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Reading Room

Newspapers, magazines, books, and literary events

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!

Special thanks to
PenguinRandomHouseLibraryMarketingandMitchells

Crosswords Tournament

Saturday, September 14
10:30am-2pm

Crossword enthusiasts compete to finish original puzzles.  

Register here

Trivia

September 18, 25
Wednesdays, 6:30pm-8:30pm

Teams test their general knowledge and compete for prizes. 

Register here

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!   

Writers Workshop Teens

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!  
Books on Broadway

Stay tuned for our Summer 2025 schedule!  

BookClub

Stay tuned for our Summer 2025 schedule!  

Kids

Stay tuned for our Summer 2025 schedule!  

Beekeeping

Stay tuned for our Summer 2025 schedule!  

summer in the Bryant Park Reading Room
Special thanks to
PenguinRandomHouseLibraryMarketingandMitchells