Category: News

Queens College Library – Librarian Vacancies Announcement (9/12/23) 

Seeking Candidates as Full-Time Substitute Librarians, and as Part-Time Adjunct Librarians 

Queens College Library (QCL) supports student success and faculty development through its resources, services, and spaces in accordance with the college’s educational mission. QCL seeks creative, collaborative, and user-centered librarians to support teaching and learning in the schools of Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, and Math & Natural Sciences. Our librarians will work with Library and College partners to improve services and outreach to students and faculty across academic departments. QCL encourages innovation in librarianship and expects librarians to possess strong interpersonal and creative skills, and the desire to develop new areas of expertise. 

As members of the Library Faculty, these public service positions will combine core librarianship and teaching responsibilities, such as research assistance and library instruction, with subject specialist and technology-based services to students and faculty.  

The Library and College embrace the diversity of the borough of Queens and welcomes such diversity in its students and personnel. QCL promotes a hybrid work schedule for full-timers (80% on-site, 20% remote), and all positions may include evenings and weekends. 

These positions are open until filled – review of applications begins September 18th. 

For details and to apply for a position, see our Employment page or these direct links: 

Questions about the positions or the hiring process can be addressed to james.mellone@qc.cuny.edu.

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QC Diversity Week Event: Let’s Talk About “IT”

Queens College Library
  • Title: Let’s Talk About “IT”- Race, Gender, Sexuality, Religion, Mental Health
  • Date: April 17, 2023
  • Time: 12:15pm – 1:30pm
  • Location: Rosenthal Library Level 3 Tanenbaum Space
Register Now

It’s okay to not understand something. Sometimes we just need to sit down and talk about “it”. This workshop is designed to bring people together to discuss everyday issues and have uncomfortable conversations.

Set with the concept of speed dating, participants will be paired to have a timed one-on-one discussion on a variety of topics that include race, gender, sexuality, religion, mental health, and other topics, to ask each other questions so that they can learn about issues that they are unfamiliar with. This is an opportunity to talk, listen and learn about the differences that make us unique in our own ways.

Come join us as we get comfortable with being uncomfortable and let’s talk about “it”!

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National Poetry Month in the Archives: The Chapbook Collection Event

by: Kimiko Hahn, Distinguished Professor & Assistant Director, MFA Program in Creative Writing and Literary Translation

Event: National Poetry Month in the Archives: The Chapbook Collection And the Launch of Award-Winning Chapbook Lest We All Get Clipped by Joseph Gross
Date & Time: April 24, 2023, 7pm
Location: Rosenthal Library’s Tannenbaum Room 300i

Lest We All Get Clipped by Joseph Gross

QC MFA alum Joseph Gross will read from his debut poetry chapbook Lest We All Get Clipped.  In this collection, he explores our innate divinity through both ecclesiastical and (extra)ordinary experiences. The poems wrestle with faith, expression, and urban life “because / in the city / there’s not much / distance between / ravage & ravish.” After the reading, fellow alum and publisher Peter Vanderberg will speak about how and why he started this press.

The Birdhouse Chapbook Prize is awarded to an alum from the MFA program and published by Ghostbird Press. Founder Peter Vanderberg, a poet and educator, was inspired by CUNY’s Chapbook festivals ten years ago and has been publishing for nearly as long. He recognized the importance of the chapbook as a format that often publishes a writer’s first collection, often presents theme-based work as well as texts that may be offbeat and/or experimental. Ghostbird publishes all genres and includes art alongside the texts. Their lineup includes early work by writers such as Rajiv Mohabir as well as an unusual hybrid collection by former New York State poet laureate Alicia Ostriker. Last year, Vanderberg generously donated all of the Ghostbird chapbooks to the QC Chapbook Archive and many will be on display.

ENG MFA Ghostbird Press Poster

The Queens College MFA Program in Creative Writing and Literary Translation is a unique program that was founded nearly twenty years ago by professors in the English Dept. Students work closely with award-winning full-time faculty writers and benefit from taking classes that include cross-genre work. In such a way, the students get to know classmates outside their genre of focus and become adept in commenting on texts outside their genre of focus–whether poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or translation. And, speaking of literary translation, the QC MFA is one of two programs in the country that has a dedicated MFA track. Whether a student is from the United State or from another country, they feel at home in Queens, the most linguistically diverse place on the planet. Multivocal and multigenre and multifaceted are characteristic of this graduate creative writing program. The Birdhouse Chapbook reading is always a marvelous window into the community of alum, students, and professors.

This reading coincides with poet and QC professor Kimiko Hahn’s craft class “A Chapbook for Every Genre.” She will introduce the event.

Please join us in celebrating the launch of Ghostbird’s latest chapbook, Joseph Gross’ Lest We All Get Clipped.

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Art of the Announcement Exhibit

Queens College Library is excited to share a new exhibit Art of the Announcement on view now in the 3rd floor vitrines. Spanning 45 years, from 1932-1977, this exhibit features exhibition announcement cards and posters from leading century artists and galleries. Throughout the 20th century art gallery announcement cards and posters assumed a new prominence and graphic sophistication, offering artists a new level of professional control over their visual identities.

Announcement card for Surrealisme
Announcement card for Surrealisme at Julien Levy Gallery, design by Joseph Cornell, 1932.

Th exhibit includes examples of exhibitions covering the range of artistic production from painting, sculpture, photography, performance, and more. One highlight of the exhibition is the announcement card for the landmark 1932 exhibition Surrealisme at Julien Levy Gallery. This landmark exhibition is historically important for introducing the then nascent Surrealist Art movement to the United States. While the original cover image created by Joseph Cornell demonstrates the increasing involvement of artists in creating distinctive visual languages to promote their exhibitions.

Installation view at Queens College Library
Installation view of Art of the Announcement at Queens College Library

The exhibit marks the first time this historically rich collection of cards and posters has been on exhibit at Queens College Library.

Announcement poster for Cy Twombly’s exhibition
Announcement poster for Cy Twombly’s exhibition Nine Discourses on Commodus at Leo Castelli Gallery, 1964

The exhibit will be on view until August 24th, 2023, and was curated by Substitute Visual & Performing Arts Librarians, Assistant Professor Scott R. Davis.

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Women’s History Month in the Archives: Lucille Kyvallos Collection and Exhibit 

The library is pleased to announce that the papers of Queens College basketball legend Lucille Kyvallos are processed and available for research. Transferred to Special Collections and Archives last summer, the collection includes administrative, coaching, and teaching records; awards, photographs, and publications; and other materials that shine a light on the history of women’s college basketball from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. 

Madison Square Garden, Queens College vs Immaculata College Poster, 1973. Photo credit Richard Lee

Select items from the collection are on display in a library exhibit, Leaving it All on the Court: Queens College’s Lucille Kyvallos and her Iconic Legacy. Stop by Rosenthal to see photographs, trophies, awards, and primary documents from this extensive and multilayered collection. The exhibit opened March 1st in celebration of Women’s History Month but will remain on display through December of this year. The exhibit is located in the display cases in the Charles J. Tanenbaum room and adjacent lounge area on the 3rd floor. 

Lucille Kyvallos is a trailblazer of women’s basketball in collegiate sports. She was the head coach of the women’s basketball team at Queens College from 1968 through 1981, holding an overall record of 239-77. Kyvallos helped bring her team and the sport to the national stage: she coached the first women’s college basketball game played at Madison Square Garden in 1975 and led the 1977 US National Women’s Basketball Team at the World University Games to a silver medal, among other accomplishments. During her tenure, she worked tirelessly to promote women’s college basketball and bring it to a wider audience. 

Sarah Barlow-Ochshorn, a graduate Fellow from the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies (GSLIS), processed the collection and curated the exhibit, thanks to generous funding from Lucille Kyvallos and the Department of Recreation and Athletics.   

United States National Women’s Basketball, World University Games Team 1977
Lucille Kyvallos and the 1973 Team, Photo credit Richard Lee, Lucille Kyvallos Athletics Records
Lucille Kyvallos playing for St. Demetrios, circa 1950s

“Getting to learn about Lucille and her impact on women’s collegiate basketball has been a joy. The materials in her collection reveal the perseverance, resilience, and teamwork that led to the success of the QC women’s basketball team in an era when women’s sports lacked adequate support and resources,” said Sarah.

Interested in learning more about Lucille Kyvallos and her collection? 

Access the finding aid for the Lucille Kyvallos Athletics Records and Papers now! To book a research appointment, please email qc.archives@qc.cuny.edu. 

View an oral history with Lucille Kyvallos, or download the transcript, on the Queens Memory portal.

Queens College Library begins cataloguing the Harry J. Psomiades Greek Studies Library collection

Librarian Carlo Minchillo and
Librarian Carlo Minchillo picks up the first batch of books from Director Gerasimus Katsan for processing.

The Queens College Greek Center for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies have joined efforts with the Queens College Library in an exciting cataloguing project that will make their collection of Byzantine and Modern Greek literature explorable throughout the CUNY library system. Since the Center’s founding in 1974, their Harry J. Psomiades Greek Studies Library has been building an extensive collection of books, journals, and scholarly publications that supports their academic initiatives as well as the country’s largest Greek community right here in Queens. After receiving a generous donation from an anonymous donor, the project was able to begin this spring semester.

It seems almost serendipitous that the cataloguing of these valuable items began just in time for March’s Greek-American History month. Director Gerasimus Katsan and Assistant Director Maria Athanasopoulou, who are overseeing the project, also manage the operations of the Greek Center and are committed to preserving and promoting the history of Greek language and culture. And as the liaison and subject specialist for the Greek Center, Librarian Carlo Minchillo understands the intrinsic value of the collection as a vital educational resource for academic research.

Assistant Neophytos Ioannou and Gerasimus Katsan
Assistant Neophytos Ioannou and Gerasimus Katsan helping pack books for processing.

With approximately 6,000 items to catalog, there are many moving parts and details for such a unique project that require special attention. Cataloguer Ronnie Gomez and his assistant Miguel Nunez will head the book processing part of the project. With half the collection in Greek and half in English, Ronnie and his team must be precise when creating the cataloguing records for these various items. After proposing the initiative in 2022, Carlo now oversees the coordination, logistics, and communication of the project. And finally, the assistant to the Greek Center, Neophytos Ioannou, was hired to help support the Greek Center and transport materials back and forth from the Center and the Library.

Greek Studies Book Call Numbers

Queens College Library Call Numbers

There are also files, special documents, and items that require assessment for permanent retention. This special skillset is best left to the expertise of the Head of Special Collections, Annie Tummino, and Archives Specialist, Caitlin Colban-Waldron, at Queens College Library. So when the Center identified materials in their collection that might meet the criteria for retention, Caitlin visited to determine if they hold historic value of interest to future researchers.

Caitlin Waldron
Caitlin Colban-Waldron visits the Greek Center to assess materials for possible retention.

The book processing is underway and there are items from the Greek Center Library that are now searchable through the library catalog! The location is listed as Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies (Jefferson Hall 302) and requests can be submitted by using your CUNY credentials. For research assistance, reach out to subject specialist, Carlo Minchillo, or visit the Reference Search office in room 344 on the main floor of the Queens College Library.

Treasures from Special Collections & Archives: Black History Month Edition

In Celebration of Black History Month, this month we share an item from our digital shelves: an oral history with Nathaniel Smith.

Nathaniel Smith is Director of NYC Men Teach at Queens College, CUNY. The interview was conducted by former staff member Obden Mondésir over Zoom in two parts, in November and December 2020. In the interview, Smith talks about his early childhood, family, and education throughout his life. He also touches on Hurricane Katrina, the organization of the BLFSA (the Black & Latinx Faculty & Staff Association) at Queens College, and the lockdown at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this clip, Smith discusses the work of the BLFSA on campus after the murder of George Floyd:

You can watch the full interview on the Queens Memory Aviary portal. You can read the full BLFSA 2020 statement and call to action here.

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Road to Equality Exhibition

Exhibit Dates: January 26, 2023 – June 30, 2023
Exhibit Location: Barham Rotunda

Black History

Road to Equality Exhibition Black History

Black History Month gives the Queens College Library the opportunity to celebrate and honor the efforts of QC students and faculty who sought social justice for all by their participation in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, especially the Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964. Starting in 2009, Queens College Library’s Special Collections and Archives (SCA) began collecting materials from alumni, faculty, and community members involved in these movements that now constitute part of the Civil Rights Collection of the photographs, printed materials, and miscellanea seen in the present exhibition documenting experiences of the participants that speak to the courage and optimism as well as to the rich history of QC activism during the civil rights movement.

In 1989, the QC library clock tower was dedicated to the memory of James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman (a QC student), and Michael Schwerner, civil rights activists who were murdered during the Congress of Equality’s (CORE) Freedom Summer project of 1964 by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Their deaths have inspired countless others to continue the struggle for equality and justice for all Americans.

Women History

Road to Equality Exhibition Women History

The inclusion of materials supporting Women History movement in the exhibition bridges the coordinated efforts of the suffragists across centuries and countries for abolitionism and women’s rights by demanding change to the voting laws. The suffragists understood the persuasive power of language and utilized postcards to spread their textual information; propagated visibility through marches and campaigns; and contributed to political empowerment through the visual arts (posters, collages, buttons, et al) to connect to the great and just causes of human history in order to disseminate their message. Their sense of energy and urgency established a new and formidable expression in the world that ultimately changed cultural perceptions and reshaped the discourse of American democracy for the better.

Upcoming Event: Celebrate Douglass Day 2023!

You’re invited! Douglass Day 2023, February 14, featuring a Transcribe-A-Thon of the papers of Mary Ann Shadd Cary.

Douglass Day is a collective act of radical love for Black history, and an event that helped inspire the creation of Black History Month. 

Details for Queens College:

  • Date: 2/14
  • Location: Queens College Library Room 225
  • Time: 12:30pm – 2pm
  • Light refreshments will be provided!

Douglass Day is an annual program that marks the birth of Frederick Douglass. Each year, we gather thousands of people to help create new and freely available resources for learning about Black history. We frequently focus on important Black women’s archives, such as Anna Julia Cooper (2020) and Mary Church Terrell (2021).  

This year, Douglass Day features a transcribe-a-thon of the papers of Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893), who “was one of the earliest Black women to edit a newspaper, serve as a Civil War recruiter, attend law school, and so much more” according to the Douglass Day website. The organizers of the event “are pleased to be partnering with the Archives of Ontario, Libraries and Archives Canada, and many others. Together we are presenting newly digitized and fascinating collections from Shadd Cary’s long and fascinating life.”

The event is organized by Transformative Learning in the Humanities and will run at three CUNY campuses. A transcribe-a-thon is an event in which people gather in person or online to work simultaneously on a crowdsourcing project. We share cool finds and more on social media, connecting across all of our locations. 

RSVP now!

Please register (RSVP) at the link above if you plan to attend in-person at Queens College Library! 

We also encourage anyone who is unable to attend in person to join the live stream on YouTube, and contribute transcriptions for the project on February 14. Visit douglassday.org for more details! 

Queens College Library: #ColorOurCollections  

From February 6-10, 2023, libraries, archives, and other cultural institutions around the world are sharing free coloring sheets and books based on materials in their collections. Sponsored by the New York Academy of Medicine, the initiative is a wonderful way to publicize unique holdings and create new uses for public domain materials. Please download, print, and share your favorites! 

Here at the Queens College Library, members of the Special Collections and Archives and Web and Digital Services units teamed up to create a coloring book based on illustrations from the text Pepper and Salt or Seasoning for Young Folk (Harper Brothers, New York, 1885). The item is one of several hundred in our rare juvenile literature collection.

Download Queens College Library Coloring Book

Please share your coloring on social media using the hashtag #ColorOurCollections and make sure to tag @qclibrary and @queenscollegearchives on Instagram and @LibraryQc on Twitter! 

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