Occupy Wall Street

These are the remaining books left in the Occupy Wall Street Library following a police action.

Earlier this week, the Occupy Wall Street librarians posted a picture of the newly rebuilt Occupy Wall Street Library in New York City’s Union Square Park. By the end of the day, police had cleared out most of the library–leaving behind the books in the picture (embedded above).

Below, we’ve created a chronological collection of tweets from activists showing what happened to the library. The librarians tweeted a new chant today: “People got sold out, Books got thrown out!”

Read more

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

On the six month anniversary of the movement, the Occupy Wall Street library briefly reopened before the police cleared Zuccotti Park. The librarians posted this message on Saturday night: “The People’s Library is once again open at #LibertyPlaza. 1,000 people here right now and staying all night.”

But by 12:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, the police had cleared the park–this video recorded some of the arrests. The New York Times described the violent scene: “At one point, a woman who appeared to be suffering from a seizures flopped on the ground in handcuffs as bystanders shouted for the police to remove her handcuffs and provide medical attention. For several minutes the woman lay on the ground as onlookers made increasingly agonized demands. Eventually, an ambulance arrived and the woman was placed inside.”

The occupation has now moved to Union Square Park, where organizers report that “several dozen” activists occupied Union Square last night. Here’s more from the site: “Over 70 people remain, now on Day 3. Although tents and tables are still banned, Occupiers have brought blankets and sleeping gear. Many are calling it ‘the new Occupation.’”

Read more

The Occupy Wall Street librarians have published the tenth edition of the OWS Poetry Anthology. Follow this PDF link to download a free copy.

In addition, the librarians are looking for “Poetic Introduction” essays to include in the anthology. The anthology seeks poems from all interested writers, and they will accept poems written in any language–just read the OWS Poetry Anthology submission guidelines.

Here’s more: “everyone is also welcome to contribute to the “POETIC INTRODUCTIONS” section of the anthology. The introduction section is a place for ‘essays/writings/stories’ about what the Anthology means to you. It’s a space for you to write an introduction for the anthology. Danny Schechter sent in the first introduction.”

 

Today the Occupy Wall Street Library posted a photograph of the hundreds of books added to their collection.

Even though the activists have been evicted from Zuccotti Park, the spirit continues as donations continue to pour into the library. A number of Twitter supporters banded together for the donations: Liz Danzico, Maria Popova, Akashic Books, Housing Works Bookstore and Nathan Larson.

The librarians tweeted about the donations: “Today OWS Library collected more new books then all of what was recovered after the Liberty raid. Take that Bloomie!”

Writer Melissa Gira Grant hopes to raise $10,000 on Kickstarter to publish Take This Book, an essay about the People’s Library at Occupy Wall Street. Above, we’ve embedded a video about the project–what do you think?

Here’s more about the project: “Take This Book is ready to publish, and as soon as this project is fully funded, I will release the digital edition (in epub and Kindle formats) to all backers. Then, Glass Houses, [a media label founded by Grant], will publish the print edition, to be released in February 2012. By backing this project, you will ensure that the print edition of this book is available for free to every Occupy library we can find.”

Welcome to our Kickstarter Publishing Project of the Week, a feature exploring how authors and publishers are using the fundraising site to raise money for book projects. If you want to start your own project, check out How To Use Kickstarter to Fund Your Publishing Project.

On Tuesday, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) librarians will offer a proposal to the OWS General Assembly–hoping to rebuild the library in Duarte Square, another New York City park.

Check it out: “The People’s Library would like $800 to purchase tarps, dollies, and plastic bins, and to provide transportation from SIS to the occupation of Duarte Square on December 17. All of our supplies, our computers, our bins and 80% of our collection was destroyed in the raid on Liberty Park on November 14. Since then we have received donations of books from around the world. We want to bring them to the people!”

The park was named after Juan Pablo Duarte, a Dominican Republic revolutionary who helped Dominicans fight for independence in the the 19th century. (Photo via)

When the NYPD raided the Occupy Wall Street camp in November, scores of activists and writers lost their personal journals as the police cleared Zuccotti Park.

The OWS librarians have recovered a number of these journals and are hoping to return them to their rightful owners. If you or someone you know lost a diary during the eviction, you can contact the OWS librarians directly. UPDATE: One of the OWS librarians wrote GalleyCat and said they still have lost journals.

Here’s more from the People’s Library: “If anybody lost a journal that is featured in either photo, please get in contact with me, hristo@doctor.com or 646-220-5655. It is my personal contact to ensure that it doesn’t get lost in the mass mailing list that we have for the library. To ensure it is yours, I would need some sort of verification, any kind that shows you are the rightful owner of the journal through knowledge of what is inside. Please spread this around to anybody that may have lost a journal on the night of the raid.”

The online version of the Occupy Wall Street Poetry Anthology has just added one hundred new pages as poems arrive from all over the world.

Follow this link to download a free online copy of the 538-page anthology. If you want to add your work to the anthology, the OWS Library has issued a writing prompt for the week–a good way to join the community writing project.

Here is the writing prompt: “Watch OWS videos on youtube that show police brutality. Spend a half hour in silent reflection. As you reflect, calmly send radiant energy to people the world over that have been victims of police brutality. Then write a poem to a police officer! Dedicate poems to Robert Hass or anyone you know that has been a victim of police brutality.”

In a Morning Media Menu interview this morning, literary blogger Edward Champion shared stories from the Occupy Wall Street eviction last week and offered resources for writers, journalists and readers looking to follow the evolving story.

Champion also talked about how coverage of the controversial University of California, Davis pepper spray incident spread online–including his phone call to the officer videotaped spraying students.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview: “Being there in a physical capacity is very important. If you are in a city where an Occupy movement is happening, the best thing to do is simply go down there … The #OWS hashtag is always dependable, that’s always a good place to find stories. If you’re trying to corroborate something on YouTube if you have a name, that’s helpful. If  you have a verb: pepper spray, occupy, these are helpful things to look for.”

Read more

American Library Association (ALA) president Molly Raphael has voiced support for the Occupy Wall Street library, writing: “The very existence of the People’s Library demonstrates that libraries are an organic part of all communities.”

Below, we’ve reprinted her entire statement. In addition, Common Cause president Bob Edgar urged the city to help the library: “To the extent that the books lost can be accounted for, the city should replace each title, buying two new copies for each one destroyed … And for whatever number is unaccounted for, the city should provide Occupy’s librarians with funds sufficient to buy twice as many.”

After being evicted twice from Zuccotti Park this week, the People’s Library librarians took the books around the city in carts.

Read more