Our calendar combines in-person and livestreamed events. Click on any event title for more details and to register where required.

Events are added throughout the season. Join our mailing list to get the word first.

Registration is required for all events unless individual listings state otherwise, and space is limited. Please see individual listings for details on time, format, and location. Many events are open to the public, with some for members only; check individual listings for details. For Members' Room events, check-in begins thirty minutes prior to the stated start time. Registrants are asked not to arrive for check-in prior to that time. A seat cannot be guaranteed after an event has begun.

All start times are U.S. Eastern.

Exhibitions | Special Events | Performances | Lectures, Conversations & Panels | Poetry | Seminars & Reading Groups | The Writing Life | Children's & Young Adult Events | Informal & Informational Gatherings

Exhibitions

Fabulous Fashion

Open to the public in The Assunta, Ignazio, Ada and Romano Peluso Exhibition Gallery
June 10, 2022-January 15, 2023
In the Peluso Family Exhibition Gallery you will discover a world of transcending beauty created by designers, photographers, illustrators and editors during periods of war and peace. Here are ravishing images and books culled from the Library’s collection.

Members' Room: Caroline Rennolds Milbank, Inside Couture

Monday, December 12, 6:00 PM
Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration required
In connection with our Fabulous Fashion exhibition, an evening with the author of the definitive classic Couture: The Great Designers.

Fabulous Fashion Gallery Talks

alternating Tuesdays at 11:00 AM and Thursdays at 2:00 PM in The Peluso Family Exhibition Gallery | open to the public | free of charge | no registration required
Join a curator for an intimate look at the books and images. Follow the link for specific Tuesday or Thursday dates.

Special Events

Relive the Harlem Renaissance

Thursday, December 1, 6:00 PM
Members' Room | open to the public | free of charge | registration required
Relive the Harlem Renaissance and Roaring Twenties at a festive tribute to Harlem literary artists and the work they created or inspired - hosted by the Library and the Harlem Writers Guild.

New Members Party

Tuesday, December 6, 6:00 PM
If you joined the Library in 2022, save the date for our New Members Party. More information to come; with questions, please contact Diane Srebnick.

NEW! Holiday Book Sale

Saturday, December 10, 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Reference Room | open to the public | free of charge | drop in

Bring a bag, browse and buy! Fun reads await at the Library’s holiday book sale. Find great gifts for your friends and family this festive season - and start collecting your winter reading.We'll be offering a fantastic selection of used books at very reasonable prices with a wide range of fiction and nonfiction, including history, art, classics, children's books, and much more.

NEW! Celebration of Member Writers

Thursday, December 15, 6:00 PM
Members and guests are cordially invited to a celebration of Library members who have published books in 2022. Enjoy wine and light refreshments with writers of many backgrounds and genres.

Lectures, Conversations & Panels

Members' Room: Caroline Rennolds Milbank, Inside Couture

Monday, December 12, 6:00 PM
Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration required
In connection with our Fabulous Fashion exhibition, an evening with the author of the definitive classic Couture: The Great Designers.

The Writing Life

Writing Life Workshop: The Editor Is In: An Interactive Seminar with Walter Bode

Tuesday, December 13, 6:00 PM
on the Zoom Meetings platform | for members only | free of charge | registration required
Books Walter Bode edited have won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this seminar, he’ll help writers find the most effective words and make the best use of them – based on participants’ own writing samples.

Writing Life Daytime Talk: The Routines and Rituals of a Writer’s Life, with Anna Pitoniak

Thursday, December 15, 3:30 PM
Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | registration required
Why are writers such creatures of habit? Does it actually make a difference? During this conversation, novelist and former editor Anna Pitoniak will discuss how routines and rituals are a vital part of the creative process—and how to incorporate them into your own writing practice.

Prompt!

Join your fellow writers for a fun and stimulating hour and a half of prompts, writing, and sharing. Sessions are separate - attend any or all.

Online with Charlie Allenson

Friday, December 2, 11:00 AM
on the Zoom Meetings platform | for members only | free of charge | registration required

Online with Diane Richards

Thursday, December 15, 11:00 AM
On the Zoom Meetings platform | for members only | free of charge | registration required

Whitridge Room with Carol Weston

Friday, December 16, 11:00 AM
Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | registration required

Seminars & Reading Groups

The Iliad with Donald McDonough

Thursdays November 10, December 8, January 12, February 9, 11:00 AM
Whitridge Room | for members only | $75 for the four sessions | registration required
Homer's Iliad is being read and reread. This seminar reads Homer's Iliad to discover why today's writers and artists are fascinated with an epic composed about 2800 years ago.

Children's and Young Adult Events

Festive Family Fun: Storytelling with Getchie Argetsinger

Saturday, December 3, 3:00 PM
Members' Room | Recommended for Ages 3 and Older | Open to the public | $10 per child | registration required
Featuring interactive stories that celebrate YOU with a touch of magic, a dash of mayhem, and pinch of mischief!

Animal Antics with James Howe

Monday, December 5, 5:00 PM
Members’ Room | open to the public | for grades K and up | $10 per person | registration required
Meet James Howe, author of the perennially popular Bunnicula novels.

SEE THE FULL CHILDREN'S CALENDAR HERE.

View our playlist of recorded children's events here.

Informal and Informational Gatherings

Teatime

most weekdays, 3:00 to 3:30 PM
Reference Room | open to the public | free of charge; donations welcome | drop in
Take a break for tea, coffee, and cookies in our first-floor public Reference Room.

Digital Teatime

monthly Fridays, 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM
online | for members only | free of charge | drop in
Grab your favorite cup and your current read and spend a little time in social sipping and book-friendly chat. See the link for exact dates.

Member Orientations

Thursday, November 10, 6:00 PM
Little Whitridge Room | For members only | free of charge | drop in
It’s your Library. Learn about all the ways to make use of our collections, building, and services in an informal presentation/Q&A with a staff member. Sessions last approximately 45 minutes.

The Library is closed December 25 and 26 for Christmas. Otherwise we observe normal hours.

Writing Life events in 2022 are generously underwritten by Jenny Lawrence.

Fabulous Fashion and its related events are generously supported by The Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation, Bloomingdale’s, and The Felicia Fund.

The December 1 Harlem Renaissance event is generously supported by the Florence Gould Foundation.