Youth Forum & Expo: Food, Farming and Active Living

From Brooklyn Public Library’s Blog:

We all know the economy stinks, and your library is feeling the pinch just like everybody else. But one neighborhood library has found a way to raise a little extra cash and have some fun at the same time.

Last week Bushwick Library purchased four Brown Swiss dairy cows, whose milk will be bottled and sold right on the library’s
front steps.

“It makes perfect sense for us,” said librarian Nate Hill. “Two hundred years ago, this whole area was farmland. We’re just going back to our roots.”

The 100% organic milk, bottled under the name Library Leche, is already available at neighborhood greengrocers and farmers’ markets throughout the city.

And it’s bringing the community together.

“We had an elementary school class in here yesterday,” said Nate. “I thought they’d be scared—these cows are huge—but they took to it immediately. They milked 16 gallons in an hour. We’re definitely going to invite them back.”

Bushwick, meanwhile, isn’t the only library with an economic recovery plan. Before the summer’s over, Sunset Park will have converted its backyard garden into a working earthworm farm, and Flatlands is considering a rooftop carrier pigeon business.