Chair Williams asks about public awareness; library directors respond

Thank you so much, Senator, and I don't know if you can hear, but people are clapping.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Okay, back to the libraries.

Thank you so much for practicing walking and chewing gum at the same time today.

We have heard this morning about the substantial research and reference centers and collections housed in our library systems.

Do you believe that the public is sufficiently aware of them and the work they do?

If not, how should the word be spread?

And I know while I might be familiar with some of the research libraries, I stopped by the performance library before I've been to the Langston Hughes Center in Corona.

I don't know how many people actually know if you're not like wonky and nerdy and, you know, because this is super cool, but I'm like, this just might be my nerdy brain, not my like average New Yorker brain, like just living life.

So how do people learn about your centers?

I can respond on behalf of NYPL and specifically the Library for the Performing Arts.

So to answer your first question, no, not enough people know about it.

And having the opportunity to be here to talk about it, I think it's an incredible first step.

And I think that we think about all of this work that we can do.

I think my colleagues and I have been talking a lot about how can we talk about this work online, for example.

So to give an example, the Library for the Performing Arts, last summer, we actually had an opportunity to do a panel celebrating the 50th anniversary of a chorus line on Broadway.

And then we actually did a special pop-up performance outside the library where we had cast members from 50 years of a chorus line join in an impromptu performance.

And we're able to share that online.

And we had millions of views, right?

And so from all of those views, we have more people coming in.

At the Library for the Performing Arts, just in the past year, we've actually have increased our...

people visiting by 58%.

One of the ways we did that is by making the space more welcoming.

It was also by reaching out to the schools nearby.

We're right across the street from LaGuardia, from MLK, and all the schools there, and talking to those students and inviting them in.

So I think that there's a lot more work that we can do, but it's all potential because these collections are incredible and more people should know about them.

Thank you.

I will piggyback.

No, a lot of people do not know.

I'm sure that as each one of us gave our testimony that we were learning more and more about each other.

So we're not even working together in our full capacity, but we will.

In addition to that, again, being here, being able to amplify our voices, being able to amplify the collection is also part.

We have countless newsletters.

We have social media accounts.

We have outreach.

We go inside of all of these facilities that are interested.

But if you don't know, you're not going to meet us.

If you're not signed up to our social media or following us, you still won't know.

So the reality is, you know, for me, capacity is a huge thing.

Do we have enough people that can go outside of our library to be able to amplify the services that we offer?

Do we, are we able to make sure that every single person in New York City, not just Queens, but everyone can actually, you know, follow us on social media?

But it's not there, so there's so many things that we can do.

It's great opportunities.

But thank you for sharing your elected officials because my Chanel Thomas Henry, she just volunteered.

to perform based off of you sharing your program.

But these are always, there's always forums.

I believe the last time I saw Joy was at this forum a few years ago.

So these forums started, and then we just have to continue it.

And you guys can also continue to do what you do by amplifying us and feeling free to put us in contact with those that need to be in contact with.

Deputy Speaker, I feel like that question was specifically for me.

I think for us at CBH, we have the added challenge of kind of being new.

We changed, we were another institution, we changed names, so also getting that name recognition for us, it's a very big deal and it's something that we are trying to do every single day.

We do a lot, of course, social media, follow us at Brooklyn History if you are not.

We try to reach people that way because we know that people are chronically online.

But in terms of our building, we do a lot of work with students as well.

We have a program called Brooklyn Connections where we teach students as early as fourth grade how to do archival research.

And we work with hundreds of schools in Brooklyn.

So we really believe in getting kids in our building and getting them in young so that they understand what a research library is and what archives are.

So we always feel like that's a good way to kind of start.

Of course, forums like this.

We also do a lot of community.

We have an exhibition that's in.

So we really are trying to get ourselves out there.

We do a lot of tabling at community events.

Over the summer, I was at the Laundromat Project's 20th anniversary field day, which was a lot of fun.

We were able to bring some of our collections out to the community so that they could see what we

So just many ways, but of course, having more people know about us and talk about us, it's really, really a big help.