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 Dweck 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 Vanessa Rosenbaum: VRosenbaum@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
Stomp, Clap & Sing with Suzi and Ann
Your family is sure to sing and dance along when these two award-winning children's performers, Brooklyn's own Suzi Shelton and Chicago's Little Miss Ann, play together. Suzi will be singing songs...
Bard at Brooklyn Public Library: Malcom X, The Prison Years
The Rethinking Education Lecture Series celebrates the second admission cycle of a full-scholarship Bard College degree program at Brooklyn Public Library. The lectures...
Visions, Premonitions, and Precognitive Dreams, part 1: Is It Possible To See The Future?
In this lecture, magician and mentalist Eric Walton examines the history of divination, tracing its roots all the way to pre-agrarian societies, taking a skeptical, bird's-eye view of the...
Jasper Johns: A Life's Work
How does the work of a significant living artist enter the canon and the archive? And how must the field of art become more inclusive when it comes to representing artistic legacies?
Join...
Book Launch: Peter Brown presents The Wild Robot Escapes
Come celebrate this long-awaited sequel, The Wild Robot Escapes! Peter Brown will be reading, drawing, and signing his books, and telling you everything you need to know about Roz.
Copies...
Bard at Brooklyn Public Library: The Polaroid and Coloring Histories of Black Surveillance in Africa and the United States
The Rethinking Education Lecture Series celebrates the second admission cycle of a full-scholarship Bard College degree program at Brooklyn Public Library. The lectures will function as...
Arundhati Roy presents The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
BPL Presents is proud to partner with Greenlight Books to host Arundhati Roy for the paperback launch of her bestselling and award-winning novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. In...
Bard at Brooklyn Public Library: The Future of Higher Education
The Rethinking Education Lecture Series celebrates the second admission cycle of a full-scholarship Bard College degree program at Brooklyn Public Library. The lectures will function as...
Campfire Conversations
Prospect Park Alliance and the Brooklyn Public Library present Campfire Conversations, a series of readings and talks set around an outdoor campfire at the Lefferts Historic House, complete with...
Meet Maira Kalman! Square Dance Sunday Book Signing featuring Cake and Max the Dog
Come meet and dance with renowned illustrator, author, and designer Maira Kalman to celebrate a new book, Cake, and the re-issue of her classic children’s books about Max Stravinsky, canine...
Silent Movie Matinee: Harold Lloyd: Consciousness-Raising
Girl Shy (1924) 80 minutes USA
Harold Lloyd evolved film comedy at the Hal Roach Studio, in 1917, when he dropped his slapstick-based persona to create a new character dressed in every-day...
Classical Interludes: The Claremont Trio
With Andrea Lam on piano, Emily Bruskin-Yarbrough on violin, and Julia Bruskin-Wunsch on cello.
Stomp, Clap & Sing with Sonia & Elena: Songs from East Asia & Latin America
Sonia & Elena are an exciting family music duo that takes audiences on a melodic, soulful, playful, and linguistically-diverse musical journey around the world, guided by folk and children's...
James & Deborah Fallows on Small-Town, USA, with David Brooks
A unique, revelatory portrait of the civic and economic renewal already taking place across America, town by town and generally out of view of the national media. A surprisingly hopeful view of...
Philosophy in the Library: Kate Manne on Himpathy for the Nice Guy
In her recent book, Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny (Oxford University Press: 2017), Kate Manne characterizes misogyny as the “law enforcement” branch of patriarchy, which serves to police,...
Events for Youth and Families: Frog and Toad
Arnold Lobel's well-loved characters hop from the page to the stage in this musical which follows two great friends through four fun-filled seasons. Frog and Toad spend the seasons planting...
Yoga & Poetry
Imagine starting your yoga class with the wise words of your instructor, who calls out a pose or two, and the pose is followed by a poem read live by its author.
Joelle Hann began her yoga...
Molly Crabapple: Author Talk and Exhibition Opening
Join BPL Presents for an evening with 2018 Katowitz Radin Artist-in-residence Molly Crabapple, illustrator and co-author with Syrian journalist Marwan Hisham of Brothers of the Gun: A Memoir of...
The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative
For centuries, poets and philosophers extolled the benefits of a walk in the woods: Beethoven drew inspiration from rocks and trees; Wordsworth composed while tromping over the heath; Nikola Tesla...
Events for Youth and Families: Myron the Magnificent
Myron the Magnificent has amazed audiences across the country with his unbelievable magic. With secrets passed down from his grandfather Mervyn the Magnificent and his father Marvin the...
Stomp, Clap & Sing with Rita Rosa and Jesse Bisceglia singing Genius songs
Let's sing, let's dance, let's have fun and let's learn. A completely bilingual show brought to you by singer-songwriters Rita Rosa and Jesse Bisceglia. Jesse arrives from Upstate New York with...
Cyanotype Workshop for Teens, taught by Accra Shepp
Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that produces an intense blue print. In this workshop, students will learn to make cyanotypes from digital negatives.
For young adults...
Visions, Premonitions, and Precognitive Dreams, part 2: Debunking American Psychics
The American fortune-telling business is a two-billion dollar-a-year industry, and while there may be some self-proclaimed psychics who are simply trying to make an honest living by offering...
Stomp, Clap & Sing with Camille Harris
Come dance along to “silly jazz” with comedian and jazz singer, Camille Harris. Popular songs include: “The Monster Under My Bed,” “Muffin Man,” and “Chopsticks.”
Yoga & Poetry
Imagine starting your yoga class with the wise words of your instructor, who calls out a pose or two, and the pose is followed by a poem read live by its author.
Joelle Hann began her yoga...
Stomp, Clap & Sing with Alex Mitnick
Emmy Award-winning children's entertainer Alex Mitnick guides us on a journey that leads to all the treasures of the world. Songs unfold like storybooks, captivating young minds, drawing them into...
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Contact Us
BPL Presents
Brooklyn Public Library
10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
bplpresents@bklynlibrary.org
718.230.2247
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: The David Berg Foundation, Los Blancos, Fund for the Humanities, Cheryl and George Haywood Endowment for Cultural Diversity, The Hearst Foundation, Inc., 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.
