Brooklyn Public Library’s late-night party returns for 10th year

The Brooklyn Public Library’s beloved Night In The Library event is returning for its 10th year this weekend. The seven-hour-long event is part performance, part party and a chance for New Yorkers to spend time together in the library after hours.

It begins at 7 p.m. Saturday and ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, and takes place at the library’s main branch, at 10 Grand Army Plz.

Programming highlights include presentations by musician Laurie Anderson, reporter Hamilton Nolan, artist Molly Crabapple and dancers Baye & Asa. There will also be stargazing, led by the Amateur Astronomers Association, a Sacred Lama Dance, a saxophone performance, live clothing mending, tarot reading and more.

This year’s heady theme is “The Sky Above Brooklyn – The Philosophy of the Sublime,” a concept based significantly on a dream had by László Jakab Orsós, BPL's vice president of Arts & Culture, said in a phone call on Monday.

“It’s really broad but hopefully evocative,” Orsós said. “What we’re trying to message with this is to encourage people to think beyond the everyday, the politics, the stress, the anxiety. To look beyond and understand the expansiveness of life.”

Orsós started Night In The Library a decade ago after experiencing a much smaller scale version of the concept at the French Embassy on Fifth Avenue.

He said that though the night’s theme and programming changes annually, the main idea remains the same: to challenge the rules and boundaries of society, to imagine a more beautiful world.

“You're not supposed to be in the library at midnight, but, you know, where else should you be?” he said. “ Sometimes there are spaces where you can be together, but we can't really feel each other. We are not encouraged to get into a conversation.  This is the polar opposite.”

Night In The Library is free with RSVP. All ages are welcome. Food and drinks are available for purchase.