The City of New York has settled with the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement over the destruction of the OWS Library. The city will pay the OWS Library Working Group $47,000 and pay $186,350 in attorney fees for the movement as well.

Read the complete settlement in the Scribd file embedded below–are you surprised?

The Occupy Wall Street movement and OWS librarians sued New York City in federal court over the destruction of the Occupy Wall Street Library during a late-night raid on Zuccotti Park. According to the lawsuit, the city confiscated 3,600 books on November 15, 2011, but the city only returned 1,003 of the books.

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Activists will celebrate the first year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement today in New York City, gathering around the city in a day of action. Follow this link to read a full PDF of all the planned activities.

The anniversary has also produced a new website, and the activists are urging writers and artists to submit related work. Click here to submit a story for the anniversary blog.  You can also follow all the activity on Twitter at the #S17 hashtag.

Here’s more about the page: “This movement can’t happen without your creativity. Please share pictures, videos, drawings, signs, posters, or anything else we can re-post online! … We will do our best to share it with the world. You can also submit media to: OccupyDesign.org & OccuPrint.org. Check out this Design Brief with information for making posters. Check out what others are making on our Media page.”

What book would you carry during a march? For the last few years, activists have created book cover shields to use for protests.

As you can see by the photo embedded above, these “Book Blocs” make a striking image during a protest. The Occupy Wall Street Library will host a workshop on July 29th, showing readers and activists how to use these tools.  Here’s more about the class:

Perhaps the most striking example of such deployment of books has been the Book Bloc—phalanxes of protesters hoisting large shields against lines of riot police, each emblazoned with the cover of a book. Book Blocs first appeared in Italy in 2010, and since then they have made their way to London, Spain, California, New York and beyond.  For this workshop, we will supply the materials and instructions to make our own book shields. Members of Occupy CUNY and librarians from the People’s Library will be on hand to talk about the history of the Book Bloc and spark conversation about the tactical and symbolic uses of books. Participants are encouraged to drop in for the workshop anytime between 2-5pm.

The Occupy Wall Street movement and OWS librarians have sued New York City in federal court over the destruction of the Occupy Wall Street Library during a late-night raid on Zuccotti Park.

The suit names mayor Michael Bloomberg, police commissioner Ray Kelly and sanitation commissioner John Doherty. According to the lawsuit (filed late last week), the city confiscated 3,600 books on November 15, 2011, but the city only returned 1,003 of the books. We’ve embedded the complete complaint below–what do you think?

Check it out: “We believe that the raid and its aftermath violated our First-Amendment rights to free expression, Fourth-Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure, and Fourteenth-Amendment rights to due process, as well as the laws of the City of New York regarding the vouchsafing of seized property. We are demanding compensatory damages for the lost/destroyed books and equipment, which we have estimated at at least $47,000. In addition, because we believe the seizure and destruction of the books went beyond negligence to constitute a reckless and callous indifference to our constitutional rights, we are demanding punitive damages of at least $1,000.”

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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!”

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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.’”

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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)