What exactly do you think of when you hear the words “librarian prom?” If it’s anything besides crazy, let-your-hair-down, don’t-stop-dancing bespectacled fun times, you clearly haven’t been to Biblioball yet. The annual event, hosted by too-cool-for-school hipster librarians The Desk Set, throws down at the Bell House every December, all in the name of charity (specifically, this year’s beneficiaries are Literacy for Incarcerated Teens and Urban Librarians Unite’s Sandy Children’s Book Relief Fund). In addition to DJ sets and a performance by Los Encantados, Saturday night’s party will feature a raffle, portrait photography, an interactive postcard-writing installation and, perhaps most awesomely, the crowning of the bibliophile’s prom king or queen—the Postmaster General. Though being a librarian is not required, a working knowledge of this year’s hot books and a fascination with the Dewey Decimal System are recommended if you want to get in with the nerd-chic crowd. If you’d rather a more cookie-centric literary night out, head to Brooklyn Brewery this Tuesday for Riverhead Books and Granta’s holiday benefit for PEN American Center, which features unlimited beer, the chance to get down with Sarah Vowell, Jon Ronson, and a cadre of authors to 80s music, and a bakeoff with Ms. Emma Straub herself for just $15.
