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Arts, Media, Music & Sports

Visit the Arts, Media, Music & Sports (AMMS) division for anything and everything you need to know about arts and entertainment. The collection includes both print and multimedia materials, which can be found in the following locations:

  • DVDs, CDs and audiobooks: Central Library, second floor mezzanine.
  • Books: Central Library, third floor.

The AMMS division includes:

Art

Delve into our large collection of books on art and artists, art history, and forms and techniques. Covering Western, non-Western, and folk traditions, the art collection includes extensive reference materials that are especially useful for graduate-level research.

Architecture

Explore individual architects and buildings, periods, styles, and movements in this collection, which also includes material on architectural drawing and city planning.

Music

Our vast collection is a complete music resource, where books on every genre and historical period of music imaginable — from classical and opera to jazz, pop, and ethnic styles — are available to check out or use as reference material. The following features will help you find what you need:

  • Song-finding index - Browse through more than 4,500 song folios, comprising mostly pop, rock, and standards, with some art songs, Christmas carols, and hymns.

  • Music business - Learn the practical aspects of the industry in our collection of up-to-date information on legal and business aspects of the trade.

  • Musical scores - More than 40,000 scores are available, including operas, Broadway shows, organ, piano and keyboard music, instrumental methods and solos, orchestra scores, chamber music parts, oratorios, popular music, and art and folk songs, as well as complete works of various composers, monumental editions, and reference copies of Broadway shows.

  • Orchestra collection - Both amateurs and professionals can borrow complete orchestra parts in the AMMS division. Special registration and fees are required, inquire at the reference desk for rules and regulations.

Photography

Whether you're an experienced pro or a basics-only beginner, we've got books to help you hone your photography skills. A collection of pictorial works on most well-known photographers serves as both research and inspirational material.

Sports

Read about the rules, regulations, history, and practice of your favorite sport — or check out an instructional book and learn a new one — in this comprehensive collection.

Theater, Dance, Film

Discover the practical aspects of theater, film, and dance production in a how-to book, or experience the subjective side of performance art by reading a critique by a leading expert of a particular style or genre.

DVDs/Videos

Study a new religion, learn how to cook from a French master chef, or just sit back and watch your favorite movie... it's all possible when you take advantage of our collection of more than 22,000 DVDs and videotapes. Included are feature films from both American and world cinema, as well as a wide range of nonfiction DVDs and videos on subjects such as health, language, learning, and biography. 

Audio books

Several thousand titles are available, in both fiction and nonfiction subject areas.

Compact Discs (CDs)

Check out a CD of any style, category, or genre, including classical, opera, jazz, pop, world, folk, and more.

Programs

AMMS sponsors 2 ongoing programs:

Chess for Adults, meets on Friday afternoons at 4:00pm on the 3rd Floor, in the Art & Music Division.

Fiber Arts Group, meets on Wednesdays from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, in the Trustee's Room on the 3rd Floor. (Note: room may sometimes vary, check with AMMS 718-230-2183 to confirm location.)   

 Image of Read, books, library words quilt, created by the Fiber Arts Group at Central Library, hanging in the Grand Lobby

The Read Quilt, hanging in Central's Grand Lobby, created in 2011, is one of the Fiber Art Group's many projects.