Our Events

Past Events

  • Thursday, June 17, 2021 - 11:00 AM | Reading Group | online | for members only | $60 for the four sessions | registration required
    Archeologists place the Trojan War somewhere around 1200 B.C.E. How then to explain the fact that the last twenty years have witnessed an outpouring of books on this topic? In the context of the classic ancient texts, discussion covers contemporary reinterpretations from David Malouf to Ursula LeGuin to Daniel Mendelsohn.
  • Monday, June 14, 2021 - 6:00 PM | The Writing Life | online | open to the public | free of charge | registration required
    Acclaimed mystery writers Jeffery Deaver, Laurie King, Charles Todd, and Caroline Todd discuss crafting mysteries and their ever-shifting publishing landscape. This panel celebrates the release of HOW TO WRITE A MYSTERY: A HANDBOOK FROM MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA.
    Embedded thumbnail for Panel: Jeffery Deaver, Laurie King, and Charles and Caroline Todd, How to Write A Mystery (co-sponsored with Mystery Writers of America - New York Chapter)
  • Wednesday, June 9, 2021 - 6:00 PM | Special Event | YouTube Live | open to the public | drop in
    The New York City Book Awards, founded in 1996, honor each year’s best books about the city. This year's special ceremony honors the creators of great New York City books from 2019 and 2020.
    Embedded thumbnail for The 25th Anniversary New York City Book Awards Ceremony
  • Wednesday, June 9, 2021 - 4:00 PM | Children | Online (Zoom) | Recommended for children in Kindergarten and Up

    Let's meet on Zoom at the time above for a face-to-face storytime.

  • Thursday, June 3, 2021 - 6:00 PM | Special Event | online | open to the public | $10 per person | registration required
    From an award-winning storyteller comes a stunning debut novel about a New Mexican family’s extraordinary year of love and sacrifice. In this special event, Ms. Quade talks about THE FIVE WOUNDS and the art of fiction writing with award-winning novelist Meg Wolitzer.
    Embedded thumbnail for Kirstin Valdez Quade, The Five Wounds: A Novel, in conversation with Meg Wolitzer
  • Wednesday, May 26, 2021 - 12:00 PM | Children | Online | For All Ages

    Join us on YouTube at the time above for our virtual storytime for all ages!

  • Tuesday, May 25, 2021 - 6:00 PM | Reception | YouTube Live | open to the public | drop in
    Award winners and participants are celebrated at a ceremony with writing advice and inspiration from the author judges.
    Embedded thumbnail for The 2021 Young Writers Awards Ceremony
  • Saturday, May 22, 2021 - 11:00 AM | Children | Online (Zoom) | All Ages

    Join us on Zoom for a live, face-to-face storytime for all ages!

  • Thursday, May 20, 2021 - 6:00 PM | Online Event | online | open to the public | free of charge | registration required
    In this original series of live online events, Black writers from the 1700s to the present are re-examined to inspire understanding of race in our country today. Black Literature Matters celebrates Black writers in four extraordinary evenings. This final event of the series showcases brief excerpts from the work of writers from 1960 to the present.
    Embedded thumbnail for Black Literature Matters: 1960-Now
  • Wednesday, May 12, 2021 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | online | free of charge | presented by the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
    Walt Whitman believed that the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, glorious as they were, were not enough. We needed to learn to learn the true spirit of democracy. What does it feel like at its best to live as a democratic man or woman? In "Song of Myself," Whitman seeks to answer that question.
  • Wednesday, May 12, 2021 - 4:00 PM | Children | Online (Zoom) | Recommended for children in Kindergarten and up

    Let's meet on Zoom at the time above for a face-to-face storytime.

  • Wednesday, May 12, 2021 - 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM | Reading Group | online | for members only | $60 for the four sessions | registration required
    Perhaps the greatest novel about a single family, The Brothers Karamazov depicts the rational Ivan, the emotional Dimitry, the spiritual Alyosha, and the ostracized Smerdyakov in their relationship with their difficult and abrasive father, Fyodor. Set in a complex, changing, and infuriating Russia, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s masterpiece is riveting, disturbing, and strangely consoling.
  • Tuesday, May 11, 2021 - 3:00 PM | The Writing Life | online | open to the public | $60 for the set of four sessions | registration required
    In this workshop, we will explore how to animate setting and build a strong sense of place in fiction. During the COVID-19 pandemic, how have stay-at-home orders made us think about the influence of place on our own psychic spaces? In this four-week workshop, you will also have the opportunity to write and share your own fiction during class.
  • Tuesday, May 4, 2021 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | online | open to the public | $10 per person | registration required
    What would Willa Cather's widely read and cherished novels have looked like if she had never met magazine editor and copywriter Edith Lewis? A groundbreaking new look at the American novelist's creative process.
    Embedded thumbnail for Melissa J. Homestead, The Only Wonderful Things: The Creative Partnership of Willa Cather & Edith Lewis
  • Saturday, March 27, 2021 - 11:00 AM | Saturday, May 1, 2021 - 11:00 AM | Children | Online (Zoom) | For all ages

    Join us on Zoom for a live, face-to-face storytime for all ages!

  • Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 6:00 PM | Special Event | online | open to the public | free of charge | registration required
    Edward Hirsch's new book presents 100 of the most moving and inspiring poems of the last 200 years from around the world, a collection that will comfort and enthrall anyone trapped by grief or loneliness, selected by the award-winning, best-selling, and beloved author of HOW TO READ A POEM. In this special event, Dr. Hirsch introduces the poems and their creators, with moving readings by actors R.J. Foster and Sarah Rose Kearns.
    Embedded thumbnail for Edward Hirsch, 100 Poems to Break Your Heart, with dramatic readers
  • Wednesday, April 7, 2021 - 12:00 PM | Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 12:00 PM | Children | Online | For All Ages

    Join us on YouTube at the time above for our virtual storytime for all ages!

  • Monday, April 19, 2021 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | online | open to the public | $10 per person | registration required
    In this grand and thrilling narrative, the acclaimed biographer of Magellan, Columbus, and Marco Polo brings alive the singular life and adventures of Sir Francis Drake, the pirate/explorer/admiral whose mastery of the seas during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I changed the course of history.
    Embedded thumbnail for Laurence Bergreen, In Search of a Kingdom: Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the British Empire
  • Wednesday, April 14, 2021 - 4:00 PM | Children | Online (Zoom) | Recommended for children in Kindergarten and Up

    Let's meet on Zoom at the time above for a face-to-face storytime.

  • Monday, April 12, 2021 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | online
    AN AMERICAN ODYSSEY illuminates the life and work of Romare Bearden, whose art celebrated the traditions and ceremonies of African American culture. In this special event, biographer Mary Schmidt Campbell discusses Bearden's life and art and talks with gallery owners Sherman Edmiston and June Kelly.
    Embedded thumbnail for Mary Schmidt Campbell, An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden, with special guests
  • Wednesday, April 7, 2021 - 12:00 PM | Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 12:00 PM | Children | Online | For All Ages

    Join us on YouTube at the time above for our virtual storytime for all ages!

  • Monday, April 5, 2021 - 6:00 PM | The Writing Life | online | open to the public | free of charge | registration required
    Library members read from their own short stories, novels, poetry, criticism, memoir, and plays.
  • Tuesday, March 30, 2021 - 6:00 PM | Special Event | online | open to the public | free of charge | registration required
    A fun interactive evening celebrating everyday expressions from "under the weather" to "on top of the world," perfect for any lover of language.
  • Saturday, March 27, 2021 - 11:00 AM | Saturday, May 1, 2021 - 11:00 AM | Children | Online (Zoom) | For all ages

    Join us on Zoom for a live, face-to-face storytime for all ages!

  • Thursday, March 25, 2021 - 6:00 PM | Online Event | online | open to the public | free of charge | registration required
    In this original series of live online events, hear the voices of Black writers through history re-examined to inspire understanding of race in our country today. This third presentation brings to life the first half of the 20th century with dramatic readings, historical context, and images.
    Embedded thumbnail for Black Literature Matters: 1900-1959

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