Past Events
-
Thursday, November 2, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredRobert Rubin, former secretary of the Treasury and co-chairman of Goldman Sachs, shares thoughts on decision-making developed over more than six decades in markets, business, government, and politics, and offers readers an astute and original guide for navigating uncertain times. In this special event, he discusses his book and its relevance to current events with author and speechwriter David Litt.
-
Thursday, October 26, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredTwo of America’s master essayists, Roger Rosenblatt and Lance Morrow, discuss the art of the essay and the state of American journalism, then and now, with Jim Kelly, former managing editor of TIME.
-
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 - 5:00 PM | Children | Members' Room | For Grades 3+ | Open to the public | $10 per person | Registration required
These writers know what it’s like to be a New York City kid.
-
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Performance | Livestream | open to the public | free of charge | registration requiredThe Library is pleased to partner with the National Willa Cather Center to commemorate Willa Cather’s 150th birthday. The celebration will include short readings from Cather’s fiction and letters and will also include a reading of Truman Capote’s unfinished reminiscence of his chance meeting with Willa Cather at the New York Society Library in 1942.
-
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 - 3:30 PM | The Writing Life | Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | registration requiredLearn how to make your books more discoverable with children’s book author and illustrator Betsy Franco-Feeney and Mary Carlomagno, Director of Sales and Business Development at Bowker. In this informative session, you will learn about current publishing trends and best practices for getting your book noticed. Be sure to prepare your questions in advance, as we will have time at the end of the presentation for questions and answers!
-
Friday, October 20, 2023 - 12:00 PM | Lecture | Livestream | open to the public | free of charge | registration requiredFor the past four years, an international team of researchers led by the University of Liverpool in the UK has been exploring the history of libraries and reading habits in the eighteenth century, shedding dramatic new light on the contribution made by books to social, cultural and political change in this vital period in the formation of the modern world. This talk will feature two of the leading researchers on the project talking through some of their key findings, while also giving audience members a behind-the-scenes look at the project’s database before it is launched to the public later this year.
-
Wednesday, October 18, 2023 - 6:00 PM | The Writing Life | Livestream | open to the public | free of charge | registration requiredBuilding a readership online can seem daunting. In this special event, fiction and nonfiction authors come together with two publishing marketers to help demystify this challenge. This panel of seasoned experts share their failures and successes, how they’ve gone about developing a loyal reader base by engaging inventively using the various social media platforms, and what they’ve learned from readers that has informed their work. They will address Who to target - from readers to librarians to bookstores and more - What to do to stand out in a crowded marketplace - Where to participate, helping identify appropriate platforms and maximize the experience there - and When to engage, from pre-book launch to back list visibility. The panelists are Mateo Askaripour, Jessica Lahey, Claire McKinney, Hannah Orenstein, and Miral Sattar, with moderator Jane Murphy and Authors Guild Ambassador Diana Altman.
-
Monday, October 16, 2023 - 6:15 PM | Special Event | Livestream | open to the public | free of charge | registration requiredThe Hudson Review celebrates its 75th anniversary this year with an original in-depth essay by A.E. Stallings, "Frieze Frame: How Poets, Painters (and Actors and Architects) Framed the Ongoing Debate Around Elgin and the Marbles of the Athenian Acropolis." At this special event, Ms. Stallings will give an illustrated talk about the history of the Elgin Marbles, discussing the 19th century’s many attitudes toward them through the present-day debate about their future.
-
Thursday, October 12, 2023 - 6:00 PM | The Writing Life | Members’ Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredLibrary members read from their own short stories, novels, poetry, criticism, memoir, and plays.
-
Thursday, October 5, 2023 - 11:00 AM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | for members only | $75 per person | registration requiredMagda Szabó (1917-2007) is the most famous and most translated Hungarian novelist. This seminar discusses three of her best-known novels spanning 1963 to 1987.
-
Wednesday, October 4, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Performance | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredRobert Lloyd Parry returns to the Members' Room with two of the wonderfully spooky stories by British horror master M.R. James (1862-1936). “Wonderful, magical storytelling." - The Daily Mail
-
Tuesday, October 3, 2023 - 4:00 PM | Children | Whitridge Room | Grades K+ | For members & a guest | $15 per child
Robert Quackenbush’s delightful creatures of mystery come to life as puppets with teaching artist Leah Rubin and Margery Quackenbush, the inspiration for Miss Mallard herself.
-
Monday, October 2, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredThe bestselling author of The Happiness Project discovers a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. In this special event, Gretchen Rubin converses with Alexandra Horowitz, author of On Looking: A Walker's Guide to the Art of Observation and other books.
-
Thursday, September 28, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Livestream | open to the public | $10 per person | registration requiredAward-winning historian Blair LM Kelley illuminates the adversities and joys of the Black working class in America through a stunning narrative centered on her forebears, in conversation with Eloquent Rage author Brittney C. Cooper.
-
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 - 5:00 PM | Children | Whitridge Room | Grades 3+ | For members & a guest | $15 per childIn this ongoing series, young writers are invited to join notable authors in exploring different genres. Author and illustrator Ruth Chan leads a discussion about making comics and graphic novels, working with young writers and artists to explore the possibilities of cartooning. Participants will learn the tools needed to create their own comics.
-
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 - 11:00 AM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | for members only | $100 for the six sessions | registration required“Never say you know the last word about any human heart.” That’s one of the great sentences of this great writer, Henry James (1843-1916). In this seminar – which welcomes both experienced readers of James and novices – we discover many more.
-
Saturday, September 23, 2023 - 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM | Special Event | open to the public | free of charge | drop inDrop by to bring your questions and talk grammar with expert and Rebel with a Clause author Ellen Jovin!
-
Wednesday, September 20, 2023 - 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM | Special Event | Members' Room | for members and their guests | free of charge | drop inEnd your day with wine and light refreshments in the beautiful Members' Room. September's Happy Hour includes refreshments and recommended reading inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien.
-
Tuesday, September 19, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Lecture | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration requiredA sweeping narrative history of the Chinese Exclusion Act through an intimate portrayal of one family’s epic journey to lay down roots in America.
-
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 - 6:00 PM | Special Event | Members' Room | open to the public | free of charge | registration requiredTwo Black sisters growing up in small-town New England fight to protect their home, their bodies, and their dreams as the Civil Rights Movement sweeps the nation in Promise, a “magical, magnificent novel” (Marlon James). The Library joins the Harlem Arts Salon in presenting this special event with National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson. Light refreshments will be served.
-
Sunday, September 10, 2023 - 2:00 PM | Lecture | Livestream | open to the public | $10 per person | registration requiredA startling new portrait of George Eliot, the beloved novelist and a rare philosophical mind who explored the complexities of marriage. Clare Carlisle, professor of philosophy and author of books on Spinoza and Kierkegaard, discusses her new biography with novelist and editor Christine Smallwood.
-
Friday, July 28, 2023 - 10:00 AM | Children | Whitridge Room | Ages 2 and Up | For Members Only
Enjoy favorite nursery rhymes, picture books, and songs.
Capacity is limited. -
Friday, June 23, 2023 - 10:30 AM to 4:00 PM | Special Event | open to the public | free of charge | drop inDrop by to bring your questions and talk grammar with expert and Rebel with a Clause author Ellen Jovin!
-
Thursday, June 22, 2023 - 4:00 PM | Children | Whitridge Room | Ages 3 and Up | For Members Only
Get ready for summer travels with these wheely good stories.
-
Tuesday, June 20, 2023 - 10:00 AM | Children | Whitridge Room | For Members Only | Ages 24 Months and Younger
Join us for songs, stories, and movement for babies and toddlers.
Pick up a ticket in the lobby.
