Edward Albee, Ashley Bryan, Nora Ephron, and Salman Rushdie each received honors at the New York Public Library’s annual Library Lions benefit Monday night. Helping the literati celebrate were M.C. Toni Morrison, a slew of high-profile guests, and a seasonal decor that transformed the Humanities and Social Sciences Library into an autumnal dining room covered in an early frost.
In stark contrast to last year’s dark, reading-room atmosphere, designer David E. Monn created a white, fall dining room using preserved oak leaves and yards and yards of white linen. Massive white lampshades hung from the ceiling and 8- by 8-foot mirrors framed in the white oak leaves blocked the room’s windows. One of the only incorporated elements not sheathed in white was the lofted stage. Brown leaves stuck to the stage walls created a woody hedge for the speakers to look down from. The smell of thousands of leaves, combined with that of the old books, heightened the room’s air of academia.
As the night’s festivities got underway in the dining room, with honors presented by Morrison and a meal by Glorious Food, 600 “Young Lions” (the library’s set of supporters in their 20s and 30s) arrived downstairs for the annual dance party. The ceiling of Astor Hall, the same space used for the earlier cocktail hour, was covered in gauzy, white drapes, and potted palms lined its perimeter. After the dinner, many of the library’s older benefactors—including billionaire Stephen Schwarzman, who was spotted tearing up the floor during Rihanna’s “Disturbia”—were continuing to revel in the hall.
