Tag: Libraries

Ohio Library Uncovers "The Secret At Shadow Ranch"

KEENE, Carolyn [Mildred Wirt Benson]. The Secret At Shadow Ranch.NY: Grosset & Dunlap, 1931.The staff of the Toledo Lucas County Library is shedding some light on the shadowy side of super sleuth Nancy Drew. The library has purchased the painting created as cover art for the first edition of Carolyn Keene's The Secret At Shadow Ranch. Paintings used for the early Nancy Drew Mystery Stories book covers, by Russell H. Tandy, are exceedingly scarce. The vast majority of Tandy's original artwork was destroyed in a 1962 fire at his home.Tandy's painting will be added to the library's Robert L. and...

Continue Reading →

Lowenbrau Goes Highbrow At Beer Carton Library

Let it be Lowenbrau at the library? Residents of Magdeburg, Germany wanted a library in their economically decimated downtown, so they built one themselves. And made it out 1,000 recycled beer cartons. The project began in response to the closing of the neighborhood's branch library. Faced with high unemployment and an 80% vacancy rate for central city real estate, the community needed a gathering place to maintain civic pride. The pop-up beer carton library was created with the help of a tiny Leipzig firm KARO Architekten. It survived for only two days, but the citizens remained inspired. Downtown dwellers continued...

Continue Reading →

The Great Art Deco-Designed Brooklyn Central Library In Vintage Photos

Mount Prospect Park, 1939.New [main branch of Brooklyn Public] Library is in [far right] background.Image courtesy of BPL.Brooklyn Public Library in New York City was established in 1896. Between 1901 and 1923, philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated $1.6 million toward the development of twenty one branches.January 13, 1941. Entrance, Brooklyn Public Library (Ingersoll Memorial),Prospect Park Plaza, New York. Acetate negative by Samuel H. Gottscho.Ground was broken for a Brooklyn central library on Prospect Park Plaza (Grand Army Plaza) in 1912. The design of the original architect, Cornell-educated and Beaux-Arts-trained Raymond Almirall, called for a domed, four-story Beaux Arts abomination. Spiraling cost...

Continue Reading →

From The Tippy-Top Floor Of The Plaza Hotel to NYPL: Eloise Makes A Move

New York Public Library better ramp up security: a gum chewing six-year-old holy terror is about to take up permanent residence in their archive. Yes, Eloise is prepped and ready to write on the walls and skate down the halls, thanks to the only man who'll ever own up to being her father, illustrator Hilary Knight. On November 3, 2009, Knight donated his personal papers, including sketches for over 60 books, theatrical posters, contracts, and publicity materials to the Library.Knight is the co-creator of Eloise, along with author Kay Thompson. Thompson has long held the spotlight as Eloise's literary mother,...

Continue Reading →

A Library for Astro Boy and Cultural Cat Girl

Japanese androids Astro Boy and All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku will find a home in the stacks, along with Totoro, Pikachu, and many other famous graphic novel characters, upon completion of the proposed Tokyo International Manga Library at Meiji University. Slated to open in 2015, the huge library and archive is expected to house two million graphic novels, animation cels, illustrations, video games, and cartoon artifacts. Library spokesman Susumi Shibao sees the collection as the first "solid archive for serious study"of the Japanese art forms of anime and manga. Shibao hopes to help scholars worldwide publish academic research...

Continue Reading →