Throughout August, the Brooklyn Public Library is offering 13 limited edition library cards depicting the iconic albums that make up the legendary career of Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter.
The library cards — which showcase the album artwork of such Jay-Z LPs like "The Black Album," "Magna Carta Holy Grail," "4:44" and more — are available at BPL branches throughout the borough, with a full list of participating locations available on the BPL website.
BPL's central library at Grand Army Plaza will feature specific individual card designs on a rotational basis from week to week. Cards with album art from "Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life" are available until Aug. 13; "The Black Album" will be offered from Aug 14-20 and "The Blueprint" will be primed to be collected from Aug. 21-27.
While acquiring the special cards is easy — Brooklynites can simply pop into one of the participating branches and request them — there are restrictions.
According to Brooklyn Magazine, the library is maintaining a limit of 13 cards per person, with each member only able to acquire one of each album design. The policy should discourage any unruly individuals from attempting to horde certain cards all to themselves.
In addition to offering library cards that commemorate Jay-Z's impressive discography, BPL is also hosting a special exhibition at its central branch that celebrates the Brooklyn-born rapper's life and body of work.
Called "The Book of HOV," the immersive exhibition takes visitors on a deep dive into Jay-Z's extraordinary career, displaying must-see items from the rapper's history such his Grammy award trophies, never-before-seen photographs, hard drives containing his master recordings and original show notes.
The exhibition has reportedly led to a spike in visitor numbers at the library's central location, BPL announced. BPL said in a release that its Grand Army Plaza branch experienced attendance rates that were five times higher than its usual average — in addition to garnering at least 4,000 library card sign-ups — since the exhibit opened.
"The Book of HOV" exhibition will be available to check out until sometime in October 2023, according to the Brooklyn Public Library website.
