Updates about our work
New directions for the Uni in Jamaica Queens
On July 17, the Uni went to Jamaica, Queens, to create an open-air reading room at a new play street hosted by Dunton Block and Civic Association. Jamaica and nine other deployments are funded in part by Transportation Alternatives as we collaborate to support...
Uni partners with Transportation Alternatives to bring reading to NYC Play Streets
Gather together, play together, read together: the Uni is going to Play Streets! Play Streets are an old tradition in New York City. They are exactly what they sound like—streets closed off to traffic to allow for safe play. Play streets are currently growing in NYC,...
Uni back on Corona Plaza, seventh time
Corona continues to be one of the most successful locations for an open-air reading room that we've encountered in New York City. Corona kids approach the Uni before the books are even unpacked, and families stay for hours, reading together. By all measures—and we...
Uni in Ft. Greene, meeting readers, beating the rain
On July 12, the Uni landed at Fowler Square Plaza to support a recently pedestrianized plaza and join “FAB Fridays,” a series of events organized by the Fulton Area Business Alliance (FAB). With a forecast of rain, we went into weather mode, deploying under tarps with...
Uni reaches readers on the street in Brownsville, Brooklyn
On Sunday, Jun 23, the Uni was part of another DOT Weekend Walk, this time on Pitkin Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn, at an event called Summer Plazas organized by the Pitkin Avenue Business Improvement District. This was a classic neighborhood block party, complete...
Uni adds reading to street in Jackson Heights
On Saturday, June 22, the Uni went to Jackson Heights, Queens, to make a place for books and learning at Diversity Plaza and be part of the Jackson Heights Arts Festival organized by the arts collective Hibridos Collective in collaboration with Sukhi, a group of...
Dutch Librarians visit the Uni
This morning, I was honored to introduce the Uni to a group of distinguished librarians hailing from the Netherlands. They came to New York City on a visit organized by Eimer Wieldraaijer, Bibliotheekblad/Dutch Library Journal, which covered all three public libraries...
Uni at Corona Plaza with Queens Museum of Art
We love what NYC Dept. of Transportation has been doing to create pedestrian plazas with local communities. On Saturday, we went to back to one of our favorites - Corona Plaza under the 7 train, in Queens. This was our 6th time setting up in this newly pedestrianized...
Uni lands on Louis Niñé Boulevard in the Bronx
On Saturday, June 8, the Uni created a place to gather, read, and learn, right in the middle of Louis Niñé Boulevard in the Crotona East area of the Bronx. The street was closed to traffic that day thanks to the Women’s Housing and Economic Development...