The NYPL's Library Lions Gala Turned Into a Mini Bruce Springsteen Concert
.jpg)
The New York Public Library s historic Rose Main Reading Room is renowned for its grandeur and regal elegance as much as its scale—spanning some 297 feet, making it about the length of two city blocks. Since the 1980s, for one night a year, its 52-foot-tall ceilings and awe-inspiring murals of skies and clouds become the backdrop for the Library Lions Gala, honoring distinguished individuals—Lions—and their contributions to literature, the arts, and culture.
On Monday evening, guests made their way up the candlelit stairs of the hallowed Beaux-Arts building on Fifth Avenue to celebrate this year s inductees to the Lions hall of fame: Bruce Springsteen, Shonda Rhimes, novelist Louise Erdrich, writer Daniel Kehlmann, writer-musician James McBride, and author James Patterson.
“I feel very honored, especially because it’s such a prestigious award and it’s New York—the literary world is all here,” Rhimes told Vogue. The showrunner behind Bridgerton, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder was on cloud nine as she caught up with Patterson during cocktail hour. “I love this library. To be in this space makes it a really special and inspiring [evening]. It’s magical here.”
Following a reception in the grand foyer, some 540 black tie-clad attendees were serenaded by a string quartet playing Bach, Mozart, Elgar, and Vivaldi as they floated upstairs to dinner. Among them was a notable card carrying member of the NYPL fan club: Martha Stewart. “I’ve been coming here since I was in the sixth grade,” she recalled. “My dad first brought me here to do research and I have loved this place ever since. I’ve studied here too. I went to Barnard College, so oftentimes I would come by. It never gets old each time I come back. It s really the most beautiful, spectacular place.”
The aesthetic inspiration for this year’s gala set-up was the celestial ceiling of the Rose Main Reading Room itself. David Stark Design and Production was on hand to echo the artistry of muralist James Wall Finn by evoking a dream-like environment. The long desks were transformed into light blue velvet-topped tables, embellished with 10,000 garden roses, hydrangeas, ranunculus, and forget-me-nots in sunset hues. Thousands of illuminating candles encased in glass holders bathed the venue in a dusk-worthy glow. The room s famed reading lamps were even given an ephemeral cloud-like makeover with new upholstery, while light projections beamed and bounced across the walls.
The program began with remarks from the NYPL s Chair of the Board of Trustees, Abby Milstein. A short video of the Lions describing how libraries had influenced them and their creative pursuits also regaled the room. “My town only had about 10,000 people, but there in the center of it was the library, and it was this place where the rest of the world was waiting,” Springsteen recalled in the footage. “It gave me this greater sense of possibility… it was a sanctuary.”