Oct 19
Sarah MurphyDesk Set Sponsored Events, Dispatches from the Editors
Won’t you please join us on Thursday, November 18th at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg at 9PM (promptly!) to put books on the shelves of your local branch and keep the free programming free?
The Desk Set is honored to have been asked to host BPL’s After Party, and we hope to see you all there. Entrance gets you an open bar from 9-10PM and one complimentary ticket to the Top Shelf Raffle. Be there on time, lest you miss the fabulous Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, and some sweetness from Other Music’s DJ Duane Harriott. Stay late to bowl ten frames and enjoy Brooklyn Bowl’s regular Thursday night party featuring DJ Questlove.
There are a limited number of advance tickets available for $35 online (tickets at the door will run you $40), so don’t delay!
Sep 29
Sarah MurphyDispatches from the Editors
Dear Reader,
Are you on the Desk Set’s mailing list?
Oh, you say you’re our “friend” on facebook? We love all of our “friends” no doubt, but it’s just not the same. Our e-mail list is the place to be for insiders. The only way to be sure you hear about every Desk Set event, field trip, volunteer opportunity or party is to write to us at thedeskset@gmail.com and let us know that you want to hang with the library crowd.
Just thought you might want to know…
Don't be a knave and miss out on visits like this one to the NY Society Library!
xoxo,
the Desk Set
Sep 13
mariaDesk Set Sponsored Events, Dispatches from the Editors
The Desk Set is proud to report that $3,184 was raised on 9/11/10 at Pete’s Candy Store for the A.P. Tureaud School in the 7th ward of New Orleans. Two anonymous donors are contributing another $1,000 each which means we’ll be able to complete the book wish list and hope to help arrange author visits for the school! We’ll keep you all posted.
What follows is our epic thank you to everyone who made the Beaucoup Book Love BBQ possible.
Pralines made by Carolyn, Marie and Maria
Major thanks to the businesses and awesome folks who donated delicious food to the BBQ. Please support them (they have heart and good eats!):
Enid’s, the Great Jones Cafe, Tamara Reynolds, The Meat Hook, Sweet Deliverance NYC, Anarchy in a Jar, Agger Fish Corp, Sour Puss Pickles, Karol Lu, My Friend’s Mustard, Carolyn Vega, and David Roderick Paisley Farms csa member.
Merci beaucoup to the businesses and individuals below who contributed prizes to the Who Dat Raffle! True winners:
Camille Hempel Jewelry Designs, Rye Restaurant, Photographer Aubrey Edwards, D.P. Chutney, Sweet Deliverance NYC, Anarchy in a Jar, Random House, Harper Collins, Mombucha Kombucha, Idlewild Books, Sour Puss Pickles, Jae Hah (Design Within Reach), Sesame Letter Press, Cheshire Canning, My Friend’s Mustard, Confederacy of Cruisers, Crif Dogs, and authors Cathy Erway and Tamara Reynolds.
Tremendous thanks to Pete’s Candy Store for providing a lovely space for the festivities.
Huge thank you and high fives to the Lucky Chops Brass Band for putting smiles on our faces and getting a lot of rumps shakin’.
The gorgeous photos of the A.P. Tureaud School and surrounding neighborhood are thanks to photographer Joey O’Loughlin.
Thanks to the Fabulous grill masters: Cathy Erway, Theo Peck & Jason Andrews. The food was scrumptious!
Special thanks to Jaime Eldredge for being the supportive food consultant, chef, and lender of catering supplies.
Shout out to our fabulous student readers: Charlie K., James H., Gabe H., Simon B., Henry B., Shayna K-Z, Benji K-Z and their parents!
Holler to the inspiring cast of the NOLA music panel: Iris Brooks, Tom O., Gabe Soria & Aubrey Edwards!
Thanks to NOLA mix CD makers: Matt Fiveash, Steve McGuirl & Bill Judkins
Thanks to volunteers who crafted, worked the door, sold raffle tickets, set up and cleaned up: Steven Fujita, Alex Crosier, Carolyn Vega, Doug Von Hoppe, Alison Gies, Pilara Brunson, Indira Vaidy, Ingrid Redman, Kristen Kennedy, Lydia Willoughby, Marisha Chinsky, Lily Kane, Jason Planitzer, Maria Alegre.
Thank you to Donna and Bill Falgoust (Maria’s mom and dad) for organizing the book delivery, book plates and thank you notes.
Together, we have enriched the A.P. Tureaud school’s classroom libraries and thrown a little love to their community. Thank you to everyone who attended the party! We hope you had a ball and that your love for the Big Easy grew a little stronger.
Lotsa love from your Beaucoup BBQ curators,
Marie Warsh, Maria Falgoust, & Sarah Murphy
Sep 09
Sarah MurphyDesk Set Sponsored Events, Dispatches from the Editors
As part of our interview about the A.P. Tureaud School in New Orleans, Maria talked about the culture, flavor and uniqueness of her hometown. We hope this brief audio clip will put you in the mood for some New Orleans style music and food, and if it does, y’all better come over to the Beaucoup Book Love BBQ and fundraiser for Tureaud’s book drive!
Listen here: Maria’s New Orleans
Join us to celebrate New Orleans, and to get books into the hands of students at A.P. Tureaud.
Pete’s Candy Store
709 Lorimer Street
Saturday, September 11, 2010
1pm – 5pm
Suggested donation of $10 – $15 gets you great eats, and proceeds go to fulfill the A.P. Tureaud Wish List.
See you there!
Jul 30
Sarah MurphyDispatches from the Editors, Programs of Interest
Photographer Joey O’Loughlin makes beautiful pictures supporting “humanitarian and educational efforts in the US and around the world,” and her current project highlights the patrons of Brooklyn Public Library.
So, we’re looking at you, BPL librarians. Who are the patrons who live for your book recommendations? Who knows what they want before you could ever offer a suggestion? Who reads the newspaper every morning, and who brings their kids every afternoon? Who are the colorful characters who use the library for inspiration in their endeavors, from tattoo art to law school applications?
Joey wants to take their pictures. Because as people increasingly ask the question “are libraries necessary, or a waste of tax dollars?,” Joey knows the answer. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a picture maker’s words are worth a thousand from a blogger, so see what Joey has to say, and contact us at thedeskset@gmail.com if you have a patron to suggest.
Who Are You?
You walk through these doors once a week, once a month, once in awhile. You are looking for information, education, or inspiration. You need a good read, a quiet place to work, or a gathering of like minds to consider art, or history, or the state of the world. You find it here at the Brooklyn Public Library and it makes the quality of your life a little bit better.
Where are you going?
When you leave, you take the BPL experience with you. The bestseller you checked out is read on the subway or in the park or as you drift off to sleep at night. The research you did here gets you an “A†in class or a book deal! The English course you took at BPL allows you to communicate better with the people in your neighborhood and at work. Your library experience grows exponentially as you share it with your family, friends, and community.
Will you share with us?
BPL has always been there for you, but right now, it is facing serious budget cuts that mean reduced hours, staffing, and services. Now the Library needs your help. One way to preserve funding is to remind the decision makers that the BPL is more than a line item in a budget. It represents shared experience and a quality of life enjoyed by thousands of people here every day.
I am a photojournalist working with the BPL to collect the stories and images of Brooklynites who love the library. I would like to photograph you in your home, or on your block, to capture the faces and places that reflect Brooklyn now, and represent the lives what will be changed by more drastic budget cuts. I want
to hear about your experience with the library and what it means to you. The stories may be used on the BPL website, and to help the BPL advocate for better funding. The portfolio of over 100 portraits will humanize the impact of budget cuts and will also provide a snapshot of who uses the BPL in 2010, and why.
This is your chance to stand up for the library you love.
Please talk to your librarian if you are interested. And feel free to check out my website www.joeyoloughlin.com.
Jul 05
mariaDesk Set Sponsored Events, Dispatches from the Editors a.p. tureaud, book drive, class sets, roll of thunder hear my cry
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, the Newbery award winner, written by Mildred D. Taylor is just one of the class sets of books that we, The Desk Set, are attempting to get for the A.P. Tureaud school in New Orleans.
It’s the story of the Logans, an African-American family, living in Mississippi during the Great Depression. Unlike their neighbors, they own their own land are are spared the grim reality of sharecropping. The narrator, nine-year-old Cassie, is a spunky girl who is coming-of-age and boldly refuses to blindly accept the racism she and her family face on a daily basis. Although this story is harsh and sometimes difficult to read because of the blatant, heart wrenching bigotry, its characters are full of integrity, pride, courage and familial love. Taylor clearly sends the message that some things are worth fighting for but one must pick their battles.
The Desk Set has collected 7 of the 30 copies that are needed to complete the class set. Each copy is $7.99 and if you purchase 3 copies, the fourth copy is FREE! Buy the books here. Help a kid out, ya’ll.
May 27
mariaDispatches from the Editors
Hey Friends,
The party was a great big success thanks to Enid’s, a cast of talented DJs, awesome raffle prizes, a fabulous gang of volunteers and all of the people who showed up! We raised$1,138and 50 books for Books through Bars! That money will provide a hell of a lot of postage and will get books into the hands of individuals who want them all over the country. We also collected a big fat stack of screen-printed Save NYC Libraries (courtesy of Polluted Eyeball!) postcards to be delivered to the city council. Hope you had fun!!!!!
May 16
Sarah MurphyDesk Set Sponsored Events, Dispatches from the Editors, Events from Other Orgs Brooklyn Public Library, Dance Dance Library Revolution, New York Public Library, Queens Library, Urban Librarians Unite
Photo by Elizabeth Jenkins
Walking towards the Brooklyn Public Library’s Love Your Library Day celebration this past picture perfect Saturday afternoon, I caught the eye of a passerby who smiled and said “Go buy a book for a dollar to support the library!” Indeed, that’s where I was headed, and partly why I was headed there, but hearing the suggestion from a stranger made it feel like an even more satisfying way to spend my afternoon. Now, she could have been a librarian or library worker. But I feel pretty certain she was a patron. One of the many patrons who turned up to sign petitions, listen to live music, buy some cheap books, and support the library. Sometimes it feels like the only people speaking up for libraries are librarians. But that’s way off. It’s not just about looking out for our jobs, or our colleagues, it’s about looking out for the millions of New Yorkers who see the value in an institution that wants to spread, share and celebrate information. Not for the price of a laptop, an iPad or a Kindle, but for free free free.
Despite what happened in Queens this week (see below), it is still important to let your voice be heard if you count yourself among the library lovers. And what better way to speak out than by throwing down vintage style with a pen and paper, and sending a postcard to the city council?
In case you are not friendly with Urban Librarians Unite on Facebook (and you really should be), here’s what our retroactivist hero Christian Zabriskie had to say:
If you haven’t heard the news 90 day notices of layoff have been handed out to hundreds of Queens Library staff. Over a third of the workforce of this year’s Library Journal Library of the year and the top circulating library system in America is being given notice this week.
Although it is tempting to give up, to throw up our hands and decry the ways of the world, we cannot allow ourselves to do so. We are at a crux in the history of libraries in New York City. Not only will dozens of libraries be closed if this budget goes through but hours on others will be so drastically slashed that the library will simply cease to be a regular part of those communities. It will go from a neighborhood resource and common area to another inconvenience in the city and people drop the library habit because it becomes simply too awkward. The kids will stop coming and parents will no longer automatically default to the library as rendezvous. That ebb and flow of the public which we all love so much will dry up.
On top of that this has the potential to be an incredible drain of library talent. A generation of up and coming library professionals, people with energy and ideas and so much potential, are being nipped off the vine just as they are coming into their professional potential. These people will either leave the profession or drift off somewhere else to some place where there are library jobs to be found, Oz perhaps or Wonderland. The point is, they won’t be with us, they won’t be serving our kids, teaching our elders, watching our forgotten. We will have to start all over again in the years to come when the budgets come eeking back, if they come back. If we have anyone left to care about getting money back for these dusty foreign stacks.
We will not go gentle into this good night. No my friends, we will keep getting out there, keep going to the rallies, and keep getting our postcards in. If they want to kill our libraries then let us drown them in our cards, shout them down, force them to see what they have the potential to lose and if, at the end of all that, the budget changes not a dime let us say that we did everything we could in the fight that was fought.
Thank you for your support. My deepest sorrow to everyone who got a letter this week from Queens and who stands to get a letter some week in the future from other Tri-Li libraries.
Z
Photo courtesy of Urban Librarians Unite
If you haven’t sent in a postcard yet, there is still time. And the Desk Set is trying to make it as easy and stylish as possible. We are thrilled to announce that Polluted Eyeball will be screenprinting brand new Save NYC Libraries postcards at DDLR on Saturday, May 22nd. You can pick up a card, or even watch it be made, then head over the Postcard table to write your personal message to the City Council. We will deliver the cards to Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer, a library ally who will present all the cards to the council.
We are super grateful to Peter at Polluted Eyeball for this tremendous addition to the party, and we hope to see you all there!
But if you can’t come, make your own postcard in support of your library and send it to:
Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer
47-01 Queens Boulevard, Suite 205
Sunnyside, NY 11104
Apr 22
Sarah MurphyDesk Set Sponsored Events, Dispatches from the Editors Ali Douglass, Andy Pratt, Books Through Bars, BPL, Buy Olympia, dalaga, Dance Dance Library Revolution, Dweck Center, enid's, eyeglasses. park slope eye, fabulous franny's, Four-Eyes Raffle, granola lab, joseph lambert, MODO, mombucha, New York Society Library, Robyn Chapman, the polluted eyeball
Artwork by Joseph Lambert, from the zine Hey, 4-Eyes!
DDLR is approaching, and this time around, the raffle is an eyes- and eyeglasses-themed affair! Winners can walk with some specs or some shades, sweet goodies featuring eyeglasses as design, or any variety of optical accessory. So get your cat-eyed, horned-rimmed, nearsighted, farsighted self to the party on May 22nd, and let everything look a little rosier.
Oh, and breaking news! Christian Zabriskie of Urban Librarians Unite has kindly agreed to be our Four-Eyes MC! We assume he’ll be wearing his glasses…
Here’s a preview of some of the prizes from The Four Eyes Raffle:
- Eyeglasses print and throw pillow from the talented Ali Douglass
- Reading and glasses themed goodies from the rad online shop Buy Olympia
- A $250 gift certificate to Park Slope Eye to go towards an exam, lenses, frames, or contacts
- 2 chances to win a $50 gift certificate to MODO Eyeware’s Mott Street shop
- a year long membership to the New York Society Library
- issues of Hey, 4-Eyes! zine from Robyn Chapman (see image above for enticing sneak preview!)
- $125 gift certificate to Fabulous Fanny’s
- sampler of homemade, librarian-made granola from Granola Lab
- 3 bottles of kombucha (Ruth’s Blend, Blanc, & Vert) & “tea-shirt” from Mombucha (it’s supposed to be good for eyesight!)
- 2 beautiful letter-pressed stationery packs from Andy Pratt Design‘s Location Collection (Brooklyn & Manhattan of course!)
- 2 pairs of cool sunglasses from Dalaga
- Introductory Screen print workshop from the Polluted Eyeball
- 2 pairs of tickets to see Jonathan Franzen (The Corrections) and David Means (The Secret Goldfish) reading from their latest works at BPL’s Dweck’s Center
Please support these generous businesses: they rock!
Have an idea for a Four-Eyes prize, or want to make a contribution? Please email us at thedesksetATgmailDOTcom and let us know! All raffle proceeds support Books Through Bars.
Dorothy Parker once said that
Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses.
but we think she was kidding.
RSVP for DDLR on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=116203858406463
Apr 18
Sarah MurphyDesk Set Sponsored Events, Dispatches from the Editors Books Through Bars, Brooklyn, Dance Dance Library Revolution, Dance Party, enid's, Librarians
Here it is Kids, your official notification about the Desk Set’s next and best dance party and benefit for Books Through Bars:
The return of Dance Dance Library Revolution
Your chance to GIVE a paperback dictionary or thesaurus, GET a complimentary drink courtesy of Enid’s, DANCE your tail off, and WIN amazing prizes in the Four-Eyes Raffle.
The party is free, and it’s a community-based labor of love in memory of our friend Carlos Alvarez, who passed away last summer. A passionate believer in prisoners’ rights and access to information, Carlos had hoped to DJ the next DDLR. In his stead, DJs Mr. Jonathan Toubin from New York Night Train, Fine Wine from WFMU, Megan Awesome, Jimmy T, and Jason Andrews are spinning all night long, and donating their fees to the Books Through Bars cause in Carlos’s name.
Details:
- What: DDLR, dance party and benefit for Books Through Bars
- Where: Enid’s Bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
- When: Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 10PM – 4AM
- Why: To collect dictionaries and raise badly needed funds for Books Through Bars, a grassroots org working tirelessly to provide incarcerated individuals with literacy and literature. And to spread some library love!
- Who: Librarians, archivists, bibliophiles, the bookish general public, and those who like to dance with them.
- With your hosts: Maria Falgoust, Sarah Murphy, and the Desk Set Gang
- How you can help: Show up at the party, and tell all your friends! Become a DDLR volunteer. We’re looking for decorators, crafters, party promoters, raffle tickets sellers, and more! Write to us at thedesksetATgmailDOTcom if you’re interested in helping.
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