Night in the Library
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
On Saturday, March 8, 2025, we attended Night in the Library at the Central Branch of the public library.
I love libraries and think they are one of the best ideas we’ve come up with, and boy do I love the Central Branch (and not just because it’s so close to me).
Despite all of that, I have very mixed feelings about this event. While I 100% believe it should be free, they need to limit the number of people attending. There is no way they can hold that many people safely. Basically, the event was oversold, and no one appeared to have experience managing crowds.
The main room (which used to be where the Circulation desks were) housed DJs and a small stage in addition to a pop-up bookstore. Now, I know I’m a cranky old fart, but if the music is so loud that the bookstore guy has to keep asking me what I said (at least, that’s what I think he said), then something’s not working.
Of course, the library rooms aren’t meant to be staged for lectures requiring a lot of seating. Sure, there are tables and chairs, but we’re talking about tables and chairs for 30 people, not the 2001 that were in the Society, Sciences & Technology room. Same for the 2002 in the History, Biography & Religion room. Folks were standing in the stacks, peering through openings, generally fussing about to be able to hear and get as comfortable as possible.
Media for Workers was the first event I attended. I was, as stated above, relegated to the stacks (along with lots of others), and it was a little hard to hear. And, of course, the room heated up pretty quickly with everyone in there. Summary: Support the media you want to keep enjoying. I’m all for that (see my Washington Post cancellation post), and I pay for as much as I can afford.
I wanted to stay in the room to hear the The Fire This Time: Baldwin & the Essay, but they had us all leave, and there was no way to get back in because the line for that talk was super, super long.
Next, I went to Podcasting & the Future of Democracy. Halima Gikandi was very charming, and I’d like to hear more about what she has to say as I found the talk a bit too light on what I expected her to talk about. I did love that she mentioned the library has resources to help folks out if they want to get started recording their own shows. I did have a seat at a table, although it was to her back, but the audio was generally fine.
I was able to stay in the room to listen to Win Working Class and didn’t even have to give up my seat. Bhaskar Sunkara was likewise charming and funny.
The one talk I am extra disappointed I couldn’t even get into the room for was Jacobin Magazine: Who Owns the Working Class? A Debate
Overall, the idea of event is a 10, but execution was a 6 at best. Look, I am fully aware libraries are always on the brink of being closed and by and large every single person involved did put forth an honest effort. But it was oversold which made it a less-than-fun experience.
What I think I’d do (I’m aware I’m spending money that isn’t mine and likely doesn’t even exist): Make it a weekend event.
Hold the event Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Use the Dweck Center for the talks over the three days. Figure out a better ticketing system and set up the little lobby down there for meet-and-greets and things. The featured speakers could then push folks to their own sites for more information, etc.
I also don’t know why the library itself didn’t have a booth to promote itself. There are so many damned cool things at the library that folks don’t know about3. And maybe this isn’t something that’s allowed4, but the library should make sure folks know who to write to to insist there is funding for the library.
I feel like I dropped a giant turd on this event and I so don’t mean to. The library is the best, the services that are offered there are great, and all of the staff I’ve ever interacted with have been wonderful and helpful.
And the good news is folks want more of this at the library. I hope the folks at the best library system in NYC figure out how to get more folks involved to make this run more smoothly.