NYS Library Blog

Inspired by the opening of Outcasts: Mary Banning's World of Mushrooms, the newest exhibit at the New York State Museum on view until January 2026, staff at the New York State Library turned to our collections to explore what mushroom-related content our shelves have to offer.

Our Edible Toadstools and Mushrooms

An 1895 publication of Our Edible Toadstools and Mushrooms and How to Distinguish Them by W. Hamilton Gibson contains thirty colored plates of mushrooms alongside descriptions intended for ready reference. Gibson lists physical characteristics such as the shape of the mushroom caps, stems, spores, and tube surfaces, as well as descriptions of taste, odor, habitat, and season in which the mushrooms could be found.

This plate shows the Agaricus gambosus, or the St. George's Mushroom, from several perspectives. The cream-colored mushroom is shown up close with a rounded top with the spores visible underneath. A ring of mushrooms is shown growing in grass in a ring shape. The taste is noted to be highly flavored with the potential to be gamy.

This plate of the Agaricus ostreatus, or the Oyster Mushroom, shows an array of mushrooms with light yellow caps and white spores growing in a vertical cascade from a tree trunk. The background is colored with shades of blue, purple, and brown. Gibson notes the taste of this mushroom to be "suggesting the flavor of the cooked oyster."

This plate of the Cantharellus cibarius, or the Chantarelle, shows three mushrooms in deep yellow to orange shades growing alongside a tree trunk. Their taste is described as "peppery and pungent in the raw state; mild and sweet after cooking" with an odor of "ripe apricots or plums."

Mushroom Recipes

Recipes are included for mushroom soup, mushroom stew, mushrooms on toast (broiled, stewed, or fried), pickled mushrooms, and stuffed morels. In a recipe for mushroom catsup, Gibson advises that, “Care should be taken that the spice is not so abundant as to overpower the true flavor of the mushrooms.” 

Gibson feels strongly about this—he stresses elsewhere that the “true mushroom epicure” does not approach a mushroom as “an absorbent vehicle for the gastronomic conveyance of highly seasoned sauce or dressing, but for the unique individual flavor which differentiates the fungus from other kinds of food.” The recipes Gibson compiles in this section are primarily simple in nature, though some, like Morelles à la Italienne, Fried Clavaria, or Mushroom Ragoût include flavorful additions such as lemon, vinegar, onions, spices, or herbs.

A Warning on Poisonous Mushrooms

Gibson is careful to warn readers of poisonous mushroom varieties like the Amanita Muscaria, shown on the plate above in orange, yellow, and reddish tones with spotted caps.

Even the dedication of Gibson's book is a warning--written inside a curved, mushroom-like shape (an early developmental shape of the Deadly Amanita), it reads:

To the Reader, kind, gentle, or other, to whom, in the hopes of continued grace and well-being, The Frontispiece and the chapter on "The Deadly Amanita" is herewith particularly referred with The Author's solicitude, "Forewarned is Forearmed."

In the chapter on the Deadly Amanita, Gibson emphasizes that, "its seductive treachery (some twenty-five deaths having been recorded in the public journals during the summer of 1893 alone), render it important that its teeth should be drawn, and its portrait placarded and popularly familiarized as an archenemy of mankind."

Further Resources

View a full-text scan of Our Edible Toadstools and Mushrooms through the Internet Archive.

Gibson, W. H. (1895). Our edible toadstools and mushrooms and how to distinguish them; a selection of thirty native food varieties, easily recognizable by their marked individualities, with simple rules for the identification of poisonous species, by W. Hamilton Gibson. With thirty colored plates, and fifty-seven other illustrations by the author. Harper & Brothers. (NYS Library call number 589.22 G45)


 

On April 15, 2025, the NYS Library held a T3/Transforming Teen Services workshop. The full day workshop was hosted by the Mid York Library System and was facilitated by two trainers from the NY T3 team: Stephanie Markham and Kenneth Roman. Thirty attendees participated, representing public libraries from six different public library systems.

The focus of the workshop was on Connected Learning, one of the core concepts of Teen Services. Attendees learned about the principles of Connected Learning and how to connect theory to practice for developing or enhancing teen programs in their libraries and for reaching out to and working with teens in their communities. There were many lively discussions, networking, and sharing of ideas for connecting and working with teens!

“Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere…”

These two lines open Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem “Paul Revere’s Ride.” This year marks the 165th anniversary of the poem, written in April 1860 and first published in the January 1861 issue of The Atlantic Monthly (which came out in December 1860). This National Poetry Month, we're taking a deep dive into the long life of this distinctly American poem. 

Longfellow's Reminder

Longfellow was inspired to write his dramatic poem about Paul Revere’s legendary midnight ride after visiting the Old North Church in Boston, MA. Through vivid imagery and rhythmic verses, the poem tells the tale of Revere’s actions on April 18, 1775.  

Longfellow likely gathered details for the poem from primary sources though he takes some creative liberties with historical details. For example, he portrayed Revere as a lone hero who single-handedly warned the colonies, when in fact he was part of a larger network of riders.

Longfellow, a prominent 19th-century poet, wrote the poem just before the Civil War, a time of growing division in the United States. According to literary critic Dana Gioia, the poem: 

"… was Longfellow's reminder to New Englanders of the courage their ancestors demonstrated in forming the Union. Another "hour of darkness and peril and need," the poem's closing lines implicitly warn, now draws near. The author's intentions were overtly political–to build public resolve to fight slavery and protect the Union–but he embodied his message in a poem compellingly told in purely narrative terms."

Come Along for the Ride!

The NYS Library has in its collections a bound first edition of the January 1861 issue of The Atlantic Monthly which first showcased “Paul Revere’s Ride.” 

Longfellow, H.W. (1861, Jan). Paul Revere’s Ride. The Atlantic Monthly, 7(39), 27–29. (NYS Library call number 051 qA881 V.7 1861)

If you can't get to the NYS Library, you can explore a scanned version of the original poem on the Internet Archive. You can access a transcript of the poem at the bottom of this post. Looking for a different way to experience this poem? The Library of Congress provides access to a 1916 audio recording of the poem--with sound effects--as part of their National Jukebox collection. 

Transcript: Paul Revere's Ride

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, 
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five : 
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, -- “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch 
Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light, -- 
One if by land, and two if by sea ;
And I on the opposite shore will be, 
Ready to ride and spread the alarm 
Through every Middlesex village and farm, 
For the country-folk to be up and to arm.”

Then he said good-night, and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, 
Just as the moon rose over the bay, 
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somersett, British man-of-war :
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon, like a prison-bar, 
And a huge, black hulk, that was magnified 
By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street
Wanders and watches with eager ears, 
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack-door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, 
And the measured tread of the grenadiers
Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed to the tower of the church, 
Up the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry-chamber overhead, 
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade, --
Up the light ladder, slender and tall, 
To the highest window in the wall, 
Where he paused to listen and look down 
A moment on the roofs of the town, 
And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead
In their night-encampment on the hill, 
Wrapped in silence so deep and still, 
That he could here, like a sentinel’s tread, 
The watchful night-wind, as it went 
Creeping along from tent to tent, 
And seeming to whisper, “All is well!”
A moment only he feels the spell 
Of the place and the hour, the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead ; 
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away, 
Where the river widens to meet the bay, --
A line of black, that bends and floats
On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, 
Booted and spured, with a heavy stride, 
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere 
Now he patted his horse’s side, 
Now gazed on the landscape far and near, 
Then impetuous stamped the earth, 
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth ; 
But mostly he watched with eager search 
The belfry-tower of the old North Church, 
As it rose above the graves on the hill, 
Lonely, and spectral, and sombre, and still.

And lo ! as he looks, on the belfry’s height, 
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light !
He springs to the saddle, and the bridle he turns, 
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight 
A second lamp in the belfry burns !

A hurry of hoofs in a village-street, 
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, 
And beneath from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed that flies fearless and fleet : 
That was all ! And yet, through the gloom and the light, 
The fate of a nation was riding that night ; 
And the spark struck out by the steed, in his flight, 
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.

It was twelve by the village-clock, 
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. 
He heard the crowing of the cock, 
And the barking of the farmer’s dog, 
And felt the damp of the river-fog, 
That rises when the sun goes down.

It was one by the village-clock, 
When he rode into Lexington. 
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed, 
And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare, 
Gaze at him with a spectral glare, 
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village-clock, 
When he came to the bridge in Concord town. 
He heard the bleating of the flock, 
And the twitter of birds among the trees, 
And felt the breath of the morning-breeze
Blowing over the meadows brown. 
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall, 
Who that day would be lying dead, 
Pierced by a British musket-ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British regulars fired and fled, --
How the farmers gave them ball for ball, 
From behind each fence and farmyard-wall, 
Chasing the red-coats down the lane, 
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road, 
And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere ; 
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm, -- 
A cry of defiance, and not of fear, --
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, 
And a word that shall echo forevermore !
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, 
Through all our history, to the last, 
In the hour of darkness and peril and need, 
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beat of that steed, 
And the midnight-message of Paul Revere. 

Image Notes

Portrait of Henry W. Longfellow, c. 1861 (LONG 35854) [probable ambrotype]. Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site Museum Collection, Cambridge, MA, United States. 

Select illustrations of Paul Revere from: Longfellow, H. W. (1907). Paul Revere's Ride. Houghton Mifflin. View this illustrated version of Paul Revere's Ride in the NYS Library Digital Collections.
 

We're back with the long-awaited second installment of Stuffie Sleepover at the NYS Library! We may have wrapped up National Library Week 2025, but the Library adventures continue! 

When last we left our intrepid plush explorers (in Chapter 1), they were learning about the life of their ancestor (a teddy bear with whistles in its paws) with the help of the Patent and Trademark Resource Center. Join us as we take another look at the stuffies and their overnight adventures:

Stuffies Dig Deep

Stuffies Consider the Source

Stuffies Help Out

Stuffies Put in the Work

Stuffies and Stories

Stuffies Read, Play, and Learn!

Stuffies Go Home and Get Some Sleep

This National Library Week, we've been taking a deep dive into the resources, programs, and opportunities that keep folks coming back to the library.

Some recent posts from the family NYS Library blogs help us understand the relationship that New Yorkers past and present have had with libraries, books, and the interests that draw them to the library.  

Drawn Together

Libraries are about communities—they provide supportive spaces for learning and connection. Libraries and community stakeholders rely on the Division of Library Development for a wide range of support, which you can read about on the NYS Library blog.  

Each summer, libraries and their communities gather around a central theme to support lifelong learning and a love of reading. This year’s summer reading theme is Color Our World, a celebration of connections through art. Check out the Summer Reading News blog for details, including an opportunity for young readers to enter a Color Our World writing contest.  

Looking to draw people together by drawing on your library? Check out our upcoming Mural Toolkit for Libraries Lunch & Learn webinar! Libraries can use the toolkit to develop mural making programs with patrons, providing step by step curriculum, materials lists, best practices, and links to additional helpful resources. 

Drawn In

There’s something for everyone at the library! Collections help us see ourselves and tell our stories, and they provide essential information for the pursuit of learning.  

The NYS Talking Book and Braille Library (TBBL) is a free service for New Yorkers outside of New York City and Long Island who are unable to use standard print materials. TBBL staff work to make sure that books are reaching readers wherever they are and meeting their interests and educational needs.  

In 2024, TBBL circulated braille and audio books to patrons across a wide variety of genres and topics. Some braille favorites for 2024 included comprehensive cookbooks, such as Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything and The Complete Slow Cooker: From Appetizers to Desserts from America’s Test Kitchen. Another favorite? The Dictionary of Cliches!

Audiobook favorites included fiction titles such as Kristin Hannah’s The Women, as well as books from James Patterson, David Baldacci, and Freida McFadden. 

The New Netherland Research Center at the NYS Library provides a welcoming location where students, educators, scholars, and researchers worldwide can access translations of early Dutch colonial manuscripts and other resources. In December 2024, the New Netherland research Center’s Dr. Chelsea Teale was able to draw on the New York State Archives Applications for Land Grants collection to piece together the owner and location of a stream depicted on three separate maps and in various other documents.  

Drawings!

Of course, the staff at the NYS Library have their own interests and passions that often drew them to a library career in the first place. We hope you will explore archived posts on the NYS Library blog, where we share the rare finds and behind-the-scenes work that ensures all New Yorkers have access to our collections and our shared history: 

• Check out this recent discovery from our Manuscripts and Special Collections unit: a scrapbook of impressive student drawings created in 1848!  
• What are your bookish habits? Do you ever doodle in your books? Perhaps you use a fancy bookmark—or whatever scrap of paper you can find! Whatever your reading habits, you’re in good company—check out some “found” items from our collections, discovered by NYS Library staff undertaking essential preservation work. 
• Maybe your draw is drawings! The NYS Library is home to countless images that can be used to tell our stories and make connections. The Library's cartographic collections contain material about the geography, history, and geology of New York State, the United States, and the world! 
• Perhaps you prefer patents? We’re a United States Patent and Trademark Resource Center! Our collection includes nearly everything the USPTO has published and distributed, from early material in paper up to the current online databases. Use the patent collection for patentability searches or historical inquiries—whatever draws you in! 

As NYS Library staff wrap up National Library Week 2025,  we invite you to pause and reflect on a whirlwind week of trainings, events, and adventures in the collections. We hope you had an opportunity to celebrate one of the many ways that the library draws people in.

Earlier this week, we invited another kind of “paws” into the library during the first ever NYS Library Stuffie Sleepover! Catch up on the Stuffies' overnight escapades in the Cultural Education Center with the comic strip below. It's easy to see what drew these Stuffies to the library--adventure!

Thank you to our friends at the New York State Archives and the New York State Museum for helping to welcome, entertain, and educate these curious Stuffies!

Stuffies Arrive

Stuffies Explore

Stuffies Explore Some More

Stuffies Investigate

Stay Tuned!

There are more Stuffie Adventures to come! In the meantime, you can get started on your own NYS Library adventure by checking out some ways to Plan Your Visit.

Check out Stuffie Sleepover: Chapter 2, now on the NYS Library blog!

Social Work Perspectives in the Library is written by Antonia Bruno, Excelsior Service Fellow for the NYS Library in the Office of Cultural Education.

During my time practicing social work in a library setting, I’ve learned that these practices intertwine in nearly every library environment and manifest in various forms. Even without a social worker on staff, libraries serve as vital community resources that support the social well-being of their patrons. In fact, social work is likely happening in your library, even without a social worker present.

Social work in the library can include:

• Hosting a social worker to meet patron needs
• Providing support and training for library staff
• Creating and updating community resource lists
• Inviting neighboring social service organizations to table or host events in the library
• Organizing food drive events 
• Coordinating toy drive events 
• Creating summer and winter supply bags

In my conversations with library workers, I’ve encountered concerns about whether libraries can effectively serve vulnerable community members. 

However, as a social worker, I’ve observed that regardless of whether a library has a social worker on staff, it’s helpful to recognize the many ways patrons' needs are met.  

I argue that simply by creating a free, inviting, and welcoming community space dedicated to learning, libraries serve communities in ways that social service organizations often cannot. This observation is not meant to diminish the dedication of social service organizations to their clients. However, it’s important to acknowledge the barriers that individuals face when attempting to receive services from a human services organization. These barriers can include strict attendance policies, insurance needs, and diagnosis requirements. In contrast, these barriers are not present in a library-social work partnership, nor in the dynamic ways that libraries serve all community members.

Today we’re taking another trip into the NYS Library collections to explore patents! We’re looking at the 1849 patent for the safety pin, invented right here in New York State. Read on for a good story about a deceptively humble invention and why you might need one this spring! 

Keeping it Safe

Anyone who has a safety pin knows that it has hundreds of uses. From its roots as a tool for fastening diapers and repairing clothing, the safety pin has become a symbol for protection, good luck, and solidarity. In the 1970s, the punk rock subculture adopted the safety pin as part of its iconic anti-establishment fashions.  

For many long-distance runners in the northeast, the warmer months mean it's time to hit the streets for road races, and no road race is complete without safety pins to hold runners’ bibs in place.  While there is some (small) controversy in the running community around alternative types of bib pins, the iconic metal safety pin remains the constant companion of choice for many athletes hitting the trails. While Walter Hunt was certainly tuned in to the importance of good design, it’s unlikely that he could have foreseen the popularity of his invention and its many uses! 

Walter Hunt: Inventor and New Yorker

Walter Hunt was born in the 1790s and lived and worked in New York. During his life, he invented or refined several household items and tools, including a fountain pen, a knife sharpener, and an ice plough. Hunt is also credited with building one of the world’s first eye-pointed-needle sewing machines, though he did not pursue commercialization.  

In the 1840s, faced with paying a debt of $15, Hunt began work on a new invention to help him earn the money. He worked on twisting a piece of metal wire into a device with a spring at one end and a protective clasp for the pin’s point at the other. 

A Story in Patents 

The concept of a garment pin was not new, and Hunt’s design was not the first contemporary version of the safety pin, either.  An 1842 version did not include Hunt’s spring mechanism, the feature that exists in safety pins we're accustomed to using today.

Hunt patented his safety pin on April 10, 1849, and sold the rights for $400. A century later, Hunt’s name would make an appearance in an intellectual property suit brought by Isaac Merritt Singer against Elias Howe, who had patented a similar machine in 1846. Singer attempted to invalidate Howe’s patent by pointing out Hunt’s earlier work, which occurred decades before Howe’s patent was granted. However, since Hunt had abandoned the work without patenting it, Howe’s patent was ultimately upheld. 

Patents at the NYS Library

The NYS Library has been a United States Patent and Trademark Resource Center since 1871. A Patent and Trademark Resource Center (or PTRC) is part of a nationwide network of academic, public, and state libraries designated to support the public with trademark and patent assistance.

The NYS Library's patent collection includes nearly everything the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has published and distributed, from early material on paper, through microforms and CD/DVDs, up to their current online databases.  

Most of the U.S. patent collection is housed on the 7th floor of the NYS Library. The public is welcome to visit and use the U.S. Patent collection. Patrons can use the patent collection for both patentability searches and historical inquiries.

The NYS Library has trained staff who can assist you in learning to use these tools. Appointments are not required to use the patent collection but are recommended if you would like assistance. You can make an appointment on our website. 

Calling all teen librarians! 

The New York State Library is hosting an interactive training on Connected Learning from the Transforming Teen Services framework, presented by Stephanie Markham and Kenneth Roman. Connected learning explores the library's role at the intersection of teens' interests, relationships, and opportunities for the future. 

This day-long participatory workshop and networking opportunity will occur at the Mid-York Library System in Utica. We'll provide light lunch and refreshments, but attendees or their libraries will pay for travel costs. CE certificates will be emailed to workshop participants after the workshop's conclusion. 

Registration is filling up fast, so don't delay! Register today! 

Questions? Contact Sharon Phillips, Youth Services Program Manager.

Transforming Teen Services (T3) is a training initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) and was originally funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

You may have heard that the Division of Library Development, working in partnership with New York’s 72 library systems, brings cost-effective, modern library services to the millions of people who use the state’s 7,000 academic, public, school, and special libraries.  

Librarians, trustees, public officials, and community leaders depend on the Division of Library Development to help find new ways of making library services and resources available to people of all ages. But do you know what DLD is up to each day in support of this mission?

Check out the programs below for announcements, trainings, and other resources from Division of Library Development staff.  

Literacy at New York Libraries 

At the New York State Library, our team is committed to ensuring every New Yorker has access to literacy services to become proficient readers, writers, and communicators. Libraries provide critical access to reading materials, inclusive learning environments, and accessible technology to develop individuals’ literacy skills and help New York’s communities thrive.

Learning to read is a skill that parents and caregivers start to teach children beginning at birth. While public libraries provide literacy programs, reading materials, and comfortable spaces to support parents and caregivers, the NYS Library bolsters these efforts through the research-based training and collaboration through the Ready to Read at New York Libraries program. For older patrons, the Transforming Teen Services program focuses on supporting library staff working with and for teens to better understand their emotional and social development and understand how connected learning and computational thinking can work together.

In the summer months, public libraries work to foster a love of reading through programs and services geared for all readers. With the training, resources, and partnerships that make up Summer Reading at New York Libraries, libraries can help increase successful reading experiences. All year round, the NYS Library seeks to support all libraries in their efforts to increase Digital Equity and inclusion in their libraries. 

State Aid for Library Construction 

Any public or association library or public library system chartered by the Regents of the State of New York or established by an act of the New York State Legislature is eligible to apply for State Aid for Library Construction to cover approved costs for the acquisition, construction, renovation, or rehabilitation of public libraries or public library system headquarters, as well as broadband infrastructure projects.

On the State Aid for Library Construction website, libraries can explore construction project guidelines and begin the process of preparing an application for a project.  

State Aid for Library Construction funds help ensure that library buildings are accessible, sustainable, and state-of-the-art, connected to the community and the world beyond! Looking for some data? Check out previously funded projects or explore the projected construction needs for libraries across New York State on the Allocations, Projects, and Program Data page. 

Funding for Libraries in NYS 

In addition to providing statewide leadership and advisory services, Division of Library Development staff administer over $100 million in State and Federal aid for library services and programs.

State Aid programs such as Services to State Correctional Facility Libraries and County Jails, Coordinated Collection Development for Academic Libraries, and the NYS Program for the Conservation and Preservation of Library Research Materials help libraries meet the needs of all New Yorkers by supporting essential library system activities.  

Federal aid initiatives such as E-Rate and the Federal Library Services and Technology Act program provide funding assistance to local libraries for the enhancement of modern, quality library services across the state. 

NOVELny

NOVELny is an online library available to every New Yorker, free of charge. It includes full text of hundreds of magazines, newspapers, maps, charts, research and reference books.

Any New Yorker can get started with searching the databases, no login required! For library staff, NOVELny provides technical support through the NOVELny Help Desk, and makes a robust Marketing Toolkit available to help libraries get the word out about NOVELny! 

Join the NYS Library in observing National Library Week, April 6 - 12! This year, we’re celebrating with an exciting lineup of programs that highlight the many, many opportunities and connections that draw folks into the library.

Whatever draws you in, the library has something for everyone. Read on for details about National Library Week at the NYS Library.

National Library Week Events: 

• Webinar: New York State Library's Personal History Initiative - Tell Your Library Story, 4/8 @ 12 PM 
• Storytime with the State Librarian, 4/9 @ 10:30 AM  
• Stuffie Sleepover Drop-Off, 4/9 @ 10:30 AM:  Kids can drop off their stuffies during Storytime with the State Librarian to spend the night at the New York State Library! Who knows what sort of shenanigans they'll get up to? Pick Up your Stuffie on 4/10 @ 11 AM - 2 PM: Pick up your pals and learn all about the NOVELny resource – available for free to all New Yorkers through your local public library.
• Trademark Basics Webinar, 4/9 @ 1PM
• Tasting History Webinar, 4/9 @ 3 PM
• Onsite Walking Tour of Local History & Genealogy Resources, 4/11 @ 11 AM
• Handbook of Black Librarianship Webinar, 4/11 @ 2 PM 

More Ways to Celebrate:

Tell Us About Your Library with the NYS Personal History Initiative

There is something at the library for everyone! So, what draws you in? Share your story with us and help contribute to the historical record with the NYS Personal History Initiative.  

We are inviting the library community to join in this initiative by sharing the history of your library, untold stories from those you serve, or your own history in relation to libraries. This is a great opportunity to celebrate unsung heroes, record origin stories, and share the transformative power libraries have had on you and your community.  

These histories will then be added to the Personal History Initiative digital archives, preserved for future generations as part of the public record. Share your story!

NYS Library Draws

What draws people to the NYS Library? There are more answers than we can count, and we’re learning about new ways that libraries support their communities all the time. We hope that you will reach out to us with any questions, that you will participate in one of our programs, and that you will feel supported in your quest for information. Plan your visit today!