Society Desk
BULLISH AT THE LIBRARY Dinner at the New York Public Library's fall gala on Monday will be served in the historic reading room, at the very tables used by world-class scholars and writers, covered with moss green velvet tablecloths. The move upstairs from the Celeste Bartos Forum is a sign of how much the party has caught on since event designer David Monn and library trustee Gayfryd Steinberg began planning it three years ago.
"But it's not about a great party," Mr. Monn said. "It's about more and more people understanding and appreciating how much the library improves the everyday life of New Yorkers, and wanting to support that."
The change in venue was necessary to accommodate an additional 200 guests, meaning 600 people will be dining in the reading room, including new co-chairmen Richard and Kathy Fuld and this year's Library Lion medal recipients, Oprah Winfrey, Elie Wiesel, and Nobel Prize winners Gao Xingjian, Ohman Pamuk, and James Watson. The public can see the first touches of party decor when the reading room is open during its regularly scheduled hours on Sunday.
-A.L. Gordon
THE GIVING SEASON "It doesn't matter where you come from," 11-year-old Florence "Flojo" Ngala said. "You can go wherever you want to, if only you work hard."
A child of Nigerian immigrants, Miss Ngala receives figure skating lessons and mentoring from the nonprofit Figure Skating in Harlem, one of 10 local, youth-oriented charities featured in the latest Catalog for Giving of New York City.
The nonprofit catalog, mailed to 5,000 New Yorkers and available for download at www.catalogforgiving.org, helps connect potential donors to small nonprofits that are often overlooked. The pages contain photographs and narratives as well as a toll-free number to make a gift.
"We're allowing these organizations to do what they do best," the catalog's executive director, Susan Wyant, said. Since expenses for producing the catalog are covered entirely by the board, 100% of donations go straight to the organizations.
In addition to Figure Skating in Harlem, this season's catalog includes organizations likeAdded Value & Urban Solutions, which provides fresh produce to residents of Red Hook, Brooklyn; iMentor, which provides "e-mail mentors" to impoverished students; City Squash; Free Arts NYC; Global Action Project; Leave Out Violence U.S.; Urban Dove, and the Youth Advocacy Center.
-Elisa Mala
