The Library is open for limited services, and events continue online. Click on any event title for more details and to register where required.

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

Exhibition

The Book Beautiful: Margaret Armstrong & Her Bindings
The Peluso Family Exhibition Gallery will reopen when normal programming resumes. In the meantime, enjoy 

• this online gallery of Margaret Armstrong's beautiful decorated book covers
• this online gallery talk with exhibitions staff
• this online lecture/slideshow about Armstrong's work and era from three Met Museum curators

Margaret Armstrong was one of the most sought-after artists in an almost forgotten chapter in the history of book publishing—the golden age of the decorated book cover. Today Armstrong’s covers are once again prized by scholars, educators and collectors. This exhibition showcases some of Armstrong’s most exquisite covers, along with historic photographs and documents.

Special Events

NEW! Summer Watch Parties!
various dates, 6:00 PM
online | free of charge | drop in

For the rest of the summer, we'll be gathering online to catch up and chat about some favorite recorded events of the past few years. Just drop in to our YouTube channel on any listed date and look for the premiere.

Lectures & Panels

NEW DATE! S.A. Cosby, Blacktop Wasteland
Tuesday. September 22, 6:00 PM
online | by donation | registration required

A husband, a father, a son, a business owner...And the best getaway driver east of the Mississippi. Like Ocean's Eleven meets Drive with a Southern noir twist, S. A. Cosby's Blacktop Wasteland is a searing, operatic story of a man pushed to his limits by poverty, race, and his own former life of crime. Lee Child calls it "sensationally good - new, fresh, real, authentic, twisty, with characters and dilemmas that will break your heart. More than recommended.

Seminars and Reading Groups

Meeting Virgil's Aeneid with Jane Mallison
Thursdays July 9, July 23, August 6, August 13, 11:00 AM
online | $60 for the set of four sessions | registration required

Written at the request of the Roman Emperor Augustus, this first-century BCE epic is much more than a piece of propaganda designed to make Rome great again. We’ll read books one through six (of twelve) in Robert Fagles’ fine translation (2006).

The Writing Life

Prompt!
Fridays August 14, September 11, 11:00 AM (separate sessions)
online | for members | by donation | registration required

Join your fellow member writers for a fun and stimulating hour+ of prompts, writing, and sharing.

Children's Events

Storytime Online! 
varying dates
On YouTube and Zoom | for all ages | no registration required

SEE THE FULL CHILDREN'S CALENDAR HERE.

Informal and Informational Gatherings

Member Orientation Videos

Videos introducing the Library's collections, services, and online resources are now available on the website.

Digital Teatime
Every Friday until further notice, 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM
online | 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.

The Book Beautiful is generously supported by The H.W. Wilson Foundation. Additional funding is provided by The Thomas E. Dewey Fund and The Felicia Fund.

The Writing Life events in 2020 are generously underwritten by Jenny Lawrence.

Children's events are generously supported by the Richard Peck Fund.

New events are added throughout the season. To receive the latest updates, sign up for our electronic newsletters.

(Sidebar image: Sigrid Nunez and Amy Hempel in the Members' Room, October 2019. Photo by Maureen Langloss.)