The Borough of Brooklyn


  • Friends of the Library
    In order to make the beautiful new Library broadly accessible to the citizens of Brooklyn who have need of its resources, we created a reader's card (access only) at $50.00 annually and a borrower's card at $75.00. This pricing structure ensures that our collections and services are within the reach of serious scholars.

    The Library also offers persons with College-issued community resident cards free access to the Library on a day of their choice, so that they can review the collections and services and decide if they would like to join Friends of the Library.

  • Brooklyn Studies Program at Brooklyn College On February 24 a group calling itself the Brooklyn Studies Program at Brooklyn College met for the first time; participants include Edwin Burrows (History), Philip Napoli (History), Philip Gallagher (History), Arthur Bankoff (Anthropology), and Anthony Cucchiara (Library). Barbara Winslow (Education) and Jerome Krase (Sociology, retired) will likely join us.

    We see ourselves as a federation of College entities focusing on the study of Brooklyn. Consistent with the College's goal to become a model citizen in the Borough of Brooklyn, many groups/people at the College are doing Brooklyn-related work. Often these activities are complementary yet unconnected. They include the Archives, the oral history program, Arthur Bankoff's projects (City Hall archaeological excavations, excavations in South Brooklyn, history of Erasmus, Brooklyn Heritage Trail), the minor in Archival Studies & Community Documentation, the archival survey of the records of the Jamaican and Trinidadian communities, Jerry Krase's activities , and the Institute for the Study of American Music's Caribbean music project.

    Perhaps through synergism and linkages we can strengthen our ability to secure funding. It will be important to differentiate ourselves from other institutions with a Brooklyn focus, such as the Brooklyn Historical Society: our edge may be that we are made up of scholars who are actively working on and in Brooklyn. There is considerable interest in obtaining support for internships and research associates.

    This summer AIT staff will put up a Web site explaining all that we do. In the autumn we will publicize the site to the larger College community, attracting more participants in our Brooklyn collective. We look forward to learning more about the president's plans for a Center for the Study of Brooklyn so that those involved in the Brooklyn Studies Program can decide whether there is a place for us there. We have reached out to Paul Moses, the center's director, but thus far he has been unavailable.

  • Library Access for High School Students
    Requests for access to the Library from area high schools has grown significantly. We receive requests from many public and institutions. The college's involvement in the College Now and Star programs has also contributed to this increase. Last year, more than 400 high school students had access to our Library.

  • Library Access for College & University Students
    On December 12, 2003 Chief Librarian Barbra Higginbotham spoke at length with Robert Ptachik of Chancellor Goldstein's office about Trustee Nilda Soto Ruiz's request that Brooklyn College grant access and borrowing privileges to Touro students. (Dr. Ruiz is a faculty member at Touro where she also directs the School Administration and Supervision Program in the School of Education and Psychology.) Dr. Higginbotham outlined the many ways (including METRO cards) in which Touro students can access CUNY libraries when their own library lacks the materials they need. She also suggested that Touro might apply for membership in Academic Libraries of Brooklyn which offers reciprocal privileges to all members' students.

  • The Brooklyn Transition Center
    This program has broadened the Library's engagement with the Brooklyn community. In 2003-2004 four students from the Center, an alternative high school that prepares students with learning disabilities for the workforce, performed various jobs in the Library. Some of the students pick up the Research Services mail and unpack the many packages this unit receives. They also help in packing books to be lent to other libraries, and in sorting outgoing mail. Their work certainly helps to move the books back to the shelves more quickly and maintains a cleaner and neater Library. Moreover, the Library does a service to these young people by providing a workplace that enables them to feel productive, builds their self-esteem, and permits them to learn how to behave in the workplace. The goal of this program is that these young adults find a job with monetary compensation. Their teacher Luis Benalcazar does an excellent job supervising the students and working with the Library staff. This year's students were Taritha Green, Johnny Martinez, Vivian Murray, and Carl Sylvain.