All BPL Presents programs at the Dr. S. Stevan Dweck Cultural Center at 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 fifteen 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 BPLPresents@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).
Brooklyn Bee: A Spelling Competition
Think you know how to spell Brooklyn? Prove it one word at a time!Join us for the first ever Brooklyn-centric spelling bee, hosted by your resident experts at the Center for Brooklyn History. From historic names to iconic avenues, we are finding the most interesting and…
Plaza Performance: DJ Max Glazer
Max Glazer has represented New York City touring the world DJing parties for superstars like Naomi Campbell, Puff Daddy, Missy Elliott, 50 Cent, Branford Marsalis, and Jay-Z, to name just a few. Separate from the glamorous celebrity parties he was known for, Max was always cultivating…
Summer Screenings | The Amazing Garden: A Film and Conversation on Community Gardening in NYC
Join us for an evening celebrating the legacy and future of New York City’s community gardens, inspired by the short film The Amazing Garden, produced and directed by Hiroko Tadano Neely and Deb Levine. The film tells the story of how, thirty years ago, a group of passionate neighbors…
Stacey Abrams Discusses Coded Justice
BPL Presents welcomes nationally renowned author and leader Stacey Abrams, who discusses her latest thriller. Coded Justice follows the returning protagonist Avery down a dark rabbit hole into the breathtaking—and dangerously evolving—world of AI in the medical industry.
Former Supreme…
Sips & Scholars: Hannah Leffingwell on "What is Gender?"
Join us for the first session of Sips & Scholars, a free lecture series in partnership with Brooklyn Institue of Social Research set in bars and restaurants all over Brooklyn. This session, entitled “What is Gender? Theorizing Sexual Difference from Simone de Beauvoir to Judith Butler” will…
Summer Screenings | Gowanus Current
Join us for a screening of the documentary film Gowanus Current followed by a talkback with the filmmakers Jamie Courville and Chris Reynolds.
A century and a half of industrial waste and raw sewage has turned Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal into one of the nation’s…
Plaza Concert Series: Brasil Summerfest with Regional Samaúma
Regional Samaúma performs the nineteenth century Choro of composers such as Ernesto Narazeth, Chiquinha Gonzaga, and Mário Alves, twentieth-century music of Pixinguinha, Jacob do Bandolim, Altamiro Carrilho, Radamés Gnattali, and contemporary compositions by composers such as Luciana…
Emily Witt Discusses Health and Safety
BPL Presents welcomes journalist and author Emily Witt to discuss her latest book, Health and Safety, a lament for a broken relationship, for a changed nightlife scene, and for New York City just before the fall.
In the summer of 2016, a divisive presidential election was underway, and a…
Summer Screenings | Slumlord Millionaire
Join us for a screening of Slumlord Millionaire, a powerful documentary that exposes the David-and-Goliath struggles for housing justice in New York City. The film shines a light on the ordinary Brooklyn residents whose courageous fights against powerful landlords and developers…
Sips & Scholars: Robbie Howton on "Who Was Socrates?"
Sips & Scholars is a free lecture series in partnership with Brooklyn Institue of Social Research set in bars and restaurants all over Brooklyn. This session, entitled: “Who was Socrates?” will be lead by Professor Robbie Howton.
The story of philosophy begins in tragedy,…
Public Song Project Concert
The Public Song Project from WNYC invites anyone to create new music by drawing from the public domain. Working musicians and hobbyists alike contribute song covers and musical adaptations of books, poetry, films, and more, showcasing the creative potential of the public domain and offering an…
Plaza Concert: Swingtime Big Band
In case of rain, this concert will relocate to the Dweck Center, located on the lower level of Central Library.
Dedicated to the performance of America's greatest popular standards, SWINGTIME BIG BAND is a 20-piece authentic swing band comprised of master interpreters of music from the…
Sips & Scholars: Robyn Marasco on "The Authoritarian Personality Today"
Sips & Scholars is a free lecture series in partnership with Brooklyn Institue of Social Research set in bars and restaurants all over Brooklyn. This session, entitled: The Authoritarian Personality Today: Psychology, Politics, and the New Right-Wing Resurgence will be led by…
Sips & Scholars: Lauren K. Wolfe on "What is Translation?"
Sips & Scholars is a free lecture series in partnership with Brooklyn Institue of Social Research set in bars and restaurants all over Brooklyn. This session, entitled: "What is Translation? A Brief History of the Translator’s Task" will be led by Professor Lauren K. Wolfe.
What…
Miriam Toews Discusses A Truce That is Not Peace, with Rumaan Alam
BPL Presents welcomes internationally bestselling author Miriam Toews, whose memoir of the will to write is a work of disobedient memory, humor, and exquisite craft set against a content-hungry, prose-stuffed society.
“Why do you write?” the organizer of a literary event in Mexico City…
Art Spiegelman Discusses MetaMaus
BPL Presents is delighted to welcome Pulitzer-Prize winner Art Spiegelman to discuss the MetaMaus paperback.
In the pages of MetaMaus, Spiegelman re-enters Maus, the the Pulitzer Prize–winning modern classic that has altered how we see literature, comics, and the Holocaust ever since…
Tour of Tove Jansson & The Moomins
Join us for a guided tour of our newest exhibition, Tove Jansson and the Moomins: The Door Is Always Open, that explores the queer Finnish author’s impact on children’s literature and social-emotional learning through her beloved Moomin characters, bold political cartoons and reflective adult…
Lance Richardson Discusses True Nature: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthiessen
BPL Presents welcomes Lance Richardson and this first biography of Peter Matthiessen, the novelist, naturalist, and Zen roshi, whose trailblazing work championed Native American rights and helped usher in the modern environmental movement.
Peter Matthiessen (1927-2014), a towering figure…
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