If you want to use your BK Library card for more than just looking legit, you can use it to save money on things you need! A partnership  gives cardholders discounts at stores and restaurants including Ozzie’s Coffe, PSBrooklyn, Awedacity and more. But you don’t have to go hunting for these deals any more — get the iPhone/Android app Vidappe and it will send you push notifications when you’re near a business that offers a discount. (more…)

Matilda. The Truth.

Do you remember summer reading lists from yonder summer vacations? What a perfect — and free  — way to pass the hot days, scouting through your air-conditioned library for the next Roald Dahl (Matilda is still my jam). This month instead of sweating your way through jort after jort, you could spend time helping kids to read in two of the most reliably air conditioned places: libraries and department stores. Through the end of July, Macy’s customers who give $3 to help provide a book for kids get $10 off a purchase of $50 (all of the $3 goes to Reading is Fundamental too). And starting at 1pm today, you can enter to win prizes and Macy’s gift cards at a special promotion at the Grand Army Plaza branch. (more…)

Even dummies like the library. We Will Not be Shushed photo via Flickr's dory kornfeld

They’re ain’t no party like a library party, because a library party don’t stop. Except, of course, when it is forced to stop if the city’s proposed budget cuts go through, possibly slashing some $25 million from the Brooklyn Public Library. Which is the reason for this non-stop party in the first place. This Saturday into Sunday, the Save NYC Libraries campaign will gather on the steps of the Grand Army Plaza branch for its We Will Not Be Shushed 24-hour Read-In. The event includes public readings to show support for the library and bring attention to the budget cuts. Sign up here because it’s Dewey (Decimal System) or die time! (more…)

FRIDAY
7pm (+ 6/10): the l magazine’s audiophile at the brooklyn museum continues this month with men and savoir adore. bonus: free vodka 7-8pm. free (rsvp) with $10 suggested museum admission. (more…)

Been hiding your shame by stuffing that overdue copy of Mocking Jay under your bed for two months? Suck it up and return it, because the Brooklyn Public Library is offering amnesty all this month that will wipe away your overdue fines if you bring stuff back before May 1. The library reminds us, “When you return your materials, you ensure that everyone has access to the excellent books, DVDs and CDs the Library has to offer.” If you continue to be a jerk in the face of no-questions-asked amnesty, your $25 or higher fine will be turned over to a collection agency. And you don’t want to mess with library thugs. (via L Magazine.)

We didn’t choose the Brooklyn Public Library as last night’s raffle-cash recipient because it’s the sexiest cause around, or the hippest or the most sincere. We chose the BPL because few things are more quintessentially Brooklyn, or more fantastically free, than the public library system. The cash-strapped institution’s facing a $20.6 million funding reduction that could, in a few months’ time, close more than a dozen branches and put hundreds of librarians out of work. This weekend, not for the first time, some of our borough’s most loyal bibliophiles will try to do something about it—with a 24-hour read-a-thon, where, they’re saying, “We Will Not Be Shushed.” (more…)

There’s some cosmic injustice afoot when libraries are forced into rummage sales and rallies to keep their doors open. The Brooklyn Public Library, as you might know, has been facing a gauntlet of slashed-hours and proposed budget cuts that could remove $20 million in city funding, eliminate 363 jobs and shutter 16 branches. Not good news for the hallowed institution that, you know, lends free books and all. So how can you help? Get out and show your support, obvs. And do it tomorrow. (more…)

Greenpoint artists, your Brooklyn Public Library branch is calling. The Friends of Greenpoint Library are seeking local art to stock the library’s spring benefit: an art show and silent auction this Saturday, May 1. The show is called the Greenpoint 100, and the organizers are looking for 100 under-appreciated (or fully-appreciated) Greenpoint Gauguins to help line the walls. All you artists will get some love and maybe even a cash prize, and the library will get some much-needed support. Non-artists should stop by too and, you know, actually bid on something. (more…)

Use this and get a discount at a dozen local businesses.

Brooklyn dealhounds, keep your library card handy! The Brooklyn Public Library system has teamed up with more than a dozen local businesses to offer special discounts to cardholders. The current list of “Community Partners” runs the gamut from restaurants (Sunset Bagel, Usual Diner, Ozzie’s Coffee & Tea), travel (hotel le bleu, All Car Rental), spa treatments (for you at Truly Kneaded Home Spa, and for a furry friend at Fanci-Pooches & Purrs Spa Boutique), retail shops, and more. (more…)

Photo courtesy of MyTwoCensus.com.

So we’ve been meaning to post about these census-taking gigs that pay around $20 an hour, and just today a thoughtful and generous tipster writes in to tell us that Brooklyn is currently facing a shortage of census takers. He also tells us how to apply. Kind tipster, please take it away:

“I am currently working for the 2010 Census, and the local office based on Fulton St, which covers the neighborhoods reaching from DUMBO to Clinton Hill & Prospect Heights—Red Hook to Sunset Park (and everything in between) is currently facing a shortage of applicants for Enumerating jobs in this region. (more…)