The Year in Review at SPCL 2024-25

We had such a great 2024-25 school year! We added new books to our collection, we built community partnerships, we got a Spotify and Apple Podcast channel, and we inaugurated our new makerspace - Spark Space! Keep reading to find out more!

Dear Seward Park Campus,

When I started at this library three years ago, I was impressed by the number of folx who wanted to check out books. In fact, I was starting to feel like that number was dropping, but when I ran the reports, I'm happy to report that we only experienced a dip in number of print checkouts! I'm also always pleasantly surprised to see the number of Sora users we have. Maybe I don't see you in the library, but I see you reading! We replaced almost as many books as you checked out or we weeded. You did it! In a country where reading is going down nationwide, I feel proud of our sustaining trend. To that end, let's up next year's goal to 6000 books! READING IS RESISTANCE!

As always, we are thankful that all five schools generously donate their NYSTL book funds so that we can have a robust reading collection. We also took on new expenses this year with the creation of our makerspace (more below). For this, we are thankful for New Design High School's initiative and the generous donations of our community partners, Yu & Me Books and City Lore!

Yours,

Mina

Bleach by Tite Kubo

"Part-time student, full-time Soul Reaper, Ichigo is one of the chosen few guardians of the afterlife." -VIZ Media

20th Century Boys by Naoki Urusawa

"Doomsday cults, giant robots and a group of friends trying to save the world from destruction!" -VIZ Media

Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto

"Broke young man + chainsaw demon = Chainsaw Man!" -VIZ Media

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

"Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from stories, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin, a High Lord of the faeries. As her feelings toward him transform from hostility to a firey passion, the threats against the faerie lands grow. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose Tamlin forever"--Provided by publisher.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

"Belly spends the summer she turns sixteen at the beach just like every other summer of her life, but this time things are very different as she finds herself falling for a boy she has known since childhood." --Provided by publisher.

One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus

"When the creator of a high school gossip app mysteriously dies in front of four high-profile students all four become suspects. It's up to them to solve the case"-- Provided by publisher.

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

"The author describes her two-year stay at a psychiatric hospital renowned for its famous clientele and for its progressive methods of treatment." --Provided by publisher.

All these sunken souls : a Black horror anthology edited by Circe Moskowitz

"Contains a collection of short horror stories by Black authors about monsters, ghosts, and zombies." --Provided by publisher.

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Shane Hawk

"Contains an anthology of twenty-six Indigenous horror stories by assorted authors that describe human-monster encounters and horrifying experiences with humans, racism, and trauma. "-- Provided by publisher.

Sanctuary by Paolo Mendoza & Abby Sher

" In 2032, when sixteen-year-old Vali's mother is detained by the Deportation Forces, Vali must flee Vermont with her little brother, Ernie, hoping to reach their Tia Luna in the sanctuary state of California." --Provided by publisher.

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

"A family extending from Pakistan to California, deals with generations of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness." --Provided by publisher.

Feed by M.T. Anderson

" In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble. "-- Provided by publisher.

We're entering some dangerous times in our American democracy. Residents are losing the capacity to dig deeply and investigate their sources. Add to that AI, we could be in serious trouble. I'm happy to report that we're still hanging on to our research skills here at Seward Park Campus, though considerably less than in past years. Let's keep digging!

We did 44 searches, and we loved the Opposing Viewpoints Gale Database! Here's what we were searching:

Last year, I signed off the end-of-the-year newsletter with the promise of a makerspace. I'm proud to say that this year, we have a fully functional DIY makerspace in our library. We are so thankful for our partnership with Makerspace NYC and New Design High School who really helped to make this happen!

Next year, we happy to announce that we will build out articulated 3D printing programming. We just won a grant to partner with Tech School from the Monday.com Foundation to make this happen and will pilot a class of 30 students who will learn how to design and print on brand new Makerbot Sprints!

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We now have a dedicated Spotify and Apple podcast channel for our studio! Subscribe below so you can keep up with our latest creations!

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This year, we piloted a more comprehensive library internship which was open to seniors from New Design High School. The program was a way to help manage our three separate spaces, the library, Spark Studio, and Spark Space, as well as provide valuable work experience to our students. Students met four times a week and receive course credit for their work.

Additionally, we continued our volunteer program for students from all schools, and welcome interns from the Urban Assembly Academy of Government and Law as well as New Design High School. We hope to continue expanding these opportunities. Click on the link below to see photos of our year!

This year we had the pleasure of working with Yu&Me Books to host TWELVE author talks! One of the most memorable moments was when Prabal Gurang visit a group of fashion students prior to the the book launch of his memoir Walk Like a Girl. Additionally, we had the pleasure of working with City Lore's From Harithaka to Hip Hop program which partnered with the Library of Congress as well as NYC-based teaching artists. We were privileged to work with activist actor Yadira De La Riva who helped us develop the Activate the Library program which we used to win a $5000 Librarian Legends book grant! We also became a certified Sustainable Library as part of our work with passive programming. Partnerships for the win!

Hoda Kotb takes a selfie with Vicky Ngyuen for the book launch of her memoir Boat Baby.

Designer Prabal Gurang speaks with fashion students ahead of the book launch of his memoir Walk Like a Girl.

Activist actor Yadira De La Riva hosted an artist residency with a class of our library interns to build the "Activate the Library" project.

And now...

Being a librarian can sometimes be a lonely job - not because you don't keep me busy, but we are often the sole person in the building doing our job. To that end, I am proud to announce another budding librarian here on Seward Campus! Keep reading to meet fayola!

hi! i’m fayola (fy-o-la). i’m a NYC native from Jamaica, Queens and this is my 4th year as a Global History teacher at Essex Street Academy. In addition, I advise our Black Student Union and Gender and Sexuality Alliance, am a member of our school’s Restorative Justice Action Team and serve as a UFT Delegate for ESA.

I was recently accepted to New Visions for Public Schools’ Teacher 2 Librarian Program where I will be pursing my Master’s in Information and Library Sciences at Syracuse University! I’m so excited to learn more about the essential work that librarians do and to support Mina at the Seward Park Library!

Have a restful summer, all. I will be signing off this summer, but I look forward to coming back refreshed in the fall. Be sure to bookmark our website: https://www.sewardparkcampuslibrary.org/ and our social media account: https://www.instagram.com/sparkcampuslibrary/. It's been a lovely year, but I know we're all looking forward to a little rest.

Be all manner of well,

Mina

The Year in Review at SPCL 2024-25