NY Librarians : Paris

Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts

Monday, January 12, 2015

Charlie Hebdo | R. David Lankes

This morning in a Tweet Bredebieb asked me “what should public
libraries do,” about the Charlie Hebdo attack. It was frankly a bit of a
humbling and scary question. After all, I am not in Paris, and I cannot
claim to know everything that French libraries do now. However, it
would be an obvious act of cowardice to simply claim ignorance or to
respond with some high level non-answer like “help the communities have a
conversation.” So I provided some ideas:

“provide a safe place to talk about the attack and the reasons for the attack and free expression. Provide access to Charlie.”

“host talks and forums on free expression and democracy. Host a human library event with different faiths.”

“host sessions with therapists and parents on how to make kids feel safe.”

“above all use this as an opportunity to be a safe place to express feelings and help your community.”

“help your community compose a narrative and then project it to the
world. Is it ‘we shall overcome?’ Or ‘we stand with Charlie?’”

and ended with:

“all libraries should provide safe place to recover and the tools to turn tragedy into action and understanding.” Read article....

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

The Future of Libraries Has Little to Do with Books

Photo from Bibliothèque publique d'information ©Vinciane Verguethen

On a Monday morning between Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Paris,
the line for modern art museum Centre Georges Pompidou winds around the
block. But the patrons waiting in the cold aren’t there to catch a
glimpse of a Magritte—they’re young locals queueing for access through
the museum’s back door to another attraction: Bibliothèque publique
d'information, or the public library.

In a digital age that has left book publishers reeling, libraries in
the world’s major cities seem poised for a comeback, though it’s one
that has very little to do with books. The Independent Library Report—published
in December by the U.K.’s Department for Culture, Media, and
Sport—found that libraries across the nation are re-inventing themselves
by increasingly becoming “vibrant and attractive community hubs,”
focusing on the “need to create digital literacy—and in an ideal world,
digital fluency.” Read article....

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Mapping ‘Madeline’ Creator’s New York Haunts by Allison Meier on July 30, 2014

The artist behind the beloved book series "Madeline" is in the spotlight at the New York Historical Society.

"Madeline
in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans" is an exhibit that celebrates
Madeline's 75th anniversary with more than 90 pieces of art.

Although the series is based in Paris, Bemelmans was living in New York when he wrote and illustrated the books.

"Madeline
is such a special character, she just speaks to me of bravery and
adventure and that can-do American spirit that we America girls all
aspire to," said curator Jane Bayard Curley.

The collection will be on display through mid-October.

For more information go online to NYhistory.org.

- See more at:
http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/news/212839/-madeline--exhibit-comes-to-new-york-historical-society/#sthash.NLjpDIR9.dpuf

HyperAllergic

July 30, 2014

To mark the centenary of the children’s book author and illustrator stepping into Gotham, the New-York Historical Society opened Madeline in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans earlier this month. In conjunction with the exhibition, illustrator Adrienne Ottenberg created a map of “Bemelmans’ New York.”

Madeline, the smallest of the “twelve little girls in two straight lines” who lived in “an old house in Paris that was covered in vines,” was born in Manhattan. In Pete’s Tavern on Irving Place in 1938, Ludwig Bemelmans scrawled those first rhyming lines that would introduce his petite heroine of the Madeline books.

“And sometimes they were very sad,” 1939 Madeline (Simon & Schuster, 1939) Watercolor and gouache Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection TM and © Ludwig Bemelmans, LLC.

Ludwig Bemelmans, “And sometimes they were very sad” from Madeline (Simon & Schuster, 1939), Watercolor and gouache (Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection, © Ludwig Bemelmans)

Watch video

Bemelmans, born of a German mother and Belgian father, arrived in New York City in 1914, passing his first night stranded on Ellis Island after his dad forgot to meet him. To mark the centenary of the children’s book author and illustrator stepping into Gotham, the New-York Historical Society opened Madeline in New York: The Art of Ludwig Bemelmans earlier this month. In conjunction with the exhibition, illustrator Adrienne Ottenberg created a map of “Bemelmans’ New York.”