At the other end of Bryant Park, behind the tents, the New York Public Library offered a dose of tranquility Friday night for some worn-out designers and editors. Vogue and the Council of Fashion Designers of America hosted the event in the library’s Trustee’s Room in honor of the new Make Noise for the Library campaign.

Sean “P. Diddy” Combs – who opened a Sean John boutique across from the library Thursday night – read a poem by Nikki Giovanni before going to Zac Posen’s show.

“Reading in public isn’t really my forte,” Mr. Combs admitted. He did just fine, perhaps drawing on his “Raisin in the Sun” experience, and noted he’d be happy to come and read again to help the cause.

Mr. Combs seemed sensitive on the subject of his literary pursuits. “I’m not being dishonest; I’m not a big book reader,” he said. His store does have a handful of books for sale, such as ones for the coffee table on St. Tropez, the Hamptons, and Cannes – “places he likes to visit,” said a store employee. Mr. Combs has even signed some of them.

Before Vera Wang read, she wondered aloud if she should read about fashion or sex. The passage she chose from “Anna Karenina” had both, and the room’s decor – 17th century Flemish tapestries, a marble fireplace – fit its mood.

Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCullough of Proenza Schouler read Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree.”

“We were told the crowd would be literary types, so at first we thought we had to read something high-brow. After thinking about it, we decided the library is an egalitarian place. Also, our show was yesterday. So we went with something light.”

Mr. Hernandez said they frequently go to the public library’s picture library for inspiration.

“This is all to help make people aware of the library,” said Anna Wintour, who is currently reading Graydon Carter’s book on the Bush presidency, Hugo Vickers’s biography of Cecil Beaton, and “Anna Karenina,” with her daughter Bee Shaffer, who sat with mom in the back row during the readings. “I like to have three or four books going at once,” Ms. Wintour said.

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Ivana Trump got a special thrill while watching Zang Toi’s fashion show Saturday – her boyfriend, Rosano Rubicondi, was one of the models. Mr. Toi is designing Ms. Trump’s wardrobe for her new reality show, “Ivana Man,” in which eight young bachelors compete for the affections of an older woman. And where was daughter Ivanka? “She’s been busy working at an architecture firm in Brooklyn,” reported mom. “And today, she’s not here because her dad invited her to the U.S. Open,” she added. Amy Fine Collins and mother-daughter team Alana and Kimberly Stewart were also front-rowers.

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Couple Christy Turlington and Ed Burns, Natalie Portman, and Gene Wilder were among the celebrities who attended parties before the U.S. Open finals Saturday and Sunday. On the courts, Roger Federer defeated Lleyton Hewit and Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Elena Dementieva.