Earlier this month we told you about the book donation drive going on at Gerritsen Beach library. Those books are now on sale, helping to raise money for the local branch. Apparently the drive was so successful, the organizers are a little overwhelmed. They wrote to us earlier this week:
We REALLY could use your help. The other volunteers and I have been sorting books for weeks for the upcoming Gerritsen Beach Library book sale (Friday and Saturday). Normally we set up the sale the day before, but due to the sheer quantity of donations this time we began setting up on Monday. We have so many books we are not going to be able to nicely display them all. We do not have a large enough space to save the books for the next book sale so it would be really great if we sold as much as possible.
Get out there and buy some books! The library is located at 2808 Gerritsen Avenue.
ATTENTION LIGHT AND NON-READERS: Monday is World Book Night. In 6,000 towns and cities across America, volunteers will give away half a million free books on one day.
Sheepshead Bites contributor Neil Friedman is a volunteer book-giver and will be distributing 10 paperback copies of a novel Monday at noon at the Gerritsen Beach branch of the Brooklyn Public Library (2808 Gerritsen Avenue). Rather than distribute on a first-come, first-served basis, prospective recipients will be asked an easy question on American literature on the spot, so no one has an advantage or attempts to look it up online. The first 10 who give the correct answer will receive a trade paperback novel, appropriate for readers 12 and up, selected by Friedman from a list of 30 books.
World Book Night in the U.S. is a non-profit organization, and has 501(c)3 charitable status. World Book Night U.S. is supported by publishers, Barnes & Noble, the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, Ingram Content Group, United Parcel Services, and fifteen printers and paper companies.
If you are an anti-Kindle, anti-Nook, hardcover- and paperback-loving purist like me, whose leg twitches in delight at the musty smell of old, worn, dog-eared pages, then you will run, not walk, to the Fall Book Sale being sponsored by the Friends of Brooklyn Public Library, Gerritsen Beach Branch. Yes you will.
The two-day sale will be held Friday, November 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday, November 19 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the library, 2808 Gerritsen Avenue.
There, you can purchase gently-used and like-new books, spanning a wide range of genres for readers of all ages. There will also be DVDs and VHS tapes on sale, so bring your shopping bag and stock up. Buying used books is a great way to not only save money (especially during a particularly ‘blah’ economy), but to also support your friends at the Gerritsen Beach Library.
Also, this gives me an excuse to post my favorite library scene quote from “Ghostbusters,” the greatest movie of all time:
For more, call (718) 368-1435 or go to www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org.
The Cymbro-Mobile — coming soon to a library near you!
If you are a constituent of Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz’s, and hiking over to his community office in Sheepshead Bay is a bit too much of a schlep for you, fret no more, as the Southern Brooklyn pol’s mobile community office will spend a couple of hours, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., June 3 at the Midwood branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, 975 East 16th Street.
At press time, we do not have word if Cymbrowitz, hisownself, will be in the Cymbro-Mobile, but we do have it on good authority that members of his staff will be on hand inside the unit, happy to talk with local residents about any concerns and/or issues they may wish to discuss. According to his press spokesperson, Oswalt Heyman, the assemblyman “tries to get to the mobile district office as often as his schedule allows.”
Stay tuned, friends — the intrepid assemblyman’s mobile community office may soon be visiting your neighborhood next, and when it does, you can count on Sheepshead Bites to bring it to you first.
If the mountain won’t come to Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz’s office on Sheepshead Bay Road, then the assemblyman and his mobile community office will go to the mountain.
Well… substitute the mountain with the Kings Highway branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, 2115 Ocean Avenue, and a staff member for Assemblyman Cymbrowitz will be there to help area residents with problems, answer questions and discuss local issues, May 13 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Today is the first day of the Gerritsen Beach Library Book Sale. Help support the library and stock your shelves by picking up some “gently used and like-new books,” as well as DVD, VHS tapes (what are those?), and more. The sale is going on all weekend until Monday at 5:30 p.m. (UPDATED: The library is closed during the weekend thanks to budget cuts. The sale is today and Monday only. Apologies for any confusion.)
You can also buy a 50/50 raffle ticket for $1 each or six for $5. The drawing will be held Monday at 5:00 p.m.
The library is at 2808 Gerritsen Avenue and can be reached at (718) 368-1435.
Some might consider this porn. Well, I wouldn't. But someone could, right? (Source: City Hall News)
State Senator Marty Golden doesn’t want you killing kittens with taxpayer dollars. Or making angels weep. And he certainly doesn’t want you going blind.
That’s why Golden is calling on the Brooklyn, Queens and New York Public Library systems to establish stronger policies to halt access to pornographic websites on public computers in library branches throughout the city.
“Allowing anyone to view pornographic materials on a public computer in one of our library branches here in Brooklyn, or anywhere else in New York City, is appalling,” Golden said in statement issued today. “Libraries are for the community to enrich their educational pursuits, not be a place to go so to download pornography. ”
The Brooklyn Public Library is now launching it’s third annual Support Our Shelves fundraiser, to try and reach its $500,000 goal to buy books and materials for its 60 libraries that are likely to undergo budget cuts.
According to a press release, Support Our Shelves is a four-month long campaign that runs from March 1 to June 30. The fundraiser will help buy books, DVDs, CDs, eBooks and other materials for the Brooklyn Public Library and is also designed to keep new books in the libraries.
There will also be a limited edition shirt on sale to raise even more money for the cause. “I Heart BPL” t-shirts will be available in March at all Brooklyn locations of Brooklyn Industries, as well as in their online store. Shirts are $20 each and all proceeds will benefit Support Our Shelves.
Donations can be made directly at local libraries, online or by phone at (718) 230-2738.
Brooklyn Public Library officials and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have struck a deal to maintain a minimum of five day service at all branches, narrowly escaping devastating cuts that would have shuttered branches and eliminated hours across the board.
[ABOVE: Watch BPL Representative Mel Henkle tell Community Board 15 about the new hours, and thank the community for its advocacy.]
In our neck of the woods, the compromise means that some of our libraries will lose Saturday service beginning July 10, including the Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend and Homecrest branches. Saturday service will be provided at the Kings Bay, Kings Highway and Brighton Beach branches, and the Kings Highway branch will also have summer Sunday hours.
