Hey me and some friends were trying to find a space to rent to have a radical lending library in NYc but then someone came up with idea of just donating all our radical books to one particular branch of the nYPL and then mak publiccizing it as the radical library..
Anyone have any advice on the feasiblity of it, finding radical library people in NYc what the policy for getting books is in the NYPL system and if its left to the discretion of the people at each particular library, etc...? please email me at freenyc@gmail.com if you know anyone or have any suggestions on the feasibility of this idea in NYC...
First response:
I'm looking into your query. One thing you can do while I ask around is to check both LEO and CATNYP to see if your materials are already represented in the collections. Skip CATNYP if a non-lending library is unacceptable.
Are you open to a borough other than Manhattan? If so, also look at Brooklyn and Queens. (The Bronx and SI are in NYPL.)
To tell you the truth, while I think this is a GREAT idea, I don't have high hopes. The PLs in NY are full of bureacrats and overworked/underpaid librarians and support staff that are too oppressed to take on wonderful projects like this. The administrators are cautious and conservative about the collections, even if they think they're liberal on censorship and patron privacy.
Second response:
I've forwarded your query to a friend who used to be pretty high up at NYPL. I'll report back when I hear from her. You might also try the contact Brett forwarded. Sadly, I don't have high hopes, but a serious campaign COULD yield some results, I suppose. We can talk more about that after we get initial feedback from the contacts we've got. We might also try contacting key branches directly. Like Tompkins Square, for example. By the way, I wouldn't write off Queens so quickly, there seems to be an anarchist community developing in Jackson Heights. Staten Island, on the other hand...
As an alternative, is there any chance something could be worked out with the May Day infoshop? I know that's not nearly as good, but it might be more accomplishable.
Third response:
Well, I'm not sure the library would look at this with a favorable eye. They have been very adamant in the past about not trying to be comprehensive, leaving this to the research libraries instead. In fact, any depth or comprehensiveness seems, mainly, to be an accident at NYPL. Certainly the library likes to think of themselves as a progressive institution, but only when it suits their half-assed desire to appear somewhat transgressive, which often means identifying with social transgressions of the past. You know that public institutions of a non-research nature must keep their hands warshed, not being able to use the excuse that controversial materials are also historical documents for posterity.
On the other hand, if the books are cataloged by the library already, this might not be a big deal. If someone could make a presentation, [names & locales deleted so as not to jeopardize the questioner's negotiation] might be willing to have these books. You must convince them that the community would use the materials, that there is a community there to serve (mention the big anarch section at St. Marks books), and that this kind of information is not readily available at other branches. In other words, you must fit your mission into NYPL's mission. Books not catalogued will probably have to be reviewed by the Office of Adult Services, and may not be accepted.