A Letter from the President of BHS

Dear Friends,

It is my great pleasure to highlight two projects that have recently come to fruition at the Brooklyn Historical Society. The Othmer Library staff has been working diligently on a comprehensive conversion of the Library catalog, transforming the old card catalog into an online database. Simultaneous with this shift, we have entered into a partnership with New York University that will result in our digital catalog being housed permanently within NYU’s Bobcat online catalog. This is a huge step forward in creating access to our collections. Essentially this means that anyone, anywhere can browse through the BHS catalogue, and learn about what we have in the Library collection.

Ultimately the purpose of cataloging is access, and so it is with great pride that I inform our members that January 10, 2007 marks, at long last, the public reopening of the Othmer Library. This is the first time since December 1999 that the library has been open to the public! The resources that the Library offers are historically significant and astonishingly wonderful, and we are thrilled to be able to make them accessible to you.

None of this would have been possible without the commitment of Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who secured a congressional appropriation administered through the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences. In addition we are deeply grateful to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate Levin, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, City Council member Domenic Recchia and the entire Brooklyn Delegation of the City Council, Assemblyman James Brennan, State Senator Martin Connor, and Assemblywoman Joan Millman who have all helped to secure support that made re-opening the Library achievable. I extend my personal thanks to Marilyn Pettit, Vice President for Collections, Jeff Barton, Manager of the Library, and their staff for their commitment and hard work over the past year and a half.

I am also delighted to bring to your attention the inaugural season of the Public Perspectives, in the Independence Community Gallery at the BHS. Made possible by a generous grant from The Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Public Perspectives features exhibitions conceptualized by Brooklynites in response to an open call and selected by a panel of cultural experts and historians. The Public Perspectives exhibition series provides Brooklynites an active voice within BHS, lending insight into the ideas and views of the borough’s diverse community members. Please join us over the next year to see the captivating exhibitions which range from exploring converted houses of worship in Brooklyn, to celebrating African- and drum-based gatherings and ceremonies in the borough, to the mapping of Bushwick’s changing demographics and economy.

To each of our members and friends, I extend best wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. I look forward too seeing you at BHS in the months ahead!

Yours sincerely,

Deborah F. Schwartz

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