Our Events

Children

Wiggles & Giggles

Tuesday, October 17, 2023 - 10:00am | Whitridge Room | Ages 24 Months and Younger | For Members Only

Join us for songs, stories, and movement for babies and toddlers.

Pick up a ticket in the lobby.

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The Writing Life

Livestream: Panel: Social Media Savvy: How Authors Use Digital Platforms to Reach Readers

Wednesday, October 18, 2023 - 6:00pm | Livestream | open to the public | free of charge | registration required
Building 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.
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The Writing Life

Members' Room: Panel: Social Media Savvy: How Authors Use Digital Platforms to Reach Readers

Wednesday, October 18, 2023 - 6:00pm | Members' Room | open to the public | free of charge | registration required
Building 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.
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Children

Fall is Fun!

Thursday, October 19, 2023 - 4:00pm | Whitridge Room | Ages 3 and Older | For Members Only

Leaves are falling, books are calling. Join us for autumnal stories, songs, and a craft.

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Lecture

Online Only: Libraries of the Enlightenment: An Introduction to the Eighteenth-Century Libraries Online Database

Friday, October 20, 2023 - 12:00pm | Livestream | open to the public | free of charge | registration required
For 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.
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Children

Quack! Quack! Robert Quackenbush Art Studio Tour

Sunday, October 22, 2023 - 12:00pm | For Grades K+ | Registration Required | Event will be held off site
Join us for a tour and treasure hunt at the Upper East Side studio where Mr. Quackenbush made his art and taught generations of aspiring young artists.
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The Writing Life

Writing Life Daytime Talk: Hybrid Publishing...Is It For You?

Tuesday, October 24, 2023 - 3:30pm | Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | registration required
Learn 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!
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Performance

Members' Room: Reading Willa Cather: A Sesquicentennial Celebration

Tuesday, October 24, 2023 - 6:00pm | Members' Room | open to the public | free of charge | registration required
The 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. Light refreshments will be served.
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Performance

Livestream: Reading Willa Cather: A Sesquicentennial Celebration

Tuesday, October 24, 2023 - 6:15pm | Livestream | open to the public | free of charge | registration required
The 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.
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Reading Group

Fully Registered: Another Half Year with Henry James, taught by Jane Mallison

Wednesday, September 27, 2023 - 11:00am Wednesday, October 25, 2023 - 11:00am Wednesday, November 29, 2023 - 11:00am Wednesday, January 31, 2024 - 11:00am Wednesday, February 28, 2024 - 11:00am Wednesday, March 27, 2024 - 11:00am | 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.
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Children

New York Stories with Caroline Gertler & Melissa Dassori

Wednesday, October 25, 2023 - 5:00pm | 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. Caroline Gertler’s The Many Points of Me and Where You’ve Got to Be and Melissa Dassori’s J.R. Silver Writes Her World feature unforgettable middle school characters navigating the challenges of friendship, family, change, and choice.

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Children

Slightly Spooky Stories

Thursday, October 26, 2023 - 4:00pm | Whitridge Room | Ages 3 and Older | For Members Only

Don your costume and get in the Halloween spirit with these haunted tales.

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Lecture

Livestream: Lance Morrow, The Noise of Typewriters: Remembering Journalism and Roger Rosenblatt, Cataract Blues: Running the Keyboard

Thursday, October 26, 2023 - 6:00pm | Livestream | open to the public | $10 per person | registration required
Two 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.
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Lecture

Members' Room: Lance Morrow, The Noise of Typewriters: Remembering Journalism and Roger Rosenblatt, Cataract Blues: Running the Keyboard

Thursday, October 26, 2023 - 6:00pm | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration required
Two 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.
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Children

Mother Goose Magic

Friday, October 27, 2023 - 10:00am | Whitridge Room | Ages 2 and Older | For Members Only

Enjoy favorite nursery rhymes, picture books, and songs.

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Trick-or-Treat at the Library!

Tuesday, October 31, 2023 - 3:00pm | Lobby | All Ages | Open to the Public

Pop into our lobby on your trick-or-treating route!

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The Writing Life

The Writing Life: Prompt! In Person with Carol Weston

Thursday, September 7, 2023 - 11:00am Thursday, October 12, 2023 - 11:00am Thursday, November 2, 2023 - 11:00am Thursday, December 7, 2023 - 11:00am | Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | registration required
Join your fellow member writers for a fun and stimulating hour+ of prompts, writing, and sharing.
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Lecture

Livestream: Robert E. Rubin, The Yellow Pad: Making Better Decisions in an Uncertain World

Thursday, November 2, 2023 - 6:00pm | Livestream | open to the public | $10 per person | registration required
Robert 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.
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Lecture

Members' Room: Robert E. Rubin, The Yellow Pad: Making Better Decisions in an Uncertain World

Thursday, November 2, 2023 - 6:00pm | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration required
Robert 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.
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Special Event

Quack! Quack! Questions!

Saturday, October 7, 2023 - 2:00pm Saturday, November 4, 2023 - 2:00pm Saturday, December 9, 2023 - 2:00pm | Peluso Family Exhibition Gallery | open to the public | drop in
Drop by to see our cheery family-friendly exhibition and chat with the expert. You can catch Margery Quackenbush on three select Saturdays answering your questions about Robert Quackenbush and his art in the gallery.
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Reading Group

Let's Read Shakespeare for Fun

Sunday, October 1, 2023 - 2:00pm to 5:00pm Sunday, November 5, 2023 - 2:00pm to 5:00pm Sunday, December 3, 2023 - 2:00pm to 5:00pm Sunday, January 7, 2024 - 2:00pm to 5:00pm Sunday, February 4, 2024 - 2:00pm to 5:00pm Sunday, March 3, 2024 - 2:00pm to 5:00pm | Whitridge Room | for members and their guests | free of charge | registration required
We gather monthly to read aloud a play by William Shakespeare in the company of Columbia University lecturer and Library trustee Emily Madison.
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Reading Group

Seminar: The Personal In A Political World: The Fiction of Magda Szabó, with Nicholas Birns

Thursday, October 5, 2023 - 11:00am Thursday, November 9, 2023 - 11:00am Thursday, December 14, 2023 - 11:00am | Whitridge Room | for members only | $75 per person | registration required
Magda 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.
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The Writing Life

The Writing Life: Prompt! Online with Charlie Allenson

Friday, September 8, 2023 - 11:00am Friday, October 6, 2023 - 11:00am Friday, November 10, 2023 - 11:00am Friday, December 1, 2023 - 11:00am | on the Zoom Meetings platform | for members only | free of charge | registration required
Join your fellow member writers for a fun and stimulating hour+ of prompts, writing, and sharing.
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Lecture

Members' Room: Benjamin Taylor, Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 - 6:00pm | Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | registration required
A tender biography of one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century and an elegant exploration of artistic endurance, as told by a lifelong lover of Willa Cather’s work.
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Lecture

Livestream: Benjamin Taylor, Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 - 6:00pm | Livestream | open to the public | $10 per person | registration required
A tender biography of one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century and an elegant exploration of artistic endurance, as told by a lifelong lover of Willa Cather’s work.
Read More >

Pages

Today's Events

Exhibitions

The Library showcases our historic collections and the literary culture of the city with themed public exhibitions on the second floor. Exhibitions are offered for six to twelve months, and both members and nonmembers are welcome to drop by any time the Library is open.

Current Exhibition: