Poets HouseDebutsIts New Home

A venerable New York City–based poetry organization celebrates its new facility

Barbara Hoffert -- Library Journal, 09/25/2009

• A move to Battery Park City
• Books all donated
• Indoor/outdoor performance space

Back in 1985, esteemed poet Stanley Kunitz wanted to create a home for poetry lovers that would be open to all. And so, with the help of arts administrator Elizabeth Kray, Poets House was born. Located in a series of public high schools in New York City, it eventually ended in a SoHo loft with the high stacks and dusty feeling of someone's beloved, overflowing library.

Now Poets House has a stunning new location in Battery Park City in lower Manhattan, in a LEED Gold-certified building, with huge windows overlooking the Hudson River. 

Unique public, private partnership
The opening celebration kicked off Thursday, September 24, and there was much to celebrate, starting with four times the square-footage for the ever-growing collection, currently standing at 50,000 adult books and 500 children's books (all secured through donations from poets and publishers), plus innumerable journals, tapes, and CDs.

In addition, the space occupies the first two floors of a residential tower, built by the Battery Park City Authority, which as landlord exacts only a dollar-a-year rent, with a lease through 2069. The facility includes reading rooms, a conference room, and a stunning indoor/outdoor performance space.

The building was funded through a concerted private and public collaboration, with money coming in from "poets and bankers, artists, and students, actors, comedians, and even a natural toothpaste manufacturer," noted Robert Kissane, cochair, Campaign for Poets House.

The sum raised currently stands at $9.8 million, with a goal of $11 million set to help support the house's numerous programs, including Poetry in the Branches, which promotes poetry through the public libraries. The breadth of the contributions attests to Poets House's role as a center open to everyone: in fact, it bills itself as "the largest and most comprehensive poetry collection available to the public in open stacks anywhere in the country." 

All-star cast
With  speakers ranging from U.S. poet laureate Kay Ryan to Kate D. Levin, commissioner, New York Department of Public Affairs, and contributions from the likes of performance artist Laurie Anderson and actor Bill Murray, the opening celebration was a party with a purpose.

Noted Lee Bricetti, Poet House's executive director, who could help but wonder at "the miracle of a poetry organization building this place in this economic environment."