New York, NY, April 18, 2010 – It’s that time of year again when librarians are in the mood for breaking out their Spring frocks, and longer days mean later curfews. Ever socially conscious, The Desk Set are back again and raising funds for literacy and incarcerated individuals. Bring a new or gently used dictionary, thesaurus, or Spanish-English dictionary for Books Through Bars, which serves incarcerated individuals across the U.S., and receive a free drink courtesy of Enid's! Get lucky in the Four Eyes Raffle, with all proceeds going to B.T.B. The more money they raise, the more books and programming nonprofit Books Through Bars can provide to incarcerated individuals across the U.S. The night is also a celebration of the life of our friend Carlos Alvarez (1980-2009), who was passionate about prisoners’ rights, the smoothest dancer the world has ever seen, and a spectacular DJ who was scheduled to spin at this event. DJ Fine Wine, Mister Jonathan Toubin, Megan Awesome, Jimmy T. & Jason Andrews on the decks all night! And remember, you don’t have to be a librarian to join the party you just have to dance with one!
Who We Are: The Desk Set is an informal group of librarians, archivists, Library Science students and other individuals who love books and occasionally throw fund-raising parties for non-profit organizations whose missions support literacy and culture. Our parties have benefited such organizations as Books Through Bars, the New Orleans Public Library, and Behind the Book. Read more about us in The New York Times and The New York Sun.
Event Details: This year’s Dance Dance Library Revolution is Saturday, May 22, 2010, at Enid’s from 10:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m. Enid’s is located at 560 Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, 11222. This is our 5th “Dance Dance Library Revolution” fundraising party at Enid’s – what can we say, it’s one of our favorite bars!
Hostesses: The Desk Set’s own Maria Falgoust and Sarah Murphy. Maria Falgoust (Desk Set co-founder) is an upper-school librarian in Brooklyn Heights. In 2007 she earned her Masters in Library and Information Science from the Palmer School, and in 2000 she received her Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts from the University of Washington in Seattle. Maria is an avid reader, cook, traveler and party-organizer. Born and raised in New Orleans, she is passionate about the rebuilding of her culturally rich and economically challenged hometown. Sarah Murphy (Desk Set co-founder) is a school librarian in Manhattan and works with students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Sarah has a Masters in Library and Information Science from the Palmer School, where she concentrated in Rare Books and Special Collections, and she has previously worked at the New York Society Library and in the Rare Book Room at the New York Academy of Medicine. Sarah also works occasionally in classical theatre, and is a co-founder of the Bakerloo Theatre Project. She and Maria Falgoust founded the Desk Set in 2006.
DJ Fine Wine: DJ Fine Wine is the host and programmer of "Downtown Soulville"—Fridays, 7-8 p.m., WFMU, Jersey City, NJ (91.1 FM and www.wfmu.org)...years of archives and playlists at wfmu.org/playlists/sv
DJ Megan Awesome: For the last few years, DJ Megan Awesome has been collaborating with bands and other DJs to make dance parties for the people. She’s a sucker for a good beat and long songs so she can dance to them, too.
Jason R. Andrews, aka DJ Misery Creep: Spinning a mix of classic rock deep cuts, psych, surf and international burners, with a heavy dose of dub and 70's reggae to boot. Jason’s the resident DJ at Union Pool in Williamsburg every Tuesday, and Bar Matchless in Greenpoint every Thursday.
DJ Jimmy T.: aka Das Booty, calls his style of DJing “eklektik-o”, i.e. a wide spectrum that gets tailored on dance floor after he gets your measurements: soul, funk, rock, reggae, r&b, and whatevs. You may have seen him DJ the Platter-Pak Brunch every Sunday at Enids, The Hand Clapping Bongo Machine at Lucky Strike, or Team Aquapussy at Matchless with DJ Misery Creep. Also he DJs the occasional derelict loft party in Brooklyn. He has played drums with SST recording artists The Alter-Natives, GWAR, and Ed Sanders from The Fugs.
DJ Jonathan Toubin: New York Night Train Conductor and Soul Proprietor Mr. Jonathan Toubin hasn’t only shattered the face of nightlife in the wormy apple with his revolutionary parties and wild and wooly approach to his trademark 45rpm “maximum rock and soul” sound, but alone, with the Soul Clap and Dance-Off, and the New York Night Train Happening, Mr. Toubin has started to spread his gospel worldwide -- to critical acclaim and capacity crowds -- from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine, from Mexico City to Tel Aviv, and all points in between.
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Note to Editors: Sarah and Maria of The Desk Set are available for interviews. A high-res photo is available upon request. Photo credit: Dominick Mastrangelo.
About The Desk Set
The Desk Set is an informal group of librarians, archivists, Library Science students and other individuals who love books. Desk Set events include visits to libraries and collections of interest, book swaps, literary themed parties, and benefits to support literacy. Desk Set events are open to everyone. Check us out at www.thedeskset.org. For more information about The Desk Set, please contact Maria Falgoust: 917.456.7535, thedeskset@gmail.com; or Sarah Murphy: 718.809.9034, thedeskset@gmail.com.
About Books Through Bars
Founded in the late 1980s and formally incorporated as an organization in 2000, Books Through Bars was established to address the paucity of educational resources and programming made available to prisoners hoping to use the time of their imprisonment to effect positive change in their lives. By distributing free educational materials to prisoners, Books Through Bars facilitates prisoner education, thereby promoting successful community re-integration. Because successful community reintegration requires transformation within and outside of prison walls, Books Through Bars utilizes our book distribution service as the foundation on which we build innovative programs designed to engage a broad cross-section of the general public in thinking critically about issues of imprisonment. Please visit: http://www.booksthroughbars.org/
