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).
CBH Talk | The Embattled University
As the new academic year starts, join three former and current higher education leaders for a conversation about the crises and controversies on campuses across the country.Nicholas B. Dirks, veteran university administrator at both the University of California Berkeley and…
Claudia Rankine & Jess Row Discuss Don’t Let Me Be Lonely & The New Earth
Co-Presented with Books Are Magic, BPL Presents welcomes Claudia Rankine and Jess Row. A brilliant and unsparing examination of America in the early twenty-first century, Claudia Rankine’s Don’t Let Me Be Lonely invents a new genre to confront the particular loneliness and rapacious…
Rachel Kushner Discusses Creation Lake with Emma Straub
Co-Presented with Books Are Magic, BPL Presents welcomes Rachel Kushner—a Booker Prize finalist, two-time National Book Award finalist, and “one of the most gifted authors of her generation” (The New York Times Book Review)—discusses Creation Lake, a new novel about a seductive and cunning…
CBH Talk | Arlie Russell Hochschild and Matthew Desmond Discuss “Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right”
In Stolen Pride, National Book Award finalist and bestselling author Arlie Russell Hochschild travels to Appalachia where she focuses her sharp analytical eye on a group that confounds many Americans seeking to understand how one can simultaneously believe in democracy and support Donald Trump –…
Make Your Own Comics with Isabel Roxas
Are you an emerging illustrator or artist interested in making comics and graphic novels? In this special hands-on workshop, join author/illustrator Isabel Roxas for an overview on making comics for young readers, plus some drawing exercises to get you started on creating your own graphic novel…
CBH Talk | David Rohde and Timothy Naftali Discuss “Where Tyranny Begins: The Justice Department, the FBI, and the War of Democracy”
In Where Tyranny Begins, two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist David Rohde investigates the strategies Donald Trump systematically used to turn the country’s two most powerful law-enforcement agencies into his personal political weapons.
Over the course of…
CBH Talk | “The Presidents and the People” with Corey Brettschneider and Alexis Coe
History shows that American presidents have often pushed the boundaries established for them by the Constitution. In The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It, Brown University politics and constitutional law…
Julia Dahl Discusses I Dreamed of Falling with Megan Abbott
Join us at Brooklyn Heights Library to hear Julia Dahl discuss her new thriller I Dreamed of Falling with Megan Abbott.In acclaimed author Julia Dahl's new thriller, the death of a young mother triggers an avalanche of secrets in a small Hudson Valley town.
Roman Grady is the sole…
Heart to Heartache, an Offering: Poetry & Conversation
As the culminating public program for the current exhibition Joe Namy: Heavy With Love, we welcome you for an evening hosted by artist Joe Namy, exhibition Co-Curator Fawz Kabra, and special guests Maya Berry and Marwa Helal, with live poetry reading and discussion centered on the ways that…
University Open Air: Technical Drawing Exercises for Beginners
In this course, students will gain hands-on experience in technical drawing through learning the art of manual drawing and drafting techniques.
Drawing instruments (including paper and clipboards) will be provided.
University Open Air: How to Pair Tea with Food
We have a variety of teas: green tea, white tea, dark tea, black tea etc. How do you pair them with food? In this lesson we will discuss the characteristics of tea and the best pairings with food.
University Open Air: Mid-Autumn Festival Traditions and Customs
The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important traditional festivals observed in China, and occurs to worship the visible and bright full moon in the night sky. It is a precious time for family gatherings and includes many fascinating traditions, like worshiping the full moon and eating…
Action Dreaming: A Community Conversation about the Future of Learning and Education
In an educational landscape teeming with uncertainties, it has become increasingly difficult to parent children, harder to teach them, and it is especially challenging to be one. So much of the conversation now is about what’s good for education, but few people are talking about what is actually…
University Open Air: Reading the Flight of Birds
We should behave as if the things we see, no matter how irrelevant, are always about to tell us a secret.
Birds write messages in the sky, which we will learn to read in this workshop. To know those messages is to let ourselves be seduced by the beauty of reality, poetically expanding our…
University Open Air: Tang Poetry I
Tang poetry (唐诗) refers to poetry written in or around the time of or in the characteristic style of China's Tang dynasty, (June 18, 618 – June 4, 907, including the 690–705 reign of Wu Zetian) and/or follows a certain style, often considered as the Golden Age of Chinese poetry. We are going to…
University Open Air: How to Write a Winning Proposal I
This course aims to introduce students to different types of proposals and how to write them step-by-step. You will learn how to persuade donors, sponsors, and potential collaborators by crafting a feasible and profitable proposal.
University Open Air: Chinese Zodiac Signs
What's your Chinese zodiac sign? The Chinese zodiac associated with your birth year reveals a lot about your personality and the year ahead.
For more than 2,000 years, the Chinese zodiac has played an integral role in Chinese culture.
University Open Air: Is Beauty Relevant? A Question for Artists
Beauty is a concept that is assumed to be universally intelligible, but it is seldom defined in our everyday lives. We also live in a world in which we are bombarded with images that bind the beautiful to the realm of advertising. Under capitalism, beauty is manufactured and used to sell us on…
University Open Air: Save the season: about food preservation and terroir
Uncover the potential of food preservation and the use of local produce in reducing food waste. We will explore how combining seasonal and local eating with preservation techniques can effectively minimize waste while expanding your flavor palette.
This class offers a view into the…
University Open Air: Sound Map of Salsa Music in New York. In English
In this lecture, you will explore the origins of salsa music in the South Bronx through its sound and its connection to the territory. You will discover the people who created the new genre from the traditional Latin music brought to NYC by the Caribbean immigrants who settled in the Bronx from…
University Open Air: Storytelling like a Ugandan Grandmother
We should behave as if the things we see, no matter how irrelevant, are always about to tell us a secret.
Birds write messages in the sky, which we will learn to read in this workshop. To know those messages is to let ourselves be seduced by the beauty of reality, poetically expanding our…
University Open Air: Dream Language School. Dreams: The X-rays of the Soul
Join Alisa Minyukova of the Dream Mapping Project for a communal dream sharing session in preparation for the publication of the "The Brooklyn Dream Handbook", A zine dedicated to the exploration of the symbols, archetypes and parabolic’s of Brooklyn’s diverse community. Through dream sharing we…
University Open Air: Conferencia: Mapa Sonoro de la Música Salsa en Nueva York. En Español
La lectura se realizará en español como un homenaje a todxs lxs inmigrantes afrocaribeñxs que llegaron a Nueva York en los años cuarenta y que, con su cultura y nostalgia por su tierra, crearon la música Salsa. Los participantes en esta conferencia recibirán el magazín Sursystem 08 en español, y…
CBH Talk | NYC’s Jewel Streets and the Hazards of Climate Change
For decades New York City has neglected a twelve-block area that lies on the border of East New York, Brooklyn and Lindenwood, Queens. It’s known as “The Jewel Streets” for the street names Ruby, Emerald, Amber and Sapphire.
Built on low-lying wetlands, lacking…
Celebracion! Latino Poetry and Music
Join us on the plaza for an evening of poetry and music to celebrate the launch of the Library of America’s historic new Anthology of Latino Poetry, a compendium of 400 years of Latino Poetry. Featuring the poets Emanuel Xavier, Darrel Holnes and Mariposa Fernandez , with live music by…
CBH Talk | “Excited Delirium: Race, Police Violence, and the Invention of a Disease” with Aisha Beliso-De Jesús and Elizabeth Hinton
“Excited delirium syndrome” is a controversial medical diagnosis often used in cases of police encounters that end in sudden death, especially those involving Black and Brown people. It was famously used by Derek Chauvin’s legal defense team to justify his killing of George Floyd.…
University Open Air: Technical Drawing Exercises for Beginners
In this course, students will gain hands-on experience in technical drawing through learning the art of manual drawing and drafting techniques.
Drawing instruments (including paper and clipboards) will be provided.
University Open Air: Pair Tea with Seasons
In traditional Chinese herbal medicine theories, summer is when people get weaker due to the excessive body water loss. Based on the same theories, our organs have more burdens in the summer because people tend to consume more iced or chilled foods and drinks. Therefore, the beginning of…
University Open Air: Tang Poetry II
Tang poetry (唐诗) refers to poetry written in or around the time of or in the characteristic style of China's Tang dynasty, (June 18, 618 – June 4, 907, including the 690–705 reign of Wu Zetian) and/or follows a certain style, often considered as the Golden Age of Chinese poetry. We are going to…
Why Books Still Matter: Reading and Panel Discussion
Why Books Still Matter—A Panel of Experts Discusses Book Banning, Free Expression, and the Power of the Written Word
If books didn’t matter, no one would try to ban them.
Joyce Meskis was a legendary bookseller, advocate for readers, and champion of the First Amendment. To honor her…
2024 Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize Shortlist Reading & Celebration
Join Brooklyn Public Library as we celebrate the 2024 Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize shortlist finalists!Moderated by BPL librarian and prize chair Jess Harwick, this BPL Book Prize event will feature two panels with authors shortlisted for the 2024 Prize. The celebration will be…
University Open Air: Reading the Flight of Birds
We should behave as if the things we see, no matter how irrelevant, are always about to tell us a secret.
Birds write messages in the sky, which we will learn to read in this workshop. To know those messages is to let ourselves be seduced by the beauty of reality, poetically expanding our…
University Open Air: Playwriting in a day
We should behave as if the things we see, no matter how irrelevant, are always about to tell us a secret.
Birds write messages in the sky, which we will learn to read in this workshop. To know those messages is to let ourselves be seduced by the beauty of reality, poetically expanding our…
University Open Air: Yin Yang Life Arrangement
In Feng Shui, the Chinese art of arrangement and placement, Yin and Yang are forces that represent complete balance between masculine and feminine, light and dark, and other opposites. The goal of Feng Shui is to attract Qi (life force and energy) while avoiding Sha (negative energy). To…
University Open Air: Five Elements
The five elements of Feng Shui are wood, fire,earth, metal, water; these elements are interrelated life phases that work together to create a complete system. Each element promotes a different energy, and you can use them to shift the energy in your space, which can affect your relationship with…
University Open Air: How to Write a Winning Proposal II
This course aims to introduce students to different types of proposals and how to write them step-by-step. You will learn how to persuade donors, sponsors, and potential collaborators by crafting a feasible and profitable proposal.
University Open Air: Save the season: about food preservation and terroir
Uncover the potential of food preservation and the use of local produce in reducing food waste. We will explore how combining seasonal and local eating with preservation techniques can effectively minimize waste while expanding your flavor palette.
This class offers a view into the…
University Open Air: Is Beauty Relevant? A Question for Artists
Beauty is a concept that is assumed to be universally intelligible, but it is seldom defined in our everyday lives. We also live in a world in which we are bombarded with images that bind the beautiful to the realm of advertising. Under capitalism, beauty is manufactured and used to sell us on…
University Open Air: Beauty and Ugliness in French and Francophone literature and the Arts
French society’s obsession with taste shows up in many areas. We will examine some laudatory and critical devices used in some emblematic works to present the concept of beauty and ugliness, starting from XVII century literature and visual arts to arrive in modern times. Works from Madame…
University Open Air: Dream Language School: Share your strangest dreams
Dreams come in many forms, from the sacred to the profane - and some go farther. Have you had a dream so impactful that it has lingers in your memory for days, months, years? The dream sharing tradition has been lost to many in our western societies, but that has not diminished the power of…
Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize Winners’ Panel with Lisa Ko
In this Brooklyn Book Festival and BPL Presents partnership, the winners of Brooklyn Public Library’s Book Prize discuss their work with author Lisa Ko, who will delve into the books’ inception and creation. Each fall, Brooklyn Public Library honors outstanding works of nonfiction and fiction/…
University Open Air: Strangeness
Strangeness is the “state of being strange”. Let’s look at how some artists represent strangeness. Nabokov’s The Gift and Marie Ndiaye’s That Time of Year, feature outsiders: respectively, a Russian exiled in Berlin and a Parisian stranded in a small town. Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s paintings…
Brooklyn Book Festival: Four Hundred Years of Latino Poetry
In this high-wattage panel discussion celebrating the new Library of America anthology Latino Poetry, anthology editor Rigoberto González and contributor Yesenia Montilla will discuss the political and poetic geographies of Latino identity and culture in and beyond New York and how these…
CBH Talk | The Remarkable Story of Brooklyn’s Nineteenth Century Free Black Communities
The widely held belief that New York was one of the first states to abolish slavery is a myth. In fact, New York was almost the last Northern state to put slavery to an end. Brooklynites, with their farming economy, were especially vested in the perpetuation of enslaved labor. That…
Two Authors in Four Scenes: Selva Almada and Dolores Reyes in conversation
Besides being two of the most prominent authors in Latin America, Selva Almada and Dolores Reyes are great friends. With the trust and keen way of reading each other that comes with the years, the talk—coordinated by Ana Laura Pérez, literary director of Penguin Random House and editor of both—…
CBH Talk | Mourning and Adorning: Woven Hair Jewelry and Victorian Mourning Traditions
Mourning jewelry – jewelry created to remember deceased loved ones – dates back to the Middle Ages, but its popularity in Western Europe reached a peak with Queen Victoria whose mourning customs following Prince Albert’s death were imitated throughout Britain and beyond. In addition…
Colloquy on Poetry in Translation with Bang, Seale & Traube
Please join World Poetry Books and the Brooklyn Public Library’s BPL Presents for the fourteenth installment of Colloquy: Translators in Conversation, featuring retranslations of canonical texts, with readings and discussion from Mary Jo Bang, Yasmine Seale and Kimi Traube. Bang will read from…
Jonathan Lethem Discusses Cellophane Bricks & Brooklyn Crime Novel
Many know Jonathan Lethem as one of our most celebrated and eclectic writers, whose iconic novels—Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress of Solitude, Chronic City, among many others—play with genres and storytelling modes like a DJ mixing music. But Lethem grew up in his father’s studio, went to art…
Sarah Lewis Discusses The Unseen Truth with Jacqueline Woodson
The award-winning art historian and founder of Vision & Justice uncovers a pivotal era in the story of race in the United States when Americans came to ignore the truth about the false foundations of the nation’s racial regime.
In a masterpiece of historical detective work, Sarah Lewis…
Dinaw Mengestu Discusses Someone Like Us
The son of Ethiopian immigrants seeks to understand a hidden family history and uncovers a past colored by unexpected loss, addiction, and the enduring emotional pull toward home.
After abandoning his once-promising career as a journalist in search of a new life in Paris, Mamush meets…
Arts & Culture Newsletter
Be the first to know about our finest literary and cultural programming. Sign up today!
Get Social with BPL Presents
