Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries

Banned Books Week starts Oct. 4, and the libraries are marking it in different ways. Queens Public Library is collaborating with Penguin Random House for a banned book giveaway at the Hunters Point branch. While supplies last, you can get your own copy of a book that has been banned somewhere in the country.

The New York Public Library’s Fort Washington Branch is hosting a flower arranging workshop. Florist Ivy Paniagua will lead people through how to use color and composition to make a bouquet inspired by the banned book “Kindred,” by Octavia Butler.

Brooklyn Public Library will be hosting a variety of events as well, including their ongoing exhibit of two 40-foot tapestries by the artist Christopher Myers that feature characters and scenes from banned books including “Animal Farm” by George Orwell and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, on display at the Central branch.

Beyond banned books, the Queens Public Library is partnering with Humanities New York for a three-part deep dive into democracy and disagreement as part of its ongoing America 250 series.

The Brooklyn Library has an America 250 event planned as well: The Central Branch will host a teach-in on social movements and Constitutional freedoms called Uprising/Downfall.

And NYPL has a zine-making workshop at the Schomburg Center, facilitated by BlackMass Publishing, a Black independent press and archive.

For the kids:

NYPL is celebrating Winnie the Pooh’s 100th birthday with events across three boroughs, including movies, readings, bingo, crafts and more crafts.

The NYPL’s Morris Park branch is also remembering famed librarian Pura Belpré, the first Puerto Rican librarian at New York Public Library, with a re-enactment of her legendary “Bilingual Story Hour” featuring puppets.

In Brooklyn, young visitors to the Windsor Terrace branch can check out what it’s like to drive with a virtual reality driving experience. And those at the Dyker Heights BPL branch can take a peek at the world of the very small with the BioBus, a lab on wheels with high-powered microscopes onboard.

After you’re done peering down at the tiny things visible through a microscope, switch your focus up to the heavens with the Queens Public Library. It’s holding events throughout the month to allow people to see what the night sky over Queens would look like without clouds and city lights. They also are holding events on birding for kids, and on building balloon-powered rockets.

And finally, both Queens and NYPL have events to help high school seniors with their college admissions process.

In the branches:

Local branch events in Brooklyn this month include a trivia night at BPL’s Center for Brooklyn History, a basic bike maintenance workshop at the Greenpoint branch, and a series of theater workshops for intermediate English language learners at the Flatbush branch.

If you’re looking for something more crafty, the Queens Public library has a class on the Chinese art of figure-making with dough, held in both Mandarin and English. Or you can create clay versions of calaveras at the South Ozone branch on Oct. 31.

And also on Halloween if you’re feeling like something spooky, you can stop by The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center for a Halloween screening of the New York City classic: “Ghostbusters.”