Press Release

Resource Bank for East Village Activists and Community Leaders Now Available at the Tompkins Square Branch

Citizens Committee of NYC Funds “Neighborhood Leadership Libraries” Materials in Branches Throughout the City

May 26, 1999, New York City: Residents and library users of the Tompkins Square Branch Library, 331 East 10th Street, were introduced to a new collection of material on neighborhood issues today. These collections, including a designated computer, make up a "Neighborhood Leadership Library," offering expanded resources for resident activists and leaders within the community, and have been provided by the Citizens Committee of New York City.

Tompkins Square Branch is the first of ten New York Public Library branches to receive Neighborhood Leadership Library materials, and the first of twenty branches throughout the five boroughs. Branches that receive Neighborhood Leadership Library materials have been chosen due to their location and strong community base, and the materials are intended to forge partnerships between the libraries and local resident volunteer.

Neighborhood Leadership Library Materials:

  • Neighborhood Resource Kiosks: User-friendly, free-standing collections of  tip sheets, and other materials to support neighborhood volunteer efforts.
  • Pathfinder Guides: Special bookmark size guides, designed by topic, to direct users to vital neighborhood organizing and leadership resources available in the library.
  • Publications: Self-help materials for neighborhood leaders and activists including the Citizens Committee's Tips for Neighborhood Action, a reference book of "how-to" tip sheets on organizing successful neighborhood improvement projects and an assortment of  brochures and pamphlets, including Drugs: Fighting Back! How to Organize Neighborhood Anti-Drug Efforts; Tools and Tactics for Building Neighborhood Organizations and Competing With the Streets: A Manual for High-Risk Youth Outreach.
  • Neighborhood Leadership Computers: Internet-accessible computers for grassroots leaders that provide access to library collections, the Internet and the New York Self-Help Database.
  • New York Self-Help Database (www.citizensnyc.org): Internet-accessible help for neighborhood volunteers on organizing successful neighborhood projects. Includes examples of model projects and links to useful web sites.
  • Training: Skills-building workshops for teaching grassroots leaders how to strengthen and enhance a neighborhood library and how to develop a partnership with a local branch.

The New York Public Library "Neighborhood Leadership Library" Branches

Bronx
* Baychester Regional Library, 2049 Asch Loop N., Co-op City, (718) 379-6700
Fordham Library Center, 2556 Bainbridge Avenue, (718) 579-4244
Kingsbridge Regional Library, 280 West 231st Street, (718) 548-5656
Parkchester Regional Library, 1985 Westchester Avenue, (718) 829-7830
 
Manhattan
* 96th Street Branch, 112 East 96th Street, (212) 289-0908
Chatham Square, 33 East Broadway, (212) 964-6498
Countee Cullen Regional Branch Library, 104 West 136th Street, (212) 491-2070
Donnell Library Center, 20 West 53rd Street, (212) 621-0620
Tompkins Square Branch Library, 331 East 10th Street, (212) 228-4747

Staten Island
* St. George Library Center, 5 Central Avenue, (718) 442-8560

Neighborhood Leadership Libraries also located in Brooklyn and Queens:

Brooklyn Public Library
Borough Park Branch, 1265 43rd Street, (718) 437-4085
Brownsville Branch, 61 Glenmore Avenue, (718) 498-9721
Bushwick Branch, 340 Bushwick Avenue, (718) 602-1348
* Central Library, Grand Army Plaza, (718) 230-2100
Sheepshead Bay Branch, 2636 East 14th Street, (718) 368 1815
 
The Queens Borough Public Library
Broadway Branch, 40-20 Broadway, (718) 721-2462
Far Rockaway Branch, 1637 Central Avenue, (718) 327-2549
Flushing Branch, 41-17 Main Street, (718) 661-1200
* Ridgewood Branch, 20-12 Madison Street, (718)821-4770
St. Albans Branch, 191-05 Linden Blvd., (718) 528-8196

* Designates a Green Branch, in partnership with the Horticulture Society of New York, five branches will receive gardens or plantings designed, installed, and maintained with community participation.

For further information, contact the Citizens Committee for New York City, 305 Seventh Ave., 15th Floor, 
(212) 989-0909.

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rchurchill:pro:5/25/99