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| photo: Cheryl Simon | |
Tomorrow, Saturday, March 7, the Bank Street Bookstore will celebrate its grand opening at its new location at 2780 Broadway, on the northeast corner of 107th Street. The bookstore had to move five blocks south from its West 112th Street location due to rising rent costs. The smaller space and lower rent makes the enterprise more affordable.
In the windows, patrons and passersby can see an exhibit of work by students in Bank Street's School for Children, and greeting them as they walk in are shelves of Children's Book Award winners, Irma Black Award and Cook Prize finalists, books by Writers Lab members, and other themed displays. The bookstore has a dedicated space for its daily storytime and pillow-filled window seats.
"Bank Street anchors a robust community of children's authors," said bookstore manager Andy Laties. "From the days of Margaret Wise Brown and Maurice Sendak, Bank Street has been an institution that supports creators of innovative children's literature."
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| Bank Street Writers Lab members and neighborhood author friends. | |
Tomorrow's event, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., will feature readings by a bevy of authors, including Jerry Pinkney, Peter Lerangis, Amy Hest, Deborah Heiligman, Robie Harris, Rebecca Stead, Chris Raschka, Susan Kuklin, Monica Edinger, Carol Weston, Betsy Bird, Yvonne Dennis, Chris Grabenstein, Patricia Lakin and Tim Federle.
The bookstore held a soft opening with authors and the college community late last month, and New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña visited last week to share her views on education, interspersed with her read-aloud rendition of Dr. Seuss's Hooray for Diffendoofer Day (with a little help from Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith).
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| New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña at the new Bank Street Bookstore. | |
Fariña said that in her 22 years as a teacher, "I introduced trade books over basal readers." She was a frequent visitor to the Bank Street Bookstore. "These were people that didn't just sell books, they knew books." She believes "what kids remember about us as teachers are the things we do. It's not as hard to teach the skill of reading as it is to teach a love of reading."
Next Wednesday, March 11, at 6 p.m., the bookstore will host a reception and signing for Ann M. Martin, winner of the 2015 Josette Frank Award (for fiction), and Susan Kuklin, winner of the 2015 Flora Straus Award (for nonfiction), on the eve of the Bank Street Children's Book Awards ceremony, to be held on March 12 at 9:30 a.m.