This letter to the President of the New York Public Library, Anthony Marx, was written to express opposition to the plans (never fully publicly revealed or discussed) to drastically restructure the library's landmark main building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Journalists and bloggers had alerted us to the Central Library Plan (CLP): Scott Sherman wrote an excellent long-form article in The Nation; Caleb Crain wrote a series of important posts on his blog; and Charles Petersen wrote a two part investigative essay for n+1. As public awareness spread, architects joined the outcry.
This letter seemed the best way to express our collective opposition. Initially, it was circulated by email. 750 signatures from librarians, scholars, artists, writers, students, and (as one person described herself) “ordinary users” arrived in record time, among them Nobelist Mario Vargas Llosa; Pulitzer Prize winners Frances FitzGerald, Margo Jefferson, David Levering-Lewis, Edmund Morris, Art Spiegelman, and Annalyn Swan; writers Salman Rushdie, Jonathan Lethem, Amitav Ghosh, and Luc Sante; Anne Waldman, Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets; John Palattella, literary editor of The Nation; historian Natalie Zemon Davis; Lorin Stein, editor of the Paris Review; Jackson Lears, editor of Raritan; and the editors of the journal n+1; Lawrence Weschler, head of the New York Institute for the Humanities; Srinivas Aravamudan, President of the Consortium of Humanities Councils and Institutes; and Jonathan Galassi, President of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
On May 9, 2012, the letter was sent to President Marx, as well as to every member of the library’s board of trustees, to Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn, and to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The letter was also sent to local and national media, where the movement to stop the renovation has begun to receive wide coverage. Even Garrison Keillor has started cracking jokes about the library's plan to move a majority of its books to New Jersey.
We thought it important to continue to express outrage about the plan and to demand a public discussion of it. That meant putting the letter on-line in this format. We hope you will sign and circulate it to others. The more names we collect, the better. The goal is to bring the CLP out into the open and to have a frank and critical discussion of what it will mean for the future of the NYPL, the People's Library.
In an effort to open a public discussion of the library's plans, the organizers of this petition are holding a meeting on May 22 at the Theresa Lang Community Center of the New School for Social Research, 55 W 13th St, 2nd floor, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. A panel consisting of Mark Hewitt, David Nasaw, Charles Petersen, and Joan Scott, will be moderated by Eric Banks. The NYPL has been invited to send a representative to join the panel discussion.
—
Anthony W. Marx, President
New York Public Library
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street
New York, NY 10018
Dear Dr. Marx:
We write as scholars, writers, researchers, and teachers who have long benefited from the services and collections available to us at the four research facilities of the New York Public Library. We are alarmed by the Central Library Plan, which seems to us to be a misplaced use of funds in a time of great scarcity. The budget cutbacks of the past five years have had disastrous effects for the NYPL’s research libraries, and especially 42nd Street:
*the skilled staff vital to supporting our research activities—curators, archivists, bibliographers, and librarians—has been drastically reduced in number;
*the Slavic & Baltic division and the Asian & Middle Eastern division have been entirely eliminated; and there is no full-time curator for the Slavic collection;
*the Schomburg Library in Harlem—the place to do research on African-American history—has been allowed to deteriorate through the postponement both of capital improvements and of computer upgrading; and
*the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center is no longer a haven for scholars and critics. Many of the reference librarians who specialized in dance, music, recorded sound, and theater were eliminated, moved off the reference desks, or offered buyouts.
Instead of addressing these issues, the CLP will spend over $300 million on a restructuring of the 42nd Street building which includes a huge expansion of public space, the removal of stacks (and the 3 million books in them), and the creation of a circulating library in the building. While we understand that it may be necessary to store some books in order to make room for others and that more computer access may be necessary for users of the library, the changes planned envision a much more radical transformation.
NYPL will lose its standing as a premier research institution (second only to the Library of Congress in the United States)—a destination for international as well as American scholars—and become a busy social center where focused research is no longer the primary goal. Books will be harder to get when they’re needed either because of delays in locating them in the storage facility or because they have been checked out to borrowers. Those of us who also use university libraries know how frustrating it is to discover that the book we need immediately is checked out or lost. And we worry about the effects of removing the stacks that now support the glorious Rose Reading Room. More important, perhaps, is that the CLP seems to make no mention of restoring the staff positions that have been lost and that are critical for the functioning of a major research institution.
One of the claims made about the CLP is that it will “democratize” the NYPL, but that seems to be a misunderstanding of what that word means. The NYPL is already among the most democratic institutions of its kind. Anyone can use it; no credentials are needed to gain entry. More space, more computers, a café, and a lending library will not improve an already democratic institution. In fact, the absence of expert staff will diminish the accessibility of the collections to those who aren’t already experienced researchers, narrowing the constituency who can profitably use the library. They will be able to borrow books, to be sure, but they won’t be inducted into the world of archives and collections if staff aren’t there to guide them. Also, in the age of the web, we need, more than ever, skilled, expert librarians who can assist us in navigating the new databases and the back alleys of cyberspace. We understand that it is often easier to raise money by attending to buildings (and naming them), but the real need at the NYPL is for the preservation of a great library and the support of its staff.
We appreciate the fact that you have established a committee consisting of some critics of the CLP to advise you. We hope you will take a hard look at the plan you’ve been given and revise it so that the splendid culture of research embodied by the NYPL can be maintained. We think the money raised can be better used to preserve and extend what already exists at 42nd Street. Change is always necessary, but not of the kind envisioned by the CLP.
Signed:
Domenick Acocella, City College CUNY
Jarrietta Adams, Center for Worker Education, CCNY
Neil Agarwal, Graduate Center CUNY
Jean-Christophe Agnew, Yale University
Brinton Ahlin, New York University
Ammiel Alcalay, CUNY Graduate Center
Robert Alegre, University of New England
Meena Alexander, Graduate Center CUNY
Sarah Allan, Dartmouth College
Esther Allen, Baruch College
Harriet Alonso, CCNY
Bruce J Altshuler, New York University
Benjamin Anastas
Bonnie Anderson, CUNY Graduate Center
Anthony Anemone, The New School
Gil Anidjar, Columbia University
Emily Apter, New York University
Bettina Aptheker, University of California, Santa Cruz
Jonathan Arac, University of Pittsburgh
Lorraine Aragon, University of North Carolina
Srinivas Aravamudan, Duke University
John Michael Archer, New York University
Rae Armantrout, University of California, San Diego
Abe Ascher, Graduate Center, CUNY
Kiran Asher, Clark University
Roark Atkinson, Ramapo College of New Jersey
James Atlas, Atlas & Co.
Jane Augustin
Dolores Augustine, St. John's University
Shira Backer, Bryn Mawr College
John S. Baick, Western New England University
Deirdre Bair, Independent Scholar/writer
Deborah Baker, Brooklyn, NY
Andrea Baldi, Rutgers University
Ian Balfour, York University, Canada
David Ball, Smith College
Nicole Ball, Smith College
Henryk Baran, SUNY Albany
Tani Barlow, Rice University
Eric Barry, Rutgers University
Miriam M. Basilio, New York University
Christopher Baswell, Columbia University & Barnard College
Ian Baucom, Duke University
Rosalyn Baxandall, SUNY Old Westbury
Daphne Beal
Adam H. Becker, New York University
Seymour Becker, Rutgers University
Gail Bederman, University of Notre Dame
Stephen Behrendt, University of Nebraska
Juliet Bellow, American University
John Belton, Rutgers University
Giovanna Benadusi, University of South Florida
Thomas Bender, New York University
Marion Berghahn, Berghahn Books
Diana Berkowitz, Queensborough Community College
Bill Berkson, San Francisco Art Institute
Elizabeth Bernath, University of Toronto
Susan Bernofsky, Queens College CUNY
Alison Bernstein, Rutgers University
Charles Bernstein, University of Pennsylvania
Elizabeth Bernstein, Barnard College
Laurie Bernstein, Rutgers University, Camden
R. B. Bernstein, New York Law School
Yuliya Bir, Cataloger, Harvard Law School Library
Elizabeth Blackmar, Columbia University
James J. A. Blair, Grad Center CUNY
Ruth Bloch, University of California, Los Angeles
Carol Bloom
Carla Blumenkranz, n+1 journal
Yve-Alain Bois, Institute for Advanced Study
Felicia Bonaparte, City College of New York
Eileen Boris, University of California, Santa Barbara
Mauricio Borrero, St. John's University
Margaret Bostwick, John Jay College/CUNY
Paul A. Bove, University of Pittsburgh
Alexis Boylan, University of Connecticut
Susan Boynton, Columbia University
Laura Bracken, Lewis-Clark State College
Gloria Bragdon, Grad Center CUNY
Kim Brandt, Columbia University
Francesca Bregoli, Queens College CUNY
Sarah Brett-Smith, Rutgers University
Renate Bridenthal
Darryl Brock, Berkeley, CA
Stephen Eric Bronner, Rutgers University
Ethel Brooks, University of the Arts London, UK
Peter P. Brooks, Princeton University
Virginia Brooks, Brooklyn College CUNY
Elizabeth Brotherton, SUNY New Paltz
Olga Broumas, Brandeis University
Carolyn A. Brown, Rutgers University
Elizabeth A. R. Brown, Brooklyn College/CUNY
Jerome S Bruner, New York University
Helena Buescu, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Phong Bui, Publisher, Brooklyn Rail
Jane Burbank, New York University
Kate Burlingham, California State University, Fullerton
Kathryn Burns, University of North Carolina
Judith Butler, Columbia University & University of California, Berkeley
Caroline Walker Bynum, Institute for Advanced Study & Columbia University
David Byrne
Raul Alejandro Martinez Ca?on, New York University
Anne Callahan, MIT
Linda Camarasana, SUNY Old Westbury
Ardis Cameron, University Southern Maine
Marilyn Campbell, Rutgers University E484Press
Isabel Sobral Campos, CUNY
Anna Marie Cantwell, Rutgers University
Jane Caplan, University of Oxford, UK
Elisheva Carlebach, Columbia University
Siobhan Carroll, University of Delaware
Antonia Castaneda, St. Mary's University, TX
Madeline H. Caviness, Tufts University
Mary Ann Caws, Graduate Center CUNY
Vanessa Ceia, New York University
John W. Chambers, Rutgers University
Michelle Chase, Bloomfield College
Ranita Chatterjee, California State University, Northridge
Tanya Chebotarev, Curator, Bakhmeteff Archive, Columbia University
Catherine Ciepiela, Amherst College
S. Hollis Clayson, Northwestern University
Paul G. E. Clemens, Rutgers University
Federica Kaufmann Clementi, University of South Carolina
Cornelius Collins, Fordham University
Kathleen Collins, Librarian, John Jay College/CUNY
Maritza E. Colón, Columbia University
Michele Cone, Author & independent scholar
Brian Connolly, University of South Florida
Joy Connolly, New York University
Philip Connors
Sandi Cooper, CUNY
Ken Corbett, New York University
Alfred Corn, Cambridge UK
Francois Cornilliat, Rutgers University
Catalina Arango Correa, New York University
Paula Cossart, Université Lille CeRIES, France
Debbie Cox, Curator Arabic Collections, The British Library, UK
Caleb Crain, Brooklyn, NY
Kate Crehan, College of Staten Island CUNY
Thomas Crochunis, Shippensburg University
Ashley Cross, Manhattan College
Richard Crouter, Carleton College, Canada
Margaret Cruz
Emily Curtin, CUNY Graduate Center
Suzanne G. Cusick, New York University
Andrew Daily, University of Memphis
Francesca Dal Lago, Collegè de France
Jake Dalton, University of California Berkeley
Nicholas Dames, Columbia University
Daniel D'Arezzo, Argentina
Emily Davidson, York College
Belinda Davis, Rutgers University
Lydia Davis, Bard College
Natalie Zemon Davis, Princeton University & University of Toronto
Ashley Dawson, Grad Center CUNY
Marcia Decker, Librarian
Ruth DeFord, Hunter College CUNY
Carl N. Degler, Stanford University
Marianne DeKoven, Rutgers University
Brian Delay, University of California, Berkeley
Alexandra deLuise, Queens College Art Center
Dolores DeLuise
William Deresiewicz, NYC
Annalise Kinkel DeVries, Rutgers University
Marta M Deyrup, Librarian & Professor, Seton Hall University
Arcadio Diaz, Princeton University
Stephanie Dickey, Queen's University, Ontario, Canada
Jean Dickinson, Librarian, University of California, Berkeley
Morris Dickstein, Graduate Center CUNY
Mario DiGangi, CUNY
Carolyn Dinshaw, New York University
Arif Dirlik
Golbert Doctorow, The Harriman Institute
Lura Dolas, University of California Berkeley
Andrew Scott Dolkart, Columbia University
Ana Dopico, New York University
Daniela Dover, New York University
Doug Dowd, Cornell University
Jim Downs, Connecticut College
Grazyna Drabik, CCNY
Mary L. Dudziak, University of Southern California School of Law
Lawrence G. Duggan, University of Delaware
Stephen Duncombe, New York University
Marcela Echeverri, College Staten Island CUNY
Andrew Edwards, Princeton University
John Efron, University of California, Berkeley
Andrea Rosso Efthymiou, Yeshiva University
Ben Ehrenreich
Susan Einbinder, Hebrew Union College, Ohio
Uri Eisenzweig, Rutgers University
Eric Eisner, George Mason University
Madeleine Elfenbein, University of Chicago
Tamer El-Leithy, New York University
Yaakov Elman
Mohamed Kamal Elshahed
Laura Engelstein, Yale University
Jonathan Epstein, John Jay College/CUNY
Brad Evans, Rutgers University
Stuart Ewen, Hunter College CUNY
Judith Ezekial, Université de Toulouse le Mirail, France
Crystal Feimster, Yale University
Paula Feldman, University of South Carolina
Margaret Ferguson, Librarian, University of California Davis
Ada Ferrer, New York University
Sibylle Fischer, New York University
Leslie Fishbein, Rutgers University
Sandy Fitterman-Lewis, Rutgers University
Frances FitzGerald, The New Yorker
Richard Fitzsimmons, Librarian, Pennsylvania State University
Melissa Flashman, Trident Media Group
James V. Fleming, Princeton University
John V. Fleming, Princeton
William Flesch, Brandeis University
David Fogelsong, Rutgers University
Darcie Fonatine, University of South Florida
Meghan Forbes, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Joyce Foster, Williams College
Frank.Warren, Queens College/CUNY
Carmela Vircillo Franklin, Columbia University
Deborah Franzblau, College of Staten Island CUNY
Nancy Fraser, The New School
Paul Freedman, Yale University
Joanne Freeman, Yale University
Amanda Frisken, SUNY at Old Westbury
Larry Frohman, SUNY-Stony Brook
Renaud Gagne, Cambridge UK
Jonathan Galassi, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books
Rivka Galchen
Ziva Galili, Rutgers University
Sandra Gambetti, College of Staten Island CUNY
Deborah Gardner, Hunter College
Milton Gatch, Union Theological Seminary
Haidy L Geismar, New York University
Alix Genter, Rutgers University
Laura George, Eastern Michigan University
Sean Gerrity, Graduate Center CUNY
Judith Gerson, Rutgers University
Keith Gessen, n + 1 Journal
Amitav Ghosh
Molly Giblin, Rutgers University
Michael Gitlin, Hunter College CUNY
Jon Giullian, Slavlib subscriber
Elizabeth Goetz, CUNY
Kenneth Gold, College of Staten Island CUNY
Chad Alan Goldberg, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Janet Golden, Rutgers University
Francine Goldenhar, New York University
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Harvard University
Linda Gordon, New York University
Manu Goswami, New York University
Anthony T. Grafton, Princeton University
Shane Graham, Utah State University
Greg Grandin, New York University
Bruce Grant, New York University
Jane Greenlaw, Retired NYPL Librarian
Justina Gregory, Smith College
Mark Greif, n+1 Journal
Gerald N. Grob, Rutgers University
Helen Gross
Irena G. Gross, Princeton University
Michael Gross
Mimi Gross
Atina Grossmann, New York University Cooper Union
A. Tom Grunfeld, SUNY Empire State College
Rochelle Gurstein
Janet Gyatso, Harvard Divinity School
Nathan Ha, University of California, Los Angeles
Marilyn Hacker, CUNY Grad center
Mark Von Hagen, Arizona State University
Samira Haj, Graduate Center CUNY
Lee Hall, Independent Scholar
Murphy Halliburton, Queens College
Susan Halstead, Curator Slavic Collection, British Library, UK
Susan Reynolds Halstead, Curator Czech & Slovak, British Library, UK
Jeffrey Hamburger, Harvard University
A. S. Hamrah, n+1 journal
Lila Marz Harper, Central Washington University
William V. Harris, Columbia University
David C. Hart, Cleveland Institute of Art
Jonathan Hartmann, University of New Haven
Karen Hartnick
Molly Haskell, NYC
Alan Hausman, Hunter College/CUNY
Mary Hawkesworth, Rutgers University
Jack Hawley, Barnard College
John Stratton Hawley, Barnard College
Anthony Heilbut
Rachel Heiman, The New School
Marjorie Heins, New York University
Anissa Helie, John Jay College/CUNY
David Henderson
Ruth Henderson, Librarian, City College of New York
Gail Hershatter, University of California, Santa Cruz
Stephanie Hershinow, Johns Hopkins University
Dagmar Herzog, Grad Center CUNY
Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth College
Walter Hess
Susan Heuman
Colin Higgins, Librarian, St. Catharine's College Cambridge UK
Joe B. Hill
David Hinton
Nancy J. Hirschmann, University of Pennsylvania
J Hoberman, Cooper Union
Martha Hodes, New York University
Roger D. Hodge
Hilde Hoggenboom, Arizona State University
Denis Hollier, New York University
Beth Holman
Brooke A. Holmes, Princeton University
Oliver Hoover, Editor and Curator, American Numismatic Society
Susan Schmidt Horning, St. John's University
Florence Howe, NYC
Susan Howe, SUNY Buffalo
Martha Howell, Columbia University
Andrew Hsiao, Verso Books
Jane S. Hu, McGill University, Canada
A. B. Huber, New York University
Peter J. Hudson, Vanderbilt University
Amy Hughes, Brooklyn College/CUNY
Lynn Hunt, University of California, Los Angeles
Stephanie Insley
Marguerite Iskenderian, Music Cataloger, Brooklyn College Library
Sarah Ruth Jacobs, Graduate Center CUNY
Matthew Frye Jacobson, Yale University
Karl Jacoby, Brown University
Natalia Jagannathan
Alice Jardine, Howard University
Margo Jefferson
Dianne Johnson-Feelings, University South Carolina
Pierre Joris
Ben Kafka, New York University
Amy Kaplan, University of Pennsylvania
Marion Kaplan, New York University
Temma Kaplan, Rutgers University
Priscilla Karant, New York University
Rebecca Karl, New York University
Pepe Karmel, New York University
Barrie Karp
Demetra Kasimis, Yale University
Ben Katchor, The New School
Marion H. Katz, New York University
Stanley N. Katz, Princeton University
Nadezhda Kavrus-Hoffmann, Independent Scholar
Joel Kaye, Barnard College
Donald R. Kelley, Rutgers University
Elizabeth Kendall, Eugene Lang College
Ellen Kennedy, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Political Science
E. Tammy Kim, CUNY, Graduate Center
Ann Kjellberg, Little Star Journal
Stuart Klawans, Ruder Finn Communications Agency
Stacy S. Klein, Rutgers University
Terry Knickerbocker, New York University
Jerome Kohn, Hannah Arendt Center, New School
Anne Kornhauser, CCNY
Adam Kosto, Columbia University
Barbara Kowalzig, New York University
Christopher Kramaric, Yale University
Paul A. Kramer, Vanderbilt University
Joseph Kramp, John Jay College/CUNY
Rosalind Krauss, Columbia University
Rachel Kravetz, Graduate Center CUNY
Jeffrey Kroessler, Librarian, John Jay College/CUNY
Victoria Kuhr
Molly Laas, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Kathleen Lamantia, Librarian, Stark County District Library, Canton OH
Mark Lamster
Yvette Florio Lane, Rutgers University
Antonia Lant, New York University
Danielle Lanzet, Chris Calhoun (Literary) Agency
Robert Lapides, Manhattan College
Renee Larrier, Rutgers University
William Larsh, Librarian, Polish Studies, Yale University
Charlotte Latham, Queens College CUNY
Beth Lau, California State University, Long Beach
Antonio Lauria, New York University
Aldo Lauria-Santiago, Rutgers University
John Lauritsen, Independent Scholar
J. E. Law , Swansea University, UK
John Law, Swansea University, UK
Jackson Lears, Rutgers University
Adrian LeBlanc
Dorota M. Lech, Berlin, Germany
Andrew H. Lee, Librarian, Bobst Library, New York University
Jennifer B. Lee, Curator Performing Arts, Columbia University Library
David Lelyveld, William Paterson University
Jonathan Lethem, Pomona College
David Levering-Lewis, New York University
George Levine, Rutgers University
Michael Levine, Rutgers University
Rhoda Levine
Marcus Levitt, University of Southern California
Sharona Levy, Brooklyn College
Hong Liang, Yale University
Natasha Lightfoot, Columbia University
Herbert Lindenberger, Stanford University
Michael Lindgren
Julie Q. Livingston, Rutgers University
Zachary Lockman, New York University
Laurence Lockridge, New York University
Dee Longenbaugh, Sitka, Alaska
John Loughery, NYC
David Ludden, New York University
Richard Lufrano, College of Staten Island CUNY
Steven Lukes, New York University
Victoria Lunzer, Librarian, University of Vienna, Austria
Raechel Lutz, Rutgers University
Christopher Lyon, The Monacelli Press
Benjamin Lytal, Newberry Library, University of Chicago
Ian MacDougall, Columbia University Law School
Robert Machado
Arien Mack, The New School
Laurie Manchester, Arizona State University
Elena Mancini
Alan Mandell, SUNY Empire State College
Velina Manolova, Graduate Center CUNY
Jane Marcus, CUNY
Vida Margaitis, Librarian, Harvard University
Norman Markowitz, Rutgers University
James H. Marrow, Princeton University
Margaret Marsh, Rutgers University
James Martin
Lucia Martinez, University of Pennsylvania
Cate Marvin, College Staten Island CUNY
Carla Massey
John S. Mayer, New York University
John Maynard, New York University
Elizabeth Mazzola, CUNY
Maisie McAdoo
Steven McGrail, Rutgers University
Sarah Blake McHam, Rutgers University
Michael McKeon, Rutgers University
Lynn McLeod, Retired Librarian, Toronto, Canada
Elizabeth Mcmahon, Librarian, NYPL
Adam Mekler, Morgan State University
Jordana Mendelson, New York University
Ben Mercer, College of Staten Island CUNY
Bill Merod, Soka University, CA
Jim Merrod, Soka University, CA
Ruth Milkman, Graduate Center CUNY
David Miller
Leslie Miller, The Grenfell Press
Michele Mitchell, New York University
Phillip Mitsis, New York University
Rebecca Mlynarczyk, Graduate Center CUNY
Seth Moglen, Lehigh University
Molly Molloy, Librarian, Stanford University
Ted Mooney
Edmund Morris
Jacob Morris
Karl Morrison, Rutgers University
Susan Brind Morrow
Brian Morton, Sarah Lawrence College
Alyssa Mt. Pleasant, Yale University
Dorothea von Mucke, Columbia University
John Mulryan, St. Bonaventure University
David Munns, John Jay College CUNY
Laure Murat, University of California, Los Angeles
Timothy Murray, Cornell University
Fred Myers, New York University
Linda Neiberg, Graduate Center CUNY
Judith Nemethy, New York University
Catharine T. Nepomnyashchy, Barnard College
William Van Nest, Sir Sandford Fleming College, Ontario, Canada
Frederick Neuhouser, Barnard College
Joshua Neustein
Barbara Newman, Northwestern University
Steven Newman, Temple University
Mae Ngai, Columbia University
Mary Nolan, New York University
Betsey Norland
Sydney Van Nort, Librarian, City College of New York
Anne Norton, University of Pennsylvania
Michael Nylan, University of California, Berkeley
Kate Nearpass Ogden, Stockton College
Laura O'Keefe, Librarian, NY Society Library
Ferris Olin, Rutgers University
Susan Oliver, University of Essex, UK
Susan O'Malley, Graduate Center CUNY
Thomas Ort, Queens College CUNY
Michael J. Osborne, Librarian & bookseller
Patrick O'Sullivan
Miranda Outman-Kramer, Managing Editor, Signs
Ron Padgett, Academy of American Poets
John Palattella, The Nation
Andrew Palmer
Thalia Pandiri, Smith College
Elizabeth C. Parker, Fordham University
Harold Parker, University of Pennsylvania
Duygu Parmaksizoglu, CUNY, Graduate Center
Sneh Patel, New York University
Silvana Patriarca, Fordham University
SJ Pearce, New York University
Marta Chavez Peixoto, New York University
Martha Perlin
Ross Perlin
Nina Perlina, Indiana University
Marjorie Perloff, Stanford University
Charles A. Petersen, n + 1 Journal
Anthony Petro, New York University
Svanur Pétursson, Rutgers University
Dia Philippides, Boston College
Louis Phillips
Pablo Piccato, Columbia University
Krystyna Piorkowska, Muzeum Wojska Polskiego, Poland
Gerald Pirog, Rutgers University
Jeanine Plottel, Hunter College, CUNY
Brenda Plummer, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Adam Plunkett
Leah Plunkett, Harvard Law School
Jennifer Poggiali, Lehman College - CUNY
Dana Polan, New York University
Patricia Polansky, University of Hawaii
Fanette Pollack
Sarah Pollack, College of Staten Island CUNY
Tanya Pollard, Brooklyn College/CUNY
Katha Pollit, The Nation
Michael Polson, Graduate Center CUNY
Kenneth Pomeranz, University of California, Irvine
Jacquelyn Pope
Christopher Prendergast, Kings College, Cambridge UK
Alexander Provan, Triple Canopy
Sara Pursley, CUNY
Julie Leininger Pycior, Manhattan College
C.M. Pyle, Columbia University
Barry Qualls, Rutgers University
Laura Quinney, Brandeis University
Jon Rachmani, Grad Center CUNY
Alicia Ramos, Hunter College CUNY
Peter Ranis, CUNY Graduate Center
Rayna Rapp, New York University
Shirley Rausher
Kandice Rawlings, Rutgers University
Amelia Reesor, Transylvania University, Kentucky
Mariana Regalado, Librarian, Brooklyn CUNY
Nancy Freeman Regalado, New York University
David Reid, Rutgers University
Lisa Reilly, University of Virginia
Joanne Reitano, La Guardia Community College CUNY
Melissa Renn, Harvard Art Museums
Nancy Renn
Nicholas Rennie, Rutgers University
Silvia Rennie
Benjamin Resnick-Day, Rutgers University
Irina Reyfman, Columbia University
Joseph Rezek, Boston University
Bruce Robbins, Columbia University
Camille Robcis, Cornell University
Mary Louise Roberts, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Yael Roberts
Corey Robin, Brooklyn College and CUNY
Alice Robinson
Jeffrey C Robinson, University of Colorado, Boulder
Stephane Robolin, Rutgers University
Judith Rodenbeck, Sarah Lawrence College
Susan C Rogers, New York University
Gordon Rogoff, Yale University
Renato I Rosaldo, New York University
Hannah Rosen, University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Ruth Rosen, University of California, Berkeley
Noah Rosenblum, Columbia University
Alex Ross, The New Yorker
Andrew Ross, New York University
Ellen Ross, Ramapo College of New Jersey
Morris Rossabi, Columbia University
Guenther Roth, Columbia University
Karen Routledge, Parks Canada, Calgary
Sheila Rowbotham, UK
Nina A. Rowe, Fordham University
Matthew Rowney, Wertheim Study
Everett Rowson, New York University
Jay Rubenstein, University of Tennessee
Andrew N. Rubin, Georgetown University
Ryan Ruby, York College, CUNY
Teofilo Ruiz, University of California, Los Angeles
Frances Ruoff, Kingsborough Community College CUNY
Salman Rushdie
Nancy Ruttenburg, Stanford University
Charles Rzepka, Boston University
Sam Sacks, Open Letters Monthly
Nanette Salomon, College Staten Island CUNY
Roberta L. Salper, Brandeis University
JC Salyer, Grad Center CUNY
Margaret Samu, Yeshiva University
Kristin Samuelian, George Mason University
Romy Sanchez, Sorbonne, France
Martha A. Sandweiss, Princeton University
Jeannette Sanger, Books&Co Imprint
Luc Sante, Bard College
Manuel Sanudo, Librarian, Queens College
Masha Sapp, Librarian, Washington University
Nikil Saval, n+1 Journal
Sylvia Schafer, University of Connecticut
Donna Schaper, Judson Memorial Church
David M. Schaps, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
William Schipper, Memorial University, Newfoundland, Canada
Jane C. Schneider, Graduate Center CUNY
Peter T. Schneider, Fordham University
Johanna Schoen, Rutgers University
Ellen Schrecker, Yeshiva University
Kyla Schuller, Rutgers University
Christine Schutt
Will Schutt, Writer & Translator
Claire Schwartz
Martin Schwartz, University of California, Berkeley
Donald M. Scott, Queens College CUNY
Joan W. Scott, Institute for Advanced Study
Jerrold E Seigel, New York University
Gunja SenGupta, Brooklyn College CUNY
Michael H. Shank, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Mary Shaw, Rutgers University
Scott Sheidlower, York College, CUNY
April Shelford, American University
Naoko Shibusawa, Brown University
Evie Shockley, Rutgers University
Anna Shparberg, Rice University
Jack Shuler, Denison University
Alix Kates Shulman, NYC
Richard Sieburth, New York University
Jonah Siegel, Rutgers University
Lee Siegel
Allan Silver, Columbia University
Carole Silver, Yeshiva University
Judith Simonian
John V. Singler, New York University
Carol Singley, Rutgers University
Nancy Sinkoff, Rutgers University
Herbert Sloan, Barnard College
Christine Smallwood, Columbia University
Bonnie Smith, Rutgers University
Kathryn Smith, New York University
Namara Smith, n+1 Journal
Neil Smith, Graduate Center CUNY
Susan Smith-Peter, College of Staten Island CUNY
Julia Sneeringer, Queens College, CUNY
Cal Snyder
Maynard Solomon
Dale Sorenson, Silver Spring MD
Arthur Spears, City College CUNY
Joaneath Spicer, Curator, Walters Art Museum
Art Spiegelman, NYC
Ellen Handler Spitz, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Columbia University
Zrinka Stahuljak, University of California, Los Angeles
Robert Stam, New York University
Kate Stanley, Columbia University
Rebecca Stanton, Barnard College
Sam Stark, Harper's Magazine
Anita Starosta, Rhode Island School of Design
Michael Staub, Baruch College
Andrew Stauffer, University of Virginia
Ilan Stavans, Amherst College
Stephanie Steiker, New York University
Lorin Stein, The Paris Review
Michael Steinberg, Brown University
Judith Steinhoff, University of Houston
Pat Steir, Pat Steir Studio
William Stenhouse, Yale University
Mark Stevens, Cullman Fellow NYPL
Nina Stojkovic, City College of New York
Emily Stokes
Monica Strauss, Independent Scholar
David B. Sullivan, Western New England University
Ida Susser, Hunter College, CUNY
Constance R. Sutton, New York University
Annalyn Swan, NYC
Nanora L. Sweet, University of Missouri, St. Louis
James Swenson, Rutgers University
Neferti Tadiar, Barnard College
Astra Taylor
Diana Taylor, New York University
Joan Templeton
Richard F. Thomas, Harvard University
Sinclair Thomson, New York University
Lynne Tillman, SUNY Albany
Leo Treitler, NY Institute for the Humanities
Daryl M. Tress, Fordham University
Lucia Trimbur, John Jay College/CUNY
John Trumpbour, Harvard Law School
Liliane Tuck
Henry S. Turner, Rutgers University
Meredith Turshen, Rutgers University
Laura Ann Twagira
Jonathan Unglaub, Brandeis University
Margaret Vandenburg, Barnard College
Lara Vapnek, St. John's University
Mario Vargas Llosa, Lima, Peru
Gunder Varinlioglu, Curator, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library
Paula Varsano, University of California, Berkeley
Sara Velez, Former Curator, Rodgers & Hammerstein Archives
Katherine Verdery, Graduate Center CUNY
Martha Vicinus, University of Michigan
Joseph S Viscomi, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Margo Viscusi
Gairi Viswanathan, Columbia University
Lise Vogel, Rider University
Eugene Vydrin, Columbia University
Anne Waldman, Academy of American Poets
Janet A. Walker, Rutgers University
Leila Walker, CUNY Grad center
Tamara J. Walker, University of Pennsylvania
Daniel Walkowitz, New York University
Judith Walkowitz, Johns Hopkins University
Cheryl A. Wall, Rutgers University
Diana diZerega Wall, City College of New York
Alan Wallach, College of William and Mary
Julie Walsh
Dorothy Wang, Williams College
Michael Warner, Yale University
John P. Waters, New York University
Simone Wegge, College of Staten Island CUNY
David F. Weiman, Columbia University Barnard
Jo Ann Wein
Eliot Weinberger
Anne Betty J. Weinshenker, Montclair State University
Craig Werner, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Lawrence Weschler, New York University
Cynthia Hyla Whitaker, Baruch College
Dan White, University of Toronto, Mississauga
Stephen White, Emory University
Jonathan Wichmann, Fairfax, CA
Caroline Wigginton, Rutgers University
Toby E. Wikstrom, Tulane University
Lance Wilder, University of Georgia
Carol Williams, University of Lethbridge, Canada
Carolyn Williams, Rutgers University
Claibourne Williams, Hunter College CUNY
Diane Williams
Jocelyn A. Wills, Brooklyn College
Joshua Wilner, City College of New York
Simon Winchester
Brenda Wineapple
Zack Winestine
John Wing, College of Staten Island CUNY
Barbara Winslow, Brooklyn College CUNY
Bobby Wintermute, Queens College CUNY
Gretchen Woertendyke, University of South Carolina
Sarah R Wolf, New York University
John Womack Jr, Harvard University
Elizabeth Wood
Richard Wortman, Columbia University
John Wronoski, Lame Duck Books
Laura X, Librarian
Jeffrey Yang
Susan Yankowitz
Virginia Yans, Rutgers University
Mary Yeager, University of California, Los Angeles
Marilyn B. Young, New York University
Marnin Young, Yeshiva University
Emma Lee Yu, Librarian, Brooklyn College Library
Christine Zarett
Alla Zeide, Independent Scholar