A Presentation by the San Diego Zoo on Polar Bears and Climate Change and A Closer Look at the Twilight Novels Are Featured in Free February Programs at The New York Public Library

Polar bears and teen vampires take center stage at The New York Public Library throughout February during a series of free programs offered at its 87 branches in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island.

On February 3 at the Jefferson Market Branch, children are invited to meet polar bear expert JoAnne Simerson of the San Diego Zoo to learn how climate change is affecting the animals. This one-of-a-kind presentation will include videos of polar bears in their natural, endangered habitat and offer interactive activities to show what guests can do in their daily lives to help the polar bears.

Fans of the popular vampire series Twilight will also not want to miss, “Spotlight: A Close-Up Look at the Artistry and Meaning of Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' Novels," on February 4 at the Mid-Manhattan Library. Author John Granger will examine and dissect the moral and allegorical elements of the best-selling paranormal romance series.

The Library presents more than 20,000 free public programs throughout its branches annually, complementing its broad collections and other services.  A complete listing of events is available at www.nypl.org/events. More information on young adult programs at the Library is available at http://teenlink.nypl.org

Highlighted Programming for The New York Public Library in February

An Art Book - Malcolm McLaren: Musical Paintings
Tuesday, February 2, 6:00 p.m., Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, Manhattan
   Malcolm McLaren, visionary artist and pop cultural icon, joins curator and editor of Fantom magazine Cay-Sophie Rabinowitz for a conversation on McLaren’s film Shallow, which consists of 21 “musical paintings” that he describes as a “grab-bag of pop culture’s debris over the past 50 years.” McLaren, most popularly known as the former manager of legendary punk bands The Sex Pistols and The New York Dolls, experimented with film-based art methods and incorporated music-related work from Delia Brown, Rodney Graham and others to create Shallow. McLaren will discuss the work, as well as his new book McLaren: Musical Painting, at the program, which will take place in the Margaret Liebman Berger Forum at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.

A Presentation by the San Diego Zoo on Polar Bears and Climate Change
Wednesday, February 3, 3:30 p.m., Jefferson Market Library, 425 Avenue of the Americas (at 10th Street), Manhattan
   Children will be able to follow in the footsteps of polar bears and learn how the loss of sea ice due to global warming affects their lives. Special guest JoAnne Simerson, who pioneers behavior management in the bears at the San Diego Zoo, will offer an exclusive presentation to educate children about climate change and is affect on polar bears. Simerson just returned from Manitoba, Canada, where she has spent nine years studying the polar bear population along disappearing sea ice with Polar Bear International. The interactive presentation will include video coverage.

Author @ the Library presents: "Spotlight: A Close-Up Look at the Artistry and Meaning of Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' Novels," with John Granger
Thursday, February 4, 6:30 p.m., Mid-Manhattan Library, 455 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan
   Twilighters, Twi-hards, and Twilight-curious readers will be able to discuss moral elements of the popular vampire romance series with blogger, speaker and writer John Granger, who will talk about his new book, Spotlight: A Close-Up Look at the Artistry and Meaning of Stephanie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’ Novels. Granger, who also wrote How Harry Cast His Spell: The Meaning Behind the Mania for JK Rowling’s Bestselling Books about the Harry Potter series, will discuss the culture craze surrounding the Twilight books and their recent movie adaptations. Granger, author of the blog The Hogwarts Professor, is known for his scholarly focus on culture and faith and how it is embedded in popular literature: a focus particularly relevant to the Twilight books.

At Least at Julliard There Was Music: William Schuman at Lincoln Center
Monday, February 8, 6:00 p.m., The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, Manhattan
   Current Juilliard School president Joseph Polisi will join the Library for the Performing Arts for a lecture on accomplished classical composer William Schuman, a former Juilliard president and the first president of Lincoln Center.  Schuman’s time at Lincoln Center was marked by the formation of the Chamber Music Society and the Film Society, both crucial to the development of Lincoln Center as a New York cultural center. Despite these demanding administrative positions, Schuman was first and foremost a composer, winning the first Pulitzer Prize for musical composition, and churning out works including symphonies, concertos and the ballets Undertow  and Judith.  The lecture will take place in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.  For more information on William Schuman, participants can view the William Schuman Papers, currently housed in the Library's Music Division.

Picturing Dorothea Lange: A Conversation with Linda Gordon and Ian Frazier
Thursday, February 25, 7:00 p.m., Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, Manhattan
   Ian Frazier will lead a program with former Cullman Center fellow Linda Gordon about Gordon’s research and new book on Dorothea Lange’s life as a celebrated documentary photographer, called Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits. Dorothea Lange was crucial to the foundation of documentary photography and photojournalism as she captured the Great Depression through the eyes of her American and immigrant subjects, struck by the consequences of America’s fallen economy. Linda Gordon’s book, as a biography, traces the touching, influential work and the intriguing life of this acclaimed artist. Ian Frazier, a current Cullman Center fellow, also frequently writes for The New Yorker. This program will be held in the South Court Auditorium of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. To register, please e-mail csw@nypl.org with your name(s).

Highlighted Movie Screenings for The New York Public Library in February

Movie Time: The Princess Bride (1987)
Thursday, February 4, 3:30 p.m., Yorkville Library, 222 East 79th Street, Manhattan
The Princess Bride tells the story of the love between the beautiful Buttercup and Wesley, torn apart by the apparent death of Wesley at sea. But death is no barrier to true love, in a story filled with swordsmen, giants, genius kidnappers, plotting royalty, vile swamps, Rodents of Unusual Size, and the Dread Pirate Roberts.
 
Documentary Film Series:  Grey Gardens (1975)
Friday, February 5, 2:00 p.m.,  58th Street Library, 127 East 58th Street, Manhattan
Grey Gardens is David and Albert Maysles' cinema-verite study of Edith Bouvier Beale, socialite, and her daughter Edie, two eccentric people who live in a decrepit mansion in East Hampton, New York surrounded with their memories of the past. The documentary and the story of the Beales were later adapted into the musical Grey Gardens by Doug Wright, Scott Frankel, and Michael Korie; an HBO film; and other theatrical and literary mediums.

Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun (2008)
Sunday, February 7, 2:00 p.m., Mid-Manhattan Library, 455 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan
Awarded the title of “Best Educational Film” at the 27th Annual Festival International du Film sur l'Arts, this film biography is a portrayal of the path-breaking African-American novelist and anthropologist; Hurston is known for her usage of black vernacular in literary works and ethnological work in southern African-American communities.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2003)
Wednesday, February 20, 2:00 p.m., Van Nest Library, 2147 Barnes Avenue, Bronx
In this story, set in 19th-century China, two master warriors are faced with their greatest challenge when the treasured Green Destiny Sword is stolen. Ang Lee’s Academy Award-winning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has captured audiences with its entrancing plot and gorgeous choreography.

CARNIVAL Film Series
Wednesday, February 20, 3:00 p.m., Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard, Manhattan
Audience members will have the opportunity to explore the culture and events surrounding two of the grandest Carnival celebrations in Trinidad and Brazil through the films Mas Feve: Inside Trinidad Carnival  and Spirit of Samba: Black Music of Brazil. A discussion at 5:00 p.m. will follow the screening. This program will be held in the American Negro Theater at the Schomburg Center.

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. Its renowned research collections are located in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street; The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem; and the Science, Industry and Business Library at 34th Street and Madison Avenue. Eighty-seven branch libraries provide access to circulating collections and a wide range of other services in neighborhoods throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. Research and circulating collections combined total more than 50 million items. In addition, each year the Library presents thousands of exhibitions and public programs, which include classes in technology, literacy, and English for speakers of other languages. All in all The New York Public Library serves more than 17 million patrons who come through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org.

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Contact: Jon Pace | 212.592.7710 | Jonathan_Pace@nypl.org