Holly Brown – Library Director
Welcome to the Bard Queens Library
The Bard High School Early College Queens Library is at the heart of the school community. Founded in 2008 by Jess deCourcy Hinds and dozens of student interns, the Library remains a student-centered collaborative project. We work to ensure that all members of the school community–faculty, staff, families and students–have access to literature and information in all formats: print, digital, film and audio. Students use the library to research, borrow books, use computers, and seek support in the Learning Commons from peer and faculty tutors. Students also attend numerous cultural events in the Library through the Speaker Series and Guest Writers class and program.
Hinds and her library interns have presented in national academic conferences, and have been interviewed on NPR (Listen: The Dark Side of the Dewey Decimal System). The Guest Writers program was featured in the distinguished literature website Literary Hub. The Library is in constant dialogue with working writers, scholars, journalists, artists, and numerous academic and cultural institutions in New York City.
We are a proud collaborator with New York Public Library and use their plethora of databases and digital collections. All students are required to sign up for a digital NYPL card, which provides instant access to hundreds of e-books. You can link this collection with e-books we purchase on Sora.
JSTOR is our crown jewel database, particularly for humanities, while NCBI Pub Med Central is used for science and health. We also access historical newspapers for particular classes. Students logged into their BHSEC email addresses can obtain all passwords to databases, and learn about more free resources through our Google Site.
The librarian visits classes to teach research skills, and collaborates with teachers in designing assignments.
In addition to the 20,000+ items in our catalog, you may request interlibrary loans of books and articles among 450+ NYC-area libraries through METRO NY Library Council, as well as through virtually any university in the country. To peruse library materials worldwide, go to WorldCat.org.
Email the librarian to make a request.
