With National Novel Writing Month upon us, some of our branches are taking time to marvel at the art of writing with writing-inspired workshops throughout the month. These workshops will allow you to practice your writing abilities with others from your own community. We have workshops for all ages and writing skill levels throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. Find the closest library location and get writing!

Bronx

Island Writers
A group of writers with mixed levels of skill meet up to encourage and build one another up. They will help you on your journey of self-expression and creativity.
Every Tuesday | 1 PM
City Island Library, Community Meeting Room

National Novel Writing Month Workshop
These workshops are focused on ages 5-12. They will teach children the basics of novel writing including how to create their own characters, a complete plot, and an overall good story.
Every Wednesday | 4 - 4:30 PM
Mosholu Library, Children’s Collection

Writing Circle
Sessions consist of short stream-of-consciousness writing followed by a discussion of the work that is produced. Focused on autobiographical writing, but all styles are welcome. Space is limited.
Every Thursday (except Thanksgiving Day) | 10 AM - 12 PM
Kingsbridge Library

Teen Creative Writing Club
This monthly workshop has students write, critique, and edit many types of creative writings including poetry, plays, or short stories. For teens looking to expand the creative side of their brain, this workshop is for you.
Wednesday, November 14 | 4 - 5 PM
Kingsbridge Library

The CRAFT of WAR WRITING
Participants will begin by reading pieces of war writing from classic to contemporary authors. The class will then be asked to compose their own short piece for feedback and editing based on the style they have learned about.
Saturday, November 17 | 10:30 - 12:30 PM
Morris Park Library

Soundview’s Creative Writing Meetup
Participants can bring any drafts, completed work, or just ideas to share with others and receive feedback on. This friendly atmosphere allows attendees to meet other creative minds to collaborate and refine their craft. All writing styles welcome.
Monday, November 19 and 26 | 5 PM
Soundview Library

Manhattan

Writing Wednesdays
Participants will use the prompt provided to write and share their work with their fellow peers. Then as a group, constructive criticism and feedback will be provided as members share their work with each other.
Wednesday, November 14 | 3 PM
Muhlenberg Library

Writer’s Circle at Mulberry Street Library
This workshop allows attendees to build a safe community of writers where they can share and develop some pieces of work. The group will also try to find a variety of solutions to the problem that many writers have: insufficient time.
Wednesday, November 14 | 5:15 - 6:45 PM
Mulberry Street Library

Yorkville Writing Circle
Come meet writers of all styles to practice crafting original work. Let these workshops be a part of your writing schedule and commit to it. Let local writers help you perfect your writings.
Wednesday, November 14 | 4:30 - 6:30 PM
Monday, November 19 | 5:15 - 6:30 PM
Yorkville Library, Meeting Room

Teen Writing Workshop
Calling all teen writers from all skill levels! Here is a wonderful opportunity for you to write and share your work with peers. This comfortable environment will allow you to develop your writing abilities to their maximum potential.
Thursday, November 15 & 19 | 4 PM
Bloomingdale Library

Writing, Competition, and Chance: The Surrealist Games
In this fast paced competition, attendees will challenge each other in creating original works of writing. These writing games can even go past the walls of the workshop and are easy to play with your friends and family at home.
Monday, November 19 | 3:30 PM
Muhlenberg Library

Poem Revision
Share and discuss your poems with the community and watch them grow into your very own masterpiece.
Tuesday, November 20 | 4 PM
Roosevelt Island Library

Free-Writing Happy Hour: NaNoWriMo
In this month’s free writing happy hour, we will be celebrating National Novel Writing Month by having participants write fiction inspired passages. No experience needed, just bring your enthusiasm and writing curiosity.
Tuesday, November 27 | 6 PM
Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd Street, Room 67A

The Writer’s Room 
Sign up for these 20 minute sessions to improve your writing and get inspired.
Saturday, November 17 & 24 | 1 PM
Morningside Heights

Staten Island

Writing Workshop with Ellen Aug Lytle
Along with the help of Ellen Lytle, participants will join in on free writing exercises to expand their mind and loosen up their creative thoughts. Only a pen and pad is required.
Thursday, November 29 | 1 - 3 PM
New Dorp Library

AHRC NYC - Writing Group
Learn the basics of writing with local organization AHRC NYC.
Wednesday, November 21 | 12:30 - 2:30 PM
Stapleton Library, Community Room

Welcome to our bi-weekly update on events happening during the next two weeks at The New York Public Library. With 92 locations across New York City, there's a lot going on! We're highlighting some of our events here, including author talks, free classes, community art shows, performances, concerts, and exhibitions—and you can always find more at nypl.org/events. If you want to receive our round-up in your inbox, sign up here. We look forward to seeing you at the Library soon. 

Selected Events

Talks at the Schomburg: Charles White Amongst Friends
Artist Charles White's commitment to creating powerful images of African Americans and his vision of a socially committed practice attracted promising young artists. Join the Schomburg Center for a discussion of White's life, work, and legacy.
Wednesday, November 14 | 6:30 PM
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Elizabeth Swados Celebration
The Library for the Performing Arts, home of the Elizabeth Swados archive, hosts a tribute to Swados, with live performances of hits from Runaways, Alice at the Palace, and other works, plus memories from students and colleagues, and archival display.
Thursday, November 15 | 6 PM
Library for the Performing Arts

Invisible: Stephen L. Carter
Yale law professor and bestselling author Stephen L. Carter shares the forgotten story of his grandmother, Eunice Hunton Carter, an African American attorney who in the 1930s devised the strategy that ultimately resulted in the conviction of Lucky Luciano, one of the most powerful mob bosses in history.
Wednesday, November 14 | 6:30 PM
Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd Street

Editorial Guidance: Mary-Kay Wilmers with Andrew O'Hagan
Mary-Kay Wilmers, veteran editor of the London Review of Books, gives a candid interview about her career and her own writing. She will speak with novelist and essayist Andrew O'Hagan about her decades at the forefront of the English literary world.
Wednesday, November 14 | 6:30 PM
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

LIVE from the NYPL: John McPhee with Paul Holdengräber
Master essayist and esteemed New Yorker writer John McPhee visits the Library for an extremely rare public appearance as he introduces his latest collection of work, The Patch.
Monday, November 26 | 7 PM
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

The Library After Hours: Picture This
The city's most cerebral happy hour turns back time to the 1840s for a night of art, science, and a celebration of early photographic pioneer Anna Atkins. Join us for an array of crafts, talks, and activities that look back to photography's past and gaze forward into the medium’s future.
Friday, November 30 | 7 PM
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

Holiday Extravaganza at the Library
Attend the Library's Holiday Open House and enjoy carolers, live music and dancing, crafts, magic shows, special collection viewing, and much more. Tickets include a complimentary Friend of the Library membership.
Sunday, December 2 | 1 PM
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

Business, Career & Finance

Planning for Retirement: Saving and Investing
CPA Mitchell J. Smilowitz covers sources of income in retirement, how much you need to save, and the types of saving vehicles that help you achieve your financial goals.
Tuesday, November 13 | 6 PM
Science, Industry and Business Library

How to Write a Book That Grows Your Business
Author and strategic book and business developer Robin Colucci discusses the key benefits of writing a book to grow your business.
Thursday, November 15 | 6 PM
Science, Industry and Business Library

No Such Thing as the Perfect Resume
Amy Geffen offers techniques and tactics to make your resume stand out from the crowd and get you the interview.
Friday, November 16 | 12 Noon
Science, Industry and Business Library

TechConnect

Technology Programs and Classes
TechConnect offers more than 80 technology classes at libraries throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island—all for free! There are classes for all students from beginner to advanced, including series courses for those who want more in-depth knowledge.

More Events

Barren Island: Carol Zoref
Wednesday November 14 | 6:30 PM
Webster Library

An Informational Session on Creating Smoke-free Buildings
Thursday, November 15 | 3 PM
Harry Belafonte 115th Street Library

16mm Film Nights—Reel Classics: Funny Girl
Thursday, November 15 | 4 PM
Webster Library

Who Owns the Word?
Thursday, November 15 | 6:30 PM
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

Mid-Sentence—Those Who Knew: Idra Novey with Hernán Diaz
Monday, November 19 | 6:30 PM
Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd Street

Wild Milk: Sabrina Orah Mark with Amber Dermont
Monday, November 26 | 6:30 PM
Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd Street

The Illustrated History of the Snowman: Bob Eckstein with Lenore Skenazy
Wednesday, November 28 | 6:30 PM
Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd Street

Upon hearing the name Fanny Brice, most people think of Barbra Streisand and her portrayal of Brice in the stage musical and film of Funny Girl. For those who know the work of the real Fanny Brice, they are probably familiar with her radio work as "Baby Snooks," her film appearances, or her recordings.

Among her most memorable recordings are the comic songs "Becky is Back in the Ballet," "I’m an Indian," and "I Don’t Know Whether To Do It Or Not." Aside from Brice’s performance, a unifying factor of these humorous songs is the lyricist, Blanche Merrill.

Though practically forgotten today, a century ago during the heyday of vaudeville, Blanche Merrill (1883-1966) was one of the most well-known lyricists and creators of vaudeville acts. Performers sought her out (and paid her dearly) for new material; in turn, she would interview the performer, see them perform, study their style and individual characteristics, and then create a song or act carefully tailored to the performer’s unique talents.

I first became aware of Blanche Merrill through Barbara Wallace Grossman’s biography Funny Woman: The Life and Times of Fanny Brice. Paraphrasing Brice, Grossman acknowledges that credit for some of Brice’s fame rests upon the songs that Merrill created for her.  

I was intrigued by this songwriter whose lyrics I had known for decades, and was so surprised and disappointed that there are almost no biographical reference works with entries about Merrill. To rectify the situation, I created a substantial Wikipedia article; modesty aside, I know there is no more comprehensive biography of Merrill than her Wikipedia page.

Blanche Merrill died in 1966. In a footnote that could elicit groans from librarians and archivists, Grossman stated:

Whatever papers and photographs [Merrill] left were destroyed following her sister's death in 1972. Sadly, there is no primary source material and remarkably little information currently available about one of America's first prolific female songwriters.

Although the materials in Merrill’s possession were destroyed, there still exists the possibility that copies of the songs and acts she created still exist in the archives of those performers for whom she wrote.

I came across one such primary source here at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. It is particularly interesting because the work presents a vast and stark contrast to the comic songs which dominate Merrill’s output. In the Music Division’s collection of Sophie Tucker performance materials, there is a typed page entitled "Drum Number" by Blanche Merrill. It is not a song, but a recitation to be accompanied by a drum and occasional melodies. At times, the constant drum accompaniment is given prominence due to the content.

The recitation begins innocuously (I have standardized grammar here, but have otherwise reproduced Merrill’s text as she wrote it):

Once there was a little boy and Johnnie was his name
He was a naughty little boy ‘till just before Christmas came
Then he started being good- ‘cause he knew that Santa would come
And one Christmas morn - sure as you’re born - he got a great big drum
And he drove the neighbors deaf and dumb
With his bum - bum - bumbumbum

As the number continues, Johnnie grows up and becomes a drummer. He finds a girlfriend. (At this point the instructions say that the background drum should suggest the rapid beating of a heart.) The recitation then takes a fateful turn:

And then one day - war was declared  - he was one of the first to go
And mid the cheers and mid the tears - he went off to meet the foe

The New York Public Library's second annual East Village Arts Festival will kick off on Saturday, December 1, and run through December 15. Throughout those two weeks, there will be all kinds of performances, workshops, displays by local artists, and visits from local organizations.

We are also collaborating with area galleries for our first-ever Gallery Walk. Please stop by the Library after November 23 for a flyer, which you can get stamped at each gallery you visit. Participating galleries will have flyers available during the festival as well. If you visit at least four galleries between December 1 and 15, you can enter a raffle for some fabulous prizes! 

Take a look at the events listed below, and stop by to check them out! 

Saturday, December 1 at 11 AM
Drag Queen Story Hour with Rev. Yolanda: Drag Queen Story Hour brings drag queens and children together for a magical hour of storytelling and crafts, in celebration of gender diversity and dress-up! In this popular children's literacy program, drag queens read stories and help kids make and decorate their own crowns. For children of all ages.

Saturday, December 1 at 11 AM
How to Haiku: A Workshop: Get started with haiku or sharpen your skills. Indoor discussion followed by outdoor poetry composition. This workshop will be held in our second floor community room. Registration opens Saturday, November 17. Led by Jeffrey Rabkin. 

Saturday, December 1 at 1 PM
Walking Tour of the homes and venues of gay and lesbian writers and artists in the East Village. Led by library manager Corinne Neary and local street photographer Michael Paul. 

Saturday, December 1 at 3 PM
Bilingual Poetry Reading: Curated by Marta Lopez-Luaces. Poets: Ruth Danon (USA),  Alberto Valdivia Baselli (Peru), Inmaculada Lara Bonilla (Spain). 

December 3 and 12, 4 PM to 6 PM, and December 8, 3 PM to 5 PM 

Information table from the Educational Alliance.  Educational Alliance brings together and partners with diverse communities in Lower Manhattan, offering individuals and families high-quality, multi-generational programs and services that enhance their well-being and socioeconomic opportunities.

Monday, December 3 at 4 PM
3D Doodling for Teens and Tweens: 3Doodler is a 3D doodling pen that allows you to create objects from drawing in the air or on surfaces. Come join us as we create physical structures from 3Doodler pens! 

Monday, December 3 at 5 PM
Music Performance: Acoustic singer / songwriter Chris Michael.

Monday, December 3 at 5:30 PM
The Art of Dance: Move your body to the music! Have fun while you create art with every move you make! No requirements, everyone welcome. Bring a towel or an exercise mat. Come in comfortable clothing.

December 4, 6, 11, and 13, 4 PM-6 PM 
Information table from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP): The GVSHP was founded in 1980 to preserve the architectural heritage and cultural history of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo.

Tuesday, December 4 at 6 PM
Anything That Burns You: A Portrait of Lola Ridge, Radical Poet. With author Terese Svoboda. Anarchist, feminist, and experimental poet Lola Ridge grew up in New Zealand, wrote bad girl poems on the Lower East Side, and led a wild life in the Village. When she died in 1941, the New York Times said she was one of America's most important poets.

Wednesday, December 5, 3 PM-5 PM
Jazz Performance: Improvisational Composers Ensemble: The Improvisational Composers Ensemble is a vehicle for music that features improvisation as a major compositional element. Led by Rocco John Iacovone, Leader / Composer / Alto. 

Wednesday, December 5 at 3:30 PM
Children's Hanukkah Craft: Come make a free holiday craft! We will supply all materials. 

Wednesday, December 5 at 4:30 PM
Art Opening for the Sixth Street Youth Program: Artists will be displaying their work, a community mapping project where they are exploring the history of different places and establishments in the community.

Wednesday, December 5 at 5:30 PM
This is What Happened: An Art as Experience DREAM REMIX from Mike Taylor: Dreams are the stories we tell ourselves every night. Everyone writes these stories, all the time. What happens in a dream is an actual experience you have, while asleep, that affects you and informs you and speaks to you about your life. Come by for the live Remix of audio recordings created in October.   

Thursday, December 6 at 4 PM 
Bird Art Open Studio with Washington Square Park Eco Projects: Try your hand at biological illustration with bird species you can find in New York City such as the Red-tailed Hawk, Rock Dove (aka pigeon), Magnolia Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, and more. We will provide the bird specimens and art supplies. Open to all ages and abilities.

Thursday, December 6 at 6 PM
Bit by Byte: Keeping it Together in Digital Theatre Archives: Although theater is inherently live, most of the work of creating it happens in digital environments. How will libraries preserve the scripts, designs, and publicity in the next century when so little is being originally produced on paper? Billy Rose Theatre Division Curator Doug Reside will discuss digital theater archives from around the country, how they are constructed, and what they reveal about theater history.

Friday, December 7 at 3:30 PM 
Children's St. Nicholas Day Craft: Come make a free holiday craft! We will supply all materials. 

Friday, December 7 at 5:30 PM 
Central Park Love Song: Wandering Beneath the Heaventrees: Stephen Wolf, a neighborhood author who lived on East First street from 1976 to 2000, will tell about his recent book, Central Park Love Song  and share his Lower East Side experience.

Saturday, December 8 at 11 AM
Jewelry Making: A Workshop:  Led by award-winning local jewelry artist Joan Reinmuth, this class will apply complex ideas by using up-cycled elements, simple tools, and techniques. Bring your own lost broken jewelry pieces or dig through Joan's curious collection. Registration opens Saturday, November 24. 

Saturday, December 8 at 1 PM
Walking Tour of the homes and venues of gay and lesbian writers and artists in the East Village. Led by library manager Corinne Neary and local street photographer Michael Paul. 

Saturday, December 8 at 3 PM 
Beyond Group: Jazz Explorations and Improvisations: Cheryl Pyle: C flute / alto flute,  Michael Eaton: Soprano sax, Claire de Brunner: bassoon, Jamie Baum: alto flute, Gene Coleman: bass flute.

Saturday, December 8 from 3 PM - 4:45 PM 
The Seasons of Tompkins Square Park: Slide Projection of 58 images by Ana Marton

Monday, December 10 at 1 PM 
Matinee Movie: The General (1926; 79 mins.): Directed by Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckmann, Eddie Cline. Consistently ranked among the greatest films ever made, Buster Keaton's The General is so brilliantly conceived and executed that it continues to inspire awe and laughter with every viewing. Silent movie.

Monday, December 10 at 3:30 PM 
Children's Santa Claus Craft: Come make a free holiday craft! We will supply all materials. 

Monday, December 10 at 5:30 PM
The Art of Dance: Move your body to the music! Have fun while you create art with every move you make! No requirements, everyone welcome. Bring a towel or an exercise mat. Come in comfortable clothing.

Tuesday, Decmber 11 at 5 PM Members of the Library’s Writing/Performance Lab will read their work, including excerpts from various short stories, memoirs, and other works. Facilitated by Armand Ruhlman. 

Tuesday, December 11 at 6 PM
Live Music by Chris Rael and Church of Betty: New York's progressive world pop orchestra since 1988. Trained in India, Chris writes and sings English songs with South Asian and other international flavors, such as Indian sitar and tabla, African percussion, bowed strings, and double reeds. 

Wednesday, December 12 at 2 PM
GVSHP Curator Tour of Andy Warhol: Endangered Species at the East Village Ukrainian Museum: In iconic silkscreened colors, Warhol's 1983 "Endangered Species" series sheds a fascinating new light on his legacy, using his platform to raise worldwide awareness for endangered wildlife. In a guided tour of these works, we will learn about how this series came to be and explore Warhol himself. This event is provided by the GVSHP. Registration required, using the above link. 

Wednesday, December 12 at 3:30 PM 
Children's Holiday Cards Craft: Come make a free holiday craft! We will supply all materials. 

Wednesday, December 12 at 6 PM
Live Music: The Art of the Album. Wilco's 2001 album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot will be performed live, in its entirety, by Gerritt Reeves. 

Thursday, December 13 at 2 PM 
Shakespeare Reading: The Tompkins Square Library Shakespeare group will read scenes in our first-floor reading room. 

Thursday, December 13 at 3:30 PM 
Children's Kwanzaa Craft: Come make a free holiday craft! We will supply all materials. 

Thursday, December 13 at 5 PM 
Music Performance: EL&G Guitar & Voice: EL&G is a duo combining the talents of vocalist Elizabeth Luthringer and guitarist Gregory Askins. They will be performing classical arias from the Baroque and Romantic era, as well as a large variety of popular and jazz standards.

Thursday, December 13 at 6:30 PM 
Lecture on East Village photographer Peter Hujar: His Life and Art: Anthony Del Aversano, Public Programs Associate and Educator of the Morgan Library and Museum, will tell about Hujar’s effervescent creative spirit and profound influence on the East Village art scene.  

Friday, December 14 at 3:30 PM 
Children's Omisoka origami craft: Come make a free holiday craft! We will supply all materials. 

Friday, December 14 at 3:30 PM 
16mm Film Screenings: The LES on Film. We will screening two 16mm films from the reserve collections of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The Godfather Comes to Sixth St. (1975; 25mins.) Dir: Mark Kitchell presents what happens to a neighborhood on the Lower East Side in New York City when a Hollywood film crew takes over the area to film part of The Godfather, Part II. Includes interviews with the residents, film director Francis Ford Coppola, and members of the block association. The Heart of Loisaida (1979; 30 mins.) Dir: Bienvenida Matias and Marci Reaven shows efforts on New York's Lower East Side to revive abandoned buildings through the work and persistence of the local, predominantly Latino residents.

Saturday, December 15 at 2 PM 
A Music Collaboration: Singer Lyudmila Krivorutskaya and Pianist Svetlana Levina: The program will feature ancient Russian romances, lyrical songs, serenades in Italian, psalms, and songs in English and Hebrew performed by Lyudmila.  Svetlana will perform classical works by famous composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Visual arts displays from local artists, including: 

Ana Marton

Agnieszka Hołda

Blake Sandberg

Jenn Cacciola

John C Fields

Lucille Krasne

Mark Panzarino

Mark Roggeman

Meagan J. Meehan

Sabina Mollot

The students of the Sixth Street Youth Program

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

What makes a good story time? Anthony Murisco, youth librarian extraordinaire, joins Frank and Gwen to talk all things kids and books. Plus: everyone's favorite lazy cartoon cat, a true stumper of a guessing game, and a flurry of pop-culture recommendations.

Guest Star: Anthony Murisco, Youth Librarian

Anthony's library: The Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library

NLS: The National Library Service for the blind and physically handicapped

A book Anthony likes for storytime: Jump  by David McPhail

NYPL's Best Books for Kids and Teens and Anthony's 2017 list with Bookshare links

"Book That Talk and Books You Touch": Jill Rothstein's TLII episode about technology for print-disabled patrons

Kris Jenner... and All Things Kardashian (and her cookbook)

Anthony's book recommendations:

• Fake Blood by Whitney Gardner
• Jabberwalking by Juan Felipe Herrera
• The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Roberto Aguierre-Sacasa (and RIVERDALE!)
• Garfield: The Complete Works, 1978-1979 (coming soon to the Library!)

Anthony's non-book recommendations:

• DinosaurDracula.com
• Macy's Thanksgiving Day parades on YouTube
• The Grinch Menu at iHop
• Golden Girls Pez

How to listen to The Librarian Is In

Subscribing to The Librarian Is In on your mobile device is the easiest way to make sure you never miss an episode. Episodes will automatically download to your device, and be ready for listening every other Thursday morning

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Open the purple “Podcasts” app that’s preloaded on your phone. If you’re reading this on your device, tap this link to go straight to the show and click “Subscribe.” You can also tap the magnifying glass in the app and search for “The New York Public Library Podcast.”

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Open the orange “Play Music” app that’s preloaded on your device. If you’re reading this on your device, click this link to go straight to the show and click “Subscribe.” You can also tap the magnifying glass icon and search for “The New York Public Library Podcast.” 

Or if you have another preferred podcast player, you can find “The New York Public Library Podcast” there. (Here’s the RSS feed.)

From a desktop or laptop:
Click the “play” button above to start the show. Make sure to keep that window open on your browser if you’re doing other things, or else the audio will stop. You can always find the latest episode at nypl.org/podcast.

Hip, hip, hooray! November 18 is National Princess Day! Originally created in 2017, National Princess Day is still relatively new to our calendars, so we want to help get the word out with some recommended reading to inspire all of our princesses-in-training!

A true princess is kind, confident, brave, and true to herself, regardless of whether she lives in a castle or a tiny, old attic. In the immortal words of Sara Crewe, the heroine of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic, A Little Princess:

“Whatever comes… cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.”

Published in 1905, Burnett’sA Little Princess follows the precocious and imaginative Sara Crewe, the only daughter of a wealthy businessman, sent away to a boarding school for privileged young ladies. Soon after, her father dies of a mysterious illness and simultaneously loses all of his money. Orphaned and penniless, Sara must work as a scullery maid at her school under the watchful eye of the cruel headmistress.

Despite how hard the world tries to bring her down (and boy does it try!), Sara maintains her dignity and kindness, proving that it is not money nor the quality of clothes that make a princess—it is her inner strength and the quality of her heart. This is an absolute must-read for any young princess-in-training, and the fantastic film adaptation by Alfonso Cuarón is a brilliant watch for the whole family.

In the spirit ofA Little Princess and National Princess Day, we have gathered a list of recommendations to help ensure your princess-in-training grows up to embody all the aspects of a true princess: kindness, individuality, courage, fierceness, and the strength to stand up for herself in the face of adversity!

A Little Princess: On Page and Screen

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett; cover illustration by Anna Bond; illustrations by Margery Gill

Ages: 9+

When kindhearted Sara Crewe arrives at Miss Minchin's boarding school, she seems just like a real little princess. Then a sudden misfortune turns her life upside down, and Sara is banished to the school's dreary attic and must work for her living. It takes all of Sara's imagination and a little bit of magic to turn her misfortune around and prove she is, at heart, a little princess.
 

A Little Princess (1995) directed by Alfonso Cuarón

All Ages

After an exotic childhood spent in India, young Sara Crewe finds herself in New York, immured in Miss Minchin girls' school as her father sails off to World War I. When he is lost, a severe reversal of fortune ensues. Thanks to him, Sara knows that "All girls are princesses…even if they wear rags or are not pretty or smart." Summoning all the qualities of a true princess, patrician and bereft Sara uses her creativity and sense of self-worth to spin magic dreams that sustain her during her time of trials and tribulations.

Princess Chapter Books

The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale; illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Ages: 5+

Princess Magnolia is having hot chocolate and scones with Duchess Wigtower when… Brring! Brring! The monster alarm! A big blue monster is threatening the goats! Stopping monsters is no job for dainty Princess Magnolia. But luckily Princess Magnolia has a secret—she’s also the Princess in Black, and stopping monsters is the perfect job for her! Can the princess sneak away, transform into her alter ego, and defeat the monster before the nosy duchess discovers her secret?
 

Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible, written and illustrated by: Ursula Vernon

Ages: 8+

Harriet Hamsterbone is not your typical princess. She finds the royal life rather… dull. One day, though, Harriet's parents tell her of the curse that a rat placed on her at birth, dooming her to prick her finger on a hamster wheel when she's twelve and fall into a deep sleep. For Harriet, this is most wonderful news: It means she's invincible until she's twelve! After all, no good curse goes to waste. And so begins a grand life of adventure with her trusty riding quail, Mumfrey… until her twelfth birthday arrives and the curse manifests in a most unexpected way.

Princess Academyby Shannon Hale

Ages: 8+

Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king's priests have divined her village the home of the future princess. In a year's time, the prince will choose his bride from among the village girls.

The king's ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess. Soon, Miri finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires. Winning the contest could give her everything she ever wanted—but it would mean leaving her home and family behind.
 

Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell

Ages: 8+

Political upheaval sends Princess Tilda fleeing from her kingdom in the company of two hopeful dragon slayers. The princess never had any interest in chasing dragons—the pain from her crippled foot was too great, and her dream was to write a book. But the princess finds herself making friends with magical horses, facing the Wild Hunt, and pointing a sword at fire-breathing dragons. While doing things she never imagined, Tilda finds qualities in herself she never knew she possessed.
 

 

At Her Majesty's Request: An African Princess in Victorian England by Walter Dean Myers

Ages: 9+

One terrifying night in 1848, a young African princess's village is raided by warriors. The invaders kill her mother and father, the King and Queen, and take her captive. Two years later, a British naval captain rescues her and takes her to England where she is presented to Queen Victoria, and becomes a loved and respected member of the royal court. Illustrated with historical photographs and drawings, this is an extraordinary story of royalty on two continents, colonialism, race, class, and identity.

Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South by Laurence Yep

Ages: 9+

In 531 A.D., a fifteen-year-old princess of the Hsien tribe in southern China keeps a diary which describes her role as liaison between her own people and the local Chinese colonists, in times of both peace and war.

 

 

Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles Book One by Patricia C. Wrede

Ages: 10+

Meet Princess Cimorene—a princess who refuses to be proper. She is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart… and bored.

So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon. And not just any dragon, but Kazul—one of the most powerful and dangerous dragons arounds. Of course, Cimorene has a way of hooking up with dangerous characters, and soon she's coping with a witch, a jinn, a death-dealing talking bird, a stone prince, and some very oily wizards. If this princess ran away to find some excitement, it looks like she's found plenty! 
 

The Hero and the Crown by Robin Mckinley

Ages: 13+

Although she is the daughter of Damar's king, Aerin has never been accepted as full royalty. Both in and out of the royal court, people whisper the story of her mother, the witchwoman, who was said to have enspelled the king into marrying her to get an heir to rule Damar—then died of despair when she found she had borne a daughter instead of a son. But none of them, not even Aerin herself, can predict her future, for she is to be the true hero who will wield the power of the Blue Sword…

 

 

Princess Graphic Novels

The Courageous Princess Vol. 1: Beyond the Hundred Kingdoms, written and illustrated by Rod Espinosa

Ages: 7+

Once upon a time, a greedy dragon kidnapped a beloved princess… but if you think she just waited around for some charming prince to rescue her, then you're in for a surprise!

Princess Mabelrose may not be the fairest of the land, but she has enough brains and bravery to fend for herself in a fantasy world of danger and adventure! From a mighty dragon with an army of trolls to a tyrant tiger king, Mabelrose meets each challenge with pluck and intelligence, winning the help and friendship of the many kindred spirits she encounters in her quest to find her way home.

Princeless Vol 1.: Save Yourself, written by Jeremy Whitley; art and colors by M. Goodwin; letters by Jung Ha Kim ; edits: Shawn Gabborin

Ages: 8+

Princess Adrienne is tired of being locked in a tower, waiting around to be rescued by a prince. She escapes from the tower with the help of her guardian dragon, Sparky, and with her plucky sidekick Bedelia, sets off on a quest to rescue her sisters who are suffering the same fate.

 

Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O'Neill; edited by Ari Yarwood; designed by Fred Chao

Ages: 10+

When the heroic princess Amira rescues the kind-hearted princess Sadie from her tower prison, neither expects to find a true friend in the bargain. Yet, as they adventure across the kingdom, they discover that they bring out the very best in the other person. They'll need to join forces and use all the know-how, kindness, and bravery they have in order to defeat their greatest foe yet: a jealous sorceress with a dire grudge against Sadie. Join Sadie and Amira, two very different princesses with very different strengths, on their journey to figure out what happily ever after really means and how they can find it with each other.

 

On the morning of November 14, The New York Public Library invited the National Book Awards finalists in a visit before the winners were announced that night.

Together with local book lovers, the authors—who wrote some of the most celebrated books of the year—took in the stillness of the Rose Main Reading Room in the hours before it opened.

They took some selfies, too, and answered some of our questions about books they love, which NYPL lion they identify with most, and more. Here are their answers:

Make sure to check out the winners’ and finalists books, complete with links to the library catalog.

Want to see social media posts from the event? Look at the #NBAwardsNYPL hashtag to see what the writers and book lovers shared about their day.

Photos 

Below you'll find a selection of photos featuring the finalists enjoying the Rose Main Reading Room with some book lovers.

Updated to add: Congratulations to the 2018 winners! 

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
 

The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke by Jeffrey C. Stewart
 

Indecency by Justin Phillip Reed
 

The Poet X  by Elizabeth Acevedo
 

The Emissary by Yoko Tawada, translated by Margaret Mitsutani

We were able to spend the morning with some of the finalists on November 14 before the winners were announced that night, and ask them some of our questions. Learn more about the morning we spent with the finalists by clicking here, and check out a preview of what we asked:

Read the Finalists

In mid-October, the National Book Foundation announced the 2018 National Book Award Finalists for fiction, nonfiction, young people's literature, poetry, and translated literature. Explore the list of finalists below, and check out the titles from The New York Public Library. 

Fiction

A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley
In a debut collection of nine expansive, searching stories, the author reflects on the tenderness and vulnerability of black men and boys whose hopes sometimes betray them in a world shaped by race, gender and class—and where lucky may be the greatest lie of all.

Florida by Lauren Groff
A collection of stories spanning centuries of time in mercurial Florida examines the decisions and connections behind life-changing events in characters ranging from two abandoned sisters to a conflicted family woman.

Where the Dead Sit Talking  by Brandon Hobson
After his mother is jailed, a young Cherokee boy, Sequoyah, bonds with another Native American, Rosemary, in the foster home where they both have been placed and experienced deepening feelings for each other while dealing with the scars of their pasts.

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
A 1980s Chicago art gallery director loses his loved ones to the AIDS epidemic until his only companion is his daughter, who, decades later, grapples with the disease's wrenching impact on their family.

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
Becoming the guardian of her late best friend's enormous Great Dane, a grieving woman is evicted from her no-pets apartment and forges a deep bond with the equally distraught animal in ways that initially disturb her friends.

Nonfiction

The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of the Nation by Colin G. Calloway
Examines the complex relationship between George Washington and the Native American leaders of different tribes in the period before the American Revolution and during the conflict itself.

American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic by Victoria Johnson
Documents the lesser-known story of the early American doctor who was friend and personal physician to both Hamilton and Burr, revealing how his efforts to build America's first botanical garden helped inspired a young Republic.

Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh
Traces the author's turbulent childhood on a Kansas farm in the 1980s and 1990s to reveal her firsthand experiences with cyclical poverty and the corrosive impact of intergenerational poverty on individuals, families and communities. 

The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke by Jeffrey C. Stewart
A biography of the father of the Harlem Renaissance describes him becoming the first African American Rhodes Scholar and earning a PhD at Harvard University and promoting the work of young artists including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jacob Lawrence.

We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights by Adam Winkler
Traces the two-hundred-year history of corporate America's battle to achieve constitutional freedom from federal control, examining the civil rights debates and key events that shaped the controversial 2010 Supreme Court decision to extend constitutional protections to businesses that are in place for people.

Poetry

Wobble by Rae Armantrout
While there are glimmers here of what remains of “the natural world,” the poet confesses the human failings, personal and societal, that have led to its devastation. No one’s senses are more acutely attuned than Armantrout’s, which makes her an exceptional observer and reporter of our faults. She leaves us wondering if the American Dream may be a nightmare from which we can’t awaken. Sometimes funny, sometimes alarming, the poems in Wobble play peek-a-boo with doom.
*summary taken from National Book Award website

American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassinby Terrance Hayes
One of America’s most acclaimed poets presents 70 poems bearing the same title that, written during the first 200 days of the Trump presidency, are haunted by the country’s past and future eras and errors, its dreams and nightmares.

Ghost Of  by Diana Khoi Nguyen
A mourning song, not an exorcism or un-haunting of that which haunts, but attuned attention, unidirectional reaching across time, space, and distance to reach loved ones, ancestors, and strangers. By working with, in, and around the photographs that her brother left behind (from which he cut himself out before his death), Nguyen wrestles with what remains: memory, physical voids, and her family captured around an empty space. 
*summary taken from National Book Award website

Indecency by Justin Phillip Reed
Boldly and carefully executed and perfectly ragged. In these poems, Justin Phillip Reed experiments with language to explore inequity and injustice and to critique and lament the culture of white supremacy and the dominant social order. Political and personal, tender, daring, and insightful—the author unpacks his intimacies, weaponizing poetry to take on masculinity, sexuality, exploitation, and the prison industrial complex and unmask all the failures of the structures into which society sorts us.

Eye Level  by Jenny Xie
Animated by a restless inner questioning, these poems meditate on the forces that moor the self and set it in motion, from immigration to travel to estranging losses and departures. The sensual worlds here—colors, smells, tastes, and changing landscapes—bring to life questions about the self as seer and the self as seen. 

Young People’s Literature

The Poet X  by Elizabeth Acevedo
The daughter of devout immigrants discovers the power of slam poetry and begins participating in a school club as part of her effort to understand her mother's strict religious beliefs and her own developing relationship to the world.

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
Uptight elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is on a mission: survive being catapulted across the mountains into goblin territory, deliver a priceless peace offering to their mysterious dark lord, and spy on the goblin kingdom—from which no elf has returned alive in more than a hundred years. Brangwain’s host, the goblin archivist Werfel, is delighted to show Brangwain around. They should be the best of friends, but a series of extraordinary double crosses, blunders, and cultural misunderstandings throws these two bumbling scholars into the middle of an international crisis that may spell death for them—and war for their nations. 

The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
As he grieves his best friend Benny's death, Mason and his friend Calvin, who are targeted by the neighborhood bullies, create an underground haven for themselves, but when Calvin goes missing Mason finds himself in trouble.

The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
When his poor sharecropper father is killed in an accident and leaves the family in debt, twelve-year-old Little Charlie agrees to accompany fearsome plantation overseer Cap'n Buck north in pursuit of people who have stolen from him; Cap'n Buck tells Little Charlie that his father's debt will be cleared when the fugitives are captured, which seems like a good deal until Little Charlie comes face-to-face with the people he is chasing.

Hey, Kiddo  by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
A powerful graphic memoir traces the author's unconventional coming of age with a drug-addict mother, an absent father, and two lovingly opinionated grandparents.

Translated Literature

Disoriental  by Négar Djavadi, translated by Tina Kover
In an intricately woven tapestry of Iranian history, politics, culture, family drama and triumph, 25-year-old Kimia Sadr, facing the future she has built for herself after leaving her family behind, is inundated by her own memories and the stories of her ancestors in the waiting room of a Parisian fertility clinic.

Love by Hanne Ørstavik, translated by Martin Aitken
When a mother and son go separate ways on a winter’s night in a small village in northern Norway, each of their journeys take different turns with fatal consequences, in a novel that illustrates how distance is found not only between human beings, but also within each individual. 

Trickby Domenico Starnone, translated by Jhumpa Lahiri
A grandfather, used to living in solitude and obsessively focusing on his illustrating career, and his 4-year-old grandson match wits during a 72-hour babysitting stay in Naples. 

The Emissaryby Yoko Tawada, translated by Margaret Mitsutani
In a post-disaster Japan cut off from the rest of the world, in which children are so weak as to barely be able to walk and only the elderly have any energy, young Mumei and his great-grandfather, Yoshiro, carry on their day-to-day routine.

Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft
A meditative collection explores themes of travel, movement, and existentialism in stories that feature protagonists who question their shifting perspectives in time and space as they tackle extreme agendas.

Book descriptions taken from NYPL catalog unless otherwise noted.

November is National Veterans and Military Families Month, during which the Department of Labor honors the significant contributions made by American service members and their loved ones.

Learn more about National Veterans and Military Families Month, and celebrate with the Department of Labor at a local event, get resources to help you hire veterans, and find employment and training opportunities. 

Employment Programs

CUNY TechWorks and The Borough of Manhattan Community College Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development are now offering qualified participants a "no-cost" 22-week computer training program in Computer Netwotk Support. As IT jobs continue to grow, the need for people to learn the latest technology and become certified as skilled professionals remains in high demand. To prepare for today's competitive workforce, students will go through a series of career development workshops in soft skills training, resume preparation, and mock interviews. Participants  will meet industry leaders and graduates of this program, who will share best practices on how to be successful in the IT field. Upon completion of the training, students can earn four college credits towards their associate's degree and graduates will be referred to jobs. The next session begins January 2019. Get more information here or call 212-346-8410 / 8420.

The Borough of Manhattan Community College's Center for Continuing Education in partnership with the Manhattan Educational Opportunity Center is offering a free integrated English Language and Microsoft Excel Training Program.  The 15-week training will combine six hours of English language instruction each week with three hours of Microsoft Excel Certificate Training. Assistance with job readiness and resume preparation will be provided. Classes meet three days a week, 6 PM-9 PM, starting November 26, 2018. To register, please contact Rosa at 212-346-8895.

Apply for an Individual Training Grant (ITG). The grant pays for tuition, registration fees, testing fees, and books for in-demand trainings. ITGs are only available for training in certain occupations and at eligible training providers. Find out more about eligible occupations and training providers.

ApprenticeNYC for CNC Machinists. ApprenticeNYC is a paid full-time apprenticeship opportunity that provides classroom-based technical training and on-the-job training to help New York City job seekers develop in-demand skills in a long-term occupation with high growth potential. The computer numerically controlled (CNC) machinist track of the program provides 10 weeks of classroom training and 62 weeks of on-the-job training with employers in the advanced manufacturing sector. No experience necessary. Complete this program application form to be considered for the opportunity.

NYC Small Business Services work with the New York Alliance for Careers in Healthcare (NYACH), the city's healthcare industry partnership, and the Workforce 1 Healthcare Career Center to offer no-cost training programs that prepare New Yorkers for jobs in the healthcare field. With NYACH, NYC Small Businesss Services engage employers, educational institutions, training providers, and other partners to design training programs that provide the required skills and credentials for viable healthcare career opportunities. Opportunites are available for those interested in ambulatory care and acute care. 

Henry Street Settlement's Intern and Earn (formerly known as Young Adult Internship Program) empowers young adults to connect to careers and grow in their professional pursuits. Internships available in child care, corporate, facilities, arts, fashion, retail, tech, and more. Must be 17-24 years old and not currently working or in school. Cohort begins November 26, 2018. Info sessions to start your application for the program are held Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 11 AM at 99 Essex Street, 3rd floor, New York, NY. For information, call 212-478-5400.

The Staten Island Economic Development Corporation has launched the SI Works program to help industrial businesses fill open positions at their firms. 80+ open positions available include: CDL Driver, Mechanic, Graphic Designer, Installer/fabricator, Plumbing, Electrican, HVAC Technician, Auto Body, Welder, Accounting, Sales, Warehouse Associates, General Contractors, General Labor, Bookkeeper, and more. For immediate consideration, please email your resume to dawn@siedc.org.

The Chinese-American Planning Council Workforce Development Division offers education, training, placement, and post-placement support services to job seekers. Job training programs include BuildingWorks Pre-Apprenticeship Training, Hospitality Careers, and LVMH Fundamentals in Luxury Retail Training.

The CUNY Fatherhood Academy at LaGuardia Community College is now recruiting for the 16-week HSE prep program, which prepares fathers for the TASC exam and provides a range of academic and personal supports including tutoring, individualized counseling, financial literacy workshops, and parenting workshops. This free program is for unemployed and underemployed fathers between the ages of 18 and 30. For more information, get details here, or call 718-730-7336.

The CUNY LaGuardia TechHire - OpenCode program is an accelerated training in web development, software development, and networking administration to help young adults launch careers in high-growth, high-demand technology jobs.  Scholarships may be available for eligible young adults, aged 17-29. OpenCode students learn programming fundamentals, product development, and web development to prepare for jobs as front-end web developers. Classes will start February 2019. Apply now here.

Under the America's Promise CUNY TechWorks Program, Queensborough Community College (QCC) offers an Applied Software Development Training Program covering web client programming, systems design and implementation, and smartphone application development. This hands-on, tech skills training program culminates in a capstone application development class focused on building students' professional programming portfolios. Credits earned can be applied towards QCC's AAS degree in Information and Internet Technology. For more information, call 718-631-6343. 

The Cooper Union Retraining Program for Immigrant Engineers at CAMBA assists underemployed or unemployed immigrant engineers and IT professionals in gaining access to higher-paying  jobs through training and job placement assistance. The program includes night and weekend courses in information technology and chemical, mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering, taught by Cooper Union faculty and field experts. Since its inception in 1987, the Retraining Program for Immigrant Engineers has placed 3,000 immigrant engineers into careers.

Brooklyn Workforce Innovations - Red Hook on the Road helps unemployed New Yorkers start new careers in commercial driving. After four weeks of classroom and behind-the-wheel training, students are prepared to take the NYS Commercial Driver's License (CDL) road test. Once students are licensed, Red Hook on the Road places graduates in a variety of jobs that move people and products throughout the city. Apply now.

YearUp aligns job training with corporate partner needs and market trends to ensure that the skills students learn will be in demand. Learn valuable technical and professional skills, and gain work experience during internships at top companies. Earn a stipend throughout the program (while you train and during your internship) and complete courses eligible for college credits.

Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation's (NMIC) YouthBuild: Business Bootcamp is a five-month training program for out-of-school young people. Services include High School Equivalency Diploma, Customer Service Certificate, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Certification (CPR), business plan creation with NYC Business Solutions, engaging in employment readiness training, and receiving job placement assistance. Open registration is held every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday beginning at 11:30 AM. Test begins at 12:45 PM. For more information, call 212-453-5369.

Discover Accounting includes state-by-state guides on becoming a CPA, salaries, and educational requirements. If you are looking for more advanced accounting topics, you'll find information in their comprehensive career guide and career comparisons.

New York City Career Center Events and Recruiting

For specific information on all career events in NYC this week, please search the New York State Department of Labor Career Center Events.

Intro to Social Media: Monday, November 19, 2018, 9:30 AM-12:30 PM at Brooklyn Workforce 1 Career Center, 250 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Get an understanding of social media, and learn how you can use social media sites to help your job search. For information, call 718-780-9200.

Upgrade a Resume: Monday, November 19, 2018,  1 PM-3:30 PM at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham Road, 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. This workshop walks job seekers through the steps for upgrading their resumes and provides intensive one-on-one feedback on each participant's resume. Attendees must have an electronic version of their resume, available either in their email or on a flash drive. Duration: two hours. Check-in time: 1:00 PM-1:30 PM. For information, call 718-960-2458.

Interviewing Workshop (Spanish): Monday, November 19, 2018, 2  PM-4:15 PM at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham Road, 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. Check-in: 2:00 PM-2:15 PM. For information, call 718-960-7901.

Career Development Workshop: Tuesday, November 20, 2018, 10:30 AM-12:30 PM at Brooklyn Workforce 1 Career Center, 250 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.  Learn the value of the career exploration process and how it can positively impact your career path. For information, call 718-780-9200.

Job Search Planning (English): Tuesday, November 20, 2018, 2 PM-4:15 PM at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham Road, 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. Participants will learn or improve job search skills that can help in their job search process. Check-in: 2:00 PM-2:15 PM. For information, call 718-960-7901.

Benefits of Exploring Job Zone: Wednesday, November 21, 2018, 2 PM-4:15 PM at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham Road, 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. Participants will learn and explore how to use Job Zone, an interactive resource, to help manage their careers. Check-in: 2:00 PM-2:15 PM. For information, call 718-960-7901.

Individual Resume Review/Career Advisement: Friday, November 23, 2018, 8:30 AM-11 AM, at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham Road, 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. Customers must arrive at the starting time and will be seen on a one-on-one basis as advisors become available. Duration: up to approximately two hours. Check in: 8:30 AM-9:00 AM. Space is limited; first come, first served. Must have resume in PDF form. For information, call 718-960-2458.

Create a Resume:  Friday, November 23, 2018, 1 PM-3:30 PM at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham Road, 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. This workshop is designed to walk job seekers through the steps for building an effective resume, which is a critical component of getting a job. Must have knowledge of computer use. Duration: two hours. Check-in: 1:00 PM-1:30 PM. For information, call 718-960-2458.

Create a Resume (Spanish): Friday, November 23, 2018, 8:45 AM-11 AM at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham Rd., 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. This workshop is designed to walk job seekers through the steps for building an effective resume, which is a critical component of getting a job. Must have knowledge of computer use. Duration: two hours. Check-in: 8:45 AM-9:00 AM.

Job Postings and Assistance

Job Postings at New York City Workforce 1.

Apprenticeship Opportunities in New York City.

Available jobs via Brooklyn Community Board 14.

The New York City Employment and Training Coalition (NYCE&TC) is an association of 200 community-based organizations, educational institutions, and labor unions that annually provide job training and employment services to over 750,000 New Yorkers, including welfare recipients, unemployed workers, low-wage workers, at-risk youth, the formerly incarcerated, immigrants and the mentally and physically disabled. View NYCE&TC Job Listings.

Digital NYC is the official online hub of the New York City startup and technology ecosystem, bringing together every company, startup, investor, event, job, class, blog, video, workplace, accelerator, incubator, resource, and organization in the five boroughs. Search jobs by category on this site.

St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development provides free job training and educational programs in Environmental Response and Remediation Tec (ERRT), Commercial Driver's License, Pest Control Technician Training (PCT), Employment Search, Prep Training and Job Placement, Earn Benefits, and Career Path Center. For information and assistance, please visit St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development or call 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.

CMP (formerly Chinatown Manpower Project) in lower Manhattan is now recruiting for free training in Quickbooks, Basic Accounting, and Excel. This training is open to anyone receiving food stamps but no cash assistance. Classes run for eight weeks, followed by one-on-one meetings with a job developer.

CMP also provides Free Home Health Aide Training for bilingual English/Cantonese speakers receiving food stamps but no cash assistance. Training runs Mondays through Fridays for six weeks, and includes test prep and 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 on the above CMP training programs, email info@cmpny.org, call 212-571-1690, or visit the CMP website. CMP also provides tuition-based healthcare and business training free to students who are entitled to ACCESS funding.

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 backgrounds. For information, call 212-832-7605.
 

Please note that this page will be revised when more recruitment events for the week of November 18  become available.

Please join TeenLIVE, NYPLarcade, and MyLibraryNYC for the 11th annual International Games Day on Saturday, November 17! This all-ages event celebrates play, literacy, and games at the New York Public Library.

Activities will include videogames for all ages, tabletop games for ages 5 and up, and virtual reality headsets for adults and teens (with a parent or guardian signature). Admission is free and open to the public.

For your free ticket, RSVP now via Eventbrite!

Invite your friends, family members, and classmates, and we'll see you from 11 AM to 5 PM in the Celeste Bartos Forum of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. The nearest entrance is on 42nd Street near 5th Avenue.

International Games Day 2018: Gaming Schedule

Donut County

(Ben Esposito, 2018) A physics-based puzzle game in which players control an ever-growing hole, which eventually expands to swallow everything (and everyone) on the screen.

Minit

(JW, Kitty, Jukio, and Dom, 2018) A Zelda-like adventure game in which players have just 60 seconds to finish their quest. However, every time players find an item, the game saves their progress, resulting in a fun, recursive narrative with whimsical characters and head-scratching puzzles.

Towerfall

(Matt Makes Games Inc., 2013) Now available for the Nintendo Switch, bringing its gleeful, chaotic, local multiplayer fun to even more players. Experience all of the pixelated, archery action on the big screen!

Hollow Knight

(Team Cherry, 2017) An adventure game set in the mysterious, expansive insect world of Hallownest. With stunning animations, game feel, and a deep, lore-filled narrative, this platformer will appeal to fans of Symphony of the Night, Super Metroid, and Dark Souls.

Into the Breach

(Subset Games, 2018) The follow-up to the brilliant roguelike FTL: Faster Than Light. Skillfully pilot (and sometimes sacrifice) giant, time-travelling robots to save civilization from alien attacks in this thrilling, turn-based, micro-strategy game.

Return of the Obra Dinn

(Lucas Pope, 2018) A monochromatic, first-person, mystery game set in 1807, in which players assume the role of an insurance adjustor investigating the grim fates of the crew of the Obra Dinn, a ship assumed lost at sea.
 

If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Knowlton at thomasknowlton@nypl.org. You can also follow us on Twitter (@nyplarcade) to learn about upcoming NYPLarcade events.

NYPLarcade is an opportunity to play, watch, and discuss independent, experimental, and thought-provoking games in a library setting. Think of it as a book club, but for video games.

TeenLIVE programs are sponsored by the Andreas C. Dracopoulos Family Endowment for Young Audiences.
 

Balloons cruising down Broadway on a bright Thursday morning. Children asking for candy. Celebratory dinners commemorating an event from centuries ago. We're talking about Thanksgiving… but did you know about New York City's other late-November traditions?

In the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, our librarians have uncovered lesser-known late-November traditions, and shared how Library collections reveal these hidden histories. Using ProQuest Historical Newspapers, and the Library's vast digital collections of New York City photographs, we also opened a chapter of the famous Thanksgiving holiday processional that might be news to researchers.

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this cornucopia full of fun facts about parades and other holiday weekend events in the City That Never Sleeps. (Note: links to ProQuest articles can be viewed outside the Library with a valid NYPL Library Card barcode.)

Up, Up and Away: Macy's Parade Balloons Weren't Always Grounded

The Thanksgiving Day parade began in 1924 when store employees asked for a Christmas celebration, or so Macy's lore goes. (It was known as the "Christmas Parade" until 1939, whenThe New York Times referred to it as the "Thanksgiving Parade" in a radio listing.) By 1927, the parade included balloons on sticks; the next year, there were helium-filled cartoon characters designed by Tony Sarg.

But, get this: Macy's used to release the balloons at the end of the parade. It doesn't take long to find evidence of this in the local history photograph collections.

A quick search using our historical newspaper databases provides all the details. In 1928, the "Sky Tiger" was the first released balloon to land; it touched down on a roof in Richmond Hill, Queens, and "a tug of war ensued for its possession" between the homeowner's sons and seemingly random "neighbors and motorists" who "rushed up from all directions". And no wonder: Macy's offered a $100 prize to anyone who returned the balloons to the store.

Then the stakes got higher: By 1931, Macy's added post cards with "prize-winning numbers" and released more balloons, and—it was the Great Depression, after all—people got excited. The dragon, which was one of the largest balloons, eventually "returned to the store in remnants" because a "crowd on [the Jamaica Bay] shore tore it to pieces when they brought it in".

But a blue hippopotamus drifted out to sea, apparently, and was never seen again, as detailed in The New York Times:

The hippo's whereabouts are still unknown.

The day after that same parade, Felix the Cat met a fiery end in New Jersey. The headline:

TOY CAT EXPIRES IN BLAZE: Felix, the Macy Balloon, Floats Into High-Tension Wire

And as the skies filled with more airplanes over the years, the days of balloons floating into the wild blue were numbered. In 1932, 22-year-old Annette Gibson allegedly steered a plane directly into an ascending balloon, in an attempt to down it; her actions became front-page news, as seen in the New York Times headline "Fliers Hit Balloon, Plunge 5,000 Feet":

The Times reported, "Officials of R. H. Macy & Co. pointed out… they had warned fliers through the newspapers not to go after the balloons; that they had specifically stated that no prize money would go to aviators who downed the helium-filled monsters with propeller blades." Interviewed later, Ms. Gibson seemed blasé; she did not collect any prize money.

Finally, in 1933, the store announced the end of the nascent tradition. But photographer Percy Loomis Sperr captured a few years' worth of the balloons' ascents, and you can scroll through them in our Digital Collections.

Before the parade passed by, there were other late-November traditions in New York City.

Ragamuffin Day

Did you know about Ragamuffin Day? Tykes in costumes, going door-to-door after Thanksgiving? From the Milstein Division, enjoy this 2010 history of the dressup holiday event.

Evacuation Day

Well before Ragamuffin Day, New Yorkers actively celebrated the end of Revolutionary-era British occupation (1776–1783) with "Evacuation Day", every November 25. A keen-eyed reader pointed out there were still celebrations, albeit in smaller venues, when we published this post on the New York City holiday and related Library resources in 2014.

Got an appetite for more Library resources? You can explore these related posts:

Native American History Month

Signed into law in 2008, the Friday after Thanksgiving is Native American Heritage Day, a national civil holiday. The same year the holiday was established, NYPL Librarian Paula Baxter was inspired by the postcard below* to pen a blog post to coincide with Native American History Month.

*Baxter saw the postcard's caption as a pun, but it is more likely that the pioneering photo-chromolithographic firm, Detroit Publishing Company, used "thanksgiving" in the sense of return of a harvest, not a play on "Happy Thanksgiving".

Thanksgiving Recipes and Recommendations

If you're still hungry, heroes, feast on the following:

• Recipe recommendations
• Morris Huberland (1909–2003) photos of the parade 
• Louis Stettner's (1922–2016) street photography
• Other NYPL Thanksgiving content from the blog, including books, films, and titles for families

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts

Did you know that James Baldwin wrote a children's book? Little Man, Little Man tells the story of a day in Harlem as experience by a young boy named TJ, who in real life happened to be Baldwin's nephew. The actual TJ had asked his famous uncle when he was going to write a book about him. Baldwin delivered, but the result was published in 1976 to confused and ambivalent reviews that didn't know what to make of the language, which didn't fit the mold of other children's books, or the story's inclusion of gun violence, drug addition, and police brutality. It quickly went out of print. Now 40 years later, that book has been republished.

Baldwin's niece and nephew, Aisha Karefa-Smart and Tejan "TJ" Karefa-Smart stopped by the Schomburg for Research in Black Culture to talk about their childhood and memories of their uncle. Joining them were the co-editors of the new edition of the book, Jennifer DeVere Brody and Nicholas Boggs. Their conversation was moderated by author and National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Jacqueline Woodson.

The New York Public Library is thrilled to announce our Best Books of 2018, a curated selection of recommended reads for kids, teens, and adults, selected by our expert librarians!

These books encompass an array of genre and feature compelling characters, diverse stories, and inspiring ideas. Whether you’re in search of picture books or YA novels, page-turners or love stories, you’re sure to find a title that will delight or surprise you.

Explore the top 10 titles for kids, teens, and adults below, or explore the full lists for kids, teens, and adults. Happy reading! 

Best Books for Kids: Top 10

This list is a century-old tradition in which the New York Public Library’s librarians and other book experts select 100 noteworthy children's titles from several categories, ranging from picture books to middle-grade fiction, graphic novels, folklore & fairy tales, poetry, and nonfiction. The committee read every children's book, published in the United States in 2018, that they could get their hands on.

Below are their top 10 showstopper favorites, but be sure to  check out the whole list at nypl.org/kids2018.  And let us know what you think in the comments below, or on social media with the hashtag #BestBooks!

Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol

Stella Diaz Has Something to Say by Angela Dominguez

Water Land: Land and Water Forms Around the World by Christy Hale

Jabberwalking by Juan Felipe Herrera

The Funeral by Matt James

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

Night Job by Karen Hesse, art by G. Brian Karas

Inkling by Kenneth Oppel, art by Sydney Smith

Old Misery by James Sage, art by Russell Ayto

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman
 

Check out the whole list at nypl.org/kids2018.

Best Books for Teens: Top 10

A committee of 20 dedicated library staff members read (and read and read) all the young-adult books published in 2018 that we could get our hands on. Then we debated, voted, and came up with our 50 favorite books of the year—fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, comic books, fantasy, history, romance, sports, and more.

Check out the full list at nypl.org/teens2018. And let us know what you think in the comments below, or on social media with the hashtag #BestBooks.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Fatal Throne by M.T. Anderson, et. al.

Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner

X-Men: Grand Design by Ed Piskor

Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Check, Please! #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Check out the whole list at nypl.org/teens2018.

Best Books for Adults: Top 10 

We asked our staff to send us titles that were published between January and December 2018, and that they felt deserve a place on best-of-the-year list. The results were as broad and diverse as our collections.

Without further ado, NYPL's top 10 books of 2018 are below, and the full list of our top 100 books is available at nypl.org/adults2018. 

If They Come for Us: Poems by Fatimah Asghar

French Exit by Patrick deWitt

Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal

Barracoon: The Story of the Last ‘Black Cargo’ by Zora Neale Hurston

Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot

I'll Be Gone In the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

Circe by Madeline Miller

A State of Freedom by Neel Mukherjee

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

There There by Tommy Orange

Check out the whole list at nypl.org/adults2018.

About the Best Books of 2018

Explore the Best Books lists for kids, teens, and adults, or explore the Best Books lists from previous years.

Check out the library staff members behind the lists.

Need a library card? Any person who lives, works, attends school or pays property taxes in New York State is eligible to receive a New York Public Library card free of charge. Sign up for a card today.

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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations.

 该列表有PDF格式 - The list is available in PDF format.

Cписок доступен в формате PDF - The list is available in PDF format.

As part of our 2nd annual East Village Arts Festival, we are working with local galleries and community members on our first Gallery Walk. We encourage our neighbors to get out and enjoy the rich arts culture of our neighborhood.

Please stop by the Tompkins Square Library after November 23 for a flyer, which you can get stamped at each gallery you visit. If you visit at least three galleries between December 1 and 15, you can enter a raffle at the Library for some fabulous prizes! 

East Village Arts Festival Gallery Walk

3A Gallery, 629 East 6th Street #1, New York, NY 10009

Current Exhibition: Lunatick: A photo and video installation concerning the mind/body problem, by Barbara Ess. November 11 to December 30, 2018. Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 2 PM–5 PM and by appontment.
 

Bullet Space, 292 East 3rd Street, New York, NY 10009

Will host gallery tours Saturdays, December 1 and 8, at 11 AM. Current exhibition: Shoot the Pump. Curated by Lee Quiñones, Alexandra Rojas, Andrew Castrucci

Ed. Varie, 184 East 7th Street, New York, NY 10009

Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 12 PM-6 PM and by appointment.
 

         Gathering of Tribes, 745 East 6th Street, Apt. 1A, New York NY 10009.

        Gallery Hours: by appointment. 

Kinescope Gallery, 616 East 9th Street, New York, NY 10009

Drifters, a video installation by Molly Schwartz, will be on view daily from the sidewalk, 3 PM-9 PM, December 1st, 2018 through January 6th, 2019. Exhibitions are viewable from the street daily. (Note: Please take a photo of the exhibition from outside to count towards entrance in the                                                       raffle.)
 

The Living Gallery Outpost, 246 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10009

Current Exhibition: OGAWA WASHI "1300 Years of History" by artists Rie Hasegawa, Satoco Yamamoto, Keiko Miyamori, and Chiaki Morita. Sunday, December 2nd, 10 AM-6 PM. Free Activity: decorating Washi postcards. 

The Loisaida Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY 10009

Current Exhibition: Picking Up the Pieces: Prohibido Olvidar. By multidisciplinary visual artist, Adrián Román. Hours: Tuesdays - Fridays, 11 AM-5 PM.

The Phatory, 618 East 9th Street, New York, NY 10009

Gallery Hours: Tuesdays - Saturdays, 1 PM-5:30 PM.

Special Special Gallery, 44 East 1st Street, Storefront West, New York, NY 10003

Current Exhibition: A holiday shop-style show titled "Handle with Care." November 14 - early January. Gallery Hours: Wednesdays - Saturdays 12 PM-7 PM, Sundays 12 PM-6 PM, Mondays and Tuesdays by appointment.
 

Theresa Byrnes Gallery (TBG), 616 East 9th Street, New York, NY 10009

Current Exhibition: THE SNAKE: power without control: TACTICAL STREAM #4. November 30 - December 16. Tom Otterness, Theresa Byrnes, Heide Hatry, Perry Kahlil, and more artists to be announced soon. Opening Friday November 30, 6 PM-8 PM. Gallery hours: Thursdays - Sundays, 2 PM-7PM, or by appointment.
 

Turn Gallery, 37 E 1st Street, New York, NY 10003

Current Exhibition: PAPER BOUND with artists Susumu Kamijo, Kimia Ferdowsi Kline, Emma Kohlmann, and Mason Saltarrelli. Through December 16. Gallery Hours: Wednesdays - Sundays 11 AM-6 PM.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Whether you're cooking turkey for 20 or opting out of Thanksgiving entirely, books about food are always in season. Frank and Gwen talk about their favorite cookbooks and chef memoirs with NYPL's resident foodie, Jeanne Hodesh, and offer some family recipes of their very own. 

Check out our live show on Dec. 4!

Frank and Gwen will be talking to Eric Klinenberg, author of Palaces for the People, at Frank's own Jefferson Market Library! Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 6:30 p.m. -- click here for all the details.

Guest Star: Jeanne Hodesh, public programming at NYPL and foodie extraordinaire 

Food memoirs:

• The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food by Judith Jones
• Memories of a Lost Egyptby Colette Rossant
• Blood, Bones, & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
• Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser
• The audiobooks of Anthony Bourdain
• Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me with Apples, and Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichel

More recommendations:

• The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen (and the Moosewood archives at Cornell University Library)
• Fannie Farmer cookbooks
• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
• Salt Fat Acid Heat

And few more books that Jeanne wanted to mention:

• My Soul Looks Back by Jessica B. Harris
• Consider the Oyster and Long Ago in France by MFK Fisher
• My Life in France byJulia Child

Our recipes:

Frank's mom's green mold recipe is above!

Jeanne's Cranberry Curd Tart from the New York Times

Gwen's Aunt Isabelle's pumpkin bread(this is still good even if it isn't quite the way she used to make it!):
2 C flour
1 tspns baking soda
3/4 tspn cinnamon (more?)
3/4 tspn nutmeg
1/2 tspn salt 
1/4 ginger
1 C sugar
1/2 C packed brown sugar (dark?)
1 C  (16 oz) canned pumpkin (more?)
1/2 C oil
2 eggs
1/4 C water
1 C coarsely chopped walnuts

Grease 9x5x3 loaf pan

Combine flower, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and ginger in bowl

In a large bowl, put both sugars, pumpkin, oil and eggs and beat until well-mixed

Add flour mixture and beat until just blended

Stir in water and nuts and pour into pan and bake at 350 until golden on top and knife in center is clean, 65-90 min

Note:  if you double the receipe, it makes 3 loaves -- use different bowls for mixing because of volume.

How to listen to The Librarian Is In

Subscribing to The Librarian Is In on your mobile device is the easiest way to make sure you never miss an episode. Episodes will automatically download to your device, and be ready for listening every other Thursday morning

On your iPhone or iPad:
Open the purple “Podcasts” app that’s preloaded on your phone. If you’re reading this on your device, tap this link to go straight to the show and click “Subscribe.” You can also tap the magnifying glass in the app and search for “The New York Public Library Podcast.”

On your Android phone or tablet:
Open the orange “Play Music” app that’s preloaded on your device. If you’re reading this on your device, click this link to go straight to the show and click “Subscribe.” You can also tap the magnifying glass icon and search for “The New York Public Library Podcast.” 

Or if you have another preferred podcast player, you can find “The New York Public Library Podcast” there. (Here’s the RSS feed.)

From a desktop or laptop:
Click the “play” button above to start the show. Make sure to keep that window open on your browser if you’re doing other things, or else the audio will stop. You can always find the latest episode at nypl.org/podcast.

Technically, there are only two ways to become a princess: 1. Be born the daughter of a king or queen or, 2. Marry a prince.

Obviously not every girl can be born to royalty, and while it is possible to fall in love and marry a prince (Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle did it!), there are only so many eligible princes in the world. Still, that does not mean a girl cannot be a princess at heart.

In the words of Sara Crewe, the indomitable heroine of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic, A Little Princess:

"It's true," she said. "Sometimes I do pretend I am a princess. I pretend I am a princess, so that I can try and behave like one."

In the spirit of A Little Princess and National Princess Day, celebrated on November 18, we have gathered a list of picture book recommendations to help ensure your princess-in-training grows up to embody all of the aspects that make a true princess: kindness, individuality, courage, fierceness, and the strength to stay true to herself in the face of adversity!

For your slightly older princesses-in-training, check out our exciting chapter book recommendations! 

Princess Picture Books

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko

The Princess Elizabeth is slated to marry Prince Ronald when a dragon attacks the castle and kidnaps Ronald. In resourceful and humorous fashion, Elizabeth finds the dragon, outsmarts him, and rescues Ronald—who is less than pleased at her un-princess-like appearance. 

Not All Princesses Dress in Pink by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple; illustrated by Anne-Sophie Lanquetin

Not all princesses dress in pink. Some play in bright red socks that stink,
blue team jerseys that don’t quite fit, accessorized with a baseball mitt, and a sparkly crown!

Princesses come in all kinds. Exuberant text from Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi Yolen Stemple paired with charming illustrations prove that girls can jump in mud puddles and climb trees, play sports and make messes—all while wearing their tiaras! Not every girl has a passion for pink, but all young ladies will love this empowering affirmation of their importance and unlimited potential.
 

Not One Damsel in Distress: World Folktales for Strong Girls, collected and told by Jane Yolen; illustrated by Susan Guevara

A collection of 13 traditional tales from various parts of the world, with the main character of each being a fearless, strong, heroic, and resourceful woman.

Princesses Wear Pants by Savannah Guthrie and Allison Oppenheim; illustrated by Eva Byrne

Princess Penelope lives in a beautiful palace with a closet full of beautiful dresses. But being a princess is much, much more than beauty. In fact, every morning, Princess Penelope runs right past her frilly dresses to choose from her beloved collection of pants!

Unfortunately for Princess Penelope, not everyone in the Pineapple Kingdom thinks pants are always appropriate princess attire. When the grand Lady Busyboots demands that Princess Penelope must wear a gown to the annual Pineapple Ball, the young royal finds a clever way to express herself. Penelope’s courage (and style choices) result in her saving the day! 
 

Princess Hair written and illustrated by Sharee Miller

Celebrate different hair shapes, textures, and styles in this self-affirming picture book! From dreadlocks to blowouts to braids, Princess Hair shines a spotlight on the beauty and diversity of black hair, showing young readers that every kind of hair is princess hair.

The Water Princess by Susan Verde and Georgie Badiel; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Based on supermodel Georgie Badiel’s childhood, a young girl dreams of bringing clean drinking water to her African village.

With its wide sky and warm earth, Princess Gie Gie’s kingdom is a beautiful land. But clean drinking water is scarce in her small African village. And try as she might, Gie Gie cannot bring the water closer; she cannot make it run clearer. Every morning, she rises before the sun to make the long journey to the well. Instead of a crown, she wears a heavy pot on her head to collect the water. After the voyage home, after boiling the water to drink and clean with, Gie Gie thinks of the trip that tomorrow will bring. And she dreams. She dreams of a day when her village will have cool, crystal-clear water of its own.
 

Dangerously Ever After written by Dashka Slater; illustrated by Valeria Docampo

Not all princesses are made of sugar and spice—some are made of funnier, fiercer stuff!

Princess Amanita laughs in the face of danger. Brakeless bicycles, pet scorpions, spiky plants—that's her thing. So when quiet Prince Florian gives her roses, Amanita is unimpressed… until she sees their glorious thorns! Now she must have rose seeds of her own. But when huge, honking noses grow instead, what is a princess with a taste for danger to do?
 

Princess Tales Around the World: Once Upon a Time in Rhyme with Seek-and-Find Pictures adapted by Grace Maccarone; illustrated by Gail de Marcken

Ten of the most beloved princess stories are ingeniously retold and splendidly illustrated―with cleverly hidden pictures―by author Grace Maccarone and artist Gail de Marcken. From Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty, The Princess and the Pea to Snow White, these favorite tales will delight readers, happily ever after.
 

The Emperor and the Kite by Jane Yolen

Largely ignored by her own family, Princess Djeow Seow spends her days playing with a kite made from paper and sticks. But when the Emperor is imprisoned in a high tower, only the Princess can save the day, flying her kite high up into the sky to rescue her father.

Princess Grace by Mary Hoffman; illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu

This year, two girls will be selected as princesses in the town parade, and Grace can’t wait to be one of them. It’s the perfect opportunity to dress up but how, exactly, should a princess costume look? Grace asks her teacher for help and soon, the whole class is learning there’s more to princesses than pink dresses and frills. From Kenya to China and from warriors to spies, princesses are a multicultural and multi-talented bunch, and there are just as many kinds of happily-ever-afters, both for the royals and for Grace’s community and its princess parade.

The Secret Lives of Princesses by Philippe Lechermeier; illustrated by Rebecca Dautremer

Discover the hidden lives of such lesser-known figures as Princess Molly Coddle, Princess Miss Hap, and Princess Anne Phibian, in this book that reveals where they live, what they whisper about, and what sorts of pets they own.

The Princess Knight by Cornelia Funke; illustrated by Kerstin Meyer

Violetta, a little princess, is determined to become as big and strong as her brothers. She secretly teaches herself to become the bravest and cleverest knight in the land until she must face the king's best knights in a jousting tournament. Will she be ready?

The U.S. Department of Education designed the School Ambassador Fellowship program to enable outstanding teachers, principals and other school leaders, like school counselors and librarians, to bring their school and classroom expertise to the Department and expand their knowledge of the national dialogue and education. In turn, School Ambassador Fellows facilitate the learning and input of other educators and community members.

The mission of the School Ambassador Fellowship is to improve education for students by involving educators in the development and implementation of national education policy. The Fellowship seeks to:

• Create a community of teachers, principals, and other school staff members who share expertise and collaborate with leaders in the Federal government on national education issues
• Involve educators who work daily with students and teachers in developing policies that affect classrooms and schools
• Highlight practitioners' voices and expand educators' critical leadership at the national, state, and local levels

Throughout their Fellowship year, School Ambassador Fellows collaborate as a team and with Alumni Fellows to:

• Learn about federal education policy and the Education Department (ED)
• Reach out to teachers and schools in the field
• Reflect with ED staff on the knowledge gained

For more information on how the Fellowship works, please see the Fellowship Program Overview and Applicant Information.

Employment Programs

The nation's largest public library system, The New York Public Library, is hiring! Browse openings for all sorts of positions on our Careers page and discover jobs across our 92 locations in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island.

CUNY TechWorks and The Borough of Manhattan Community College Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development are now offering qualified participants a "no-cost" 22-week computer training program in Computer Netwotk Support. As IT jobs continue to grow, the need for people to learn the latest technology and become certified as skilled professionals remains in high demand. To prepare for today's competitive workforce, students will go through a series of career development workshops in soft skills training, resume preparation, and mock interviews. Participants  will meet industry leaders and graduates of this program, who will share best practices on how to be successful in the IT field. Upon completion of the training, students can earn four college credits towards their associate's degree and graduates will be referred to jobs. The next session begins January 2019. For more information, call 212-346-8410 / 8420.

The Borough of Manhattan Community College's Center for Continuing Education  in partnership with the Manhattan Educational Opportunity Center is offering a free integrated English Language and Microsoft Excel Training Program.  The 15-week training will combine six hours of English language instruction each week with three hours of Microsoft Excel Certificate Training. Assistance with job readiness and resume preparation will be provided. Classes meet three days a week, 6 PM-9 PM, starting November 26, 2018. To register, please contact Rosa at 212-346-8895.

Comunilife is a community-based health and housing service provider that supports the needs of more than 3,000 low-income  and vulnerable New Yorkers. It arranges short-term supportive housing for recently discharged hospital patients who lack appropriate housing in which to recuperate. More than half of their clients are Hispanic with limited English-speaking ability, and more than 40%  are African American. Current job openings include Administrative Assistant, Case Manager, Clinical Coordinator, Housing Development Project Manager, and more.

Brooklyn Public Library Adult Learning in partnership with BEOC is now offering Medical Billing and E-Records Training administered  by the New York City College of Technology. Medical Billing and E-Records Training helps build careers in the medical and health insurance fields. Upon successful completion, participants will be prepared to take the national certification exam to become a Certified Billing and Coding Specialist; participants will be able to use medical billing software and job placement assistance is available. The 15-week program will run from February to May 2019. To enroll, applicants must attend an information /registration session at Pacific Library (25 4th Avenue) on Wednesday, November 28 at 5:30 PM or Saturday, December 15 at 10:30 AM. For more information, call 718-622-4460.

The Chinese-American Planning Council Workforce Development Division offers education, training, placement, and post-placement support services to job seekers. Job training programs include BuildingWorks Pre-Apprenticeship Training, Hospitality Careers, and LVMH Fundamentals in Luxury Retail Training.

NYC Small Business Services work with the New York Alliance for Careers in Healthcare (NYACH),  the city's healthcare industry partnership, and the Workforce 1 Healthcare Career Center to offer no-cost training programs that prepare New Yorkers for jobs in the healthcare field. With NYACH, NYC Small Businesss Services engage employers, educational institutions, training providers, and other partners to design training programs that provide the required skills and credentials for viable healthcare career opportunities. Opportunites are available for those interested in ambulatory care and acute care.  

Apply for an Individual Training Grant (ITG). The grant pays for tuition, registration fees, testing fees, and books for in-demand trainings. ITGs are only available for training in certain occupations and at eligible training providers. Find out more about eligible occupations and training providers.

ApprenticeNYC for CNC Machinists. ApprenticeNYC is a paid full-time apprenticeship opportunity that provides classroom-based technical training and on-the-job training to help New York City job seekers develop in-demand skills in a long-term occupation with high growth potential. The computer numerically controlled (CNC) machinist track of the program provides 10 weeks of classroom training and 62 weeks of on-the-job training with employers in the advanced manufacturing sector. No experience necessary. Complete this program application form to be considered for the opportunity.

Opportunities For a Better Tomorrow Youth Education and Job Training Program. Get the credentials and skills you need to gain employment and thrive in your career. You will receive preparation to take the exams required to achieve certifications in Microsoft Service, Hospitality Front Desk, and/or National Retail Federation Customer Service. You will be assigned to a supervisor (counselor) who monitors your progress and offers one-on-one assistance with personal, educational, and career problems, and also helps you improve your soft skills, such as professional behavior, attire, attitude, and communication. Classes run Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM-4:00 PM. For more information, call 917-342-5279.

Henry Street Settlement's Intern and Earn (formerly known as Young Adult Internship Program) empowers young adults to connect to careers and grow in their professional pursuits. Internships available in child care, corporate, facilities, arts, fashion, retail, tech, and more. Must be 17-24 years old and not currently working or in school. Cohort begins November 26, 2018. Info sessions to start your application for the program are held Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 11 AM at 99 Essex Street, 3rd floor, New York, NY. For information, call 212-478-5400.

The Cooper Union Retraining Program for Immigrant Engineers at CAMBA assists underemployed or unemployed immigrant engineers and IT professionals in gaining access to higher-paying  jobs through training and job placement assistance. The program includes night and weekend courses in information technology and chemical, mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering, taught by Cooper Union faculty and field experts. Since its inception in 1987, the Retraining Program for Immigrant Engineers has placed 3,000 immigrant engineers into careers.

YearUp aligns job training with corporate partner needs and market trends to ensure the skills students learn will be in demand. Learn valuable technical and professional skills, and gain work experience during internships at top companies. Earn a stipend throughout the program (while you train and during your internship) and complete courses eligible for college credits.

Under the America's Promise CUNY TechWorks Program, Queensborough Community College (QCC) offers an Applied Software Development Training Program covering web client programming, systems design and implementation, and smartphone application development. This hands-on, tech skills training program culminates in a capstone application development class focused on building students' professional programming portfolios. Credits earned can be applied towards QCC's AAS degree in Information and Internet Technology. For more information, call 718-631-6343. 

CUNY LaGuardia TechHire - OpenCode program is an accelerated training in web development, software development, and networking administration to help young adults launch careers in high-growth, high-demand technology jobs.  Scholarships may be available for eligible young adults, ages 17-29. OpenCode students learn programming fundamentals, product development, and web development to prepare for jobs as front-end web developers. Classes will start February 2019. Apply now here.

The CUNY Fatherhood Academy at LaGuardia Community College is now recruiting for the 16-week HSE prep program, which prepares fathers for the TASC exam and provides a range of academic and personal supports including tutoring, individualized counseling, financial literacy workshops, and parenting workshops. This free program is for unemployed and underemployed fathers between the ages of 18 and 30. For more information, get details here, or call 718-730-7336.

Brooklyn Networks is a free six-week training program that helps unemployed and underemployed individuals access careers in low-voltage cabling. The course prepares graduates to obtain the industry-recognized BICSI credential, followed by work in fields like voice and data cabling, security system installation, broadcast cabling, and A/V system installation. For more information, call 718-237-2017 x149 and find and attend an information session.

Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation's (NMIC) YouthBuild: Business Bootcamp is a five-month training program for out-of-school young people. Services include High School Equivalency Diploma, Customer Service Certificate, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Certification (CPR), business plan creation with NYC Business Solutions, engaging in employment readiness training, and receiving job placement assistance. Open registration is held every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday beginning at 11:30 AM. Test begins at 12:45 PM. For more information, call 212-453-5369.

Discover Accounting includes state-by-state guides on becoming a CPA, salaries, and educational requirements. If you are looking for more advanced accounting topics, you'll find information in their comprehensive career guide and career comparisons.

New York City Career Center Events and Recruiting

For specific information on all career events in NYC this week, please search the New York State Department of Labor Career Center Events.

Upgrade a Resume Workshop: Monday, November 26, 2018, 1 PM-3:30 PM at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham Road, 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. This workshop walks job seekers through the steps for upgrading their resumes and provides intensive one-on-one feedback on each participant’s resume. Customers must have an electronic version of their resume available either in their email or on a flash drive. Duration: two hours. Check in: 1:00 PM-1:30 PM. For information, call 718-960-2458.

Job Search Planning Workshop (Spanish): Monday, November 26, 2018, 2 PM-4:15 PM at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham Road, 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. Check in: 2:00 PM-2:15 PM, two slots available. Must call for appointment: 718-960-7901.

Recruiting Event:  Tuesday, November 27, 2018, 12 - 2 PM for Personal Trainer (10 openings) at Blink Fitness, 3580 White Plains Road, Bronx, NY 10467.  Job requirements:  Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) certification and Approved Personal Training certification required.  Competitive compensation and bonus opportunities.  Comprehensive Benefits  for all  trainers.  Open house will take place every Tuesday starting November 27.

Job Search Planning Workshop (English): Tuesday, November 27, 2018, 2 PM- 4:15 PM at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham Road, 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. Participants will learn or improve job search skills that can help in their job search process. Check in: 2:00 PM-2:15 PM. For more information, call 718-960-7901.

Brooklyn Mini Job Fair: Wednesday, November 28, 2018, 10 AM-1 PM at Brooklyn Career Center, 250 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Participating businesses: Foresters Financial, The Guild  For Exceptional Children, SCO Family of Services, The Tempositions Group of Companies, Inc., Combined Insurance.

Benefits of Exploring Job Zone: Wednesday, November 28, 2018, 2 PM-4:15 PM at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham  Road, 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. Participants will learn and explore how to use Job Zone, an interactive resource, to help manage their careers. Check in: 2:00 PM-2:15 PM. For information ,call 718-960-7901.

Individual Resume Review/Career Advisement: Thursday, November 29, 2018, 1 PM-3 PM at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham Road, 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. This session provides job seekers the opportunity to meet individually with a Career Advisor to discuss employment and training opportunities, talk about next steps, and review their resume for potential updates. Customers must arrive at the start time, and will be seen on a one-on-one basis as advisors become available. Check in: 12:30 PM-1:00 PM. For information, call 718-960-2458.

Acing the Interview: Thursday, November 29, 2018, 1:30 PM-4:30 PM at Bronx Workforce 1 Career Center, 400 East Fordham Road, 8th floor, Bronx, NY 10458. This workshop will help job seekers prepare for interviews, demonstrate how to conduct oneself during the interview, and review the follow-up required to get a job. Duration: two-and-a-half hours. Check-in: 1:30 PM-2:00 PM. For information, call 718-960-2458.

Basic Resume Writing: Thursday, November 29, 2018, 1:30 PM-3 PM at Brooklyn Workforce 1 Career Center, 250 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Participants will learn the purpose of a resume, and chronological and combination resumes, and select the appropriate type for their specific needs. For more information, call 718-780-9200.
 

Job Postings and Assistance

Job Postings at New York City Workforce 1.

Apprenticeship Opportunities in New York City.

Available jobs via Brooklyn Community Board 14.

The New York City Employment and Training Coalition (NYCE&TC) is an association of 200 community-based organizations, educational institutions, and labor unions that annually provide job training and employment services to over 750,000 New Yorkers, including welfare recipients, unemployed workers, low-wage workers, at-risk youth, the formerly incarcerated, immigrants and the mentally and physically disabled. View NYCE&TC Job Listings.

Digital NYC is the official online hub of the New York City startup and technology ecosystem, bringing together every company, startup, investor, event, job, class, blog, video, workplace, accelerator, incubator, resource, and organization in the five boroughs. Search jobs by category on this site.

St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development provides free job training and educational programs in Environmental Response and Remediation Tec (ERRT), Commercial Driver's License, Pest Control Technician Training (PCT), Employment Search, Prep Training and Job Placement, Earn Benefits, and Career Path Center. For information and assistance, please visit St. Nicks Alliance Workforce Development or call 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.

CMP (formerly Chinatown Manpower Project) in lower Manhattan is now recruiting for free training in Quickbooks, Basic Accounting, and Excel. This training is open to anyone receiving food stamps but no cash assistance. Classes run for eight weeks, followed by one-on-one meetings with a job developer.

CMP also provides Free Home Health Aide Training for bilingual English/Cantonese speakers receiving food stamps but no cash assistance. Training runs Mondays through Fridays for six weeks, and includes test prep and 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 on the above CMP training programs, email info@cmpny.org, call 212-571-1690, or visit the CMP website. CMP also provides tuition-based healthcare and business training free to students who are entitled to ACCESS funding.

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 backgrounds. For information, call 212-832-7605.
 

Please note that this page will be revised when more recruitment events for the week of November 25  become available.