For many avid readers, the library has been a safe space since childhood. But with accessibility to written content having greatly increased over the past few decades, actually getting to the library sometimes feels like a hassle, rather than a treat. No longer! The New York Public Library (NYPL) is launching an imprint inspired by their collections, so you can bring the library home - permanently this time.
Heralded as one of the best libraries in the world, the NYPL operates 92 branches throughout Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Their new imprint, which will be launched by Macmillan, plans to publish five to eight books a year that "celebrate the role of libraries with the public," said NYPL president Tony Mar in an announcement earlier this week.
The imprint's debut book, expected to hit shelves next year, will be a children's book by writer and illustrator Maira Kalman. Kalman, the genius behind such works as Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Everything and Ah-Ha to Zig-Zag, plans to "rejoice in the role of libraries," according to a press statement. Other children's books will include a coloring book based on vintage art from the NYPL archives, tentatively titled Coloring In the Lions, a picture book featuring Patience and Fortitude, the stone lions that guard the entrance to NYPL's main building, and a YA novel based on the true story of a family who lived in the library.
Which, TBH, is my dream.
Don't worry adults — there will be plenty of goodies for you as well. A set of 45,000 vintage menus will serve as the basis for a book about restaurant culture in New York, and BookFace, the aesthetically-pleasing Instagram trend featuring people melding their faces with book covers, will be compiled into a coffee table book.
Considering how many incredible manuscripts and artifacts rest in their archives, I can only imagine the kind of surprising, eclectic content the NYPL imprint will produce. I! Am! So! Excited!
Though it's unclear how the profits will be split, it's assumed that much of the earnings will go towards supporting the NYPL and its wide array of public programs and services. “For over 100 years, the New York Public Library has collected, preserved and made accessible to the public millions of significant and enlightening books, manuscripts, photographs, artifacts, and more from history," said President Mar in the official imprint announcement. "Items that have informed and inspired countless new works and ideas.” And now, they can continue to do so.
Images: Giphy
