New York Public Library Research

Happy Earth Day! Learn about the unique urban ecosystem of New York City with our research guide. NYPL's vast collection of maps, charts, atlases, reports, and books document the area's evolution and show how the urban biome has changed over time: on.nypl.org/4tp36PL

Sixty years ago, one of the most significant pre-Stonewall LGBTQ rights actions was staged at Julius’ Bar by Dick Leitsch and fellow members of the Mattachine Society of New York. Learn more about the "sip-in" and Leitsch’s activism in his papers: on.nypl.org/42lckAq

National Library Workers Day is coming up, and we're so thankful for our staff! Here are some of the people who help patrons access research collections at our flagship 42nd Street library, with some of their favorite finds. Plan your research visit: on.nypl.org/4cQJVbx

As National Library Week kicks off during Poetry Month, we're honoring librarians with the words of Stephen Vincent Benét, whose 1931 poem expresses his appreciation for the NYPL librarians who helped with his questions and forgave his foibles. Learn more: on.nypl.org/4cR649C

120 years ago today, San Francisco experienced one of the most devastating earthquakes in history. These stereoscopic views from the Wallach Division depict the aftermath of the earthquake and fires, including destruction, displacement, and relief efforts: on.nypl.org/4cxHsl3

On this day in 1907 more immigrants entered through Ellis Island than any other date in the city's history. Explore prints, photographs, postcards, and more from #NYPLDigitalCollections that document immigrant heritage—including powerful images by Augustus Sherman and Lewis Wickes Hine capturing Ellis Island, its facilities, and the people who arrived there from around the world. Want to celebrate the many cultures that shape NYC today? NYPL’s #WorldLitArtsFest spotlights the city’s diverse communities during New York's Immigrant Heritage Week: on.nypl.org/41FYisL

"When I found it, I shrieked. Bad form in a library!" While quiet is preferred in reading rooms, there's nothing like that feeling of discovery. Read about poet and biographer Molly Peacock's experience doing research in the Berg Collection. nypl.org/blog/2026/04/1…

These detailed, colorful maps, created by geologist Harold Fisk for a study to improve navigability and safety, offer insight into the Mississippi River's profound and ever-changing journey through time and space. See them in the Polonsky Exhibition: on.nypl.org/4vwfBtZ

Today is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. Discover the stories of Pavol Petr Gojdič and Raoul Wallenberg—two of Yad Vashem's Righteous Among the Nations, people outside the Jewish community who provided aid to Jews during the Holocaust: on.nypl.org/4sH97pS

April is both Arab American Heritage Month and National Poetry Month. Listen to Egyptian writer and poet Iman Mensal read from كتاب الغريب في الغرب ("The Stranger in the West"). One of the earliest Arabic travel accounts about the U.S., the book by Mīkhā‘īl As’ad Rustum al-Shuwayrī begins with poems describing al-Shuwayrī’s departure from Lebanon and his longing for family and homeland. It continues with vivid observations of American cities—starting with New York—and landmarks like Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the Brooklyn Bridge, seen here. Born in present-day Lebanon in the mid-19th century, al-Shuwayrī is believed to be the first Arab poet to immigrate to the United States, arriving in the 1880s. Though he settled in Philadelphia, he remained closely connected to New York’s Arab literary circles, where "The Stranger in the West" was published. Through poetry and reflection, al-Shuwayrī captures the experience of navigating life between cultures, traditions, and places. See the full poem in Arabic below: و بالإجمال أقول: إن بلاد الغرب في حد ذاتها غريبة وكل شيء فيها يظهر بحجم أكبر مما في غيرها، فإن البناية كقرية والقرية كمدينة، والمدينة كمملكة، والمملكة كقارة، والقارة نصف اليابسة، وقطارها كالجبل، وحصانها كالجمل. صغارها كبار، وبوليسها شمشون الجبار، وعالمها فيلسوف أنيس، وجاهلها طلطميس لا يعرف الجمعة من الخميس، وتقيها صادق أمين، وشقيها في ضلال مبين، لغنيها كل المال وللفقيرها سوء الحال، وعاشقها مجنون، وهاك ما له من الشؤون. 📖 Mīkhāʼil Asʻad Rustum al-Shuwayrī al-Lubnānī (1846–?). كتاب الغريب في الغرب (The Stranger in the West). General Research Division New York Public Library Research

It's! #NationalPetDay! Gertrude Stein and her partner Alice B. Toklas had two white poodles in a row, both named Basket, and chihuahuas named Pépé and Byron. Explore Stein's papers at NYPL: on.nypl.org/3Q1AeOM Photographs by Carl Van Vechten © Van Vechten Trust, 1934.

'Japanese Goblin Poetry' was translated and illustrated by Lafcadio Hearn, compiled by his son Kazuo Koizumi, and published in a double oversize, cloth-bound volume. Each poem features a classic Japanese folklore story, such as the Snow Woman and Umi-bozu: on.nypl.org/4tDzSw7

Prints and Spencer Collection curator Madeleine Viljoen spoke with @hyperallergic about Albrecht Dürer’s massive and extremely detailed 'Triumphal Arch,' on display in the Polonsky Exhibition of the Library's Treasures through October. hyperallergic.com/one-last-chanc…

"The Pageant of America: A Pictorial History of the United States" was published by Yale University Press from 1925 to 1929. NYPL's collection contains about 8,000 photographs, many in 15 thematic volumes, such as "The Epic of Industry." View more: on.nypl.org/47NMpog

A fascinating look into media preservation at NYPL!

The @SchomburgCenter's Brent Edwards discusses a surprising letter from Toussaint L'Ouverture. See this and more items celebrating 100 years of the Schomburg Center in the Polonsky Exhibition through May 3. Learn more with the audio guide on @bbgconnects: bit.ly/4e1p8Da

This Passover, explore the Library's Jewish cookbook collection, one of the largest and most diverse in the world, with over 3,000 cookbooks written in 18 languages from the 19th century to today, featuring cuisines from around the globe: libguides.nypl.org/Jewishcookbooks

Happy Easter! 🐇🥚 If you're on the hunt for more Easter eggs, read 'Fabergé Imperial Eggs and Other Fantasies' in the Wallach Division's Art and Architecture Collection, plus many more books on fine art, decorative arts, architecture, and design history: on.nypl.org/3NYwL2M

Milstein Division librarian Phil Sutton caught a glimpse of the rare American woodcock behind our flagship library in Bryant Park, which people are flocking to see. Want to learn more about this bird and others? Come inside and visit us after you see the woodcock for yourself.

This Arab American Heritage Month, explore our early Arab American collections: libguides.nypl.org/arabamericanhi… Discover newspapers and books printed in Arabic in New York, materials about Syrian immigration, and works by and about members of the Mahjar Romanticism literary movement.