BROOKLYN PROSPECT HS LIBRARY - BROOKLYN MAGPIE

Summer is made for reading!

6/1/2026

Here are 14 things I thought were worth sharing:

Summer Reading is here! Check out these offerings from NYPL, Harper’s Bazaar, Literary Hub, Barnes & Noble, and Buzzfeed.
Want to take part in a Summer Book Club with lots of New Yorkers?
25 Books That Capture This American Moment.
Some good reading news from the Mellon Foundation!
Ever read great poems on the subway and then can’t find them again? Here they are!
Listen to how our subways knit our city together and how they keep us all moving!
“The greatest literature ever published in English, as voted for by authors, critics and academics worldwide.” How many have you read?
Some books that will help us unpack our 250th birthday, as well as more suggestions from the NYPL, and videos from Heather Cox Richardson.
Book bans are creeping in a new direction.
Read These Books Before They Hit Your Screens in 2026.
Travel via windows!
What are the New York Times’ headlines really telling us?
Lots of fake citations have entered the AI chat!
Enjoy Prospect Park? Why not volunteer to help out the Library of Congress transcribe the letters of Frederick Law Olmsted?

Happy (almost end of) National Poetry Month!

4/23/2026

Here are 6 things I thought were worth sharing:

National Poetry Month is my favorite month of the year! There are many ways to celebrate: listening to poets reading their own words, poetry resources from our friends at JSTOR, resources from the Poetry Mothership, Poetry & the Creative Mind on April 28th, and National Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 30th!
A great way to see who is behind the news!
Summer Reading has begun! Publishers Weekly is always the first to share their lists!
Curious if something near you has a Wikipedia page? Check out this map!
What Kids and Families Think About AI.
The State of America’s Libraries. Worth it to read about our most democratic institution!

Don't Believe the Hype!

3/19/2026

Here are 12 things I thought were worth sharing:

Are Gen Z men really swapping scrolling for classic literature?
My perennial reminder to integrate Six-Word Memoirs into your curriculum!
Watch the full documentary of “The Librarians” on PBS!
A Greek mythology family tree!
A whole new way to view our city!
Create your own “Connections” puzzle for class, just like the New York Times!
Data Viz Project is the world’s biggest library of data visualizations.
‘Same Ingredients, Different Recipe’ in Proposed U.S. Book Ban.
Whichbook is a new book recommendation website that looks fun! Try it out!
Want more intel on all of the street names in our city? Check out this new interactive map from the NYC Department of Records, which reveals the stories behind 2,500 co-named street signs honoring famous New Yorkers—and unsung heroes—across the five boroughs.
My periodic reminder to subscribe to JSTOR’s e-newsletter, which is a cornucopia of fascinating stories that touch on most of the subjects we teach in the building!
Ready for some good news?

Happy 100th Black History Month!

2/2/2026

Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing:

So here is the 100 Black Voices: Schomburg Centennial Reading List for you!
Speaking of the NYPL library system, it just announced free & unlimited New York Times access when anyone is at any of its 92 locations!
If you don’t already follow The City, you should! Founded by an old friend from my 2nd-grade class!
This January felt more like a year than a month, for a variety of reasons. Here is the Reasons to Be Cheerful’s “Year in Cheer” to give your spirit a much-needed boost.
We Need Diverse Books is not taking the nationwide rash of book-banning lying down!
Misinformation dogs us all! Check out this verification toolkit from a librarian who takes information seriously!
An update on book bans from PEN America.
Want to see how Paris evolved from 300 BCE until now?
Are you planning to take a roadtrip this summer? Before you head out, check out the new video series the Library of Congress put together about books from different states in our country!
We are getting closer and closer to National Poetry Month, and in anticipation of that, here are some lesson plans you can use to incorporate more poetry into your curricula!

Happy Public Domain Month 2026!!

1/6/2026

Here are 15 things I thought were worth sharing:

If it’s January, it’s Public Domain Month!! Read more about what came into the public domain from the folks at the Public Domain Review, from the folks at NPR, and read some free e-books that are now in the public domain!
“On WikiFlix, a Netflix-inspired archive of public domain films, you can watch movies like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Nosferatu” for free. You don’t even have to make an account! Crazy, right?”
New Year = new opportunity to plug the free resources you get with your Brooklyn Public Library card!
New Year = perfect time to celebrate yourself and read something from our borough’s unofficial poet laureate!
How reading changes the way your brain works
An updated list of the most-banned books in America.
How the reliance on computers in classrooms impacts students.
The best audiobooks of 2025.
“52 Things I Learned in 2025” from Kent Hendricks and Nancy Friedman.
"Between 1939 and 1941, the Works Progress Administration collaborated with the New York City Tax Department to collect photographs of most buildings in the five boroughs of New York City. In 2018, the NYC Municipal Archives completed the digitization and tagging of these photos. This website places them on a map. Zoom in! Every dot is a photo."
Want to know where all the billionaires are?
Play around with the news!
Ten people who helped shape science in 2025
It’s always the right time to incorporate six-word memoirs into your lesson plans!
Click on a neighborhood, listen to a recording & get some history of the area!

Reading is a radical act...

12/3/2025

Here are 5 things I thought were worth sharing:

1. Want to know where certain human ideas originated?
2. Watch the world operate in real time!
3. My periodic reminder to check out Reasons to Be Cheerful. You will thank me, especially after the year we’ve all had…
4. Sarah Jessica Parker’s Year of Judging the Booker Prize.
5. Here are some end-of-year reading lists for you:
100 Notable Books of 2025 (New York Times)
Best Books for Adults 2025 (New York Public Library)
Best Books for Teens 2025 (New York Public Library)
50 listens that define the 21st century (so far) (Audible)
The best books of 2025 (according to the Amazon Editors)
Let Us Help You Find Your Next Book (New York Times)

Take a look, it's in a book!

9/30/2025

Here are 14 things I thought were worth sharing:

So happy that the people at McSweeney’s created these author trading cards! Why not create some trading cards about something special to you?!
Reading Rainbow is back, with a great new host! I was lucky enough to meet Mychal at a conference in June, and I can’t wait to see the new episodes!
There’s still time to catch the beautiful fall foliage all around us!
Speaking of Fall, it’s almost Banned Books Week! The folks at Little Free Library created this Banned Books Map so we can see which areas have the highest number of bans or restrictions, and where the Little Free Libraries are in those areas. Share this with your friends across the country!
Do you have any Little Free Libraries around you? Check and see! If they have some room for more books, take a bunch from my giveaway box and make total strangers happy!
The ALA compiles banned books stats each year. Here are the stats from 2024. Sobering.
Here is a link to Publishers Weekly’s 2025 Freedom to Read issue. Keep up with what’s
Is it true that all of our lives overlap?
Are you a podcast person and do you also love the Brooklyn Public Library? Then check this out!
Want to see the front pages from newspapers all over the world and how they differ?
Some helpful advice about how to read more.
For our science teachers: check out all of these everyday scientific mysteries collected by the Library of Congress!
The folks at Common Sense Media have created a free AI training course for educators.
A plug for my profession and how libraries help us all!

Libraries are more than just books!

8/25/2025

Here are 15 things I thought were worth sharing:

How is your Goodreads Reading Challenge going? If you need help adding books to your list, check out what tops the lists of other readers!
Speaking of book challenges, check out the 3,599 books that Dan Pelzer read in his lifetime!
BookCon is coming back!! See you there!
Love words & NYC?
Don’t throw away your printed books!
The Brooklyn Book Festival is one of the best things that happens here each fall!
Are you a movie person who loves to get interesting recs from interesting people?
Are you a movie person AND a History teacher? Check this out!
Are you a podcast person? Then check out this list from Time Magazine!
A tasty way to look at history!
I don’t often recommend TV shows, but I have to put in a plug for PBS’s Human Footprint! Rarely have I watched an informational series that seems able to pull together seemingly disparate threads and keep me on the edge of my seat in the process! My favorite episodes are the supermarket (S2.1), the history of cotton (S1.6), and global fashion (S2.3). Let me know what you think!
Take advantage of the beautiful and world-famous cemetery we are lucky enough to work so close to!
My annual plug for this eclectic and uplifting news aggregate source, created by a rock music icon!
It’s almost time for you to dig into lesson planning and grading, so here are some chill music resources for you.
Do you have creative students who want to help celebrate our country’s 250th Birthday and maybe win some money in the process?

“The book is the greatest invention of man. It’s a shame that people read so little.”

6/20/2025

Here are 14 things I thought were worth sharing:

1. RIP to José "Pepe" Mujica, the former president of Uruguay, a big reader who once said: “The book is the greatest invention of man. It’s a shame that people read so little.”
2. Hear what Madeleine L’Engle’s granddaughter has to say about banned books. My fists are raised in support of reading freely!
3. What did Hubble see on your birthday?
4. We are so lucky that we are so close to Green-Wood! The stunning cemetery that inspired Central Park! Check out all of the programming they have to offer!
5. First, there was Radio Garden (one of my favorite apps), and then there came TV Garden! Have fun checking out live TV streams from around the world!
6. The Frick Museum recently re-opened after a five-year renovation!
7. What do libraries have to do with grocery stores?
8. Take a Brooklyn Literary Audio Walking Tour this summer!
9. Watch “Free for All: The Public Library” on PBS!
10. You know all those Hollywood movies based on true stories? Find out how accurate they are!
11. Want to search Google without getting AI results? Try going here!
12. Want to know how many people live within a circle? Try this!
13. Some great summer advice from Austin Kleon!
14. Here are some Summer Reading lists for you!
The Best Books of 2025 (So Far) (Barnes & Noble)
Publishers Weekly Summer Reads 2025
All the Nonfiction Summer Reading Lists (Book Riot)
The New York Times’s Summer Reading Bucket List
The Summer Reading Guid (The Atlantic)
The 26 Best Summer Reads of 2025 (Oprah Daily)

Expand your mind & expand your life!

3/7/2025

Here are 11 things I thought were worth sharing:

Want to expand your mind and add to your resume? Search through 250,000 continuing education opportunities (many free!) with Class Central.
Worried about Big Data? You might want to expand your toolbox by adding a non-commercial search engine like Sweden’s Marginalia Search.
Are you or your students ever curious about fundamental gaps in human knowledge? Then check out Wikenigma!
Here is a Mostly Public Domain Image Search for all of your free image needs!
Students all process information in different ways. I am a true visual learner! For those who learn like me, consider using this timeline app, which converts any Wikipedia article into a timeline!
Please use the New York Times subscription we are paying for! They have so many things to help you and your students. One of them is their “Film Club feature [which teaches] close reading and critical thinking skills via an eclectic mix of nonfiction videos.”
Fall back in love with reading by listening to Kelly Corrigan’s “Shook by a Book”! Kelly speaks with people who talk about the longterm effects certain books have on them…
The folks at the News Literacy Project have great quizzes that you can incorporate into your lesson plans or use as Do Nows! Information Literacy is no joke and the only way we can build an informed electorate and country! Here are the quizzes for grades 7-9 and those for grades 10-12.
If you haven’t already checked out Ground News, do yourself a favor and do that now! It “is a platform that makes it easy to compare news sources, read between the lines of media bias, and break free from algorithms.”
My periodic reminder to sign up for JSTOR Daily (which is actually not sent out daily) so you can feed your curiosity about tons of things!
If you are ever in the position of wanting/needing to defend a banned book, turn to these Book Résumés, which have been created for just that purpose!