News & Events

  • Shining Some Light on NYPL

    On the eve of Wednesday’s rally, the Illuminator shines some light on the NYPL!   And some love for the Mid-Manhattan Library as well:

  • It’s Been a Busy 12 Days!

    It’s been a busy twelve days, and the fight against the NYPL’s plan to gut the 42nd Street Library and sell the Mid-Manhattan has gotten lots of attention! First, a post featuring one of our supporters on the popular “Humans of New York” facebook page went viral and was shared 53,100 times (and ‘liked’ 232,400…

  • NY Times: NYPL Refuses to Disclose any Information About “Independent” Review of Central Library Plan

    An important point that’s been overlooked in the recent New York Times story about Mayor de Blasio’s needing to make a decision about  the Central Library Plan. Last summer, NYPL promised to undertake an independent financial review of their Central Library Plan. To date, NYPL has not only failed to release the review – they…

  • Rally at the 42nd Street Library Wednesday, March 12 Rain or Shine! (and City Council Hearing March 11)

    THE TRUSTEES ARE MEETING! Join us this Wednesday, March 12, for a rally on the steps of the 42nd Street Library during the NYPL’s Board of Trustees meeting. The rally will be from 5-6 PM, rain or shine – just one hour, after work. We’ll have signs, or make your own.  We can stop the plan to gut the 42nd Street Library and sell the…

  • Work-in at the 42nd Street Library every Saturday!

    Please join us for our third work-in at the 42nd Street Library this Saturday, March 8th.  All you need to do is come do your work in the Rose Main Reading Room with a www.SaveNYPL.org sticker affixed to your laptop. Protest while you work! If possible, meet us and get a sticker at 9:45 AM or at…

  • Wall Street Journal: Central Library Plan an Example of “Crisis in Non-Profit Governance”

    The Wall Street Journal is not happy.  Their Arts Editor blasts NYPL’s Central Library Plan as one of five cases where boards have disastrously undermined the institutions they are  supposed to protect: Indeed the untold story of our time is the emerging crisis in nonprofit governance, where boards embark on policies that go against—and even…

  • New York Times: Mayor de Blasio Faces a Decision on Central Library Plan

    The New York Times reports today on the decision facing Mayor de Blasio on whether to spend $150 million of NYC taxpayer’s money on the NYPL’s proposal to gut the 42nd Street Library and sell the Mid-Manhattan and SIBL libraries. Incidentally, don’t buy into NYPL’s framing – this isn’t a “renovation”; this is the disemboweling…

  • Send an Email to Mayor De Blasio!

    Tell Mayor de Blasio to stop the Central Library Plan and save branch libraries across the city! Send an email to the mayor by clicking on this link: www.savenypl.org/email-the-mayor The NYPL administration has hired a professional lobbying firm to pressure Mayor de Blasio to change his mind and support their plan to gut the 42nd…

  • A Call for Action!

    The Committee to Save the New York Public Library has just released a new broadside listing 5 steps to save the 42nd Street Library and strengthen NYC’s library systems. Download pdf: A Call for Action! Click on images  to enlarge:   1. The $150 million which former Mayor Bloomberg earmarked for the destructive 42nd Street Library…

  • State Senator Brad Hoylman Opposes Central Library Plan

    State Senator Brad Hoylman, whose district includes the 42nd Street Library and the Mid-Manhattan Library, has announced his opposition to the Central Library Plan: I am deeply concerned about several of the proposed changes, notably the proposal to displace the historic stacks, dramatically reducing the number of readily available research volumes and increasing the wait…

  • A Tour of the Now-Empty 42nd Street Stacks

    A great report from the “Translationista” blog of a tour of the now-empty stacks at the 42nd Street Library which the NYPL recently gave for a delegation from PEN: Yesterday I was invited to tour the stacks at the 42nd Street Library as part of a delegation from the PEN American Center, which the NYPL is…

  • NY Post Hits NYPL’s “Sneaky Solicitation”

    When even the New York Post calls NYPL’s misleading appeal for the Central Library Plan a “sneaky solicitation,” you know their PR campaign has backfired! Read the full article: Bookworms: LIbrary Mislead Us in Central-Library Plan Petition