manhattan Art. Give us a call and we can put one aside for you.

Artinfo.com : Keeping up with the art world

2007-09-21T14:14:00.000-04:00

One website that I enjoy reading is artinfo.com. I particularly enjoy the AI Interviews with contemporary artists, the most recent of which is with Olafur Eliasson, the Icelandic-Danish artist best known for his installations. Eliasson's first major US exhibition, "Take Your Time" just opened at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and is scheduled to be up until February 24, 2008. We have a few books on the artist, including Madeleine Grynsztejn's monograph Olafur Eliasson from Phaidon Press' contemporary artists series, and A sculpture reader : contemporary sculpture since 1980 , edited by Glenn Harper and Twylene Moyer. More are on the way.

In the AI I nterview with Eliasson, the artist cites Robert Irwin, who was associated with California Light and Space movement, as an important influence (the exhibition catalog for the SFMOMA exhibition includes a dialog between the two artists).

Mid-Manhattan Art has several books on Irwin, including the catalog f or Robert Irwin's exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in 1993, Lawrence Weschler's biography Seeing is forgetting the name of the thing one sees : a life of contemporary artist Robert Irwin, and a book about Irwin's design of the Central Garden at the Getty Center in Los Angeles.

If you're interested in mid-century California art, look at Sunshine muse: contemporary art on the west coast and other books in call number 709.794.

Dover Clip Art = Fun

2007-09-15T12:51:00.001-04:00

Dover publishes a series of Clip Art books featuring royalty-free, out-of-copyright designs. Dover says: "You may use them for graphics and crafts applications, free and without special permission, provided that you include no more than ten in the same publication or project." Yay!

The newer clip art books come with CD-ROMs, and we now have a dedicated computer where you can view, download and print the clip art. Here are some examples taken from Dover's Greatest Clips.

Our Dover Clip Art books are located in the Special Collection bookshelves across from the art information desk. Since they are so popular, they are not kept in Dewey decimal order. The books and CDs cannot be borrowed, but feel free to take a bunch to a table to go through them and then make copies of any of the images.

Welcome to our blog!

2007-09-15T11:10:00.001-04:00

This is a place where we'll keep you up to date on what's happening here at Mid-Manhattan Art. We'll give you information and advice on how to take advantage of our plethora of materials and services. We don't just have books - we also have magazines and videos that you can bring home. If we don't have what you're looking for, we can tell you where to find it.

Not much of a reader? That's okay. Did you know that we exhibit the work of New York emerging artists here on the third floor of Mid-Manhattan? We also host entertaining and informative programs with accomplished artists and art historians on the sixth floor of the library. And sometimes you'll find us hanging out with our neighbor, the Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection, which lends visual material to artists, costume designers, set designers and all sorts of creative people.

We know that it can be daunting to navigate the New York Public Library. Please feel free to ask us anything about the library's collections and policies, whether it's art related or not.