New exhibition, lectures, seminars, performances, and more!
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Marginalia
TODAY AT THE LIBRARY
Open 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
July 30, 2019The Library's collection of e-resources offers several trusted sources for authoritative, updated, biographical information. - My Tab
Special Event
Meeting of the Board of Trustees
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - 4:00pm
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Reference Room | by invitation only
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Performance
Stephen J. Collins, Unlaunch’d Voices: An Afternoon with Walt Whitman
Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 3:00pm to 4:30pm
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Members' Room | open to the public | $20 per person | advance registration required
In an extraordinary pair of solo shows, Walt Whitman and Herman Melville visit the Library for their bicentennial year in the person of actor and educator Stephen J. Collins. Registration is separate for the two plays; attend either or both.
Performance
Stephen J. Collins, Herman Melville: Sailing Towards My Father
Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 6:00pm to 7:30pm
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Members' Room | open to the public | $20 per person | registration required
In an extraordinary pair of solo shows, Walt Whitman and Herman Melville visit the Library for their bicentennial year in the person of actor and educator Stephen J. Collins. Registration is separate for the two plays; attend either or both.
Special Event
Uptown at Night: An Evening of Comedy and Humorous Storytelling
Thursday, October 10, 2019 - 6:00pm to 8:00pm
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Members' Room | open to the public | $20 per person | advance registration required
Uptown at Night returns to the Members’ Room with a vibrant new lineup of humorous storytellers and comedians including Lisa Birnbach, Annabelle Gurwitch, Maeve Higgins, David Litt, and James Harvey on piano.
The Writing Life
Prompt! with Carol Weston (10/11/19 session)
Friday, October 11, 2019 - 11:00am
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Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | no registration required
Come write with us on second Fridays based on prompts from novelist and educator Carol Weston.
Special Event
Holiday Closing: Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day
Monday, October 14, 2019 - 9:00am to 5:00pm
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Holiday Closing
The Library is closed on Monday, October 14 for the holiday. Otherwise we observe normal hours.
Reading Group
Bhisham Bherwani, Nature, Poetry, and Ecological Consciousness
Repeats every month until Wed Oct 30 2019 except Tue Oct 01 2019. Also includes Tue Oct 15 2019, Tue Oct 29 2019.Tuesday, September 24, 2019 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm
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Whitridge Room | for members only | $50 for the set of three sessions | advance registration required
Poet and professor Bherwani leads discussion of lyric expressions eastern and western, old and new, that celebrate or lament the natural world.
Reading Group
Nicholas Birns, The Marginal and the Universal: Ellison’s Invisible Man and Nguyen’s The Sympathizer
Repeats every month until Thu Dec 12 2019 except Tue Oct 01 2019, Fri Nov 01 2019, Sun Dec 01 2019. Also includes Wed Oct 16 2019, Wed Nov 13 2019, Wed Dec 11 2019.Wednesday, September 18, 2019 - 11:00am to 1:00pm
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Whitridge Room for members only | $60 for the set of four sessions | registration required
Ralph Ellison and Viet Thanh Nguyen both treat marginal experience as potentially universal to create masterworks of epic scope and astonishing innovation.
Special Event
Happy Hour, Fall 2019
Repeats every month on October, November, December on the third Wednesday until Thu Dec 19 2019. Wednesday, October 16, 2019 - 5:30pm to 6:30pm
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For members only | Whitridge Room | free of charge | no registration required
Join your fellow members every third Wednesday of the month for an informal drop-in hour of wine and light refreshments.
Reading Group
Tea & Trollope Reading Group with Blanche Siegal, Fall 2019-Spring 2020
Repeats every month until Tue Apr 21 2020 except Fri Nov 01 2019, Sun Dec 01 2019, Wed Jan 01 2020, Sat Feb 01 2020, Sun Mar 01 2020, Wed Apr 01 2020. Also includes Sun Nov 10 2019, Sun Dec 15 2019, Sun Feb 09 2020, Sun Mar 15 2020, Sun Apr 19 2020.Sunday, October 20, 2019 - 2:30pm to 4:00pm
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Whitridge Room | for members only | by donation | advance registration required
Educator Blanche Siegal leads informal discussions of the beloved Victorian author Anthony Trollope and other master writers of the same century. This popular group is now in its ninth season.
Special Event
Member Orientation (10/21/19 session)
Monday, October 21, 2019 - 10:00am
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Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | no registration required
It's your Library. Learn about all the ways to make use of our collections, building, and services in a friendly presentation/Q&A with a staff member. Sessions last 45-60 minutes.
Children
Young Writers’ Workshop: Poetry Café with Sarah Porter
Tuesday, October 22, 2019 - 5:00pm
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Whitridge Room | for members and guests | grades 3 and up | $15 per child | registration required
Share poetry and snacks with a poet and novelist as you develop your poetic voice.
The Writing Life
Special Writing Life Conversation: Amy Hempel, Sing to It: New Stories and Sigrid Nunez, The Friend
Wednesday, October 23, 2019 - 6:30pm to 8:00pm
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Members’ Room open to the public | $15 per person | registration required
In this one-of-a-kind event, two of today’s most original and acclaimed writers discuss their books, their craft, and their dogs.
Reading Group
Donald McDonough, Euripides’ Trojan War
Repeats every month until Fri Dec 13 2019 except Tue Oct 01 2019, Fri Nov 01 2019, Sun Dec 01 2019. Also includes Thu Oct 24 2019, Thu Nov 21 2019, Thu Dec 12 2019.Thursday, September 26, 2019 - 11:00am to 1:00pm
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Whitridge Room | for members only | $60 for the set of four sessions | advance registration required
Euripides' tragic plays competed directly with Homer's epic Iliad to challenge his Athenians. Twenty-four hundred years later, they still shock.
The Writing Life
The Editor Is In: An Interactive Seminar with Walter Bode (10/24/19 session)
Thursday, October 24, 2019 - 6:00pm to 7:30pm
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Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | advance registration required
Books Walter Bode edited have won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this seminar, he’ll help writers find the most effective words and make the best use of them – based on participants’ own writing samples.
Lecture
Katia Lysy, The Life and Legacy of Iris Origo
Monday, October 28, 2019 - 6:30pm
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Members' Room | open to the public | $15 per person | advance registration required
Katia Lysy, granddaughter of the writer Iris Origo, gives an intimate look at Origo’s life and memoirs, with images and information about the family estate of La Foce in Tuscany.
The Writing Life
Writing Life Workshop: Miral Sattar, Why Writers Need to Learn About SEO and Getting Found on Google (October 29 session)
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - 11:00am to 12:30pm
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Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | advance registration required
The higher your search ranking, the more likely your website will be found. In this talk, Miral Sattar will show you best practices for optimizing your web pages and getting the best results from searches on Google and Amazon so writers can get found, read, and followed.
Reading Group
Bhisham Bherwani, Nature, Poetry, and Ecological Consciousness
Tuesday, September 24, 2019 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm
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Whitridge Room | for members only | $50 for the set of three sessions | advance registration required
Poet and professor Bherwani leads discussion of lyric expressions eastern and western, old and new, that celebrate or lament the natural world.
Reading Group
Jane Mallison, Walt Whitman at 200
Repeats every month until Thu Dec 19 2019 except Fri Nov 01 2019, Sun Dec 01 2019. Also includes Wed Oct 30 2019, Wed Nov 20 2019, Wed Dec 18 2019.Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - 11:00am to 1:00pm
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Whitridge Room | for members only | $60 for the set of four sessions | advance registration required
This seminar looks at Whitman (born in May 1819) as poet, American, man.
Special Event
Alex Ames, Re-imagining Melville for Modern Times: Behind the Scenes at The Rosenbach’s New American Voyager Exhibition
Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
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Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | advance registration required
Join a Rosenbach Museum curator to learn more about the Library’s connection to one of America’s most important literary and historical figures.
Special Event
Member Orientation (10/30/19 session)
Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - 6:00pm
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Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | no registration required
It's your Library. Learn about all the ways to make use of our collections, building, and services in a friendly presentation/Q&A with a staff member. Sessions last 45-60 minutes.
The Writing Life
Live from the Library, Fall 2019
Wednesday, November 6, 2019 - 6:00pm to 8:00pm
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Members’ Room open to the public | $15 per person | advance registration required
Library members read from their own short stories, novels, poetry, criticism, memoir, and plays. Refreshments and wine will be served.
The Writing Life
Prompt! with Carol Weston (11/8/19 session)
Friday, November 8, 2019 - 11:00am
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Whitridge Room | for members only | free of charge | no registration required
Come write with us on second Fridays based on prompts from novelist and educator Carol Weston.
Reading Group
Tea & Trollope Reading Group with Blanche Siegal, Fall 2019-Spring 2020
Sunday, October 20, 2019 - 2:30pm to 4:00pm
|
Whitridge Room | for members only | by donation | advance registration required
Educator Blanche Siegal leads informal discussions of the beloved Victorian author Anthony Trollope and other master writers of the same century. This popular group is now in its ninth season.
Reading Group
Nicholas Birns, The Marginal and the Universal: Ellison’s Invisible Man and Nguyen’s The Sympathizer
Wednesday, September 18, 2019 - 11:00am to 1:00pm
|
Whitridge Room for members only | $60 for the set of four sessions | registration required
Ralph Ellison and Viet Thanh Nguyen both treat marginal experience as potentially universal to create masterworks of epic scope and astonishing innovation.
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:
The New York
Society Library
53 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10075
212.288.6900
reference@nysoclib.org
Hours of Operation
Monday / Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday
9:00 AM - 8:00 PM
9:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday / Sunday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
The Library Will Be Closed
Saturday, August 31st, Sunday, September 1st, and Monday, September 2nd for Labor Day.
All areas except Circulation close 15 minutes prior to building closing time.
All areas except Circulation close 15 minutes prior to building closing time.