Posts from Harry Belafonte 115th Street Library

Come and show off your knowledge of past and present African-American culture! Fun for all. Ages 10 - adult.

This week, 1.5 billion Muslims will celebrate Eid-al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, or Tabaski as it is known in West Africa. Very few among them will have a thought for the hundreds of thousands of enslaved West Africans who, during almost four centuries, practiced Islam in the Americas. Although they left significant marks of their faith, cultures, and traditions, the Africans who first brought Islam to these shores have been mostly forgotten.

School’s back in session and with it a continued enthusiasm for learning ever after classes are out.

Last Monday at 115th Street’s bi-weekly Science Monday, kids (and some parents) came out to try their hand at some scientific and artistic experimentation.

Remember lava lamps? Those lights filled with glow-in-the-dark liquid and colorful globs of goo? Our younger participants recognized them immediately and were eager to see if they could create their own versions simply using items found in most households.

We used clear containers (with a 

Pura Belpré reading to children at the New York Public Library. (Photo credit - Centro Archives)This year as part of Hispanic Heritage Month, the New York Public Library is celebrating its premier Latina Librarian, Pura Belpré. An exhibit at the Bronx Library Center highlights the professional life of Pura Belpré—Children's Librarian, 

Last June, I reserved some LGBTQ books, made a flier proclaiming "Celebrate Pride" and displayed the books. Then I held my breath not knowing how this would go over. The books got some circulation but barely.

Common perceptions of what it means to be a "fit person" contribute to the idea that gyms and exercise are suited only for the outgoing and the genetically gifted, but it is possible to thrive within fitness culture without being terminally optimistic or a natural athlete.

The Dubious Focus on Physical Appearance

The fitness industry's persistent focus on attractiveness and social acceptance has created an image of vain or even anti-intellectual athletes. In much of popular culture, muscle-bound motivational speakers and infomercial aerobics instructors 

May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. What better time to discover or learn more about Afro-Asians? As our groundbreaking exhibition Africans in India shows, some became navy commanders, army generals, and founders of dynasties. In Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat, they left an impressive architectural legacy. Today, some Sidis live there in a small compound where they proudly maintain their culture.

Visit NYPL's BiblioCommons for these lists and many more. See below for some interesting staff picks from the past couple months, on topics both timely and timeless:

Love Game of Thrones? Recommended Reading from George R. R. Martin - Recommended fantasy and historical fiction reading from Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin. Martin offered these recommendations on his  

On Monday, March 25th, about 12 kids gathered in the picture book section of the children's room in the 115th Street Library to test their taste buds.

How much do we rely on our five senses? What information do we get from them that we might take for granted or just don't notice? How do they work together to give us a more complete picture of our world and surroundings? The experiment intended to explore just that.

The task was simple: Can you tell the difference between a raw potato and an apple?

A 

Generals, commanders, admirals, prime ministers, and rulers, East Africans greatly distinguished themselves in India. They wrote a story unparalleled in the rest of the world — that of enslaved Africans attaining the pinnacle of military and political authority not only in a foreign country but also on another continent. Come discover their extraordinary story in a groundbreaking exhibition at the Schomburg Center — on view from February 1 to July 6 — and on March 21, join Dr. Faeeza Jasdanwalla, a descendant of the African dynasty of Janjira for a conversation on this 

April is National Poetry Month, and I promised myself to read a poem a day. Some poets of the black experience immediately came to mind: Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Claude McKay, Sonia Sanchez, Audrey Lorde, to name a few. But then I decided to venture unto new territory and immerse myself into recent works.

I selected four great poets — and distinguished scholars training new generations — who published collections in 2010 and 2011. I found history, current events and the future in their works; and grace, beauty, heartache, struggles and 

If you haven't experienced, or perhaps even heard about, ReelAbilities, this may be the year to discover this unique festival, which is a film festival, but also so much more.

Anita Altman of the UJA-Federation, who founded the festival in New York City in 2007, states its goal is to raise consciousness "about our common humanity and the value of each person, without regard to his or her ability or disability." This is the fourth New York 

I must be out of my mind. What the heck am I doing here, on a Saturday afternoon, blindfolded inside a Staten Island library, grasping the shoulders of a total stranger in front of me? This is truly insane.

That’s all I could think of on March 5, when I attended BARK, a performance by dance troupe Dana Salisbury and the No-See-Ums. They perform what they call “unseen dance” — original dances experienced through senses other than sight. It sounded very quirky and cool, so I decided to