BPL PRESENTS is Central Library's series of arts and culture events, including talks, conversations, and readings with authors, artists and scholars; live music, dance and theater performances; film screening; and art exhibitions. Events are free or ticketed and are taking place at Central Library's S. Stevan Dweck Cultural Center, unless noted otherwise.
All BPL Presents programs at the Dweck Cultural Center and Central Library are free of charge (unless otherwise noted) and reservations are required for most adult programs. Patrons with reservations will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis. Unclaimed reservations will be released five minutes before the start of an event; we recommend arriving early. Patrons without reservations will be seated as capacity allows.
Reservations can be made 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week on our website by visiting the program’s calendar entry at bklynlibrary.org/bplpresents or by phone at 718.230.2200 (please see our phone reservation policy for hours and additional details). Reservations can be made up to approximately one hour before the scheduled program start time. The maximum number of seats that can be reserved per event is 3.
The Dweck Center is an accessible venue. To request additional information regarding accessibility or accommodations at the event, please contact Margie Cook: MCook@bklynlibrary.org.
Reservations for adult programs can be made with a BPL representative Monday-Friday from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. For weekend events, reservations must be made by 4 pm on the Friday before the event takes place. Any reservations received after 4pm will not be processed. If leaving a message, please slowly and clearly state your first and last name, your phone number, the name and date of the program you would like to attend, and the number of seats you are requesting (maximum of 3).
Upcoming
2018 Midterm Explainer: Norman Finkelstein on Antisemitism as a Weapon of Mass Deflection
From Jeremy Corbyn in the United Kingdom to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York, candidates challenging pro-business, pro-interventionist politics are being accused of anti-semitism. Norman...
Green Series: Amitav Ghosh on The Great Derangement & Climate Change
Are we deranged? In the October Green Series, the acclaimed Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh argues that future generations may well think so. How else to explain our imaginative failure in the face...
Asia in the World: Geocultural Conversations with Dr. Vishakha N. Desai: Rising China: What It Means for the World
Rising China: What It Means for the World
Newspaper accounts and new publications warn us about the decline of American power on the global stage as China continues to expand its global...
Climate Change Refugees Share Your Story
Share Your Story
Have you been displaced by extreme weather events or forced to relocate from another country due to environmental change or...
Nannies' Fairy Tales Writing Workshop
Brooklyn Public Library invites nannies and babysitters to participate in a dynamic FREE eight-week Saturday creative writing workshop where you can develop your writing skills and create an...
2018 Midterm Explainer: Nermeen Shaikh of Democracy Now! on Foreign Policy Distortions
What won't we hear about foreign policy as the 2018 midterms unfold? More than we think, according to Nermeen Shaikh, Co-Host and Producer at Democracy Now!
In addition to her role at...
Kiese Laymon on Heavy: An American Memoir, with Morgan Jerkins
**PLEASE NOTE: This program has reached capacity and reservations are no longer being accepted.
Few writers are able to expose the enduring failures of American society through the lens of...
Bard at BPL Lunch Hour Talks: Amy Sherald with Thelma Golden
Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, has presided over exhibitions in which painter Amy Sherald’s works were included and was involved in the selection of...
Nannies' Fairy Tales Writing Workshop
Brooklyn Public Library invites nannies and babysitters to participate in a dynamic FREE eight-week Saturday creative writing workshop where you can develop your writing skills and create an...
Classical Interludes: Rolf Schulte and Aaron Likness
Violinist Rolf Schulte and pianist Aaron Likness perform a program of Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky.
2018 Midterm Explainer: Farai Chideya on What Really Motivates Voters
In this one-of-a-kind Midterm Explainer, offered the eve of the midterm vote, Farai Chideya unravels the complicated tales that voter demographics tell and how that tale can spell out the fate of...
Opening Reception and Artist Talk: Reclamation II: Ruddy Roye & Curtis Talwst Santiago
Join us for the opening reception of Reclamation II: Ruddy Roye & Curtis Talwst Santiago, from 7-9pm in the Dweck Auditorium and Lobby.
The evening will begin with an artist talk by...
Philosophy in the Library: Sarah Clark Miller on The Art of Refusal: Overcoming Epistemic Injustice in the #MeToo Era
Some injustices of the #MeToo era are epistemic: they harm sexual violence survivors specifically as knowers by questioning whether they are reliable witnesses of their own lives. The Kavanaugh...
Nannies' Fairy Tales Writing Workshop
Brooklyn Public Library invites nannies and babysitters to participate in a dynamic FREE eight-week Saturday creative writing workshop where you can develop your writing skills and create an...
Silent Movie Matinee: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930)
We commemorate Veterans Day today, which marks the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War One. Today’s film is based on the German novel by Erich Maria Remarque, which tells the...
The Review Panel
Leading art critics join moderator David Cohen in lively debate about current exhibitions around the five boroughs. Presented in association with Artcritical.
Jonathan Franzen presents The End of the End of the Earth
BPL Presents is proud to partner with Greenlight Bookstore to bring Jonathan Franzen to Brooklyn.
In The End of the End of the Earth, which gathers essays and speeches written mostly in...
Nannies' Fairy Tales Writing Workshop
Brooklyn Public Library invites nannies and babysitters to participate in a dynamic FREE eight-week Saturday creative writing workshop where you can develop your writing skills and create an...
Anne Carson delivers Three Lectures on Aesthetics
Please note: This program is now at capacity and registration has been closed.
The first of a two-part lecture series. Noted poet, translator, essayist, and professor of classics, Carson...
Anne Carson delivers Three Lectures on Aesthetics
Please note: This program is now at capacity and registration has been closed.
The conclusion of a two-part lecture series. Noted poet, translator, essayist, and professor of classics,...
Classical Interludes: counter)induction
counter)induction’s mission since its inception has been straightforward: world-class performances of contemporary chamber music, without hype and without agenda other than our complete commitment...
Green Series: Toward a Green New Deal
Join Ashley Dawson, Jamie Tyberg, Kali Akuno and Kate Aronoff for a wide-ranging discussion on how to fight for a Green New Deal.
The need for urgent climate action is more apparent than...
Nannies' Fairy Tales Writing Workshop
Brooklyn Public Library invites nannies and babysitters to participate in a dynamic FREE eight-week Saturday creative writing workshop where you can develop your writing skills and create an...
The People’s Ball: A Night of Style, Imagination, Freedom and You
On Saturday, December 1st Brooklyn Public Library will host the first People’s Ball, a party celebrating imagination, style and freedom—with a touch of subversion. The People’s Ball is a defiant...
Silent Movie Matinee: LUCKY STAR (1929)
Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell first co-starred in director Frank Borzage’s 7th Heaven. Lucky Star is their third and final work with Borzage, from a story by Tristram Tupper, who wrote...
Philosophy in the Library: Kwame Anthony Appiah on Identity
In December's Philosophy in the Library, Kwame Anthony Appiah speaks on "How (Not) to Think About Identity."
Appiah will discuss how identities work, what they have in common,...
Classical Interludes: Carnegie Hall Citywide: Lara St. John and Matt Herskowitz
Called a “volcanic violinist with a huge, fabulous tone” (Los Angeles Times), Lara St. John is equally at home with classical works, new music, folk, and beyond. She is joined by multifaceted...
The Review Panel
Leading art critics join moderator David Cohen in lively debate about current exhibitions around the five boroughs. Presented in association with Artcritical.
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Contact Us
BPL Presents
Brooklyn Public Library
10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
bplpresents@bklynlibrary.org
718.230.2200
Exhibitions
Currently on view at Central Library:
Past Events
Theater of War: Hercules in Brooklyn, November 2016
Oliver Stone and Ben Wizner, September 2016
Edwidge Danticat and Jacqueline Woodson, April 2016
Alash, January 2016
Slavoj Žižek and Hari Kunzru, November 2016
The Night of the Cookers, February 2016
Viet Thanh Nguyen and Vu Tran, April 2016
Night of Philosophy. January 2017
Salman Rushdie with Joel Whitney, October 2015
John Irving, November 2015
SYBARITE5, February 2016
Yaa Gyasi, June 2016
Brooklyn Public Library gratefully acknowledges the many donors who have provided generous support for BPL Presents programs, including: Los Blancos, Fund for the Humanities, Cheryl and George Haywood Endowment for Cultural Diversity, The Kahn Endowment for Humanities Programs, Dr. J, The Miriam Katowitz and Arthur Radin Fund, Mapleton Endowment, New York State Council on the Arts, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, James O’Toole, Mike and Denise Reiss, the Estate of Pearl S. Reuillard in memory of her parents Yetta and Louis Schwartz, Sandra and Peter Schubert Endowment Fund, The Weissman Family Foundation, Inc., Janet Anderson and numerous individuals.
WNYC is a media partner of the 2017–2018 BPL Presents Season.
