by | Apr 9, 2024 12:01 pm | Comments (0)
Rory Martorana.
The following book review and roundup of recent public library title acquisitions were written by Rory Martorana, public services administrator for Communications & Marketing, Adult Services at the New Haven Free Public Library:
by | Apr 5, 2024 9:33 am | Comments (0)
Allan Appel Photo
Pedro Torres & Gladys Genovez on Thursday.
Giggling while coloring between the lines — and doing a really excellent job of it — is much more than it seems for Gladys Genovez and Pedro Torres.
by | Mar 7, 2024 10:22 am | Comments (1)
Soma Mitra.
This month, NHFPL Young Minds Supervisor Soma Mitra discusses the library’s Early Literacy Backpacks, along with new book additions.
One of the newer additions to the children’s collection at Ives branch I am excited to mention is the Library’s Early Literacy Backpacks. These backpacks have high-quality early learning materials, books, and activity guides that make learning fun and interesting! All materials are developmentally appropriate for young children. The activity tip sheets provide easy-to-follow instructions, while promoting positive parent-child interactions through conversations.
Continue reading ‘March Library Round-Up: Early Literacy Backpacks’
by | Feb 23, 2024 5:11 pm | Comments (13)
A student gifts a book to the Little Free Library.
“Sometimes when you talk, the universe listens.”
That’s what Chris Walker, manager of the new LaundroMax on Whalley Avenue, said to me as we watched 25 kids sit still between rows of gleaming washing machines and a cacophony of dryers tumbling and buzzers going off — and prepare to hear a story read aloud at New Haven’s most innovative new branch library.
by | Feb 21, 2024 11:52 am | Comments (0)
Timmy Maia performs at the ball.
Chris Volpe Photos
Cindy Schofield and Jozzi Pizzolato dance up a storm.
Two hundred revelers helped the New Haven Free Public Library Foundation raise $50,000 Tuesday night at the annual Mardi Gras fundraising bash at the Elm Street main branch.
by | Feb 7, 2024 2:03 pm | Comments (0)
This month, NHFPL Deputy Director Luis Chavez-Brumell discusses his current read, Pulitzer-winning biography Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight.
Happy Black History Month! The New Haven Free Public Library is celebrating Black entrepreneurship during the month of February. Black history happens every day, but it is important to celebrate Black entrepreneurship and how it has impacted American history. A perfect example of this is the life of Frederick Douglass who is known as a celebrated abolitionist, writer, orator, and statesman but also was indeed an entrepreneur.
Continue reading ‘These Books Just In: NHFPL Celebrates Black Entrepreneurship’
by | Jan 8, 2024 2:36 pm | Comments (2)
Books newly acquired by the NHFPL in January.
One of the latest additions to the Stetson Branch Library collection is African American author Tracy K. Smith’s Pulitzer Prize-Winning book, To Free The Captives: A Plea For The American Soul. This story is a personal account of memory, family, and history. Smith takes us on a journey through her patrilineal family to gain an understanding of the lives they lived, the challenges they faced and how they managed to have hope despite the trauma they endured at the hands of racism.
Continue reading ‘These Just In At The Library: Memory And Lineage’
by | Jan 2, 2024 1:37 pm | Comments (2)
Winter Wonderland celebration in full swing.
There were toys, every kind of toy, over 2,000 in all. There were remote-control cars and action figures and explorer kits and puzzles and Legos and Slime and board games and magnetic building blocks and light boxes and glow-in-the-dark basketballs and crystal balls, as well as dolls of every age, model, and style.
Young partygoer amid snowflakes.
Under the brights lights of the Dixwell Community‑Q House gymnasium at the first annual Winter Wonderland Celebration toy giveaway on the Saturday before Christmas, there was music booming and people dancing and kids tearing around the hardwood floors, and snow swirling from a snow machine, and cotton candy, and Santa and Mrs. Claus perched on a sleigh for photo-ops.
by | Dec 6, 2023 9:05 am | Comments (0)
Contributed photo
Mitchell Public Library Branch Manager Marian Huggins.
The following writeup was submitted by Mitchell Public Library Branch Manager Marian Huggins, as part of a monthly series by the Independent and the New Haven Free Public Library to spotlight books newly acquired by the city’s library.
One of the newest additions to the Mitchell Branch library’s shelves is The Reformatory by Tananarive Due. I was never truly a horror fan, but the storytelling is so rich that I became a fan of this author over twenty years ago through her African Immortals Series.
Continue reading ‘New Library Book Roundup: A Reform School, Supernatural’
by | Nov 2, 2023 10:44 am | Comments (0)
Books newly acquired by the NHFPL in October.
NHFPL Collection Manager Rachael Sherwood.
How did Ruth J. Simmons rise from a childhood in segregated 1940s Texas to become the head of an Ivy League university?
The answer to that question lies in one of 10 new librarian-recommended books recently acquired by the New Haven Free Public Library.
by | Oct 4, 2023 8:29 am | Comments (13)
Thomas Breen photo
City Economic Development Officer Dean Mack: "We're moving away from the municipal option. We are right now focusing on more of a market-driven option."
New Haven is still trying to bridge the digital divide, and has turned to the private market to do the heavy lifting.
by | Oct 2, 2023 3:40 pm | Comments (8)
Books newly acquired by the NHFPL in September.
A new biography of the world’s richest man. A family drama about an arranged-marriage divorce. A true story of disguise, escape, slavery, and freedom. A chemistry-to-cooking comedy that captures “the Catch-22 of early feminism.”
Continue reading ‘What's On The Shelf: New Library Book Roundup’
by | Sep 18, 2023 4:22 pm | Comments (13)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
Pride Center Executive Director Juancarlos Soto (center): "Come party with us!"
Drag performances, banned books, rainbow flags and more will be on display across New Haven this week — as the city kicks off its annual pride festival.
by | Aug 10, 2023 3:34 pm | Comments (5)
Allan Appel photo
Fair Haven Library Branch Manager Kirk Morrison with weekly table of local bounty.
All books must be returned after three weeks; DVDs, after one; but the farm-fresh vegetables absolutely never need to be returned. In fact they can’t ever even be borrowed.
Continue reading ‘The Vegetables Are Never Overdue In Fair Haven’
by | Aug 8, 2023 9:09 am | Comments (2)
Eleanor Polak Photos
Mindi Englart traces Jamine Ackert at library-hosted workshop.
Jamine Ackert, a single mother and the friend of Mindi Englart, the organizer of an art workshop for single moms and their kids, lay on her back on top of a large sheet of paper on the floor of Ives Main Library on Elm Street. Englart painstakingly traced her outline with marker, so that Ackert could fill it in with a representation of herself.
“I feel like you can fill your real self in,” said Englart. “When you trace yourself there’s a real connection, and I’m trying to encourage people to make that connection.”
by | Aug 7, 2023 8:27 am | Comments (0)
Eleanor Polak Photos
The Art School, flooded, as shown in Unfinished Spaces.
The Cuban Revolution ended in the year 1959, leaving Fidel Castro as the country’s prime minister and Cuba itself poised for a time of questioning the old ways, and opening up new avenues of living.
In the spirit of change and innovation, Castro commissioned three architects — Ricardo Porro, Roberto Gottardi, and Vittorio Garatti — to build an art school on the location of an old golf course.
Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray’s 2011 documentary, Unfinished Spaces, tells the story of that art school: its triumphs, its failures, and the ways in which it represents the triumphs and failures of Castro’s regime.
Continue reading ‘Art School Doc Uncovers Cuba's Unfinished Spaces’
by | Aug 3, 2023 9:09 am | Comments (2)
Eleanor Polak Photos
Jakki Cousins and Azora Lindsay at the keyboard at Wilson library.
Hanhe Choi and Azora Lindsay ran around the Music Room at Wilson Branch Library like kids in a candy store.
But instead of tooth-rotting sweets, the 23-month-old and 2‑year-old kiddos were focused on a range of keyboards, drums, and shakers, as pleasing to the ears as candy would be to the tongue.
The toddlers rushed from instrument to instrument, touching everything they could and figuring out how to create the loudest sound. Before long, the room filled up with a cacophony of joy.
Continue reading ‘Wilson Library Music Open Hour Reverberates With Joy’
by | Aug 2, 2023 1:01 pm | Comments (4)
Thomas Breen photo
Earl Durham: "I need a job, and a source of income."
Earl Durham took a break from studying to become a railroad engineer to try to get back on the job at a nearby Amazon warehouse, which is in the middle of its latest local hiring push.
Continue reading ‘Library Visitors Seek Amazon Warehouse Work’
by | Jul 28, 2023 8:50 am | Comments (3)
Asher Joseph photo
Tennille Murphy shows off her spin on a classic summer treat.
Twenty pairs of eyes widened in awe as Kidz Kook founder Tennille Murphy revealed that the Mitchell Library’s very own mini-chefs would be making ice cream — with a nutritious twist.
by | Jul 17, 2023 3:11 pm | Comments (5)
Mia Cortés Castro Photo
Eric Cajamarca and Diana Pérez perusing the nonfiction shelves.
Eric Cajamarca and Diana Pérez took a break from exploring downtown on a hot and rainy day to engage in a bit of friendly competition in the public library stacks.
by | Jul 5, 2023 8:47 am | Comments (4)
Allan Appel photos
New top city librarian Maria Bernhey, with see-through backpacks ...
... at Monday's Ives Branch "Stay and Play."
During her first day on the job, new City Librarian Maria Bernhey made a bee line to the new Early Literacy Corner, a cozy spot on the second floor of the Ives Main Branch on Elm Street, where a dozen of the new diaphanous see-through-backpack kits — a way to expand literacy beyond the library — sat invitingly on the shelves, their first day available.
Continue reading ‘City Librarian Kicks Off Tenure With Kids & Kits’
