With Special Guest Dr. Carla Hayden, 14th Librarian of Congress
Photos Here. (Credit: Gregg Richards.)
Brooklyn, NY—Supporters of Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) gathered last week at Central Library for a fundraising gala. Over $1.25 million was raised to support the Library’s collections and programs.
“At this moment when book bans are proliferating and intellectual freedom is at risk, we are especially grateful to those who are building community and standing with us in support of the freedom to read. We are delighted to recognize individuals and organizations doing this work for our fellow New Yorkers. Dame Louise Richardson and Carnegie Corporation of New York provide people from all walks of life with access to books and information, ensuring Andrew Carnegie’s visionary mission will endure for another century,” said Linda E. Johnson, President and CEO, Brooklyn Public Library. “Award-winning actor Jeffrey Wright is an inspiration both on stage and off, as one of today’s finest performers of the written word and a generous and active member of the Brooklyn community. Bowen Yang, also a Brooklynite, has listed BPL as something he cannot live without, makes us laugh on every platform, and is a champion of libraries in New York and around the country. I applaud each of our honorees for their support of public libraries and the democratic ideals we protect.”
Carla Hayden, Senior Fellow at the Mellon Foundation and the 14th Librarian of Congress noted at the public library, “anyone can walk through those doors and find knowledge, community, and possibility waiting for them.” Hayden presented Brooklyn Public Library’s Gala Award to Dame Louise Richardson and Carnegie Corporation of New York. They were honored for their tireless work on reducing political polarization and continuing to support the vision of founder, Andrew Carnegie, who believed fervently in the role of public libraries to educate the public and bring communities together.
“We live in a moment when trust in public institutions is fragile. Libraries are different. People trust them. They are welcoming, nonpartisan, and free. Andrew Carnegie himself called them ‘cradles of democracy,’” said Dame Louise Richardson, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York. “He loved the fact that whether you were a prince or a pauper, once you walked through the doors of a library you were treated the same, you had the same access to the same materials. He saw that libraries were inherently democratic.”
Jeffrey Wright was honored for both his work on stage and screen and for his contributions to the borough of Brooklyn. Winnie Siclait, BPL’s Business and Career Center Program Manager, presented the award.
Wright is the winner of a Tony and Emmy Award for his portrayal of Belize in the stage and television production of Angels in America. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role as author Thelonious Ellison in American Fiction and beloved for his role as a librarian in the film The Public. Off screen, he founded Brooklyn for Life! The organization helped to provide meals for health care workers during the pandemic while simultaneously keeping restaurants in business.
“The library is one of the last bastions of democracy. An opened book is a dash toward freedom,” Wright said.
Librarian Jennifer Thompson honored Bowen Yang. Yang is an Emmy-nominated writer, actor and comedian best known for his work on Saturday Night Live, portraying everyone from George Santos to the Iceberg That Sank The Titanic. He played Pfannee in the blockbuster movie adaptation of Wicked and is the host, with Matt Rogers, of the podcast Las Culturistas where he recommends books and has advocated for public libraries.
“For me, the library was where my taste started to take shape. One day when I was 13 and wandering the shelves, I stumbled upon the cast recording CD of a new Broadway show called Wicked. And I took it home, and my brain completely rewired itself,” Yang said. “The library is such an important piece of that story, because it’s given my love for certain books or music or art a sense of place and time, before everything became neatly packaged and algorithmically served to us.”
Yang reminded the crowd that the book which inspired the musical—Gregory Maguire’s The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West—has been banned in several states, noting that “BPL’s Books Unbanned initiative is more necessary than ever. Because it keeps possibility alive for so many.”
Jordan Carlos served as host for the evening. A Brooklyn-based comedian, actor and writer, he has written for shows like First Wives Club (bet), Divorce (HBO), and The Nightly Show (Comedy Central) as well as The White House Correspondents Dinner. He’s acted on series like Black Mirror, Party Down, First Wives Club, Everything’s Trash, and Nora From Queens, among others, and has performed stand up on Comedy Central and MTV. He just published his debut book, Choreplay.
The Library offers tens of thousands of free programs a year for people from all walks of life—immigrants learning a new language, students preparing for college, older adults seeking companionship, aspiring entrepreneurs launching their dreams, children discovering the world, and people of all ages exploring arts and culture. Brooklyn Public Library is a nationally recognized leader in the fight against censorship and a safe space here at home where Brooklynites can enjoy one of life’s greatest satisfactions—the discovery of a good book—without ever having to pay a fine.
About Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Public Library is one of the nation’s largest library systems and among New York City’s most democratic institutions. Providing innovative library service for over 125 years, we support personal advancement, foster civic literacy, and strengthen the fabric of community among the more than 2.6 million individuals who call Brooklyn home. We are a global leader in the fight for the freedom to read through our Books Unbanned initiative, offering teens across the US access to the library’s online catalog. We provide nearly 65,000 free programs a year with writers, thinkers, artists, and educators—from around the corner and around the world. And we give patrons millions of opportunities to enjoy one of life’s greatest satisfactions: the joy of a good book.