Our Events

Past Events

  • Friday, April 4, 2014 - 4:00 PM | Children | For Members and Their Guests in Grades 2 and Up | Members' Room | $5 per person, payable at the door

    Nine-year-old Anna and her sisters love to play with the dolls in their parents’ doll repair shop.

  • Tuesday, April 1, 2014 - 6:30 PM | Lecture | Open to the Public | Members' Room | $10 with advance registration; $15 at the door

    From the acclaimed author of American Bloomsbury comes a major reassessment of the life and work of one of America’s preeminent twentieth-century poets, our generation’s beloved heretic.

     

    Embedded thumbnail for Susan Cheever, E.E. Cummings: A Life
    Event Recording
  • Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - 6:30 PM | Lecture | Open to the Public | Members' Room | $10 with advance registration; $15 at the door

    An epic tale by award-winning author Brenda Wineapple, Ecstatic Nation illuminates one of the most dramatic and momentous chapters in America’s past, when the country dreamed big, craved new land

  • Sunday, March 23, 2014 - 3:00 PM | Performance | Open to the Public | Members' Room | $20 with advance registration; $25 at the door

    Kate Hurney’s recital life combines her interest in history and literature with the programs of the great singers of the past.

  • Tuesday, March 18, 2014 - 6:30 PM | Lecture | Open to the Public | Members' Room | $10 with advance registration; $15 at the door
    The acclaimed author of Pictures at a Revolution gives us the untold story of how Hollywood changed World War II, and how World War II changed Hollywood, through the prism of five film directors caught up in the war: John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens.
    Embedded thumbnail for Mark Harris, Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War
    Event Recording
  • Thursday, March 13, 2014 - 6:30 PM | Lecture | Open to the Public | Members' Room | $10 with advance registration; $15 at the door
    The Columbia University professor and editor of the new W.W. Norton edition of Chekhov’s stories offers new insights on the Russian master and leads discussion of nine essential stories.
  • Thursday, March 13, 2014 - 5:30 PM | Reading Group | Whitridge Room | For Members Only
    The Library’s Special Collections Librarian discusses the business of printing and publishing, early journalism and reporting, and how to examine historic newspapers, using rare items from the Library’s newspaper holdings.
  • Tuesday, March 11, 2014 - 5:30 PM | Children | Members' Room | For Members and Their Guests, Grades 3 and Older | $5 per person, payable at the door

    Ava is a fifth grader who wants to be a writer. Her diary entries share her adventures with her friends and her word-loving family—including her very shy older sister Pip.

  • Tuesday, March 11, 2014 - 10:00 AM | The Writing Life | For Members Only | Whitridge Room | Free of Charge | Advance Registration Required

    Virginia Woolf wrote, “Style is a very simple matter; it is all rhythm.

  • Friday, March 7, 2014 - 10:00 AM | The Writing Life | For Members Only | Whitridge Room | $75 for 4 sessions | Advance registration required | Limited to 15 members

    Writing the next draft can be daunting. Whether you are revising sentences or rewriting at a structural level, turn off your inner critic and learn how to focus on what will improve your manuscript.

  • Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - 6:00 PM | The Writing Life | Open to the Public | Members' Room | $10 with advance registration; $15 at the door

    Formerly known as Open Mic Night, this is one of the Library’s most popular events, showcasing Library members reading from their own short stories, novels, poetry, criticism, memoir, and plays.

  • Saturday, March 1, 2014 - 11:00 AM | Children | For Members and their Guests, Ages 2 and Older | Whitridge Room | $5 Per Child, Payable at the Door | Registration Required

    Discover stories through songs with musician, storyteller, and Pied Piper of song Bob "Bobaloo" Basey.

  • Wednesday, February 26, 2014 - 6:30 PM | Lecture | Open to the Public | Members' Room | $10 with advance registration; $15 at the door
    Best known today for Gulliver’s Travels, in his own time Jonathan Swift was an influential writer and a major political and religious figure. Drawing on recent discoveries, National Book Award finalist Damrosch tells Swift’s life anew.
    Embedded thumbnail for Leo Damrosch, Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World
    Event Recording
  • Tuesday, February 18, 2014 - 6:30 PM | Lecture | Open to the Public | Members' Room | $10 with advance registration; $15 at the door
    Snyder recounts the dramatic story of the Ethiopian emperor’s 1868 clash with the British Army in the context of his own 1972 trip across the country, photographing a world then almost unchanged from the prior century but soon to vanish due to famine and civil war.
    Embedded thumbnail for John Snyder, Crossing Ethiopia: A 1972 Photographic Journal Retracing the Last March of Emperor Tewodros to Magdala
    Event Recording
  • Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - 11:00 AM | Reading Group | For Members Only | Whitridge Room | $50 for all four sessions; $15 per session
    As part of our World War One centennial observance, perennially popular instructor James Kraft guides discussion of some of the most enduring novels from the war's era or aftermath.
  • Tuesday, February 11, 2014 - 10:00 AM | The Writing Life | For Members Only | Whitridge Room | Free of Charge | Advance Registration Required

    Writers must tangle with creativity every day regardless of whether they pick up a pen, pencil, or keyboard. The craft of writing is more readily taught than the spark of creativity ignited.

  • Friday, February 7, 2014 - 4:00 PM | Children | Open to the Public | For Ages 5-9 | Members' Room | $5 per person, payable at the door | Advance registration required

    In 2010, author/illustrator Tad Hills brought picture-book readers the joyous tale of Rocket, a dog who learns to read—and the little bird who teaches him—in How Rocket Learned to Read. This story, a touching tribute to reading and the pe

  • Sunday, February 2, 2014 - 3:00 PM | Lecture | Open to the Public | Members' Room | $10 with advance registration; $15 at the door

    This unique event brings together Spooner’s knowledge of the Western Front with a visual and hands-on presentation on the real lives of soldiers in the trenches.

  • Friday, January 31, 2014 - 3:30 PM | Children | For Members and Their Guests in Grades 3-6 | Whitridge Room | $10 per child, payable at the door | Advance registration required

    In this ongoing series, young writers in grades three through six are invited to join notable writers in exploring different genres.

  • Friday, January 31, 2014 - 11:00 AM | Lecture | For Members Only | Whitridge Room | $20 with advance registration; $25 at the door

    Take a detailed look at books and artifacts of the First World War in this intimate presentation by Exhibitions Coordinator Harriet Shapiro and military historian Andrew Spooner.

  • Wednesday, January 29, 2014 - 7:00 PM | Reception | For Members and Their Guests | Members' Room and Peluso Family Exhibition Gallery | Free of Charge

    The Library celebrates the opening of its new exhibition with a reception for members and their guests.

  • Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - 11:00 AM | The Writing Life | For Members Only | Whitridge Room | Free of Charge | Advance Registration Required

    Get the creative juices flowing in these fun and instructive sessions. Participants will receive a prompt and will have 20 minutes to write freely after which they are encouraged to share their writing with the group.

  • Thursday, January 16, 2014 - 6:30 PM | Lecture | Open to the Public | The Liederkranz Foundation, 6 East 87th Street | $20 with advance registration; $25 at the door

    With Rosamond Bernier, Paula Deitz, Frances FitzGerald, Laura Furman, Molly Haskell, Diane Johnson, Frances Kiernan, Jane Kramer, Thomas Mallon, Ron Patkus, Robert Pounder, Robert Silvers, Eve Stwertka, Margo Viscusi, and Sophia Wilson

  • Tuesday, January 14, 2014 - 10:00 AM | The Writing Life | For Members Only | Whitridge Room | Free of Charge | Advance Registration Required

    You’ve poured yourself into your writing and at long last, you hold your book in your hand. But your work’s not done yet: now you need to publicize the book. The task is distasteful to many writers, but can be learned like any skill.

  • Monday, December 16, 2013 - 6:30 PM | Performance | Members' Room | Open to the Public

    Of New York City, Charles Dickens once wrote, "There are those in this city who would brighten, to me, the darkest winter day that ever glimmered..." Every year, here and around the world, crowds still gather to welcome back Dickens's iconic tale

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