Category: Cover to Cover

Queens Memory COVID-19 Project Featured on Queens Public Television

Episode 2 of the Queens Memory COVID-19 Project series Navigating a Pandemic was broadcast on Queens Public Television on August 25.  This episode highlights our schools, messages of hope, and the Black Lives Matter movement.  Missed the broadcast? This and other Queens Memory programs are available on Queens Memory’s main Facebook Page, and at Queens Library’s Aviary site, which also features Queens Memory’s weekly podcast, The Borough We Became.

Culture Watch: QC Library Recommends (Sept. 2020)

by Michael Deering

Culture Watch – Back to school edition! No matter what your September brings, Culture Watch is here to highlight free events to enjoy from the comfort of your home.

Lastly – and most importantly – we wish everyone a safe and happy start to the school year!

Music

  • Ongoing: Thursdays at 4PM: Norah Jones continues to perform short and charming sets live on facebook each week. 
  • Tuesday, 9/8 at 7:30PM: The Metropolitan Opera’s Nightly Streams continue with Gounod’s realization of Romeo and Juliet. Nightly Opera Streams remain available until 7PM the following day to make way for the next opera.
  • Tuesday, 9/22 at 7:00PM: Sofia Tosello’s Chuño Experimental – Latin American traditional music will be bringing their sounds to our homes thanks to Queens Colleges own Kupferberg Center for the Arts. This is Part of their Music Makers: An Alumni Concert Series, which features graduates from the Aaron Copland School of Music.
  • Wednesday, 9/23 at 10:30AM: National Radio Series is featuring the music of George Crumb for Program 52. Crumb’s music is wholly unique and magical. It will be permanently available once it is posted on The Chamber Music Society website. 
  • Friday through Sunday, 9/25 – 9/27 at 8PM: The Monterey Jazz Festival will be live on Youtube starting at 8PM each night. 

Art

  • Monday, September 14 at 6:30PM and Wednesday, September 16 at 2PM: The Guggenheim is taking a look at previous rotunda installations. These works make use of Frank Lloyd Wright’s unique architecture to create something powerful. Space is limited, RSVP here.
  • Tuesday, September 29 at 7:00: Housed at Queens College, The Godwin-Ternbach Museum will introduce everyone their newest exhibit: Human/Nature: Portraits from the Permanent Collection. This program is being presented by The Kupferberg Center for the Arts.

Comedy

Nature

Storytelling

  • Ongoing: The National Theatre has a unique new program for children. Madame Kalamazoo will send handcrafted tales starring your young one right to your inbox. It is free but will require signing up here.

Fall Library Programs Will Explore Racial, Social Justice

QC Library is pleased to announce How Can We Do Better? Creating a More Just and Inclusive Future, a series of online programs to be held this fall which focus on issues of racial and social justice and their connections to higher education.

The events will be broadcast live on Queens Memory’s Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/queensmemory/ They are free and open to all, and no advance registration is required.

Co-sponsored by the Center for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Understanding [CERRU], Queens Memory COVID-19 Project of Queens College and Queens Public Library, the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, Percy Ellis Sutton SEEK Program, and the Queens College Black Latinx Faculty Staff Association [BLFSA].

Schedule of Programs:

1. Black Lives Matter and Anti-racism in Higher Education. Moderated by Queens College President Frank Wu. Tuesday, September 22 at 4PM.

2. Fighting For the Future: Political Engagement and Student Leadership. Moderated by Norka Blackman-Richards. Director, Percy E. Sutton SEEK Program, Queens College, CUNY. Tuesday, October 6 at 4PM.

3. Power and Oppression in the Archive: Building a Diverse Historical Record Through Oral History. Moderated by James Lowry, PhD. Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Queens College, CUNY. Tuesday, November 17 at 4PM.

Image credit: Jules Antonio. Used under Creative Commons license: https://www.flickr.com/photos/julesantonio/49992664316/ 10 June 2020.

Featured Resource: SWANK Video Streaming Service

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Have you already seen everything in your Netflix queue? Looking for the next treasure trove of Hollywood movies you can stream legally, and for free? You need to check out SWANK! This platform provides access to hundreds of great movies.

Users may create a SWANK account with their QC email. To learn how to get started, or just browse what’s available, please see our Swank Research Guide.  

QC Libraries also offers access to several other streaming platforms. Please see our Streaming Videos Research Guide for more information.

Culture Watch: QC Library Recommends (Aug. 2020)

by Michael Deering

August Culture Watch coming through! Here is our latest roundup of free entertainment and events to enjoy from the comfort of your home. Enjoy!

Music

  • Ongoing: Lincoln Center has the 2013 production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, Carousel, available through September 8.
  • Thursday, August 6 at 5PM: The QC Aaron Copland School of Music has started a new online lecture series called QClass. This week features renowned viola soloist Brett Deubner discussing self management and artistic leadership.
  • Thursday, August 6 at 7:30PM: The Metropolitan Opera’s nightly stream is Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. It will be available until the following evening.
  • Friday, August 7 at 2PM: Lincoln Center brings Ms. Yvonne to explore body percussion and dance in this week’s Pop-Up Classroom that will air on facebook.
  • Thursday, August 13 at 5PM: ACSM Orchestra Director Mark Powell addresses artist strategies to continue growing artistically and personally during pandemic time.
  • Sunday, August 9 at 7:30 PM: The Nightly Opera Stream from The Met Opera is Mozart’s opera buffa Don Giovanni.

Theatre

  • Ongoing: Noël Coward’s comedy Present Laughter is available until August 29th courtesy of PBS.
  • Ongoing: PBS makes Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing available through September 12.

Comedy

Nature

Storytelling

  • Ongoing: The National Theatre has a unique new program for children. Madame Kalamazoo will send handcrafted tales starring your young one right to your inbox. It is free but will require signing up here.

Art

  • Thursday, August 6 at 12PM: What Makes a Photograph? This is the question being explored during this episode of Art History from Home by The Whitney Museum of American Art. Discuss everyday cell phone shots alongside works from the museum’s collections. It is free but make sure you register!
  • Friday, August 14 at 2PM: Lincoln Center’s Pop-Up Classroom will be using recycled materials to create woven paper projects with Ms. Taryn.
  • Friday, August 21 at 10AM: The Whitney presents Verbal Description Online, a monthly class to allow the visually impaired to experience and appreciate art. This event is free but space is limited, so be sure to reach out to the contact on the event page.
  • Friday, August 21 at 1PM: Have extra wire hangers and milk cartons lying around? Try your hand making suspended sculptures with help from The Whitney during their program Artmaking From Home. Free with Registration.

Dance

  • Ongoing: Tuesdays at 3PM: The New York City Ballet is hosting Virtual Access. Free movement classes for individuals with disabilities. Tuesday classes are designed for teens and adults. These classes happen over Zoom. Register for the classes here.
  • Ongoing: Wednesdays at 12PM: The New York City Ballet’s program Virtual Access is for younger participants on Wednesdays. Register for the Zoom classes here.

A Conversation With Khaleel Anderson

Before shaking up Queens politics with his upset victory in NYS Assembly District 31’s primary election, Khaleel Anderson (BA/MA Urban Affairs, 2019), was already well known at QC for his tireless advocacy work on library issues affecting students. 

During Summer 2019, in the beginning stages of his campaign, I had the privilege of interviewing Khaleel. Our wide-ranging conversation covered his college selection process, his experiences in the SEEK program, and his burgeoning political career. 

Hi Khaleel, thanks for talking to us! I’d like to start by asking about your first experiences with QC.

My family moved to Queens from Brooklyn when I was 9. In 11th grade, I lived on campus for about 3 weeks, as it was an evacuation site for families like mine who were displaced by Hurricane Sandy. We were in the dining hall, then Fitzgerald Gym. It was the first college I’d visited, and I got to know it that way. We were eating the emergency MREs the first couple weeks, but later, the food improved!

How did you decide to come to Queens College? What other schools were you considering?

I thought Stony Brook was beautiful, and I also thought of going to SUNY-Albany but I didn’t get in. I had heard Baruch was the ‘poor man’s Harvard,’ and I was student body president of my class in high school and thought that might be a good fit. But Queens offered me a place in the SEEK program, and I decided to come here.

You found the SEEK Program to be very intense at first. Can you tell me about it?

I thought I was going to have my whole summer off before beginning my freshman year,, but SEEK had other plans! We started June 30th, getting help with reading, writing and math. We took a crash course in how to use the library over the summer, and then all SEEK students are required to take Library 100 as freshman.

Were you already a big library user before coming to QC?

In my neighborhood, the public libraries are more like community centers, and they have a lot to offer. I used the public library, but using the school library was difficult–if you stayed late at school to use the library, the limited transit options made it harder to get home. And the classes were easier in high school, so I didn’t have to use the library as much to do my work. 

What did you learn in the Library 100 course?

The crash course got me familiar with the library. We thought the library was just a building with books. Getting help from the people there was new. A culture shock was that you had to learn to find the books yourself! 


What about finding articles and other resources online?

That was also new! Library 100 helped me a lot with learning to find articles and information online. It was like a crash course in how to do research. Every assignment required you to come to the library to research it-you couldn’t just use Google for your research, like I could for my high school work. 

We also learned about the history of the library, and QC’s connections to civil rights activism. I remember learning about the history of Andrew Goodman and Freedom Summer.

You also got involved with Student Association.

Yes. I volunteered at a few events with Caribbean Students Association and BSU my sophomore and junior years, and then got more involved and ran for Chair of Lobby and Advising Committee my senior year.
 
And then you ended up serving on your local Community Board?

I was appointed to Queens Community Board 14 because Donovan Richards, my city councilman, knew of work I was doing in the neighborhood and thought I should apply.

One of the projects I’m most proud of was voting to allocate $118M on storm mitigation projects. It’s called the Resilient Edgemere plan. 

Now you’re running for NYS Assembly. Tell us about that!

Yes, I am running now for NYS Assembly now in the 31st Assembly District. (Note: Khaleel won the June 23 Democratic Primary!)

What’s the status of your campaign now?

We’ve raised about $10,000 in individual contributions, and are talking to my neighbors and waiting to see what the structure of the next election is.

The other thing I’m working on now is a big Community Board vote for a big rezoning project  for Peninsula Hospital. We are working on affordable housing, an urgent care center and grocery and laundry amenities for that neighborhood.

Thanks so much for talking with us, Khaleel. Do you have any other words of advice for Queens College students?

Besides, use that library? Don’t be a church mouse, make as many connections and friends as you can here. I have gotten help from so many people I met here. You meet people here from all around the world.

Library Support for Off-site Teaching and Learning

by Asif Alam

The Queens College Library would like to share some tips for remote access to many of our resources and services. The full guide to our services and other tools for supporting remote research is available here: https://qc-cuny.libguides.com/coronavirus. It also contains links to the latest scholarship and QC information on COVID-19.

Queens Memory COVID-19 Project

by Asif Alam

This borough-wide archiving campaign, initiated by Queens College Library and Queens Public Library, will collect first-person stories and documentation of life in the epicenter of the pandemic. The public can submit testimony, photographs, and documents through this site, powered by our tech partner, the Urban Archive.

It will become a permanent archive, open to researchers.

In addition to collaborating on the borough-wide outreach campaign, archivists at the Rosenthal Library are conducting long-form interviews with Queens College faculty, staff, and students, to ensure that our unique perspectives are recorded. For more information or to get involved, contact Queens Memory Outreach Coordinator Lori Wallach at lori.wallach@qc.cuny.edu.