The 2018 Beta Phi Mu scholarship season is now open. Applications will be accepted for all 2019 scholarships, except for the Sessa scholarships, from November 15, 2018 to March 15, 2019. 2019 scholarship winners will be announced at the ALA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC in June, 2019.
Need a Handbag or a Tie to Land Your First Job? Borrow One With a Library Card
Handbags, briefcases and ties can be checked out for up to three weeks at a time at the Riverside branch of the New York Public Library, as part of a pilot program dreamed up by Michelle Lee, a young adult librarian.CreditCreditGabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times
ByMelissa Gomez
Oct. 9, 2018
On the second floor of the New York Public Library’s Riverside branch last week, a handful of high school students were eager to hear Michelle Lee, a young adult librarian there, discuss tricks for finding employment.
“Who has a job?” Ms. Lee asked. (No hands went up.)
“Who wants a job?” she continued. (All hands went up.)
For the next hour and a half, as some students munched on snacks, Ms. Lee covered the dos and don’ts of interviewing and offered tips on how to produce a strong résumé, even using fictitious examples for Peter Parker and Kamala Khan to illustrate her point.
And off to one side of the room were the most unusual new additions to the library’s collection: neutral-colored handbags and briefcases, and purple, blue and striped neckties, all of which can be checked out like books for up to three weeks.
The staff at the Riverside branch, on the Upper West Side, started a new lending program in August after Ms. Lee proposed it, one of several programs meant to help jump-start the professional careers of young adults. As news of the program has trickled out through outreach and news coverage, members of the community have offered their own items for lending.
Ms. Lee said she got the idea during one of her twice-yearly job hunt talks for teenagers. When she spoke about how it was important that they wear their best outfit for interviews, one attendee said he didn’t have one.
Ms. Lee gave a job hunt talk for teenagers this month, in which she covered the dos and don’ts of interviewing and offered tips on how to produce a strong résumé.CreditGabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times
She said she began to think of ways to help him, and had an idea. Lending accessories like handbags and ties, she thought, would help those who cannot necessarily afford to buy them and offer an extra dose of confidence.
In 2016, she submitted a proposal to the New York Public Library’s Innovation Project, which allows individual library employees to pitch ideas that are then voted on by the whole staff. Ms. Lee’s suggestion consisted of two parts: first, “adulting” workshops, focused on learning life skills like how to pick professional attire or how to eat healthy on a budget; and second, the lending program, known as the “Grow Up Work Fashion Library.”
The program adds to the New York Public Library’s list of services for young adults, which includes a referral system at the Grand Central Library to an organization that offers business attire, Ms. Lee said. Staff members at some libraries are trained as advisers to offer help. At the Riverside branch, employees host college essay workshops and SAT practice sessions.
On Wednesday afternoon, Ms. Lee held her second job talk of the year. She intentionally scheduled it just before the holiday season, when retail businesses are looking for extra hands.
She used her own outfit — a simple black dress and white blazer — as an example of business casual. She then pointed out the table where the new items sat, and told the students that they could check out two at a time, but that they would have to pay if they lost an item. The bags, which she bought from Amazon, range in price from $40 to $121, and ties are $25 to replace.
Sonobia James, 16, sat in the back row with friends. She said she attended the presentation because she had tried looking for a job before, to no avail. “I thought this was a good opportunity, because maybe I did something wrong,” she said.
She learned about the lending program through the talk, and said she would consider checking out a black handbag “when the time comes” to interview for jobs.
The New York Public Library’s Riverside branch, where the staff started a new lending program to help young job seekers.CreditGabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times
“I always put things in my pockets,” she said, a habit that leads to her losing belongings. “A handbag could be useful.”
The program, while part of a larger project aimed at young adults, can be used by anyone, Ms. Lee said. She has had high school students and adults check out items since the pilot program began.
Angela Himmelberg, a senior at Pace University, said she heard about the program from her mother. Ms. Himmelberg, 21, was preparing for a multiday conference for young entrepreneurs hosted by Forbes in Boston, but as a college student without a disposable income, she said it was hard to invest in quality accessories.
On the day before her trip, Ms. Himmelberg found herself browsing a catalog of items at the library, and within a few minutes had checked out a black handbag that she took with her to Boston.
Instead of lugging around her school backpack, she said she felt at ease with the purse that completed her look. “It made me feel more confident,” Ms. Himmelberg said in a phone interview. “It just made me feel more professional.”
Because it is a pilot program, there are no plans to expand it to other libraries, Ms. Lee said, but the need for it has been clear.
“I’m just hoping that more people come in and use it,” she said, “and that this hopefully gets them started on their career, first job or first internship.”
A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A19 of the New York edition with the headline: Check Out That Tie. With a Library Card..
The audio recording is now available through SoundCloud for the Roundtable "Women in a Golden Age of Artists' Books".
This roundtable discussion included the following featured speakers:
Cynthia Marsh, Professor of Art, Founder of the Goldsmith Press & Rare Type Collection, Austin Peay State University (Clarksville, TN); Rebecca Michaels, Associate Professor of Photography, Tyler School of Art (Philadelphia, PA); Patty Smith, artist, printmaker, book artist, and professor of Fine Arts, Printmaking at The University of the Arts (Philadelphia, PA).
Moderated by Tony White, the Florence and Herbert Irving Associate Chief Librarian at the Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, will serve as moderator.
Co-presented with the Center for Book Arts; the New York City Chapter of the American Printing History Association (APHA); Small Editions Artist's Books; and Theta Chapter, Beta Phi Mu Honor Society, Pratt Institute School of Information.
Beta Phi Mu Theta Chapter Membership Coordinator, Michelle Lee, recently presented as part of an author panel for "Support the Asian Pacific American Community: Librarians on Diversity, Inclusivity and Community Engagement" held at Pratt Institute.
Read more about it in American Libraries Magazine's blog!
From left: Janet Clarke, associate dean of research and user engagement
at Stony Brook (N.Y.) University Libraries; Arlene Yu, dance collections
manager at New York Public Library (NYPL); Michelle Lee, young adult
librarian at NYPL; and Miriam Tuliao, library marketing manager at
Penguin Random House, at the "Supporting the Asian Pacific American
Community: Librarians on Diversity, Inclusivity, and Civic Engagement"
panel on May 14. Photo by Haruko Yamauchi. Caption from American Libraries Magazine Blog.
New initiates Kat Fanning (second from left) and Heather Hill (fourth from left) joined Beta Phi Mu on May 11, 2018. [photo by Pratt Institute School of Information].
Beta Phi Mu Theta member and Pratt SI Alum Rossy Mendez delivers the annual initiation lecture.
BPMT Membership Coordinator Michelle Lee (Pratt SI '14) reads introductory remarks at initiations.
Vinette Thomas (L), Pratt SI staff and BPMT member, provides the introduction to initiation as BPMT Vice President Alexandra Nader looks on.
WOMEN IN A GOLDEN AGE OF ARTISTS’ BOOKS Roundtable Discussion featuring Cynthia Marsh, Rebecca Michaels, Patty Smith, and Tony White Tuesday, May 22, 2018 – 6:30 – 7:45 pm
Cosponsored event with Center for Book Arts, Rare Book
School, APHA-NY, Small Editions Artist’s Books; and Theta Chapter, Beta
Phi Mu Honor Society, Pratt Institute School of Information
Cynthia Marsh, Professor of Art, Founder of the Goldsmith
Press & Rare Type Collection at Austin Peay State University in
Clarksville, Tennessee
Rebecca Michaels, Associate Professor of Photography at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia
Patty Smith, artist, printmaker, book artist, and professor of Fine Arts, Printmaking at The University of the Arts, Philadelphia
Tony White, Florence and Herbert Irving Associate Chief Librarian, Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Cynthia Marsh, Rebecca Michaels, and Patty Smith forged
their own, significant paths in the male-dominated field of high-speed
rotary offset lithographic printing, and were sometimes eclipsed in the
history of artists’ books by their male contemporaries—until recently.
It has been said that the “goldenage of
offset printed artists’ books” was the 1970s and 1980s. During that
time, Smith revived a defunct print shop and ran the press at the SUNY
Purchase Center for Editions, and cofounded the Borowsky Center
(Philadelphia) with Chuck Gershwin, specifically for the production of
prints and artists’ books using a high-speed rotary offset lithographic
printing press. Marsh was a founding member of the Women’s Graphic
Center at the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles, where she taught offset
printing and helped establish a community publication studio for women
artists; and Michaels collaborated with Miles DeCoster in Chicago before
moving to Philadelphia to run the 5,700-pound Heidelberg offset press
in the shop at the Tyler School of Art, in addition to
making her own artist’s books.
In a roundtable discussion facilitated by Tony White, the
printers will elaborate on their work, artists’ books and publications,
and the changing roles of women in the timeline of offset printing
history.
Join several Pratt alums for the public talk "Support the Asian Pacific American Community: Librarians on Diversity, Inclusivity and Community Engagement" on Monday, May 14, 5:30 - 7 p.m. at the Pratt Institute School of Information, 144 West 14th St, Room 213.
The speakers contributed to the new book Asian American Librarians and Library Services (Rowman & Littlefield, 2078). The librarians will share their experiences in creating inclusive environments, diversifying library resources and serving Asian Pacific American communities.
The panelists are: Lisa Chow, Brooklyn Public Library and Interact Consultancy; Michelle J. Lee, New York Public Library; Sandra Sajonas, Interact Consultancy; Miriam Tuliao, Penguin Random House; Arlene Yu, New York Public Library; Janet Clarke, Stony Brook University Libraries; and Ray Pun, California State University Fresno.
Light refreshments will be served. All visitors must RSVP by Friday, May 11 via http://bit.ly/apanyc2018.
Beta
Phi Mu Theta chapter held its annual Fall lecture on October 19, 2017 at The
New York Public Library.
Attendees were led by BPMT member Keith Glutting on a
comprehensive tour of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, followed by an
illustrated lecture by Chapter Treasurer Diane Dias De Fazio (MSLIS, Pratt '15)
on New York City collections in the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United
States History, Local History and Genealogy, where she works as a public
services librarian. Diane's talk was followed by a brief presentation by Bert
Spaan, former Engineer of the Space-Time Directory with NYPL Labs. The group
enjoyed a reception in the Hansmann Room afterward.
Member Keith Glutting leads tour of The New York Public
Library Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
(Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Beller, Beta
Phi Mu Theta Chapter Secretary)
Bert
Spaan speaks on digital projects with maps and genealogy and local history
resources at NYPL (Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Beller, Beta Phi Mu Theta Chapter Secretary)
Chapter
Treasurer Diane Dias De Fazio shared special collections materials, clippings,
and rare photographs (Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Beller, Beta Phi Mu Theta Chapter Secretary)
Handbags, briefcases and ties can be checked out for up to three weeks at a time at the Riverside branch of the New York Public Library, as part of a pilot program dreamed up by Michelle Lee, a young adult librarian.Gabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times
Ms. Lee gave a job hunt talk for teenagers this month, in which she covered the dos and don’ts of interviewing and offered tips on how to produce a strong résumé.Gabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times
Join several Pratt alums for the public talk "Support the Asian Pacific American Community: Librarians on Diversity, Inclusivity and Community Engagement" on Monday, May 14, 5:30 - 7 p.m. at the Pratt Institute School of Information, 144 West 14th St, Room 213.
