'Love Your Library Day' Book Sale At Carroll Gardens Branch

Friends of the Carroll Gardens Library, a group of volunteers who have dedicate themselves to making our local branch of the Brooklyn Public Library even better, will be hosting their annual
Love Your Library Day Book Sale and Community Celebration on May 19. On sale will be fantastic with a huge selection, from the newest fiction to art books, biography, cook books, collectibles, tons of children's books and much more.  So don't miss it.
Here is more info:

Friends of the Carroll Gardens Library (FCGL) supports the library by fundraising and helping to make the Carroll Gardens branch a hub of the community with programs for children, youth and adults all year round.FCGL’s annual fundraiser is a huge book sale and community celebration on Saturday, May 19, Love Your Library Day, from 10 AM-4 PM. In addition to the book sale, the group is celebrating our community with a line up of cool entertainment including readings by children's authors and local residents Josh Lewis, author of the Super Chicken Nugget Boy series and Lela Nargi, author of The Honeybee Man, a finalist for the Cook prize for children's science writing; art activities with Curious Jane, and more! Brooklyn Public Library t-shirts will be available for sale and we'll have another delicious bake sale - all to raise money for the library and raise awareness of how important libraries are to the community.FCGL holds monthly meetings and everyone is invited to share their ideas and energy.  Click here for FCGL’s website.  FCGL can also be found on Facebook here at and on Twitter here.

Carroll Gardens Library Book Sale and Community Celebration: Love Your Library Day!

Saturday, May 19

10am – 4pm

Carroll Gardens Library

396 Clinton Street (at Union Street)

Read More

A Newsflash From The Past: "Tis The Season For Drowned Bodies" In Gowanus Creek

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 30, 1857

While researching neighborhood history, I came across this fun, if slightly gruesome, 1857 article from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle archive on the Brooklyn Public Library web site. Reports of drownings in the Gowanus Canal were rather frequent back then, but I had never heard that there was a 'season for drowned persons." Since the article was written in May, we can assume that we are fast approaching that same time of year, though these days, there don't seem to be just as many drowning incidents as in 1850's.

The Carroll Place mentioned in the article was, of course, the stretch of Carroll Street from Smith Street to the Gowanus before it was renamed in the 1870's..

The most bizarre drowning in the Gowanus Canal had to be the sad tale of 8-year-old Tony Studo of 455 Carroll Street in 1915. His death and burial caused a row between two neighborhood undertakers, which escalated into more deaths and a brawl involving 150 people. Read about it here:

The Strange Tale Of The Gowanus Canal, The Tragic Death Of A Boy, Dueling Undertakers And The Sale Of Wood Alcohol...in 1915

Related stories:

Car Plunges Into Gowanus Canal Early On Saturday Morning

Car Plunged Into The Gowanus Canal...in 1921

Diving Into The Gowanus Canal From the 3rd Street Bridge...Back In 1979

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Read More

This Holiday Season, Take Part In Brooklyn Public Library's Adopt-A-Book

Photo Credit: Ginny Griffin.

This holiday season, the Brooklyn Public Library is asking its supporters to give back to Brooklyn's children by adopting a book -- buying needed children's classics for all of our neighborhood libraries. Folks can help for as little as $5.99, and that's great holiday gift for the community.

Adopt-a-Book This Holiday Season

We all have that one book that takes us back to our childhood. From The Snowy Day to Goodnight Moon to Madeline, we need you to help us ensure that every child grows up having access to those classic titles. So please help make these titles available by adopting a book for as little as $5.99. Simply search our registry of titles and make a donation to help buy some of your favorites. Visit our website to learn more: http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/support/adopt/

So as the holiday season approaches and you put together your gift list, please remember Brooklyn Public Library, and the children of the borough.

Read More

Support Our Shelves Fundraiser For Brooklyn Public Library

photo credit chrisc25 on Flickr.

Clever title, worthwhile cause. The Brooklyn Public Library is launching a fund raising campaign. Read on:

Our Support Our Shelves fundraising campaign is in its last month, and it's more important than ever to donate in light of the severe city budget cuts BPL is facing next month. If it goes through, BPL's materials budget will be cut by about 30%. Support Our Shelves is a three-month fundraising campaign in which BPL is appealing to community residents to give back whatever they can to help us build our collections in this time of economic uncertainty. Every donation counts, from one dollar to a thousand dollars, and donors can give to their local library or any branch they choose. Each donation helps us reach our $300,000 goal and provide the materials that our libraries need. Sadly, Carroll Gardens Library is far short of its $8,000 goal, with about $6,000 still needed. I was hoping that you might be willing to appeal to your readers to donate to help ensure our library can provide needed materials for our neighbors. If they'd like to give, they can call, give at the branch or give online here:

http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/support/shelves/

There is a Support Our Shelves Fundraiser tomorrow night at Franklin Park Bar & Beer Garden from 6-9PM. The cost is $40 and all proceeds go to the SOS campaign for Clinton Hill Library.

Read More

'Canal Flower' By Photographer Jose Gaytan

Photographer Jose Gaytan calls this " The Official Canal Flower". He has been photographing the Gowanus Canal area for two years now. His 'Gowanus Project' will be exhibited at the Brooklyn Public Library in June.
I will post further information on the show soon.

To see more of Gaytan's wonderful work, go to: http://www.josegaytan.com

Read More

December At The Carroll Gardens Public Library

I have to admit, dear reader, that I don't go to the Carroll Gardens Public Library nearly often enough. There are so many great events happening there. Take a look at their December schedule above. If you have little ones, take advantage of the free kiddie events. Now that it is cold outside, the library is a great destination.

Read More