The most notorious book about witches ever published is Malleus Maleficarum, most often translated as The Hammer of Witches. Tucked away in Special Collections, the Library’s copy of the 1580 edition has its own unique history.
-
Marginalia
Our Commitment to the Black Community
TODAY AT THE LIBRARY
Open 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
October 14, 2020A selection of related books as the country celebrates the achievements of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.October 08, 2020Libraries and books are vital foundations of a healthy, happy community. They are for everyone - from immigrants and the homeless to children and families. - My Tab
Online Event
Digital Teatime
Friday, September 18, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, September 25, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 2, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 9, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 16, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 23, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 30, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 6, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 13, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 20, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
|
for members | by donation | drop in
Grab your favorite cup and your current read and spend a little time in social sipping and book-friendly chat with your fellow members.
Online Event
National Book Month: Independent Bookstore Chat
Sunday, October 25, 2020 - 4:00pm to 5:00pm
|
Zoom | open to the public | free of charge | drop in
Join Library staff and friends from two of New York City's great independent bookstores for an informal chat in honor of National Book Month.
Lecture
Kevin Kwan, Sex and Vanity, with Jacqueline B. Weld
Monday, October 26, 2020 - 6:00pm
|
online | open to the public | $10 per person | registration required
The iconic author of the bestselling phenomenon CRAZY RICH ASIANS returns with the glittering tale of a young woman who finds herself torn between two men.
Reading Group
Seminar: Nicholas Birns, An Outsized Reality: The Novels of Gabriel García Márquez
Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - 11:00am
Wednesday, October 14, 2020 - 11:00am
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 - 11:00am
Wednesday, November 11, 2020 - 11:00am
|
online | for members only | $60 for the set of four sessions | registration required
Gabriel García Márquez was the most influential writer in the Spanish language since Cervantes. This seminar takes a deep look at his three major works One Hundred Years of Solitude, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and Love in the Time of Cholera.
Children
Storytime Online
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 - 12:00pm
|
Online | For All Ages
Join us on YouTube for our virtual storytime for all ages! Can't join us for the premiere? The video will be posted on our Children's Events page shortly after, so you can participate on your own schedule.
Lecture
Leo Damrosch, The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age
Thursday, October 29, 2020 - 6:00pm
|
online | free for members of the New York Society Library and membership library members | registration required through the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
The acclaimed biographer recreates a celebrated eighteenth-century London club that included critic Samuel Johnson, biographer James Boswell, historian Edward Gibbon, political thinker Edmund Burke, economist Adam Smith, painter Joshua Reynolds, and actor David Garrick.
Online Event
Digital Teatime
Friday, September 18, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, September 25, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 2, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 9, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 16, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 23, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 30, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 6, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 13, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 20, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
|
for members | by donation | drop in
Grab your favorite cup and your current read and spend a little time in social sipping and book-friendly chat with your fellow members.
Special Event
George Templeton Strong: Chronicler of New York
Wednesday, November 4, 2020 - 2:00pm
|
YouTube | open to the public | free of charge | drop in
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of New York City diarist George Templeton Strong. Join Library staff Harriet Shapiro and Cathy McGowan for a visit to Strong's 19th-century world with historical narrative, images, dramatic readings, and music.
Reading Group
Seminar: Jane Mallison, Virgil's Aeneid, Books VII-XII
Thursday, September 24, 2020 - 11:00am
Thursday, October 8, 2020 - 11:00am
Thursday, October 22, 2020 - 11:00am
Thursday, November 5, 2020 - 11:00am
|
online | for members only | $60 for the set of four sessions | registration required
Written at the request of the Roman Emperor Augustus, this 1st century BCE epic is much more than a piece of propaganda. We’ll complete the story in Robert Fagles’ fine translation.
The Writing Life
The Writing Life Poetry Workshop: Write What Life Feels Like Now with Esther Cohen
Thursday, September 10, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, September 24, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, October 8, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, October 22, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, November 5, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, November 19, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, December 3, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, December 17, 2020 - 3:00pm
|
online | open to the public | by donation | separate sessions | registration required
It's an unusual year. There are so many words to say how we feel. Let's try together.
Online Event
Digital Teatime
Friday, September 18, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, September 25, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 2, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 9, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 16, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 23, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 30, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 6, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 13, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 20, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
|
for members | by donation | drop in
Grab your favorite cup and your current read and spend a little time in social sipping and book-friendly chat with your fellow members.
Lecture
Lyndall Gordon, Outsiders: Five Women Writers Who Changed the World
Sunday, November 8, 2020 - 2:00pm
|
online | open to the public | $10 per person | registration required
Prodigy, visionary, 'outlaw,' orator and explorer. As society's outsiders, the exceptional subjects of this study inspired a new breed of women―and one another.
Lecture
Eddie S. Glaude Jr., As Much Truth as We Can Bear: James Baldwin and Our America
Tuesday, November 10, 2020 - 6:00pm
|
online | free for members of the New York Society Library and membership library members | registration required through the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
The Princeton University professor and author of BEGIN AGAIN: JAMES BALDWIN'S AMERICA AND ITS URGENT LESSONS FOR OUR OWN addresses the questions raised by Baldwin's 1962 essay "As Much Truth as One Can Bear."
Reading Group
Seminar: Nicholas Birns, An Outsized Reality: The Novels of Gabriel García Márquez
Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - 11:00am
Wednesday, October 14, 2020 - 11:00am
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 - 11:00am
Wednesday, November 11, 2020 - 11:00am
|
online | for members only | $60 for the set of four sessions | registration required
Gabriel García Márquez was the most influential writer in the Spanish language since Cervantes. This seminar takes a deep look at his three major works One Hundred Years of Solitude, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and Love in the Time of Cholera.
The Writing Life
Writing Life Workshop: Writing with Tarot with A.E. Osworth
Wednesday, November 11, 2020 - 6:00pm
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 - 6:00pm
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 - 6:00pm
|
online | for members only | by donation | registration required
Feeling stuck in your writing? Uninspired? Overwhelmed? Break out your tarot deck and use the 78 archetypes to shake out of your writing rut and surprise even yourself.
Lecture
Peter Brooks, Balzac's Lives, with Edwin Frank
Thursday, November 12, 2020 - 6:00pm
|
online | open to the public | $10 per person | registration required
Enter the mind of French literary giant Honoré de Balzac through a study of nine of his greatest characters and the novels they inhabit. Balzac's Lives illuminates the writer's life, era, and work in a completely original way.
The Writing Life
The Writing Life: Prompt! with Terena Elizabeth Bell
Friday, September 11, 2020 - 11:00am to 12:30pm
Friday, October 9, 2020 - 11:00am to 12:30pm
Friday, November 13, 2020 - 11:00am to 12:30pm
Friday, December 11, 2020 - 11:00am to 12:30pm
|
online | for members only | by donation | registration required
Join your fellow member writers for a fun and stimulating hour+ of prompts, writing, and sharing.
Online Event
Digital Teatime
Friday, September 18, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, September 25, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 2, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 9, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 16, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 23, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 30, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 6, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 13, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 20, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
|
for members | by donation | drop in
Grab your favorite cup and your current read and spend a little time in social sipping and book-friendly chat with your fellow members.
Children
Storytime Online
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 - 12:00pm
|
Online | For All Ages
Join us on YouTube for our virtual storytime for all ages! Can't join us for the premiere? The video will be posted on our Children's Events page shortly after, so you can participate on your own schedule.
The Writing Life
Writing Life Workshop: Writing with Tarot with A.E. Osworth
Wednesday, November 11, 2020 - 6:00pm
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 - 6:00pm
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 - 6:00pm
|
online | for members only | by donation | registration required
Feeling stuck in your writing? Uninspired? Overwhelmed? Break out your tarot deck and use the 78 archetypes to shake out of your writing rut and surprise even yourself.
The Writing Life
The Writing Life Poetry Workshop: Write What Life Feels Like Now with Esther Cohen
Thursday, September 10, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, September 24, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, October 8, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, October 22, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, November 5, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, November 19, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, December 3, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, December 17, 2020 - 3:00pm
|
online | open to the public | by donation | separate sessions | registration required
It's an unusual year. There are so many words to say how we feel. Let's try together.
Online Event
Digital Teatime
Friday, September 18, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, September 25, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 2, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 9, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 16, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 23, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, October 30, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 6, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 13, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, November 20, 2020 - 3:00pm to 3:30pm
|
for members | by donation | drop in
Grab your favorite cup and your current read and spend a little time in social sipping and book-friendly chat with your fellow members.
Special Event
Holiday Closing: Thanksgiving
Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - 5:00pm to Friday, November 27, 2020 - 5:00pm
|
Holiday Closing
The Library closes at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, November 25 and is closed Thursday, November 26 and Friday, November 27, for Thanksgiving. Otherwise we observe normal hours.
The Writing Life
Writing Life Workshop: Writing with Tarot with A.E. Osworth
Wednesday, November 11, 2020 - 6:00pm
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 - 6:00pm
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 - 6:00pm
|
online | for members only | by donation | registration required
Feeling stuck in your writing? Uninspired? Overwhelmed? Break out your tarot deck and use the 78 archetypes to shake out of your writing rut and surprise even yourself.
The Writing Life
The Writing Life Poetry Workshop: Write What Life Feels Like Now with Esther Cohen
Thursday, September 10, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, September 24, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, October 8, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, October 22, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, November 5, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, November 19, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, December 3, 2020 - 3:00pm
Thursday, December 17, 2020 - 3:00pm
|
online | open to the public | by donation | separate sessions | registration required
It's an unusual year. There are so many words to say how we feel. Let's try together.
Pages
Today's Events
Exhibitions
The Library showcases our historic collections and the literary culture of the city with themed public exhibitions on the second floor. Exhibitions are offered for six to twelve months, and both members and nonmembers are welcome to drop by any time the Library is open.
Current Exhibition:
The New York Society Library
53 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10075
212.288.6900
reference@nysoclib.org
Hours of Operation
Monday / Friday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday / Sunday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Holiday Closing: Thanksgiving
The Library closes at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, November 25 and is closed Thursday, November 26 and Friday, November 27, for Thanksgiving. Otherwise we observe normal hours.