Posts by Frank Collerius

Our annual spelling bee, words we can't pronounce, a trio of music recommendations, and of course what we're reading now.

The triumph and tragedy of Jim Thorpe, the difficulty of Henry James, and the ferocity of Emily Dickinson and Camille Paglia. Bonus: Barbra Streisand's underground wonderland!

Browse the course catalog of our upcoming free classes in history, literature and the arts.

Come to Jefferson Market this fall to attend one of our courses.

The Jefferson Market Library is pleased to offer the following free courses for the spring semester, 2014.

People come to the Jefferson Market Library for a wide variety of reasons:  to sit and study in a beautiful, quiet space or to pickup their holds or to take a continuing education course in science, art and languages—these among many other reasons! Now you, the visitor to this historic NYPL branch library in Greenwich Village, can commemorate your visit because we now have the NYPL traveling photo booth!  

The photo booth, previously at the Mid-Manhattan Library, offers patrons preselected options for what 

The Jefferson Market Library continues to offer multi-session courses in subjects taught by college professors — just like you'd take in an adult continuing education program at a university. Recently we offered a free six-session Introduction to Western Philosophy course. Here's what two participants in that course, Carlos and Shaan, had to say:

Carlos

What did you think of the philosophy course?

It was great to get an overview, to look at all these different philosophers — it 

Jefferson Market Library, in an effort to offer substantive courses that teach the subjects you want to learn, is thrilled to offer its Spring Semester! Each course offers multiple sessions so students can build their knowledge as the course advances, class by class, guided by an experienced professor! And it's all free! Take a look:

Remember (just like in college) — for all courses requiring pre-registration — students are expected to attend all sessions to achieve the maximum 

Needless to say (but apparently I’m saying it anyway!), one can be moved, changed, and inspired by words. Or disgusted, angered, and bored — but that’s a different blog post — or is it?

There is a character in the Tennessee Williams's play The Night of the Iguana (played by Deborah Kerr in the movie and pictured below) who 

Debbie is a literary agent and all-around superpatron at Jefferson Market.

Whether you grew up there or just read about it in books or seen it in the movies, Suburbia is a most definite and unique place.  With these books, movies and CDs you can visit without ever having to take the Long Island Railroad!  So if you did grow up there—maybe it’s time to go home again. And if you didn’t—scroll through this list and see what you missed!

Movies Edward Scissorhands Satirical, but loving, view of the 'burbs—a fairy tale too!

Karoline Barwinski is currently teaching our 4 session Intro to Yoga series.  Here's the interview we did with her:

How were you introduced to yoga and what motivated you to integrate it into your life? 

My father actually inspired me to take my first

Ready to get away? Craving some Hollywood glamour? The roiling surf of Malibu? The sunny So-Cal lifestyle? Well, pop in one of these CDs, throw on one of these movies and open up one of these books and you'll be THERE!

Movies

Model Shop A directionless drifter spots a beautiful model on the streets of Los Angeles...

Inventing LA: the Chandlers and their Times The darkness and light of LA's most powerful family.

A library patron (Marie Hansen, Young Adult Librarian) is returning her overdue items at the Jefferson Market Library in New York City. She soon discovers the library to be inhabited only by a strange and terrifying Ghoul (Frank Collerius, Branch Manager)! Created for The New York Public Library.

Emmy Award winning filmmaker Ken KimmelmanThe finale of the Indie Film Series presents Emmy Award winning filmmaker Ken Kimmelman.  Here's our interview with him:   What film/directors inspire you?   There are so many to mention, but I'll name a few: Kurosawa, for the way he can compose a frame—think of Ran - and can get to such a dynamic relation of intensity and repose. I 

Judge Joseph Crater

On January 24 at 6pm, the Jefferson Market Libray will hold its third presentation in the Indie Film Series.  Billy Sternberg will be on hand to show his documentary film work on one of the most notorious New York City mysteries, the disappearance in 1930 of Judge Joseph Crater.  Here's our interview with Mr. Sternberg:

What films/directors inspire you?

One film that sticks out in my mind is a short that I saw  at the City 

We asked our "Followers" on Twitter and our "Likers" on Facebook what book they loved reading in 2010. Here's what they said:

Note: all titles are linked to the New York Public Library's catalog.  Once in the catalog click on the book cover for reviews, summaries, excerpts and more!

Teen

Beastly by Alex Flinn "A take on Beauty 

What do these three have in common? They all turned fifty this year! Or, more accurately, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho turned fifty. While the Jefferson Market Library (in 1960, a defunct courthouse) was built in 1876, the clock had been frozen for years at 2:40. But in 1960, through the intense work of local Greenwich Village advocates, the 

Looking for an exciting, non-fiction read? Try these:

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story by John Berendt