New York State Library

New York State Library Established in 1818, the New York State Library (NYSL) is one of the nation's oldest state libraries. Answering questions since 1818.

09/30/2026

Learn more about the Talking Book and Braille Library straight from the source—our readers! Our new video series highlights the various ways that New York readers have employed TBBL services to pursue their goals and enrich their lives.

In this video, TBBL user and artist Connie Avery creates ink drawings and discusses how talking books figure into her artistic process.

For the full video and a transcript, please visit our blog at: https://nyslibrary.libguides.com/blogs/system/tbbl-user-connie-go-with-the-flow

Join us on Thursday, October 15, at 12 PM for Charles Evans Hughes: Leadership at America's Crossroads, a free webinar f...
09/28/2026

Join us on Thursday, October 15, at 12 PM for Charles Evans Hughes: Leadership at America's Crossroads, a free webinar from the NYS Library.

Author Bill Loughrey will discuss the astonishing public career of Charles Evans Hughes, who served as America's Chief Justice, U.S. Secretary of State, and one of New York's most effective governors. The presentation will explore what made Hughes an exceptional political leader, with a particular focus on his transformative tenure as governor of New York.

Bill Loughrey has enjoyed a distinguished career in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Before the age of thirty, he helped implement the Watergate reforms and served as chief of staff to U.S. Senator Arlen Specter. A native of Glens Falls, New York—the birthplace of Charles Evans Hughes—Bill has maintained a lifelong passion for history.

For more information and to register, please visit: https://nyslibrary.libcal.com/event/17292878

Don’t forget that in between visits to the NYS Library, you can access our excellent electronic resources 24/7! Search f...
09/24/2026

Don’t forget that in between visits to the NYS Library, you can access our excellent electronic resources 24/7!

Search for books and other materials held by the NYS Library in the catalog or explore our digital collections—we're scanning new items all the time!

Pictured here is an item from the VendOmeter Corporation collection, which consists of promotional documents, original trade literature, corporate newsletters, and photographs concerning their pioneering coin-operated refrigerated drink vending machines in the 1920s.

Thirsty for more? Connect to this collection on our blog: https://nyslibrary.libguides.com/blogs/system/from-the-collections-egg-vending-machines

09/23/2026

Learn more about the Talking Book and Braille Library straight from the source—our readers! Our new video series highlights the various ways that New York readers have employed TBBL services to pursue their goals and enrich their lives.

In this video, TBBL user and staff member Denise discusses her work as one of TBBL’s all-star reader advisors and the ways that books and reading can foster connection.

For the full video and a transcript, please visit our blog at: https://nyslibrary.libguides.com/blogs/system/reader-advisor-denise

What happens when you cross the Fragrant Cloud rose with the Oklahoma rose? You get the Dolly Parton Variety rose plant!...
09/18/2026

What happens when you cross the Fragrant Cloud rose with the Oklahoma rose? You get the Dolly Parton Variety rose plant!

On February 14, 1984, Joseph F. Winchel submitted an application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a plant patent for a new variety of Hybrid Tea rose. Then, on December 24, 1985, the USPTO granted Winchell Plant Patent Number 5608--the Dolly Parton Variety rose plant!

The NYS Library has been a United States Patent and Trademark Resource Center since 1871. A Patent and Trademark Resource Center (or PTRC) is part of a nationwide network of academic, public, and state libraries designated to support the public with trademark and patent assistance.

Read more about the Dolly Parton Variety rose plant (and our patent resources) on the NYS Library blog: https://nyslibrary.libguides.com/blogs/system/a-rose-by-any-other-name-the-dolly-parton-variety

09/16/2026

Learn more about the NYS Talking Book and Braille Library straight from the source—readers!

In this video, lifelong TBBL user Kathy discusses her love of baking and pursuit of new techniques, as well as the role that NYS Library talking books have played in her life.

Find the full video and a transcript on our blog: https://nyslibrary.libguides.com/blogs/system/tbbl-user-kathy-be-open-to-new-things

09/15/2026

We're thrilled to kick off another season of NYS Library videos with a feisty fashion affair ripped from the headlines of 1922.

Join Elizabeth and Josh as they tell the story of NYC's straw hat riots, because in the 1900s, a straw hat wasn't just a hat—it was a calendar, a provocation, and a cultural flashpoint.

Find the full video, transcript, and links to NYS Library collections on our blog: https://nyslibrary.libguides.com/blogs/system/um-historically-not-straw-hat-riots-of-1922

Join us on Wednesday, September 23, at noon for His Soul Marches On: The John Brown Farm State Historic Site, a free onl...
09/14/2026

Join us on Wednesday, September 23, at noon for His Soul Marches On: The John Brown Farm State Historic Site, a free online program from the NYS Library.

Historian and author Sandra Weber will present about her newest book, in which she traces how the Brown family homestead near Lake Placid, NY--the place where John’s body “lies amouldering in the grave”--became a destination for people from around the world. John’s soul went marching on, as each generation came to this sacred ground to wrestle with questions of universal freedom, civil rights, public monuments, and historical truth-telling. The landscape now holds the restored Brown farmhouse, graves of eleven Harpers Ferry raiders, a statue of John Brown guiding a youth, and other memorials that broaden the meaning of this “site of conscience.”

Sandra Weber has authored several books about the Adirondack region. The John Brown Farm State Historic Site is Sandra Weber’s follow-up to her previous book, John Brown in New York: The Man, His Family, and the Adirondack Landscape.

For more information and to register, please visit our events calendar at: https://nyslibrary.libcal.com/event/17143120

The September 11, 2001 Collection, held by the NYS Library's Manuscripts and Special Collections, consists of newspapers...
09/11/2026

The September 11, 2001 Collection, held by the NYS Library's Manuscripts and Special Collections, consists of newspapers, magazines, and ephemera containing records, memorials, accounts of the immediate aftermath, and reflections and remembrances. In September 2001, a Special Collections librarian requested that we keep the first post-9/11 issue of every publication received at the time. That staff had the forethought, in those early, uncertain moments, to collect those immediate news reports highlights a feature of Special Collections: our collections are not only records of the past, but also a dynamic space to preserve records of the present.

Additional materials include a collection of photographs documenting artwork in the World Trade Center before, and sometimes after, the September 11 attacks. The NYS Library is also the new home of the 9/11 Tribute Museum book collection, which was transferred to our care after the Tribute Museum closed in 2023.

Visitors to the NYS Library’s 7th floor can view a September 11 pop-up exhibit highlighting impacts on students and education.

For more information on September 11 reflections at the NYS Library, please visit our blog at: https://nyslibrary.libguides.com/blogs/system/reflecting-on-25-years-september-11-in-nys-library-collections

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Albany, NY
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Thursday 9:30am - 5pm
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