Until further notice, the library will no longer lend laptops or phone chargers.
Changes to library ebook downloads
If you’re a fan of using ebooks from City Tech Library (or even if you’re not—now’s the time to get started!), you may notice some changes in how you’re able to read and download our ebooks.
Many of the ebooks we purchase are made available through two major software platforms: Ebook Central or EBSCO Ebooks. Readers can search for and read ebooks within the websites of these two platforms, or make use of available download options.
What’s changed?
In the past, it was possible to download ebooks for reading in the Adobe Reader app. However library ebooks will no longer be available for download to this application because it doesn’t meet new accessibility requirements for online materials.
New applications for ebook downloads
Starting May 19, 2026, EBSCO Ebooks will be available for download only to the free Thorium Reader app. Thorium reader is available for a variety of operating systems and can be used to read (or listen to) a wide range of materials beyond EBSCO Ebooks. Learn more about Thorium Reader here.
Starting June 1, 2026, all City Tech Library ebooks from Ebook Central will be available for download only to the Ebook Central Reader App. Explore this app’s features through a short video walkthrough.
These changes do not impact your ability to read library ebooks in the existing browser-based readers. If that’s how you usually access ebooks, you may not notice this change.
Questions? Feel free to Ask a Librarian if you need help navigating these changes.
Wikimedia Commons is richer because of City Tech students
This spring, Communication Design students in Robin Michals’ classes have worked with Richard Knipel, CUNY’s Wikimedian in Residence, to contribute photographs to Wikimedia Commons.
As an ever-growing collection of freely usable media files—images, audio, video, and more—that anyone can contribute to, Wikimedia Commons is an incredible resource of visual material. These images form the repository that Wikipedia and Wikidata draw from, but they are also used more broadly on the internet. Students had the opportunity, using an online tool that highlights which Wikidata items lack visuals, to identify needed images and then take those photographs themselves.
All student work has been collected on Wikimedia Commons using a category tag for Spring 2026 Contributions from Communication Design students, CUNY City Tech.
In City Tech Library, we’ve been working to add these images to relevant Wikipedia articles. To point towards a few examples, if you’re browsing the Wikipedia article for Long Island City, Richmond Hill, Queens, or Queens Center Mall, you might notice a photograph by a City Tech student.
Student Sami Pijuan contributed two images of P.S. 205 in Bayside, Queens, and noted, “I think it’s really cool to have something I took online and published for others to see!”
We think it’s pretty cool too.
Interested in learning about how contributing to Wikimedia Commons makes an impact? Read more on our blog! Or, explore student contributions from Fall 2025.
Drop-in Research Help Workshop Series
No appointment needed, get research help when you need it. This flexible series offers multiple formats so you can connect with a librarian in the way that works best for your schedule and location. Get help with research, finding articles, citations and library questions.
Online Drop-In (Weekend Option)
Join online for real-time help with research, citations, and library tools. Ideal for weekend students or anyone who prefers remote support.
Date: Saturday, May 9th, 1:00 – 2:00PM
Facilitator: Prof. Nandi Prince
Contact: Nandi.Prince25@citytech.cuny.edu
Roving Campus Support (On-the-Go Help)
Library help comes to you. Find pop-up research stations at different campus locations for added convenience. Laptops and devices will be available, and a librarian will be on hand to assist with research.
Date: Wednesday, May 13th 1:00 – 4:00PM (locations include: Atrium, Cafeteria, Library entrance, Student Center, Academic Building lobby, Voorhees Cafeteria)
(On MAY 13 scan the QR code at various spots on campus for live location updates throughout the day).
Facilitator: Prof. Nandi Prince
Contact: Nandi.Prince25@citytech.cuny.edu
In-Person Drop-In, (Classroom Support)
Stop by for in-person assistance leading-up-to finals week. Get help with sources, citations (APA/MLA), or last-minute questions in a traditional classroom setting.
Date: Thursday, May 14th 1:00 – 2:00PM
Location: L441A
Facilitator: Prof. Nandi Prince
Contact: Nandi.Prince25@citytech.cuny.edu
Understanding the impact of your Wikimedia Commons contributions
Wikimedia Commons is a collection of freely usable media files—images, audio, video, and more—that anyone can contribute to. Perhaps best known as the repository of images that can be used in Wikipedia articles, material from the Commons is available for use more broadly on the web and beyond.
I find myself browsing Wikimedia Commons for various reasons: sometimes I’ve landed there because I was curious about an image I saw in a Wikipedia article, and I end up browsing similar images on the Commons. Other times I’m making a presentation and need an image to illustrate a point.
My motivations for contributing to the Commons stem from this. Sometimes I’m just curious about a place or event and want to share photos so that others can discover it; other times I upload images that I think would be useful for illustrating important concepts. I also see media contributions to the Commons as a way to improve representation online. Others have expressed other reasons to contribute: they may want to preserve history or contribute to shared knowledge.
Does contributing to the Commons really make a difference?
The best way to learn if contributions to Wikimedia Commons have been useful to others might be through conversations with people who have found media files that they needed and whose work was improved by access to this material, or through individuals who contribute to the Commons and have seen their photos circulate in the world. The Queens Daily Eagle noted in 2019 that a photo of the Brooklyn Museum by prolific NYC contributor Jim Henderson had at that point been included by journalists in hundreds of news articles. Henderson’s ongoing work is a reminder of the impact Wikimedia Commons contributions make on local news.
We aren’t always lucky enough to hear from individuals who use our Commons contributions, though. In the absence of testimonies about impact, we can explore a few measurements of use that might translate to how our uploads have made a difference.
Check file usage on other wikis
The first way to see if a file has been used is by taking a look at the list of File Usage on Other Wikis provided on the Commons page for each media file. Take a look, for example, of how my photo of an NYC Compost Bin is currently being used:
Second, GLAMorgan is a handy tool for counting the views of the Wikipedia pages that images in a specific Commons category have been posted on. This is especially useful if an institution or project has uploaded content that is all tagged with the same category. One example at City Tech is the category Fall 2025 Contributions from Communication Design students, CUNY City Tech, which contains student photography. If we plug that category into GLAMorgan we can see that, in the month of March 2026, any wikipedia pages (in various language versions of the encyclopedia) containing the 22 images that students contributed for this project had 15,393 views.
Finally, to understand how people have interacted with my own Commons uploads on wiki projects, I can also explore usage of the wiki pages they’ve been added to directly through Wikipedia’s statistics tools. Let’s look at my compost bin as an example. This photo is embedded in the New York City waste management system article. I can verify on the article’s edit history that the image was added on November 13, 2025. I can then head over to the pageviews tool to see that, between the date it was added and today’s date, this article has had 6,386 pageviews. Did everyone go to that article to see my photo? Absolutely not. But, readers who scrolled down to the section on composting now have an illustration of one type of household compost bin that the city has distributed.
Discover how Commons contributions are used across the web
Some projects have relied on the Google Reverse Image Lookup tool to see how Commons images are used beyond wiki projects, or on web analytics to measure traffic to digital collections they’ve uploaded.
When I am curious about the re-use of my own contributions on the broader web, I use tools such as Google News, Google Image search tool or Google Scholar to search for my wikipedia username, which should be included in captions for use of some of my Commons contributions because of the attribution license I selected. This helps me find news articles, scholarly publications, and other sites that have made use of my images.
Browse the Vogel Ophthalmology Collection Online
City Tech Library’s archives is home to the Vogel Ophthalmology Collection, a gift of rare ophthalmic textbooks from the estate of the late Irwin Vogel. Mr. Vogel was an adjunct lecturer at NYCCT before becoming the program director at Cañada College in California and is credited with an optical formula still in use in opticianry.
This collection of approximately 300 volumes has been placed in custodianship in City Tech’s Ursula C. Schwerin Library and is located in the archives. Access to the collection is available by appointment through the Archives Use online request form. The collection is now available for browsing through the library’s online catalog at https://cityte.ch/vogel.
As noted by Steven Indelicato, Director of Ophthalmic Dispensing & Vision Care Technology at City Tech:
The Vogel Collection is an important and rare resource because it preserves the history and development of ophthalmology, optometry, and vision science through original works spanning more than a century. The collection includes early texts on refraction, lenses, visual physiology, ocular disease, and optical practice, offering a valuable record of how both scientific knowledge and professional training evolved over time. Beyond its research value, the collection gives students, faculty, and historians direct access to primary sources that connect today’s practice to the foundations of the profession.
May Day in the United States: History, Meaning, and Today
May Day, observed on May 1, is recognized around the world as International Workers’ Day, a time to commemorate the historic struggles and achievements of workers and the labor movement. In the United States and Canada, however, a similar observance, Labor Day, is officially celebrated on the first Monday in September. This distinction reflects a shift in how labor history has been recognized nationally, even though May Day has deep roots in American history.
The origins of May Day in the U.S. are closely tied to the Haymarket Affair, a pivotal moment in the fight for the eight-hour workday and improved working conditions. While May 1 remains a significant date globally, its prominence in the United States has diminished over time, with Labor Day becoming the more widely recognized holiday.
Today, May Day continues to serve as a point of reflection and renewed attention to workers’ rights and labor conditions. Recent labor activity, both nationally and locally, has highlighted ongoing concerns related to workplace safety, fair wages, and collective bargaining. In the New York City area, recent and potential labor action developments in sectors such as healthcare, building services, and transportation underscore how these issues remain relevant to everyday life.
Explore May Day Through Library Resources
Interested in learning more? You may explore labor history and current events through the library’s collections:
- Find books in our library on labor movements, workers’ rights, and social history, including:
- Avrich, P. (1984). The Haymarket tragedy. Princeton University Press.
Shelf Location: HX846.C4 A97 1984
- David, H. (1958) The history of the Haymarket affair: A study in the American social-revolutionary and labor movements (2nd). Russell & Russell.
Shelf Location: HX846.C4 D3 1958
- Messer-Kruse, T. (2012). The Haymarket conspiracy: Transatlantic anarchist networks (1st) University of Illinois Press.
Available online
- Explore international newspapers to gain a global perspective on May Day and labor movements through library databases such as Nexis Uni.
- The library also offers a free subscription to The New York Times, available with your City Tech email.
Students are encouraged to visit the library website to discover more resources or stop by in person to browse the shelves and explore related titles in the HX (labor and social movements) section.
City Tech Library at Wikipedia Day NYC 2026
Wikimedia NYC and the Wikimedia Foundation brought Wikipedia Day NYC 2026 to City Tech last month, and the Library was thrilled to participate!
Wikipedia Day is an annual celebration of this people-powered encyclopedia’s birthday and we were marking 25 years this time. It was a fantastic celebration; hundreds of wikimedians and wiki-curious folks attended.
Collections Management and Archives Librarian, Associate Professor Wanett Clyde, introduced the keynote speaker N.K. Jemison and had an opportunity to highlight City Tech’s own sci fi archives.
Technical Services and Electronic Resources Librarian Assistant Professor Jen Hoyer moderated a panel on information liberation and led a Wiki101 workshop.
Iris Finkel. Photo: SkaterbyAssociation, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Explore more images from this event on Wikimedia Commons, stay tuned for other Wiki programming at City Tech, and join the next Wikimedia NYC event!
Finish Strong: Spring Semester’s Final Library Workshops & Support Series
As the semester comes to a close, the library ‘s Workshop Committee is offering its final workshop series designed to support students through finals, research projects, and end-of-term assignments. Building on a semester of programming focused on literacy, research skills, and cultural engagement, these sessions provide practical tools and timely support when it matters most.
We begin on Wednesday, April 22 (1:00 – 2:00PM) with our Ecopoetry & Earth Day workshop., where students can explore environmental themes through poetry, discover research resources, and participate in a clothing swap, highlighting how sustainability can be both creative and actionable.
On Thursday, April 30 (1:00 -2:00PM) join Last-Minute Research Rescue, a fast -paced session designed to help students quickly locate credible sources, refine topics, and complete research efficiently, ideal for final papers and projects under tight deadlines.
Our May programming continues with May Day & Labor Research Workshop on Friday, May 1 (2:00 -3:00PM)., exploring the history and ongoing relevance of labor movements, including the Haymarket affair, and how these issues connect to present-day work and society.
On Tuesday, May 5 (1:00 – 2:00PM), our cultural series concludes with Cinco de Mayo: History, Culture & Research, offering students the opportunity to explore the historical and cultural significance of the holiday while learning how to find reliable sources on Mexican history and identity.
Drop-In Research Help Series
For flexible, last-minute support, the library is also offering a Drop-In Research Series:
- Online (Saturday, May 9, 1:00 – 2:00 PM) Real-time virtual assistance
- Roving Campus support (Wednesday, May 13, 1:00 – 2:00 PM) Pop-up help stations across campus
- In-Person (Thursday, May 14, 1:00 – 2:00 PM) Classroom-based finals support
No registration necessary, just drop in with your questions.
Whether you need help finding sources, or using electronic tools, the library is here to support your success through the final stretch of the semester.
For workshop times, locations, and registration (where applicable, please visit the library’s website. Contact Prof. Nandi Prince (Nandi.Prince25@citytech.cuny.edu) for more information.
Earth Day in NYC: Awareness, Action, and Community
As Earth Day approaches, the Library’s Workshop Committee invites students to participate on April 22, 1:00 – 2:15PM in our Ecopoetry & Earth Day Workshop, which brings together creative expression and sustainability. Through ecopoetry, poetry that engages with nature, climate, and environmental justice, students will explore environmental themes while discovering research resources. Some notable ecopoetry titles to explore include The Complete Poetry of Aime Cesaire and Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry, which offer powerful perspectives on the relationship between environment, history, and identity.
Earth Day, observed on April 22, encourages reflection on our shared responsibility to care for the environment. This year’s theme, “Our Power, Our Planet,” emphasizes the role individuals and communities play in creating change. Across New York City, there are many opportunities to engage. Recent car-free Earth Day programming in Downtown Brooklyn transformed public spaces into hubs for sustainability-focused activities, including recycling events and upcycled art workshops. The citywide event continues April 25, when streets across all five boroughs, including Brooklyn Fifth avenue, will open to pedestrians and cyclist, promoting environmental awareness and alternative transportation. Students can also participate in park clean-ups, environmental festivals, and community-based initiatives that make sustainability accessible and practical.
At the policy level, New York City is advancing environmental efforts. On April 16, 2026, the City Council passed a comprehensive legislative package aimed at expanding green space, improving water quality testing, supporting wildlife, and strengthening organic waste recycling requirements.
Earth Day reminds us that awareness is only the beginning, meaningful change comes through participation, reflection, and informed action.