Boston Public Library’s March author talks and lectures

Boston Public Library’s March talks and lectures feature celebrated authors Junot Díaz and Kelly Barnhill, award-winning investigative journalist and author Joseph Rosenbloom, conservationist Terry Tempest Williams, and more. All programs and events can be viewed via www.bpl.org/calendar.

• Get an inside look at John and Robert Kennedy’s essential partnership during the turbulent first year of JFK’s presidency with an exclusive screening of an episode of the CNN Original Series, American Dynasties: The Kennedys. After the screening, an engaging discussion panel features Patrick J. Kennedy, former U.S. Representative (D-RI); Leah Wright Rigueur, professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Kennedy biographer Larry Tye; and moderator John King, CNN anchor and Chief National Correspondent. Thursday, March 1, at  6 p.m. in Rabb Hall at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.
• The panel discussion “The Common Wealth of Prints: A Dialog between Five Bay State Collections” is led by prints experts and provides insight into the wealth of prints and print collections in and around Boston, moderated by BPL president David Leonard. Saturday, March 3, at 10:45 a.m. in Rabb Hall at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street. This event is presented in conjunction with “The Boston Printmakers: 70 Years,” a day-long symposium on prints and printmaking to take place at 15 institutions and galleries from Boston to Cambridge commemorating the Boston Printmakers' 70th anniversary.
• Boston Globe reporter Emily Sweeney shares excerpts from her book Gangland Boston, revealing the history of notorious gangsters and the places they frequented on Monday, March 5, at 6:30 p.m. at the West Roxbury Branch, located at 1961 Centre Street.
• Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author Kelly Barnhill discusses her short fiction collection Dreadful Young Ladies: And Other Stories, which features bold, reality-bending fantasy. The program is moderated by Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Hiddensee. Tuesday, March 6, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.
• Michael Brophy explores the origins and intentions of the orphan train movement as part of the larger immigrant experience in his talk “The Orphan Train Movement: History, Genealogy, Legacy” on Wednesday, March 7, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street. Part of the Local & Family History Series.
• In Search of a Prophet is a journey through the all-embracing spirituality of Kahlil Gibran, author of the bestselling book The Prophet. Paul-Gordon Chandler explores this beloved writer, poet-artist, mystic, and unparalleled guide in the midst of today’s global challenges. Thursday, March 8, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.
• Ted Scheinman, the son of a devoted Jane Austen scholar, discusses his work Camp Austen: My Life as an Accidental Jane Austen Superfan on Monday, March 12, at 6 p.m. in the Newsfeed Café at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.
• David Hernández addresses the racial treatment of Latina/o immigrants and communities through the lens of immigration enforcement politics from 1790 to today on Thursday, March 15, at 6 p.m. in Rabb Hall at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.
• John Schnelle shows attendees how to use the Irish Valuation Office Field Books to paint a detailed picture of the lives of their ancestors, including the limitations, possibilities, and hard realities they faced on Wednesday, March 21, at 6 p.m. in the Commonwealth Salon at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street. Part of the Local & Family History Series.              
• Award-winning author Junot Díaz reads from his first book for children, Islandborn, a picture book celebrating memory and imagination through the eyes of a young girl who imagines a colorful journey back to her Island birthplace. A Q&A will follow. Sunday, March 25, at 2 p.m. in Rabb Hall at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street. Díaz also visits the Connolly Branch on Monday, March 26, at 1 p.m., located at 433 Centre Street in Jamaica Plain.
• Joseph Rosenbloom shares insights from his book Redemption, an intimate look at the last fateful hours of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, and will be joined in conversation by Boston Globe Opinion Columnist Renee Graham on Tuesday, March 27, at 6 p.m. in Rabb Hall at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.
• Terry Tempest Williams examines our moral responsibility as stewards of the earth, and each other, in her Lowell Lecture Series presentation on Thursday, March 29, at 6 p.m. in Rabb Hall at the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street.

Boston Public Library provides educational, cultural and civic enrichment, free to all, for the residents of Boston, Massachusetts and beyond, through its collections, services, programs, and spaces. Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library is a pioneer of public library service in America. It was the first large free municipal library in the United States, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library, and the first to have a children’s room. As a City of Boston historic cultural institution, Boston Public Library today features a Central Library, twenty-five branches, a map center, business library, archival center; extensive special collections of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and prints; and rich digital content and online services. The award-winning renovation of the Central Library in Copley Square, completed in 2016, together with new, renovated and historic branches, provide a transformed library for the next generation of users. Boston Public Library enriches lives, hosting thousands of free educational programs and exhibitions, and providing free library services online and in-person to millions of people each year.  To learn more, visit bpl.org.