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AngularJS E2E Testing for the New Locations Section

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The new Locations section of nypl.org is built with AngularJS, a JavaScript framework in which testing is integrated into the application development process. As the project involved large data sets (92 NYPL locations, each with their own events, exhibitions, and blogs), we needed to verify the correctness of our code and the overall application. Also, since AngularJS was new to us in the Digital Experience department, we wanted to implement best practices and that included writing tests. Although we've written tests for other JavaScript components, many of the concepts and techniques we encountered were new to us.

Unit tests, which directly test the code, were written. But, to test user interaction we used Protractor, AngularJS's end-to-end (E2E) testing framework. Protractor is a Node.js program that runs tests against the application in a browser and interacts with the page to simulate user interaction. What follows is a brief overview of how we used Protractor to run E2E tests on the Locations application. We wanted to share the testing techniques we learned in AngularJS.

A JavaScript configuration file is needed to run the specs. It's a simple file that tells Protractor the Selenium address, what browser to run the tests on, the spec files, and other tools we want to use before or during the tests.

After starting a Selenium server, we can run all the tests or select a specific section based on the 'suites' defined in the configuration file. This helped us break down all the E2E tests into smaller components and made it easier to run the tests and read the results.

Writing E2E tests

E2E tests are written using the Jasmine JavaScript testing framework. It is a behavior-driven development framework. It breaks up testing suites with a 'describe' function and tests within that suite with 'it' functions. Assertions and expectations go within the 'it' functions.

A 'describe' function can have optional beforeEach and afterEach functions that run before and after every 'it' function, respectively. The beforeEach is useful to group together tests that run on one page, such as the example above.

Page Objects

Using Page Objects is a pattern used to organize the tests and reuse DOM selectors in multiple tests. In the example above, if we wanted to test the location's name in a different test, the same line of code 'var title = element(by.css('.location-name'));' would be reused. This is troublesome if you have multiple tests checking the '.location-name' class. With Page Objects, we can define all the elements on a page and reuse them throughout different sets of tests.

Testing Bibliocommons Sign-On

One component of the nypl.org Drupal site that we had to port over to AngularJS was the Bibliocommons login button in the header. This component was rewritten as an AngularJS module so it can be used in other AngularJS applications. The module has a service that manages cookies and a directive for the login form and the post-login menu. Protractor can manage browser cookies and we took advantage of setting and getting cookies to mock an NYPL patron logging in and remaining logged in as they navigate through the site.

Testing Google Analytics

For web analytics, we used Google Analytics along with the AngularJS Angularitics plugin. It was easy to set up and configure but we wanted to write tests for page and event tracking. Google Analytics sets up a global 'ga' function which we override before each test, add the tracking events to an array when they are performed, and then verify that the tracking occurred.

To do so in Protractor, the executeScript() function was used to write and execute JavaScript to the browser to override the global 'ga' function. When we visit a different page, we verify that the page view was added to the array we created.

Similarly, event tracking was tested by having Protractor click on buttons or links and then verifying that the click event was logged. All Google Analytics tracking events are logged in the same array structure: ['send', 'event', 'Category title', 'Action title', 'Label'].

Mocking HTTP Requests

E2E tests are useful for verifying that the complete app works as intended, from the front-end to the API. After many discussions, we decided to also mock the API responses for some E2E tests, with the option to disable the mocked data with the real API data response.

In order to do so, we used browser.addMockModule(...) to create an AngularJS module to intercept the HTTP request with help from the ngMockE2E mock module. When creating the mock module, the $httpBackend service is available and it can be used to intercept HTTP requests and respond with our mocked data, while allowing all the other requests to pass through.

The mocked data serves as specification of what the API response should look like. When testing with mocked data, we are ensuring that the front-end is working as intended. When we disable the mocked API response, the E2E tests make sure that the API is returning the data correctly. Having control over the mocked API response also helps when we want to find out what happens to the interface when data is missing from the API. For example, we can remove a library's blog post from the API response and make sure that the intended fallback is working. In this specific example, we would verify that the "BLOGS" section and title on the library's page are not appearing since there are no blogs to display.

Note: Since we are using JSONP when calling the API, we must use the whenJSONP() method of $httpBackend and add '?callback=JSON_CALLBACK' at the end of the call.

The module can be added in the 'it' function for a test. But, since we are mocking the data for multiple tests, it is added in the beforeEach function that executes before every test.

Homepage Tests

The homepage for the new Locations section was the most involved page to test. There are many features and a huge data set to work with.

Geolocation, the browser's ability to get a user's current location, was mocked using the similar technique as the Google Analytics mocking. The geolocation function was mocked and we passed in the coordinates or error code we wanted to test.

This was a brief overview of all the E2E tests written for the Locations section and does not include the other hundreds of tests for the amenity pages, the header and footer elements, the Ask NYPL chat widget, or the autofill search feature on the homepage. Writing reusable components helped us the most to test different modules which ran on multiple pages. Next up we'll discuss unit testing and code coverage.


Apprenticeships are Not Just for Sorcerers and Blacksmiths

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Not Just for Sorcerers and Blacksmiths is the Department of Labor blog post authored by Tom Perez, Secretary of Labor.  He writes about his trip to Berlin and London where he learns from workers, employers and government officials about different aspects of apprenticeships in various industries that include healthcare, technology, law, film, dentistry, journalism and financial services.

This week, Secretary Perez travels to Germany and the United Kingdom, to learn from workers, employers and government officials about their effective models for skills training and workforce development. Throughout the week, he shared his personal reflections and observations.

Day 3 and 4: Berlin & London

From Wolfsburg, we travel to Berlin, for a full day of observing apprenticeships in action. The Charité Health Academy is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe, with some 3,700 doctors and scientists teaching, conducting research and administering care. It also trains apprentices to be pediatric nurses, midwives, physiotherapists and more. These apprenticeships are in high demand — 1,000 applications submitted for 120 slots. Seeing Charité’s program gives me optimism that we can do something similar in the U.S. where the health care sector accounts for less than one percent of total apprenticeships. It’s an area where I see vast potential, despite some challenges.  One Charité apprentice, Oskar, told me that the program “shows you that you are up for the challenge and can be a good nurse.”

The Other 4-Year Degreeapprenticeship

With Federal Minister of Education and Research Johanna Wanka at the Siemens Vocational Academy in Berlin, I saw how a firm like Siemens invests in its future and in young people through what the Germans call the “dual system.” It’s a model that combines apprenticeships in a company with vocational school curriculum in a course of study. Siemens is one of the world’s largest electrical engineering and electronics companies, with around 362,000 employees worldwide. Its Vocational Training Academy in Berlin-Siemensstadt prepares more than 1,000 apprenticeships in STEM fields every year. It operates its own vocational school for theoretical teaching while giving apprentices on-the-job practical experience.

This training model is ingrained in the culture here at Siemens, which has also been a leader in expanding apprenticeships back home in the U.S., most notably as a member of President Obama’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership. I’m grateful for their work in this area, but probably not as grateful as some of the apprentices I met today, who are on track for a lifetime of success thanks to the program. They tell me that many of their parents now prefer the dual system as a precursor to college – the practical skills that their sons and daughters learn in this program are indispensable, even if they do choose to go onto higher education after an apprenticeship.

Nearing the end of my stay in Berlin, I joined Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Andrea Nahles at a roundtable co-hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and Hans-Böckler-Stiftung. The discussion brought together members of works councils from a range of German firms on the topic of Germany’s co-determination model, where companies’ elected worker and management representatives are involved in making certain company decisions. We discussed works councils’ shared interest and collaboration in the economic vitality of companies and worker well-being, and how we might be able to apply aspects of this model in the United States.

U.K. Ahead on Leave

Hopped across Western Europe and over the English Channel last night and landed in London, where I met this morning with paid leave and living wage advocates who are building innovative partnerships to increase wages in and around London. The United Kingdom already has a paid leave law – I’ll keep repeating this because it’s so astonishing to me: the U.S. is the only industrialized nation without one – but they keep refining the program to try to make it stronger.

Today’s Apprenticeship

Three more visits with apprenticeship programs today. Since we began ramping up our work on apprenticeships, one of the challenges we’ve faced has to do with mindset. A lot of people hear “apprenticeship” and think: construction workerelectrician or plumber. Those apprenticeship programs remain important, but we need to think bigger. When you see a program like the one at Westminster Kingway College’s Victoria Centre, apprenticeship horizons widen and limits fade away. Westminster offers novel apprenticeships in areas like hospitality, creative media, social media marketing and social services. Only our imaginations hold us back from using apprenticeship to prepare workers for middle-class jobs in these and many more fields.

I also visited Microsoft and a leading IT services firm called TechQuarters, both of which are training apprentices for high-growth tech jobs. At Microsoft, I participated in a roundtable discussion with employers who have signed on with a program called the Trailblazer initiative, which develops national standards and requirements for apprenticeships in a widening range of industries — including law, film, dentistry, journalism and financial services.

These programs are proof that apprentices aren’t just for sorcerers anymore.

December Reader's Den: Consider Phlebas

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Consider Phlebas

It's that time of year when you'd rather curl up by the fireplace, space heater, heating baseboard, or whatever floats your boat than face another chilly winter day or sentence lacking Oxford commas. Consider Phlebas, Iain Banks's debut novel, is a terrific space opera to while away the cold hours with. It's the kind of meaty science fiction the mind will digest for days or weeks after reading.

The book takes its title from a line in T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land

"Oh you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you."

This month's will be a three-part Reader's Den:

Part I: Introduction and initial discussion questions
Part II: Character discussion
Part III: Wrap-up, final considerations and further reading.

This novel is the first in Banks' Culture series and not only introduces us to the eponymous Culture but also the fantical Idiran warriors at war with them. The book is set against the backdrop of this galaxy-spanning conflict, one which wipes out billions of people as the Idirans fight to expand their empire. The Culture, composed of genetically engineered humans who have given over the administration of their society to sentient supercomputers known as Minds, oppose the Idirans on principle. They are utopian hedonists, believing that techonology can free people from material needs and considerations, bringing peace to all. This pits them directly against the religious, expansionist fanaticism of the Idirans who seek control above all.

The war and the Culture itself are not the main thrust. Early on, one of the Culture's Minds narrowly escapes pursuit and hides on a dead world. Bora Horza Gobuchul, a humanoid shapeshifter and spy, is assigned by his Idiran handlers to retrieve the Mind. Horza is the cynical sort and opposes the Culture for reasons of his own. He states early in the book that he opposes the Culture because he is on the side of life. What do you think he means by this? How is the machine-driven Culture anti-life? Is it?

Keep the epigraph in mind, especially the Koran passage, as you peruse this grand space opera in the month to come. Next week we will delve further into Horza's character as well as the workings of the Culture.

Six Books on Criminal Justice to Read After Season One of "Serial"

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I keep getting the same advice over and over again, it goes like this: "You have to listen to Serial, you will love it." Maybe it is my look, knowing that I love a good story, or even the understanding that I am a defender for the rights of prisoners. All I know is that Serial has captivated a wide audience that includes both people aware of and unaware of the major injustices that are inflicted by the criminal justice system in the United States.

The show does not clearly portray a bias towards the elimination or necessary change to be had in the criminal justice system, but does make the listening public question all of the processes involved in the evaluation of guilt and dissemination and the presentation held within processing evidence, clearing displaying biases and judgments before the court. This is an important idea to run with for a second, the ability for a prosecutor to present specific information to try to prove guilt while we also find just as relevant conflicting information to try to persuade and create multiple narratives, in order to prove innocence or guilt. This in and of itself is the captivating story behind the courtroom drama, and the one that Serial dissects and explores.

Beyond just the need to prove the innocence of a potential wrongfully convicted person, the show has brought to light issues of crime, sentencing, prison and the potential injustices we face. These are tropes that get played out in the courtroom every day and yet only sometimes make it into major newspapers and online blogs, namely with regards to the lack of accountability that people are held up to and how this can completely damage people's lives. There are but a few groups that try to help people who have been convicted of a crime that they have not done, and with research and statistics we find that wrongful convictions are all too common to ignore.

Serial is but one example of an account of the criminal justice system played out in the mainstream. As with the hit show (and book) Orange is the New Black, we are provided with an insight into a world that many of us will never experience and yet we are just as culpable for not changing. These shows are popular not only because of the care put into their production, but also because they point towards larger issues in society. While it is great to be able to listen to a podcast and learn and be engaged aurally, there are a plethora of books that focus on this problem as well. Here are some great books at the library that explore this topic and are important to read as we further discuss these questions in our communities:

The New Jim CrowCrime Control as IndustryQueer (In)justiceAre Prisons Obsolete?Arrested JusticeSoledad Brother

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander provides ample evidence to accurately portray 2014 United States criminal policy as an extension of the Jim Crow laws, in theory, and examines how the political landscape that insists on its "colorblindness" still upholds and actively enforces policies that continue to enforce racial discrimination and creates "second class citizens" of mostly minority males. It is an eye-opening account as to the damage done by the criminal justice system and how politicians and citizens justify the power they hold above another group by creating perpetuating discrimination.

In Crime Control as Industry, Nils Christie provides an engaging read that traces criminality to modern day, but done so in a way that is engrossing and thought provoking, always asking the question, "Why?" Why is it that the United States and Russia holds the most people captive than any other countries and why is there such a re-entry rate. In addition to these questions, Christie focuses on why do these policies and ways of governing change so that less people are in prison and more is focused on trying to stop criminalizing people and rehabilitate beforehand.

Angela Davis is a fierce opponent to the Prison Industrial Complex (she helps run Critical Resistance), and in Are Prisons Obsolete? Davis traces historical abolition movements to the present day to show how prisons are one in a line of many ideas thought impossible. To her, prisons are no longer necessary and there is a need to reshape the landscape of talking about criminality and justice. In addition to this questioning, she provides insight into the sexist, racist and corporate interests that lie in developing a more rigid and severe prison industry, even in bypassing human rights and equality.

Joey L Mogul talks about the reality faced by queer people in Queer (In)justice that are held up in the criminal justice system. From stereotyping and typecasting in daily life to court appearances (both as defendant or as the victim) to the prison experience and back at home. Mogul intertwines these narratives with how being LGBTQ in addition to barriers such as race, class, nationality, etc. to provide ample evidence on the criminalization and abuse of the LGBTQ community.

George Jackson is one of the more famous prison writers to come from the '60s. He wrote two books of which Soledad Brother is the most popular and is his letters to others from being inside San Quentin Prison and Soledad Prison, both in California. His letters not only trace his path towards politicization and his want for change on the outside, but also the need for change on the inside both as people and as a prison nation. His letters are alarming towards the treatment of prisoners and have remained a testament towards how we continue to treat those on the inside.

Finally, Arrested Justice by Beth E. Richie is a mandatory read in gaining insight as to the problems and challenges faced by minorities (specifically women of color) going through the system. Richie's book raises many questions towards how violence continues to be perpetuated, how cycles continue to exist in which minorities are constantly suffering by those who are deemed to be protecting. She also explores the broken support networks that are not being taken care of to ensure a safe existence. Overall, she points towards the heavy inequalities faced by marginalized communities and how these continue. An invigorating read with other narratives that are surely going to make you ask, how can we change this and how did we let this happen?

Booktalking "Tease" by Amanda Maciel

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Sara has boyfriend Dylan, best friend Brielle, brothers Tommy and Alex, a father who occasionally shows up for a few hours, and a Mom who strives to hold it all together. She has lawyer Natalie and court-appointed psychotherapist Theresa.

Sara is being charged with the harassment and assault of Emma Putnam. Emma is dead.

Brielle and Sara made it their goal in life to make Emma Putnam's life hell. Why? Pretty, vivacious Emma seemed to have it all. On top of that, she stole Sara's boyfriend Dylan. The harass Emma as she enters school, they block her locker, insult her and write SLUT in lipstick across her locker. Sara and Brielle cannot seem to get enough.

Sara maintains that she did nothing wrong, but should she take a plea agreement? What about her approaching 18th birthday? What about her future?

Tease by Amanda Maciel, 2014

I was disgusted by the girls' insatiable desire for nastiness and complete lack of remorse. I like that the author alternates chapters between the time they bullied Emma and the lawsuit that follows her death.

Literary Gifts for Every Reader on Your Holiday Shopping List

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It can be challenging to shop for a reader. Perhaps you don't know which books he owns already. Or maybe you don't know if he's the paperback or hardcover type. But don't worry; we have you covered. These literary gifts will take care of every type of reader on your holiday shopping list. 

 1586834Veselé Vánoce! Image ID: 1586834For the hyper reader in your life: Keep Calm and Read On Mug
Keep Calm mug
There's little better than a warm beverage and a good book on a cold day.  When plot twists leave the reader in your life biting his nails, he'll have the perfect receptacle for a calming hot toddy to accompany his thriller.

For the flâneur: Library Card Socks
library card socks
Put a little stocking in your stocking stuffer with these library card socks.

For kids and the young at heart: Rory's Story Cubes
Rory's Story Cubes

In this game, players generate stories with the mere roll of dice. Authors have never had it this easy.

For the scatterbrain: Books to Check Out Journal
books to read journal
With this handy notebook, even the most absentminded bibliophile will be able to keep track of the must-read books.

For the philosophical sweetheart: Emerson Pendant Necklace
Emerson pendant necklae
You can't by transcendence, but you can buy a necklace engraved with Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson's immotal words.

For the hipster in your life: Book Nerd Tote
book nerd tote
Because nothing is more hipster than fashionably declaring one's nerdiness.

For the pen pal: Travel Pen Set
travel pen set
These stylus pens are beautiful enough to make anyone want to take a break typing.

For the nostalgist: Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Little Golden Book
little golden
Remember how the sight of gold foil binding used to make your heart go pitter-patter? 

For the sports page reader: Authentic Yankee Baseball Cufflinks
Yankees cufflinks
Okay, let's be honest, these cufflinks are not just for any sports fan; they're a Yankees enthusiast's dream dress-up accessory. Sorry, Red Sox.

For the baby genius: NYC Typewriter Onesie
NYC typerwriter onesie
You're calling it now: someday this infant will be a literary star. 

For anyone: Marble Lion Bookends
Marble Lion Bookends

Because what could be better than bringing a little Patience and Fortitude into the home?

Best Books for Teens 2014!

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Teen book list 2014 covers

The New York Public Library is proud to announce its list of the Best Books for Teens 2014! The list includes a selection of 25 novels, non-fiction books, and graphic novels chosen by a committee of Young Adult librarians who work with teens in NYPL’s neighborhood branches. From March through November we debated and argued, and ultimately decided on these books. It was a tough call, but we think these 25 titles represent some of the best books out there for teens right now.

This list has a little something for everyone: fantasy, science fiction, realism, humor, romance, history, mystery and suspense. We travel from Imperial Russia into the jungles of Gabon, across the oceans to the Panama Canal, from India over to California, then Iowa and finally to Brooklyn, New York, just to name a few exotic locations. These are stories that illuminate the power of friendship and family, love and betrayal, racial tension, giant insect apocalypses, evil witches, psychedelic bat remains, cryogenically frozen heads and non-cuddly chimpanzees.

Here is the list of titles: check them out for yourself!

Listed in alphabetical order by title.

100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith
When Finn was five years old, he was crushed by a horse that fell from the sky. Now he experiences blackouts and counts time in miles instead of minutes.

Crazy by Linda Vigen Phillips
In the JFK-era 1960s, Laura witnesses her mother's mental illness and wonders if she is seeing her own future.

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming
Every once in a while, truth is stranger than fiction. This is the true story of how a royal family's downfall changed history.

Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero
"For all the gorditas, flaquitas, and in-between girls trying to make their space in the world," here is Gabi, a SoCal teen trying to make it through her senior year, deal with her drug addicted father, and find her true voice through poetry.

Girls Like Us by Gail Giles
They've just graduated from special ed and now Biddy and Quincy are finding the real world is more dangerous, strange, and wonderful than they expect.

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King
Glory can look at anyone and see their infinite past and future, but there is one person's future she can't see—her own.

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
In the small town of Ealing, Iowa, a bi-curious teen and his best friends face a giant insect apocalypse.

Half Bad by Sally Green
What makes a witch good or evil? Nathan has the blood of both in his veins, but not even he knows anymore.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares
Prenna is an immigrant to New York . . . from the future!

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
Tariq is shot and killed outside the bodega, and now everyone has their own opinion about how and why it happened.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Jude and Noah are twins. Love, jealousy and art bind them together, but secrets tear them apart.

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
Hayley hopes for a normal life when she returns to her hometown, but her father's struggles with PTSD constantly keep her on edge.

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
Dealing with life is hard and dealing with death is even harder. Laurel finds her own way to grieve for her sister by writing letters to dead celebrities.

The Nethergrim by Matthew Jobin
Three friends take on an ancient evil that has the power to destroy not just their village, but the world as they know it.

Noggin by John Corey Whaley
When Travis Coates dies, his head is cut off and frozen. He wakes up five years later to learn that a lot has changed, starting with his body.

Oblivion by Sasha Dawn
Callie knows what really happened the night her father and one of his parishoners disappeared. The only problem is she can’t remember.

The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang
Hank, a grocery store clerk, is pushed by his mother to leave the family business and become the only superhero fighting crime in Chinatown.

Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal by Margarita Engle
The story of the Panama Canal told in many voices, including a boy named Mateo lured by the promise of riches, a general, a jaguar, the trees, and a young healer.

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
A checklist for summer: 1. Learn how to krump. 2. Watch scary movies. 3. Stalk your first crush at the local mini-mart.

Threatened by Eliot Schrefer
In the jungles of Gabon, an orphan boy fights for his adopted chimpanzee family.

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
An unknown beast plagues a village's livestock, a ghostly voice whispers in the walls, and a little girl sets off through the woods alone in these old and twisted tales brought to new life.

A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman
When classical dance prodigy Veda loses her leg in an accident, she discovers where her true talents lie—in the graceful movements of her heart.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Cadence spends every summer with her cousins on her grandfather's private island. This year, amidst the bonfires and boating, she uncovers her family's hidden truth.

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
Ali spends his days hanging out on his stoop in Bed-Stuy. One night at a party, he learns how to stand up for his friends and be a man.

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
Kestrel, the daughter of a prominent general, buys a slave named Arin and unwittingly sets the wheels in motion for massive changes to her way of life.

Members of the NYPL's Best Books for Teens 2014 commitee are: Co-chairs, Anne Rouyer, Mulberry Street Library and Andrea Lipinski, Kingsbridge Library; Elizabeth R. Bird, BookOps; Shauntee Burns, St. George Library; Amalia Butler, Muhlenberg Library; Amber Certain, Columbus Library; Sandra Farag, Mid-Manhattan Library; Jennifer Gaeta, New Dorp Library; Ashley Gonzalez, St. Agnes Library; Mina Hong, Epiphany Library; Thomas Knowlton, MyLibraryNYC; Gretchen Kolderup, Young Adult Programming; Jeanne Lamb, BookOps; Charlie Radin, Inwood Library; Nicole Rosenbluth, Pelham Bay Library; Lindsy Serrano, Mulberry Street Library; Brian Stokes, Grand Central Library.

14 Realistic (and Real Life) Titles for Teens

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Over the past few years we have gone from obsessing over vampire young adult novels to obsessing over post-apocalyptic dystopian YA novels.

Now there are those who prefer to read realistic YA books free of vampires, panaromal beings, zombies, and governments out to brainwash the masses. Below I recommend some Junior fiction and YA titles about love, loss, perseverance and the power of choices:

The memoir I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Readers Edition) by  Malala Yousafzai is a very good book for young people to read. Malala Yousafzai is the youngest person to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize.  Malala is young girl who peacefully fights for what she believes in. In this memoir we learn about her struggles in fighting for education. Malala strives to help her community and the world become a better place. The title inspires great appreciation for learning. 

Live Original: How the Duck Commander Teen Keeps It Real and Stays True to Her Values by Sadie Robertson is a very interesting biography by a young person. Sadie Robertson is a role model who in her writing shares the values instilled by her family that have made her grow up to be a happy, well adjusted young woman. In her autobiography she encourages teens to stay true to themselves.  

The novel Out Of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper tells the story of a young fifth grader named Melody. Melody is a very bright young girl. She has a photographic memory and can recall everything she witnesses. However, Melody suffers from cerebral palsy so she is considered retarded by her classmates, until she discovers a device that will allow her to speak and express herself.

The novel Tears Of A Tigerby Sharon M. Draper is a powerful story about the lives of the young people of Hazelwood high school. After the death of Rob Washington, one of the stars of the Hazelwood Tigers basketball team, the lives of his classmates and friends begin to change. The grief and sense of loss has  affected everyone but especially Andy, who has guilt about driving the car involved in the accident.                     

To All the Boys I've Loved Beforeby Jenny Han. Lara Jean likes to write love letters to all the boys she has loved. One day the letters are accidently sent to those boys and they begin to confront Lara about her feelings. She realizes that something good may come out of such an awkward situation. 

In the novel Just One Day  by Gayle Forman, Allyson is vacationing in Europe after her graduation. During her travels Allyson meets Willem, a guy who is her complete opposite. Willem is a free spirit while Allyson likes to plan and organize. Shortly after meeting each other Willem invites Allyson to go to Paris with him she decides to join him. The day that they spend together is filled with love and magic and eventually leads to Allyson to self discovery.

     

The Fault In Our Starsby John Green. The Fault In Our Stars is the story of Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters. Hazel and Augustus meet at a support group for kids with cancer. The charming Augustus changes Hazel's life forever. 

Looking for Alaskaby John Green. In Looking for Alaska, Miles, searches for meaning after the death of a classmate at Culver Creek Preparatory school.  

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Anna is sent to a boarding school in Paris and falls in love. 

Amy & Roger's Epic Detourby Morgan Matson: After the death of her father Amy goes on a road trip with Roger from California to Connecticut. Through detours along the way Amy faces her fears and grief. 

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick tells the story of a girl named Samantha. Samantha falls in love with Jase, the boy next door. Jase and Samantha come from different financial backgrounds. Samantha's family is very wealthy while Jace's family struggles to get by. However they have a lot of love to give and take in Samantha like a long lost family member. 

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West is the story of Caymen Meyers, a young girl who falls in love with a wealthy young man named Xander Spence. She knows that her mother would not approve of her dating a rich person but Xander's charming ways are getting through her defenses.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is a suspense novel. The novel centers around Candence  who is spending the summer in her family's private island. Candence struggles to remember what happened during the summer when she was fifteen years old.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver is a novel about a young girl named Samantha who dies in a car crash with her classmates. Samantha relives the day of her death seven times and learns many things she never knew about her family and friends. On the seventh day Samantha finds the reason to why she is reliving the same day and saves herself... 


Job and Employment Links for the Week of December 7

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Indo-American Community Services, a nonprofit organization is hosting the Fifth Annual Diversity Job Fair on Tuesday, December 9th , 2014, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at New York Midtown Hilton, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019.

NYC Fire Department will present an Information Session for Career Opportunities as EMT, Paramedic and Firefighter, on Tuesday, December 9, 2014, 10 am - 2 pm, at Queens Career Center, 168-25 Jamaica Avenue 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11432.

New  Partners, Inc. will present a recruitment for Home Health Aide (5 openings), on Tuesday, December 9, 2014. 10 am - 1:30 pm, at Flushing Workforce 1 Career Center, 138-60 Barclay Avenue, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355. 

Per Scholas will present an Information Session for job seekers who are interested in obtaining  professional IT skills and employment.  Receive information about a free 15-week computer training program through Per Scholas and learn about their eligibility and screening process.  This Information Session will be held on Tuesday, December 9, 2014, 2:00 pm - 4:00pm at  Lower Manhattan Workforce 1 Career Center, 75 Varick Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10013.

Americare Inc. will present a recruitment for Home Health Aides Certified and Non-Certified (10 openings), on Wednesday, December 10,  2014, 10 am - 2 pm, at Flushing Workforce 1 Career Center, 138 - 60 Barclay Avenue, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355.

Americare, Inc. will present a recruitment for Home Health Aides, Certified and Non-Cerrtified, (15 openings) on Thursday, December 11,  2014, 10 am - 2 pm,  at Staten Island Workforce 1 Career Center, 120 Stuyvesant Place , Staten Island, NY 10301. 

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St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development  provides Free Job Training and Educational Programs in Environmental Response and Remediation Tech (ERRT), Commercial Driver's License , Pest Control Technician Training (PCT), Employment Search and Prep Training and Job Placement, Earn Benefits and Career Path Center.  For  information and assistance,  please visit St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development, 790 Broadway, 2nd Fl., Brooklyn, NY 11206.   718-302-2057 ext. 202.

Brooklyn Workforce Innovations helps jobless and working poor New Yorkers establish careers in sectors that offer good wages and opportunities for advancement. Currently BWI offers free job training programs in four industries: commercial driving, telecommunications cable installation, TV and film production, and skilled woodworking.  BWI is at 621 Degraw Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217.  718-237-5366.

CMP (formerly Chinatown Manpower Project) in lower Manhattan is now recruiting for a free training in Quickbooks,  Basic Accounting, and Excel.   This training is open to anyone who is receiving food stamps but no cash assistance.  Class runs for 8 weeks, followed by one-on-one meetings with a job developer.  CMP also provides Free Home Health Aide Training for bilingual English/Cantonese speakers who are receiving food stamps but no cash assistance.  Training runs Mondays through Fridays for 6 weeks, and includes test prep then taking the HHA certification exam.  Students learn about direct care techniques such as taking vital signs and assisting with personal hygiene and nutrition.   For more information for the above two training programs, please Email:info@cmpny.org , call 212-571-1690 or visit 70 Mulberry Street, 3rd Floor, NY, NY 10013.   CMP also provides tuition-based healthcare and business trainings for free to students who are entitled to ACCESS funding.  Please call CMP for information.

Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) trains women and places them in careers in the skilled construction, utility, and maintenance trades. It helps women achieve economic independence and a secure future.  For information call 212-627-6252 or register online.

Grace Institute provides tuition-free, practical job training in a supportive learning community for underserved New York area women of all ages and from many different background.  For information call 212-832-7605.

Please note this blog post will be revised when more recruitment events for the week of December 7 are available.

Metropolitan New York Library Council: Training for Librarians

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One of the many advantages of large urban areas is increased opportunities for professional development. METRO is one of the most helpful librarian professional organizations that I have found in New York City. It hosts a terrific annual conference, it has job listings, and it has special interest groups. It also collaborates with other librarian organizations, such as ACRL/NY, to put on informative programs for its members.

METRO Conference

Luckily for me, NYPL is an institutional member, so I can attend the annual conference for free. Many of the training sessions are free, but some require a small fee. I remember when I attended its annual afternoon business meeting around 2010. It was held in a downtown Manhattan location, and David Ferriero, the US Chief Archivist and former Andrew W. Mellon Director at NYPL, spoke about the National Archives. It was an eye-opening experience for me.  In 2011, a new president took the lead at METRO, and he helped catalyze the development of a full-day annual conference. The conference consists of keynote speeches as well as participant-run break-out sessions, in which they discuss innovative projects upon which they are embarking. Library staff can submit proposals in order to have a chance to present at the event. I have attended two of these conferences, and I liked them both very much. The Metro Annual Conference 2015 is scheduled for January 15, 2015.

Get on a waiting list for the January Metro conference.

Special Interest Groups

The Special Interest Groups (SIGs) of METRO have helped me meet and network with other professionals in my areas of interest. I attended a session of the Prison Librarians SIG, and it was intriguing to hear about their book-lending experiences in correctional institutions. I have volunteered for the Rikers Island lending service that NYPL provides. I also presented in another SIG about my mentoring experience with ACRL/NY and about the collaboration between school and public libraries.

Job Listings

The job listings help me keep abreast of the job trends in the field, and I can use them to help my mentees find jobs. METRO members are dedicated librarians from whom I can learn, and I am thrilled to have this tremendous resources in our community.

Small Businesses Drive U.S. Job Recovery

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Small Businesses Drive U.S. Job Recovery is the Small Business Administration blog post authored by Maria Contreras Sweet,  SBA Administration.  In her blog she states that small businesses have led our comeback from the downturn. For 15 straight quarters, small firms have contributed to employment growth—accounting for as much as 80 percent of job gains in any given quarter.

Talk about a good news Friday.

Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that our economy added 321,000 jobs in November. That’s 57 consecutive months we’ve added jobs—the longest employment growth streak since America started keeping track.

November also marks 10 straight months we’ve added at least 200,000 jobs—a first since the tech boom of the mid-90s. 

These gains are a product of some smart policy decisions by President Obama as well as a lot of hard work and perseverance by the American people during our recovery from the worst recession in generations.

But most of all, this new trajectory is attributable to the success of America’s entrepreneurs and the resurgence of our nation’s small businesses. About 7 million of the 10.9 million jobs we’ve added back were created not by large corporation, but by startups and small enterprises.

The U.S. Small Business Administration exists to help small businesses weather economic storms. Our job is to get capital to entrepreneurs when private banks are not. It’s this capital that allows businesses to hire and grow.

SBA loans have been on the rise since the recession, and we hit a new plateau this past fiscal year. Our $19.2 billion in lending under our flagship 7a program reached an all-time high. We also invested $5.4 billion in investment capital – another agency record – in America’s high-growth firms through the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program.

Also, for the first time in eight years, we met our goal of ensuring that 23 percent of all federal contracts went to small businesses. That’s $83 billion worth of revenue for small businesses to hire and grow.

Now, we’re seeing national numbers that demonstrate that small businesses are truly leading our recovery.

Small businesses have led our comeback from the downturn. For 15 straight quarters, small firms have contributed to employment growth – accounting for as much as 80 percent of job gains in any given quarter.

In the years leading up to the recession, small business deaths had outpaced births for the longest period on record. That trend has now been arrested; births have now outpaced deaths for 10 straight quarters.

Industries like construction are on the rise, adding back 210,000 jobs in the last year, and 8 out of 10 construction workers are employed by small firms.

Business bankruptcies, which peaked toward the end of the recession, have been cut in half since then.  And proprietor income has grown by more than 40 percent from the low point during the downturn.

These are all metrics that economists use to describe the optimism I see every day when I tour this nation’s small businesses. On Small Business Saturday, I visited half a dozen independent merchants in the Washington metropolitan region, and I heard story after story about upticks in sales and holiday foot traffic.  According to one survey, Americans spent $14 billion at local merchants on November 29th alone.

With consumer confidence on the rise and businesses investing again, there’s never been a better time for small business owners to contact their local SBA office to grow or scale their business. Go to sba.gov and to learn how we can help your businesses become part of this great economic comeback story.

Conflict/Resolution and Changing Geographic Realities in the Peace of the Map Division

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Newly installed in the Map Division’s exhibition case are three not-so-new maps demonstrating the role that maps play, years after their informative, current-events function, in documenting histories of changing boundaries. Looking back, we can see not only cartographic snapshots of former times but also transformed geopolitics that may hold the seeds of new conflicts—the unintended consequences of treaties that did more than draw new lines and paint different colors on subtly subjective maps.

Exhibition in the Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division
Exhibition in the Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division

Here is a preview of the maps that you can come to see in person in the Map Division.

Herman Moll's map of British North America, 1715
Herman Moll's A New and Exact Map of the Dominions of the King of Great Britain on ye continent of North America, 1715, NYPL IMAGE ID: 1260189
 

A new and exact map of the dominions of the King of Great Britain on ye continent of North America 1715 [with changes to 1731], Herman Moll’s map, not only illustrates industrious beavers but also reflects provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. Boundaries and notes indicate new agreements about waters and lands accessible to the French in this bountiful fishing area.

Disturnell’s map of the United States-Mexico border during the Mexican War
John Disturnell's Mapa de los Estados Unidos de Mejico, 1847, courtesy of the Library of Congress

John Disturnell’s Mapa de los Estados Unidos de Mejico, 1848, is the 14th edition, in Spanish, of a series of maps chronicling battles that led to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which established a new U.S.-Mexico border. (This image, of an 1847 edition of the map, is shown courtesy of the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division because NYPL’s 1848 edition in our exhibition has not yet been digitized.)

The Rand McNally Map of New Europe, 1919, courtesy of Toronto Public Library
The Rand McNally Map of the New Europe, 1919, courtesy of Toronto Public Library

The Rand McNally Map of New Europe, 1919, with “Summary of the Treaty of Peace,” focuses on the newly formed European countries resulting from the Treaties of Versailles and Saint-Germain-en-Laye that followed World War I. (This image is shown courtesy of Toronto Public Library because NYPL’s copy in our exhibition has not yet been digitized.)

Beyond content, these three maps, produced in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries respectively, provide an easily viewed progression of changing styles of cartography, from the decorative to the unadorned.

For further reading on these maps and mapmakers and their historical context, here are a few places to start:

Since the Map Division was restored and renovated as The Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division in 2005, a new, permanent exhibition case has been anchored along the north wall of the reading room for displays such as the one described above. This enables the staff, with the help of the library’s able conservators and exhibition installers, to show off examples of the library’s cartographic treasures that shed light, as primary resources, on their makers’ views of the world in their own time. These small exhibitions change every few months. They are well worth a look, not only for the maps themselves, but also for the background information included in label text researched by our curator, and for the lovely and (usually!) peaceful ambiance of our restored reading room. We welcome you to stop by in the Map Division, Room 117 of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, to see them.

In years past (until the early 1980s), the Map Division staff would display maps in a small, temporary exhibition case in the hallway outside the reading room, along with a few framed maps hung on the wall above the case. But the “blockbuster” exhibitions have been those in the library’s larger, dedicated spaces, where maps have played a starring as well as supporting role. One can still get a taste of some of those past, library-wide exhibitions through associated publications and online versions. Connect to this Research Guide list for links to NYPL exhibitions of the past that have featured significant cartographic content.

Find Winners of the 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards at the Library

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GoodReads Choice Awards LogoAre you familar with Goodreads? Goodreads is a Free "social cataloging" website that allows people to sign up and list books to create their own catalogs and reading lists, as well as to share book suggestions and create group discussions. It's very popular.

The books listed below were chosen as winners of the 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards, "the major book award decided by readers." There is something for everyone! Children, teens, and adults.

Please note: Books published in the United States in English, including works in translation and other significant rereleases, between November 17, 2013, and November 15, 2014, are eligible for the 2014 Goodreads Choice Awards. Books published between November 16, 2014, and December 31, 2014, will be eligible for the 2015 awards.

Have you read any of them?

Best Fiction: Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Best Mystery & Thriller: Mr Mercedes by Stephen King
Best Historical Fiction: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Best Fantasy: The Book of Lifeby Deborah Harkness
Best Science Fiction: The Martian by Andy Weir
Best Romance: Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon
Best Horror: Prince Lestat by Anne Rice
Best Memoir & Autobiography: This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Earl
Best History & Biography: The Romanov Sisters by Hellen Rappaport
Best Nonfiction: The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan
Best Business Book: #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso
Best Food & Cookbooks: Make It Aheadby Ina Garten
Best Humor: Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Best Graphic Novels & Comics: Serenity: Leaves on the Wind by Zack Whedon,Georges Jeanty, Fábio Moon
Best Poetry: Lullabiesby Lang Leav
Best Debutant Goodreads Author: Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Best Young Adult Fiction: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
Best Middle Grade & Children's: The Blood of Olympusby Rick Riordan
Best Picture Books: The Pigeon Needs a Bath!by Mo Willems

Want to read them all—for FREE? Simply click on any of the titles above and then place it on hold! Remember, you can also comment and rate books on our catalog, and create your own lists. Then let us know what you think. Did any of your favorites make the cut?

Gil Marks: Maven and Mensch

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Encyclopedia of Jewish Food cover

Gil Marks, the author of several cookbooks and of the indispensable Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, died last Friday morning at the age of 62. 

While Marks's five cookbooks were celebrated and revered (his Olive Trees and Honey won a James Beard Award in 2005), it's his Encyclopedia which has contributed most to the scholarly food canon. The tome covers everything from adafina, a Spanish sabbath stew ("During the Spanish Inquisition, the single most incriminating dish connoting a retention of Judaism was adafina") to zwetschgenkuchen, an Italian tart/cake made with prune plums.  Many of the book's entries cover explicitly "Jewish" foods such as hamantashen or knish, while other entrieslike those for harissa, empanada, couscous, and kheerdemonstrate the global reach of the Jewish Disapora.  And because, as Marks notes, "Jewish food has never been and is not now either monolithic or static," this 600+ page Encyclopedia should be a core reference title for any culinary historian or food enthusiast, regardless of religious affiliation or cultural background.

Marks was also the founding editor of Kosher Gourmet Magazine and contributed many articles to print and online publications, including this article on Manischewitz matzo which links the company's growth in Cincinnati to pioneers heading west and needing foods that wouldn't spoil en route. 

While I never had the privilege of meeting Mr. Marks, I did see him present at a food conference a few years ago. He spoke on a panel with other food luminaries, but it was clear that the other panelists revered him and saw him as the expert on the subject. His style was straight-forward, unassuming, and above all, extremely knowledgeable. Mark leaves behind a lasting and important legacy through his writings, and for that, we are thankful.  

Six YA Fantasy Books About Dragons

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There are many popular fantasy themes in YA novels right now and one of my favorites is dragons!

Here are six YA book series about dragons: 

 

Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz  and Michael Johnston is a dystopian novel in which a girl named Cass decides to go on a dangerous journey across the sea to a land called the Blue. Frozenis followed by Stolen. The third book in the series is untitled as of now.

 

Scorched by Mari Mancusi tells the story of Trinity Fox a girl who lives with heir grandfather. Trinity's grandfather owns a museum. Trinity does not believe that her grandfather has found a real dragon egg until she begins to hear things from inside of the egg. The novel quickly takes Trinity on an adventure while soldiers try to capture her to take the egg. A boy comes from the future in the hopes of convincing her to help him the impending dragon wars. Trinity must chose sides. Scorched is followed by Shattered and Smoked

Firelight by Sophie Jordan sixteen year old Jacinda is a shape shifter who can change into a dragon and falls in love with a dragon hunter. Firelight is followed byVanishand Hidden

 

The immensely popular Abhorsen series by Garth Nix begins with Sabriel.  Sabriel is the epic story of Sabriel a  girl who enters the dangerous Old Kingdom to rescue her father. The old kingdom is full of dangers such as Free Magic. In the Old Kindgdom Sabriel will face her destiny. Sabriel is followed by Lirael, Abhorsen and Clariel. 

In Voice of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn, Kary and her dragon friend, Artegal, try to show that humans and dragons can co-exist peacefully. 

 

Talon by Julie Kagawa is the story of the Talon society is a secret society of dragons that want to take over the world.  Ember and Dante Hill are the only brother and sister duo known to dragon kind. Ember is a young girl who has been sent to infiltrated to human world as a teenager. However a rogue dragon threatens her future. Ember and Dante are hunted by the St. George dragon hunters. The young dragon hunter, Garret is sent after Ember but as he gets to know her he begins to question his mission and seeks to learn more about the dragons. Talon is followed by Rogue which will be published April 28, 2015. There are also three other untitled novels in the works.


Other Great YA Books

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Our reader asked: "I have read and loved all the popular YA books out there: We Were Liars, If I Stay, The Fault In Our Stars... What else do you have for me?"

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher: Grab your tissues. This is one I couldn't put it down then I had that weird book separation anxiety. You know, how you feel like you lost a friend when you finish reading it this surprised be because I went cover to cover in an evening rather than spend a few days with it. The side characters, how they are spoken of in the recordings, and how they interact with Clay help you really get to know the main character. I'll remember her forever. Born to Darknessby Suzanne Brockmann: Looking for something with X-Men-ish powers and adventure with some extra spy and spice? There's a lot going on in this novel, but it's easy to follow and the characters are interesting. I was looking for something fun and a bit different, this one didn't let me down.—Jacqueline Woolcott, AskNYPL

Who could resist falling in love while spending a year studying in Paris? An American student rents a room in a Left Bank mansion, juggling new friendships, a boy, and the dreams and goals of her Colombian immigrant parents. It's Not Love, It's Just Paris by Patricia Engel is so much more. —Jessica Cline, Mid-Manhattan Library

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. This isn’t the sort of thing you read for major twist and intrigue or mystery.You’ll know where you are going but it’s the getting there that’s so lovely. The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson: This book takes all of the conventions of the dystopian novel and turns it upside down. A woman of color protagonist with an incredibly diverse and complicated well-developed cast (all written by an author who is herself a woman of color.) Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher: Logan, our anti-hero is 18, and lives in a small town. Here he finds the girl of his dreams who is perfect—almost… Pink by Lilli Wilkinson: A girl throws on a pink sweater and with it, a whole new identity in a new school. —Alison Williams, Macomb’s Bridge

Since it seems you enjoy realistic fiction, which has the potential to bring readers to tears, I'm going to recommend a doozy of a new young adult novel that I just read last week. Stronger Than You Knowby Jolene Perry opens with a child services summary report in which we get an overview of Joy's life up until now, living in a trailer with her alcoholic mother and her mother's abusive boyfriends. The rest of the book is told from Joy's point of view as she tries (and often fails) to lead a "normal" life with her new family. It's a heartbreaking, uplifting, and ultimately human story. —Andrea Lipinski, Kingsbridge Library

One novel that I have, and continue to recommend over and over, is Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. Absolutely ridiculous and hilarious! —Sherise Pagan, Grand Concourse

Since you liked We Were Liars, maybe try E. Lockhart's earlier title, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, which follows a a prep-school feminist as she tries to infiltrate/dismantle her school's all-male, prank-based secret society. Bold and clever, Frankie calls out inequality in daring ways, getting into a lot of scrapes in the process—she's one of the great heroines of contemporary realistic YA. —Leah Labrecque, Yorkville

An old favorite of mine is The Body of Christopher Creed, which was a very early Printz Honor book, and explores what happens in a town when a teenage outcast mysteriously disappears. It explores the question of whether we actually really know anyone. And last summer, I became a fast fan of Jennifer E. Smith I read The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, The Geography of You and Me, and This is What Happy Looks Like, over two weeks and loved them all. They are fun, quirky romances where you are always rooting for the main characters to end up together. —Ronni Krasnow, Morningside Heights

Love Is the Drug by Alaya Dawn Johnson has an intriguing recipe of political thriller, interesting characters, action and elite prep schools. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch melds together fantasy, political intrigue and romance. She took her ideas from her childhood and built them out into an amazing eight kingdoms. 16-year-old Meira is an orphan and stalwart refugee of Winter, one of the kingdoms. —Jenny Baum, Jefferson Market

See this earlier post for some The Fault in Our Stars readalikes. —Anne Rouyer, Mulberry Street

And don't forget to check out our Best Books for Teens 2014 List for our favorite YA books of the year.

Booktalking "Dear Santa, Please Come to the 19th Floor" by Yin

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Carlos is wheelchair-bound due to an accident that damaged his spinal cord. He is depressed due to the injury and the dramatic change in lifestyle, but luckily his best friend Willy lives in the building. He often comes to visit since his mother works a lot, so much so that he considers Mrs. G to be something like an aunt to him. Christmas is approaching fast, and Santa never seems to make it to the top floor.

Willy and Carlos' sister conspire to write an email to santaclaus@northpole.com in order to persuade Santa to visit them on the 19th floor. Shortly thereafter, Willy spies reindeer on the street in front of the building, and he rushes downstairs to meet Santa. Unfortunately, they are required to climb the stairs since neither elevator is in operation. Always prepared, Santa has sneakers to change into. They meet several tenants and building maintenance workers on the way up. Santa is struggling to make the climb. Luckily, Jose and Willy pitch in and help.

Dear Santa, Please Come to the 19th Floor by Yin, 2002

I love the florescent Christmas colors of the vibrant illustrations.

Five Facts About Women Veterans

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Five Facts About Women Veterans is the Department of Labor blog post authored by Latifa Lyles, Director of the Women's Bureau. In this blog Latifa notes that women veterans are now the fastest growing segment of the veteran community. The Department of Labor expects as many as 2.4 million women veterans across the country by 2020. The Labor Department Women's Bureau has released information about resources available to women veterans to help them with important things such as getting job training and education, arranging child care and locating jobs.

WomenVetsStatePopRatio

Military Family Month affords Americans the opportunity to recognize the sacrifices that women and men who proudly serve our great country make, both on the battlefield and at home. When Military Family Month was first celebrated in 1993, in the aftermath of the first Gulf War, the demographic characteristics of service members and veterans were going through a dramatic change. Nearly 40,000 women were deployed in support of Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield.

Women veterans are now the fastest growing segment of the veteran community, equaling roughly 10 percent of our nation’s 22 million veterans. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs expects this growth to continue, with as many as 2.4 million women veterans across the country by 2020. Some other interesting facts about women veterans:

  • Women veterans are also at least as likely as non-veteran women to have young children.
  • Nearly 84 percent of female veterans are of working age (17-64 years) compared to 55 percent of male veterans.
  • Alaska is the U.S. state with the highest concentration of women veterans in its population.
  • A greater share of women veterans work in management, professional and related occupations than male veterans or non-veterans of either gender.

Knowing the facts about women veterans is crucial to understanding how women transition into the civilian labor force, and what we can do to help serve them. The Department of Labor wants to ensure that women veterans have gainful employment opportunities to care for their families, and also that they have time to spend with them once they find employment. The Women’s Bureau is proud to support the Department of Labor in pursuit of this important goal.

In addition, we’ve released information about resources available to women veterans to help them with important things such as getting job training and education, arranging child care and locating jobs.

We often hear “thank you for your service” as a common refrain for acknowledging the service and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans, but we owe it to them to actively demonstrate our gratitude as well. The Women’s Bureau and the Department of Labor are proud to play a part in the effort to help veterans translate the skills they learned in service to our nation into gainful job opportunities.

Latifa Lyles is the director of the Women’s Bureau.

Where Did Times New Roman Come From?

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The evolution of Times New Roman, with historical precedents
The evolution of Times New Roman, with historical precedents
Top: Gros Cicero, from Surius’ Commentarivs Brevis Rervm In Orbe Gestarvm. Middle: Plantin, from H.G. Wells’ Tono-Bungay. Bottom: Times New Roman, from The Monotype Recorder, Vol. 21.

If you open up your word processing software and start typing, chances are you’re looking at Times New Roman. It’s so ubiquitous that we take it for granted, but just like Spider-Man or Wolverine, this super-typeface has its own origin story.

You might be surprised to learn that Times New Roman began as a challenge, when esteemed type designer Stanley Morison criticized London’s newspaper The Times for being out-of-touch with modern typographical trends. So The Times asked him to create something better. Morison enlisted the help of draftsman Victor Lardent and began conceptualizing a new typeface with two goals in mind: efficiency—maximizing the amount of type that would fit on a line and thus on a page—and readability. Morison wanted any printing in his typeface to be economical, a necessity in the newspaper business, but he also wanted the process of reading to be easy on the eye.

Morison looked to classical type designs for inspiration. He liked the look of the modern typeface Plantin, which was based off the older typeface Gros Cicero, designed by Robert Granjon. The “cicero” in Gros Cicero was a contemporary term for the size of the type—today, we would describe cicero’s size as 11.5-point—and the “gros” referred to the proportions of the letters. The Rare Book Division has an example of Gros Cicero in Surius’ Commentarivs Brevis Rervm In Orbe Gestarvm, printed in 1574.

To achieve efficiency, Morison raised what is called the “x-height” of the letters. This is the distance between the top and bottom of a lower-case letter without ascending or descending parts, like a, c, or m. This is easier to illustrate than describe, so check out this handy diagram:

The basic components of type
The basic components of type

He also reduced the “tracking,” or spacing between each letter, to make a more condensed typeface. As you might imagine, moving letters closer together could also make them harder to read. To protect his second goal of readability, Morison had to alter the shape of the letterforms. The thicker portions of each letter—for example, the vertical lines of the “n” above—were widened, so that the letters held more ink and appeared darker when printed, which contrasted more clearly against the paper. The intersections of these thicker strokes were thinned; for example, where the vertical lines of the “n” meet its serifs. This kept the shape of the letters from becoming muddled and also gave them a rounder, more legible look. All of these differences can be clearly seen in a comparison of the old typeface with Morison and Lardent’s new creation, which The Timespublished in a pamphlet around the time of the change.

A comparison of Times New Roman with the typeface it replaced
A comparison of Times New Roman with the typeface it replaced

The Times tested its type thoroughly. In 1926, the British Medical Research Council had published a Report on the Legibility of Print, and the new typeface followed its recommendations. Before final approval, test pages were also submitted to a “distinguished ophthalmic authority,” (Morison, vol. 21, no. 247, p. 14) leading The Times to announce that its typeface had “the approval of the most eminent medical opinion.” The newspaper recognized that scientific analysis was well and good, but an equally important test was actually reading it. Members of the team practiced reading for long periods of time, under both natural and artificial light. After test upon test and proof upon proof, the final design was approved, and “The Times New Roman” was born.

The front page of the first edition of The Times with its new typeface
The front page of the first edition of The Times with its new typeface

On October 3, 1932, The Times unveiled its new typeface with great fanfare. “From September 26th to October 3rd,” notes The Monotype Recorder, “all the readers of The Times were reminded, daily, of the importance of type and printing.” It was the first time that a newspaper had designed its own typeface, and The Times owned its exclusive rights for one year. In the following years, American publishers were slow to adopt Times New Roman because in order to look its best, it required an amount of ink and quality of paper that American newspapers were initially unwilling to shell out for. It eventually caught on as a typeface for books and magazines, with its first big American client being Woman’s Home Companion in December 1941. The Chicago Sun-Times began printing with it in 1953.

John Jacob Astor V, Chairman of The Times, prints the first newspapers set in Times New Roman
John Jacob Astor V, Chairman of The Times, prints the first newspapers set in Times New Roman

An interesting footnote to the development of Times New Roman trickles down to us in the present day. The original hardware for the typeface—the “punches” that helped create the molds for casting type—were created jointly by the Monotype Corporation and the Linotype Company, the two main manufacturers of automated typesetting machines and equipment at that time. Both companies subsequently made sets of the type for purchase. Monotype named its type “Times New Roman,” while Linotype used “Times Roman.” Fast forward to the computer era: when selecting “fonts” for their word processing programs, Apple chose to license the Linotype catalog, and Microsoft licensed Monotype’s. That’s why the name of this typeface is slightly different depending on your choice of Mac or PC!

In 1932, The Timesspecifically noted that their new typeface was not intended for books: “It is a newspaper type—and hardly a book type—for it is strictly appointed for use in short lines—i.e., in columns.” They later developed a wider version adapted to fit a book’s longer lines of text. This idea that the use of a typeface affects its form struck me as very relevant to today’s world of e-book publishing and web-based content. Indeed, Times New Roman’s chief competitors these days are Arial and Calibri, two typefaces whose lack of serifs makes them easier to read on a screen, according to many. But at 82 years old, Times New Roman is still going strong and proving that our humblest word processing friends have some pretty historic beginnings.

If you’re taken with typography, then NYPL has a mountain of resources for you. For starters, try Alexander Lawson’s Anatomy of a Typeface, Stanley Morison’s A Tally of Types, or Daniel Updike’s Printing Types: Their History, Forms, and Use.

“Sphinx” diagram courtesy Wikimedia Commons. All other images: Rare Book Division and General Research Division. New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox, Tilden Foundations.

MY Business is to Sing: Emily Dickinson, Musician and Poet

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 Emily Dickinson ca. 1847. Courtesy Special Collections, Amherst College. Used with permission.

We celebrate the birthday of Emily Dickinson (December 10) with an exhibit at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in the third floor reading room (through March 6) and a public program to be presented in the Bruno Walter Auditorium on January 31, 2015. This is my second blog post (read the first here) exploring the musical life of one of America’s most beloved poets.

The daily musical activities of poet Emily Dickinson (1830–86) — home performances at the piano, collecting sheet music, and attending concerts—reveal a great deal about the cultural offerings available to a woman of her time, place, and class. For Dickinson, these experiences provided a vital and necessary backdrop for her identity and and more importantly, for her emerging poetic voice. Her encounters with the music of her time, in particular the music-making of the Dickinson family servants, and the New England hymn tradition, encouraged artistic borrowings that had a deep and continuing influence on her personality and her writing.

Village Hymns for Social Worship

“I attend singing school”

Emily Dickinson was immersed in the activities of the singing school and its repertoire of church hymns, carols, and anthems, sung from hymn books which the Dickinsons owned. She was also devoted to her musical studies of voice and especially piano, for which she displayed accomplishment and ambition:

“I also was much pleased with the news [your letter] contained especially that you are taking lessons on the ‘piny’, as you always call it,” fourteen year old Emily wrote to her friend Abiah Root in 1845, “but remember not to get on ahead of me. Father intends to have a Piano very soon. How happy I shall be when I have one of my own.” In August of that year Edward Dickinson purchased a piano through his brother William in Worcester.

Dickinson’s musical involvement and enthusiasm is expressed most abundantly in the sheet music that she collected. Over one hundred pieces are in the Dickinson Collection at Harvard University. Published copies of nearly all of the music cited by Dickinson in her correspondence can be found in the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

 1270124
Jenny Lind. Image ID: 1270124

Taubert. Jenny Lind's Birdsong.
  Music  Division. Taubert. Jenny Lind's Birdsong. Music Division.

“How we all loved Jenny Lind”

As a young musician, Dickinson also enjoyed attending concerts. The most significant and best-documented professional performance that Dickinson witnessed was by the Swedish soprano Jenny Lind (1820–87). On 3 July 1851, Emily (age twenty) along with her father and sister attended Lind’s concert in Northampton.

How we all loved Jenny Lind, but not accustomed oft to her manner of singing did'nt [sic] fancy that so well as we did her – no doubt it was very fine – but take some notes from her “Echo”– the Bird songs from the “Bird Song” and some of her curious trills, and I'd rather have a Yankee. Herself, and not her music, was what we seemed to love – she has an air of exile in her mild blue eyes, and a something sweet and touching in her native accent which charms her many friends.

Dickinson was also taken with the performance art of another popular ensemble, the Germania Serenade Band:

The Germanians gave a concert here the evening of Exhibition day [at Amherst College]. Vinnie and I went with [cousin] John [Graves]. I never heard [such] sounds before. They seemed like brazen Robins, all wearing broadcloth wings, and I think they were, for they all flew away as soon as the concert was over.

“I can improvise better at night.”

Emily Dickinson was known by family and neighbors to be an expert improviser at the piano. Her cousin John Graves described her late night improvisations as “heavenly music.” When he would visit his cousins and stay overnight, he would be awakened from his sleep by this heavenly music. Emily would explain in the morning, “I can improvise better at night.” Dickinson’s cousin Clara Newman Turner also recalled that “before seating herself at the piano Emily covered the upper and lower octaves so that the length of the keyboard might correspond to that of the old fashioned instrument on which she had learned to play.” MacGregor Jenkins, a Dickinson neighbor during Dickinson's lifetime, noted in his memoir that:

[Emily] went often across the lawn to her brother’s house. It was through him, and his handsome wife the “Sue” of her letters and messages, that she kept in touch with the life of her circle, and to a considerable extent with the village and the world. It was here that she would fly to the piano, if the mood required, and thunder out a composition of her own which she laughingly but appropriately called “The Devil,” and when her father came, lantern in hand, to see that she reached home in safety, she would elude him and dart through the darkness to reach home before him. This was pure mischief and there was much of it in her.

Devil's Dream
Ethiopian Flute Instructor. Boston: Elias Howe, 1848. Music Division.

These anecdotes and observations provide palpable evidence that Dickinson’s improvisations may have been inspired by the traditional music (jigs, reels, and hornpipes) that she collected, performed, and heard as part of the music-making of the Dickinson family servants.

“And we broke up with a dance.”

During Emily’s lifetime, over 80 servants worked for the Dickinson Family. The activities of the domestic servants and Emily’s interactions with them are well documented in her correspondence. Upon occasion, Emily (as indicated in this letter from 1854) would visit the homes of the servants: "Then I worked until dusk, then went to Mr. Sweetser’s to call on Abiah Root, then walked around to Jerry’s [African American stablemen Jeremiah Holden] and made a call on him—then hurried home to supper." On 22 June 1851 Dickinson (age twenty) wrote to her brother: “Our Reading Club still is, and becomes now very pleasant—the last time Charles came in when we had finished reading, and we broke up with a dance—”

“Charles” was Charles Thompson, an African American man who for decades was a janitor for Amherst College and a laborer for the Dickinsons. Thompson played the fiddle and taught some of the local children his tunes. We know from published accounts that Thompson played the tune “Money Musk.” He likely would have also played “Fisher’s Hornpipe” and the minstrel tune “Old Dan Tucker” which was immensely popular. These were tunes that Dickinson knew and are among the music that she collected.

Photo of Charles Thompson courtesy of the Jones Library, Amherst, MA. Used with permission.
Fishers Hornpipe, Music Division.

"Musicians wrestle everywhere"

By the early 1860s, Dickinson had begun to set aside music and was intensely pursuing her poetic calling. As part of that process, she was able to use her musical experiences and sensibilities as an aid to her emerging poetic voice. Perhaps the most significant poem that captures the music that Dickinson knew is “Musicians wrestle everywhere.” Written at the outbreak of the Civil War, her poem is a catalog of past musical experiences, stacked up, and exploding onto the page one by one. Here Dickinson may be using these images to herald the oncoming cataclysmic “silver strife.” Amherst had a massive recruitment program and it is interesting to imagine the deployment of these masses of young men – waking – long before the morn – /Such transport breaks opon the town/ I think it that “New life”!

Many of the highlights of Dickinson’s musical experiences are distilled into this poem; the birdsongs of Jenny Lind, the Germanians “in brass and scarlet,” the tambourines of minstrel music, and hymns such as “Morning Star” led by the choir’s treble voices remind us of the Village Hymns of her youth. All of this music she knew, and loved, and collected. In this way, Emily Dickinson used her poems such as “Musicians wrestle everywhere –“ to enable her to surrender her musical identity to what she must have felt as a “new life,” as one of America’s most renowned and cherished poets.

Musicians wrestle everywhere –
All day – among the crowded air
I hear the silver strife –
And – waking – long before the morn –
Such transport breaks opon the town
I think it that “New life”!

It is not Bird – it has no nest –
Nor “Band” – in brass and scarlet – drest –
Nor Tamborin – nor Man –
It is not Hymn from pulpit read –
The “Morning Stars” the Treble led
On Time’s first afternoon!

Some – say – it is “the Spheres” – at play!
Some say – that bright Majority
Of vanished Dames – and Men!
Some – think it service in the place
Where we – with late – celestial face –
Please God – shall ascertain!

_____________________________________________

Since my initial LPA presentation "The Musical Parlor of Emily Dickinson" in 2012, I have been privileged to present or write on Dickinson and music at national and international conferences, and in published articles, specifically on her personal collection of published bound sheet music, which is in the Dickinson Collection at Harvard University.

Along with my Red Skies Music Ensemble, (co-founded with Trudy Williams PhD), we have presented our Dickinson programs at LPA, in Amherst, sponsored by the Emily Dickinson Museum, and at Harvard University in 2015. Our upcoming LPA program ‘“MY Business is to Sing:’ Emily Dickinson, Musician and Poet” will be presented in the Bruno Walter Auditorium on Saturday January 31, 2015. The third floor reading room exhibit will run through March 6, 2015.

More information, as well as music and video clips of our Dickinson performances can be found at the Red Skies Music Ensemble's website: redskiesmusic.com.

Sources

The Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Ralph W. Franklin. Cambridge,Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998, 1999.

The Letters of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1958.

Bingham, Millicent Todd. Emily Dickinson’s Home: Letters of Edward Dickinson and His Family. New York: Harper, 1955.

Boziwick, George. “My Business is to Sing”: Emily Dickinson's Musical Borrowings. Journal of the Society for American Music / Volume 8 / Special Issue 02 / May 2014, pp 130 – 166.

-“Finding a Life at The New York Public Library: Emily Dickinson, the Avid Music Collector.” NYPL blog post,
December 10, 2013

Early American Sheet Music Collections, Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Jenkins, MacGregor. Emily Dickinson, Friend and Neighbor. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1930.

Thomas H. Johnson, Emily Dickinson: An Interpretive Biography. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap
Press of Harvard University Press, 1955.

Lee, Abigail Eloisa (Stearns). Professor Charley: A Sketch of Charles Thompsonby A. E. L. Boston: D. C. Heath & Co., 1902.

Leyda, Jay. The Years and Hours of Emily Dickinson. 2 vols. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1960.

Meyer Frazier, Petra. “American Women’s Roles in Domestic Music Making as Revealed in Parlor Song Collections, 1820–1870.” Ph.D. diss., University of Colorado, 1999.

Miller, Cristanne. Reading in Time: Emily Dickinson in the Nineteenth Century. Amherst and Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2012.

Murray, Aífe. Maid as Muse: How Servants Changed Emily Dickinson’s Life and Language. Durham: University of New Hampshire Press, 2009.

Sewall, Richard Benson. The Life of Emily Dickinson. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1980.

Wolosky, Shira. Emily Dickinson: A Voice of War. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984.

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