With a storied history in the park, the Reading Room provides the free use of books, newspapers, and magazines in the park during warm weather months. You'll also find a robust schedule of literary events, including Books on Broadway, Author, BookClub, Poetry, StoryTime, and much more!
Poetry
May 28 - September 17
Tuesdays, 6pm-7:30pm
Award-winning poetry by established and emerging poets throughout the summer.
Hosted by Jason Schneiderman
August 6
Mary Brancaccio, Michael Klein, Bruce E. Whitacre, Shelley Wong
August 13
Rita Banerjee, Kate Gale, Erika Meitner, Jason Schneiderman
August 20
Lisa B (Lisa Bernstein), Jenny Factor, Daisy Fried, Tom Sleigh
August 27
Cornelius Eady Group
September 3
Jiwon Choi, Joan Larkin, Alicia Ostriker, Sandra Simonds
September 10
Malachi Black, JP Howard, Linda Susan Jackson, Monica Sok
September 17
Megan Pinto, Spencer Williams, Stella Wong, Ariel Yelen
Author
Stay tuned for our Summer 2025 schedule!
Non-Fiction
July 10 - September 11
Wednesdays, 7pm-8pm
History as seen through the eyes of preeminent authors.
Produced in partnership with New-York Historical Society
July 10
Corey Brettschneider, The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It
July 17
Robin Bernstein, Freeman's Challenge: The Murder That Shook America's Original Prison for Profit
July 24
Dan Slater, The Incorruptibles: A True Story of Kingpins, Crime Busters, and the Birth of the American Underworld
July 31
Kevin Baker, The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City
August 14
David Daley, Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections
August 21
Paul M. Sparrow, Awakening the Spirit of America: FDR's War of Words with Charles Lindberg- and the Battle to Save Democracy
August 26 (Originally August 7)
Don H. Doyle, The Age of Reconstruction: How Lincoln's New Birth of Freedom Remade the World
August 28
The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots: A True Story of Slavery; A Rediscovered Narrative, with a Full Biography by John Swanson Jacobs
Edited by Jonathan D.S. Schroeder
September 4
William Hogeland, The Hamilton Scheme: An Epic Tale of Money and Power in the American Founding
September 11
John Reeves, Soldier of Destiny: Slavery, Secession, and the Redemption
Moderated by Gunja SenGupta
Writers Workshop
Stay tuned for our Summer 2025 schedule!
Saturday, September 21
12pm-1:30pm
Essay-writing tips for high schoolers and the college-bound.
Produced in partnership with Writopia Lab
Reel Talks
Stay tuned for our Summer 2025 schedule!
Stay tuned for our Summer 2025 schedule!
Kids
Stay tuned for our Summer 2025 schedule!
Beekeeping
Stay tuned for our Summer 2025 schedule!