ABOUT HL

My name is Jessica Pigza, and I’m the Handmade Librarian.

Here at The Handmade Librarian you’ll find discussions of  books both new and old with craft interest; reports on my own craft projects; and news of handmade-oriented places worth visiting.  I am interested in a broad range of craft subjects, and particularly in the community of craft and in current questions of consumption and stewardship of our material world.

I work as a rare books librarian at The New York Public Library, where I incorporate the handmade into my work in a variety of ways. My crafty efforts there include:

• –Handmade Crafternoons: a DIY salon series for adults (co-hosted by Maura Madden) that connects working artists and crafters with library users through hands-on projects drawing creative inspiration from the library’s collections
• –Design by the Book:  a video series featuring local independent artists who search for inspiration in the library collections
• –HandMade at NYPL Blog Channel: my institutional blog where I highlight the library’s  DIY/craft/material culture collections
• –Classes: ongoing, occasional classroom sessions both for the public and for special group visits on the history of handmade books, finding vintage craft and DIY library resources, hand press era book technology, and more.

I am an avid seamstress and knitter, an enthusiast of books and other objects you can learn to make by hand, and a lover of vintage craft guides.  I have been making stuff as long as I can remember, thanks in large part to the influence of my sewing and crafting family.  I now also share crafts with friends, some of whom are librarians.

If you want to be in touch, please do so! I love learning about new books, exhibitions, online inspirations,  and quirky crafty finds of all kinds. You can write to me at handmadelibrarian[at]gmail[dot]com.

If you’d like, you can follow me on Twitter to see what I’m reading, making, and getting up to in general.

Thanks for visiting!