The 2007-2008 Season of Free Programs at The New York Public Library Offers over 20,000 Events for Children, Teenagers, and Adults in 87 Branches in Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island

From Talking Bears and Tigers for Children, to Podcasting and Zine Workshops for Young Adults, and Concerts and Job Help for Adults, The New York Public Library Offers Something for Everyone in its Programming

The New York Public Library offers free public programs for adults, teenagers, and children in all of its 87 branches throughout Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx. More than 20,000 programs are scheduled annually. Some of the highlights for the 2007-2008 season follow. A complete listing of events is available at www.nypl.org/events.

Children's Programs
Hobbits, wizards, dragons, tigers, and bears inhabit the children's rooms of the branches in the coming season.

Among the highlights of the children's programming for fall is Jaws, Paws and Claws: Animal Wisdom Tales from Around the World. This program, recommended for children ages 4 and older, features talking crocodiles, tigers, bears, and more who teach through their stories how day came to follow night, how to resolve conflicts peacefully, and how animals can teach human beings about appreciating one another. The program is presented by LuAnn Adams at the Webster Branch (Manhattan) at 4 p.m. on September 6, at the West New Brighton Branch (Staten Island) at 4 p.m. on September 18, at the Port Richmond Branch (Staten Island) at 4 p.m. on September 19, and at the Woodlawn Heights Branch (The Bronx), at 3:30 p.m. on September 20.

The Hobbit, a grand story of peril, wonder, and daring, is a play about a home-loving little Hobbit who finds himself on an adventure in which he meets elves, trolls, a wizard, a dragon, and "sssomething ssstrange" called a Gollum. Recommended for children ages 4 and older, the play will be given by the Traveling Lantern Theatre Company at the Washington Heights Branch (Manhattan) at 4 p.m. on September 17, at the Tottenville Branch (Staten Island) at 4 p.m. on September 18, at the Stapleton Branch (Staten Island) at 4 p.m. on September 20, at the George Bruce Branch (Manhattan) at 4 p.m. on September 25, at the Roosevelt Island Branch (Manhattan) at 6:30 p.m. on September 27, at the 115th Street Branch (Manhattan) at 4 p.m. on October 19, at the West New Brighton Branch (Staten Island) at 4 p.m. on October 22, at the Port Richmond Branch (Staten Island) at 4 p.m. on October 24, and at the Webster Branch (Manhattan) at 4 p.m. on October 25.

Spooky Tales to Tingle Your Spine will be told by LuAnn Adams to children ages 4 and older at the following branches in October: the Stapleton Branch (Staten Island) at 4 p.m. on October 17, the New Dorp Branch (Staten Island) at 4 p.m. on October 18, the George Bruce Branch at 4 p.m. on October 22, and the Tottenville Branch (Staten Island) at 4 p.m. on October 23.

Teenagers are invited to participate in one of the Teen Advisory Groups that meet in the afternoons in a number of branches. At meetings, these young adults help choose events and programs at the Library developed especially for teenage users. The participating Manhattan branches include: Teen Central at the Donnell Library Center, Chatham Square, Seward Park, Jefferson Market, 96th Street, Ottendorfer, Washington Heights, and Countee Cullen. In Staten Island, the participating branches are St. George and West New Brighton. Teens in The Bronx will find advisory groups in The Bronx Library Center, the Grand Concourse Branch, the Mott Haven Branch, and the Woodlawn Heights Branch.

A more informal teen gathering is called YTWL: You Talk! We Listen! for which several branches provide space and snacks. Teens can hang out, do homework, work on computers, talk to each other and to the librarians in the Manhattan branches of Riverside, Muhlenberg, and St. Agnes, and in the Mott Haven Branch in The Bronx.

Teen Authors Read @ Tompkins Square is held at this Manhattan branch on the first Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. New and veteran teen authors read from their most recent published works. In addition, there are Game On! afternoons and evenings where teens can pit their wits against Xbox 360, PS2, and PS3 at such branches in Manhattan as Teen Central at Donnell Library Center, Seward Park, and Chatham Square; the St. George Branch in Staten Island; and the Bronx Library Center.

Finally, the branches schedule a variety of cool offerings in everything from poetry writing workshops, podcasting, zine workshops, jewelry making, comic drawing, manga drawing, knitting, crocheting, plus the programs and events that the teens in the branches dream up.

Adult Programs
The New York Public Library reaches out to adults throughout the branches with performances, lectures, classes, and Hispanic programming. From help in finding jobs, learning to write a play, and roundtable discussions with authors and performers, the branches' adult programs offer something for everyone.

At the Donnell Library Center in Manhattan, concerts are held every Saturday, Sunday, and Monday afternoon from September through June. The series In Concert with the Gotham Jazzmen is offered on Thursdays from September 6, 2007 through June 26, 2008 at 12:30 p.m. Another series, Songbook, consisting of new Broadway musicals, is offered the last Tuesday evening of the month from September 25, 2007 through May 20, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. These musicals are works-in-progress and are presented by Arts and Artists at St. Paul's and directed by John Znidarsic. Lectures are presented by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the American Folk Art Museum from October through May on selected Tuesday afternoons at 12:30 p.m.   A lecture series by the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America is given on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m. on September 11, October 9, November 13, and December 11.

Among several job-help programs at the Mid-Manhattan Library are How to Start Your Job Search in the United States: a Workshop for Immigrant Professionals on September 17 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; and Resumes That Get Results on October 20 from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. The lecture Playwriting, Writing What You Know will be given on September 19.   In its series Books & Poetry: Author @ The Library, Mid-Manhattan will offer Taxi! A Social History of the New York City Cabdriver on September 18 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Graham Russell Gao Hodges, a former New York City cabdriver, who is a Professor of History at Peking University and at Colgate University, will discuss this special breed and the community they compose. On November 14, another program in this Author @ The Library series will present Growing Up Bi-Racial with Kym Ragusa and Heidi Durrow.

Theater programs are a highlight of many branch programs. The Muhlenberg Branch in Manhattan will present The Instant Shakespeare Company in The Tragedie of Othello on September 8 at 1 p.m. and in The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth on October 6 at 1 p.m. The St. Agnes Branch in Manhattan gives Roundtable Readings, a series of rehearsed theatrical readings of topical and entertaining plays, followed by roundtable discussions. On September 18 at 5 p.m., the play will be The Straight Pill by John Page Spears. This is a farce that follows what happens when a scientist accidentally creates a pill that makes gay people straight. Another presentation in the series will be Getting Out, Marsha Norman's award-winning exploration of a woman's struggle to begin a new life after getting out of prison, that will be given on October 16.

Hispanic programming presented in Spanish is a feature of a number of branches throughout The New York Public Library.  On September 22 from 12 to 5 p.m., the Washington Heights Branch in Manhattan will hold an Open House for the Hispanic Community to give information about free programs and services available at the library, followed by a performance at 2:30 p.m. by Conjunto Folkorico, a troupe of dancers presenting such traditional Dominican dances as the merengue, pambiche, valse, polka, mazurka, chivo samanes, and sarambo. The Francis Martin Branch in the Bronx will present Flamenco Latino on September 22 at 2 p.m. The program will combine fiery Flamenco with spicy, tropical Salsa grooves. The St. George Library Center on Staten Island will have its Open House for the Hispanic Community on September 22 at 2:30 p.m. In addition to the information that will be disseminated, the event will also include a concert by Chameleon/Cameleon, an ensemble that performs such Latin forms as Brazilian horos, chorinhos, waltzes, maxxies, bossa nova, and meringues. The Mott Haven Branch in the Bronx will present its Open House for the Hispanic Community on September 29 at 2 p.m. and it will include the lecture Esta Piel Que Llevo [This Skin I'm In]. On September 29 at 2 p.m., the Port Richmond Branch on Staten Island will give Open House for the Hispanic Community. The Flamenco Latino music program will be part of this open house.

About The New York Public Library
The New York Public Library was created in 1895 with the consolidation of the private libraries of John Jacob Astor and James Lenox with the Samuel Jones Tilden Trust. The Library provides free and open access to its physical and electronic collections and information, as well as to its services. It comprises four research centers - the Humanities and Social Sciences Library; The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and the Science, Industry and Business Library - and 87 Branch Libraries in Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Research and circulating collections combined total more than 50 million items, including materials for the visually impaired. In addition, each year the Library presents thousands of exhibitions and public programs, which include classes in technology, literacy, and English as a second language. The Library serves some 15 million patrons who come through its doors annually and another 15 million users internationally, who access collections and services through the NYPL website, http://www.nypl.org.

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Contact: Rima Corben at 212.592.7710 or rcorben@nypl.org