The Associates of the Boston Public Library hosted the 36th annual Literary Lights™ Gala on April 26, at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, welcoming over 380 attendees and raising more than half a million dollars to support the preservation and accessibility of the Boston Public Library’s Special Collections.
Associates’ Board Chair Alyce Lee opened the evening, introducing new Executive Director Amanda Doyle-Bouvier, who highlighted the Associates’ mission to preserve, digitize, and promote the library’s Special Collections: “The Associates exists to ensure that our cultural history is not erased or ignored but thoughtfully examined and fully embraced.” BPL President, David Leonard, emphasized the urgency of preserving and expanding access to the Special Collections, especially in today’s political reality. Dinner Co-Chairs Natalie Lemle and Karen Osborn celebrated a sold-out evening.
The black-tie evening, emceed by GBH’s Executive Arts Editor, Jared Bowen, honored acclaimed writers Tracy K. Smith, Jodi Picoult, Ocean Vuong, Timothy Snyder, and Gregory Maguire. Awards were presented by Regie Gibson, Jennifer Finney Boylan, Michael Cunningham, The Honorable Samantha Power, and Brian Selznick, respectively. In his keynote address, Wicked author Gregory Maguire reminded guests that “nothing that we cherish will endure unless the young… can be freely persuaded to cherish it too,” underscoring the Associates’ mission.
Notable guests included Christian Westra and Joseph Berman, BPL Trustees; Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Trinity Financial, Patrick Lee; Peter R.V. Brown, Nutter partner and former Associates’ Board Chair; Jeanne O’Keefe, MathWorks, Vice President, and authors Joseph Finder, Betsy Groban, Natalie Lemle, William Martin, Megan Marshall, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Julie Carrick Dalton, and Hank Phillippi Ryan, among others.
Since 1972, the Associates of the Boston Public Library, an independent non-profit, has raised funds to preserve and promote the Boston Public Library’s Special Collections. The Associates hosts many programs, including the Pierce Performance Series, the Alan Andres Writer-in-Residence and Picture Book Writer Fellowship, and the Hundred-Year Book Debate.