A Message from the Head Librarian
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It’s a long way from the Metropolitan Opera to the Grand Ole Opry, but you can armchair-travel there with these country music reads.

Freddy Kpeli reminds us that the world can look beautiful if we just remember to turn on the light.

Here's a delicious slice of bread-baking in fiction and in your oven .

Ladies and Gentlemen, from the depths of our Closed Stacks, we bring you Hoyt's Indestructible Book-binding.


Seminar leader Jane Mallison raises a glass - or a cup of coffee: Here's looking at you, Moby-Dick.
One-Question Survey
One Magic Summer: it's a classic concept in life and books. Maybe you've had One Magic Summer. Maybe you've read about one. TELL US ABOUT IT HERE.

Last month we asked where you're reading these days - results at right, along with shout-outs to Salisbury and Cornwall in Connecticut, Omaha, Highlands, NJ, and Hadley and Cape Cod in Massachusetts - plus Adirondack, butterfly, wing, rocking, and "comfy" chairs, in a rooftop garden, "in between stacks and boxes of children's books," and "in a tree house"!
AND we'd also love to know your thoughts about this newsletter: is once a month enough, or do you want more? Add your answer here.
NEW MEMBERS PARTY
If you joined the Library since June 2019, this party's for you! Monday, June 8, 5:30 PM on the Zoom Meetings platform. More information to come.
WRITING LIFE POETRY WORKSHOP - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Esther Cohen
Write What Life Feels Like Now

Thursdays June 4, June 18, July 2, July 16, 3:00 PM
 separate sessions | by donation | registration required

There are so many words to say how we feel. Let's try together.

Esther Cohen is a writer and poet in New York City. She also teaches and is a cultural activist. Most days she posts a poem at esthercohen.com .

THE WRITING LIFE EVENTS IN 2020 ARE GENEROUSLY UNDERWRITTEN BY JENNY LAWRENCE.
NEW! LUNCHTIME DISCUSSION - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Happier at (Quarantine) Home
A Q&A with Happiness Project Author Gretchen Rubin

Conversation and interactive chat
Friday, June 5, 12:00 noon
online | $10 per person | registration required

An interactive chat with author Gretchen Rubin on living a happier, healthier, more productive life even during and while emerging from the season of quarantine.

Want to submit a question ahead of time? Email the Events Office .
WRITING LIFE PROMPT! - FOR MEMBERS
Prompt!

Fridays June 12, July 10, August 14, 11:00 AM
 separate sessions | by donation | registration required

Come write with us on Friday mornings. Join your fellow member writers for a fun and stimulating hour+ of prompts, writing, and sharing. Sessions are separate - attend any or all.

THE WRITING LIFE EVENTS IN 2020 ARE GENEROUSLY UNDERWRITTEN BY JENNY LAWRENCE.
NEW! CHILDREN'S SPECIAL EVENT - FOR MEMBERS
The Great Birthday Cake Mystery
A Collaborative Writing Game

Monday, June 15, 5:00-6:00 PM
on the Zoom Meetings platform | recommended for grades 3 and up | registration required

Calling all mystery-lovers, party-goers, budding young writers, and people who just love games! Join us on Zoom as we play a live, character-driven, adventure-filled writing game that's one-part Clue, another part Mad Libs.
NEW! CONVERSATION - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Michael Zapata and Lydia Millet with Amy Brady

Wednesday, June 17, 6:00 PM
 online | $10 per person | registration required

Join two remarkable writers and Chicago Review of Books Editor-in-Chief Amy Brady for an interactive discussion about the worlds of their novels and our current nonfiction world of climate change.

Michael Zapata is the author of The Lost Book of Adana Moreau, telling the mesmerizing story of a Latin American science fiction writer and the lives her lost manuscript unites decades later in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Pulitzer Prize finalist Lydia Millet's sublime new novel A Children's Bible is a prophetic, heartbreaking story of generational divide - and a haunting vision of what awaits us on the far side of Revelation.

THIS EVENT IS CO-SPONSORED WITH THE CHICAGO REVIEW OF BOOKS.
NEW! SOCIAL EVENT - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Trivia Tuesday! An Evening of Literary Trivia
Tuesday, June 23, 6:00 PM
 online | by donation | registration required

Put on your thinking cap, grab your favorite beverage, and join Library staff and friends for an informal evening of trivia based in books and the writing world.
NEW! POETRY EVENT - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Willie Perdomo
The Crazy Bunch

Thursday, June 25, 6:00 PM
 YouTube Premiere | by donation | no registration required

Our New York City Book Award-winning poet reads from and discusses his recent work - a new collection that chronicles a weekend in the life of a group of friends coming of age in East Harlem at the dawn of the hip-hop era.
NEW! PERFORMANCE - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Laura Rocklyn as Jane Austen
Who Dares to Be an Authoress?

Monday, June 29, 6:00 PM
 online | $10 per person | registration required

A genteel summer visit to 1815 with writer/actress Laura Rocklyn as Jane Austen, with interactive discussion of Regency deportment and etiquette.

THIS EVENT IS GENEROUSLY UNDERWRITTEN BY ALEXANDER SANGER IN HONOR OF JEANNETTE WATSON SANGER.
INFORMAL GATHERING - FOR MEMBERS

Fridays, 3:00-3:30 PM
on the Zoom Meetings platform | by donation | drop in

Grab your favorite cup and your current read and spend a little time in social sipping and book-friendly chat with your fellow members. Every Friday until further notice.

OUTSIDE EVENT OF INTEREST - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
In Bed with Ishmael
Queer Approaches to the Life, Work, and Legacy of Herman Melville
Thursday, June 18, 7:30 PM | online through The Rosenbach | free of charge | registration required

This event introduces The Rosenbach’s rich collection of Herman Melville rare books, manuscripts, and related artifacts and reveals how queer theory and a gendered approach to culture can enrich understandings of Melville’s writings. Visit The Rosenbach's site for full details and to register.
RECENT ONLINE EVENTS TO STREAM
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