Poets House, Inc.

New York City’s sweeping arts and cultural scene is rounded out by Poets House, Inc., a national poetry library and international literary center that celebrates poetry as it is created, read, and heard. Since its opening to the public in 1986, Poets House has been a place where anyone can “step into the living tradition,” as described by Lee Briccetti, its executive director. “There’s no place exactly like this in the world.”

Now located in Battery Park City, with an entire block vista of the Hudson River, Poets House began in a high school basement, and then for many years, was housed in a loft in the Soho neighborhood of New York City. The space restrictions and exorbitant rent increases challenged the organization’s growth. “We spent a long time saying to ourselves, we need a more sustainable future,” Briccetti said. Some kismet brought Poets House together with the Battery Park City Authority, which was looking for a nonprofit organization to share its space with. So, in 2004, after an arduous process, Poets House was designated its rent-free, nonprofit tenant until 2069.

This incredible opportunity doubled the organization’s office and meeting space, library, and exhibition areas, and required the organization to lead a capital campaign to raise funds for its increased capacity and the construction of its new space. “It’s so stressful for any organization to go through a capital campaign,” Briccetti said. “It’s like trying to run two organizations at the same time.” A retreat at The Pocantico Center proved to be exactly what was needed for the organization to regroup and keep the energy going as it was writing this new, exciting chapter.

The two-day fall conference in 2008 allowed the board and staff to reaffirm the mission of Poets House and rearticulate core values and operating goals before its move. This team-building environment also provided them the opportunity to develop a shared commitment to the overall plan during its transition. “It wasn’t just an afternoon; it was a full weekend to be together, to go back to our mission, and envision where we were going together,” Briccetti said. “It was an incredible morale booster to be able to meet at The Pocantico Center.”

Armed with a renewed direction, Poets House moved to its Battery Park City location in the fall of 2009, becoming a destination for tourists, researchers, school groups, families, artists, and, of course, poets. “One of the great things about our space is that we have street-level presence,” Briccetti said. “The setting itself makes it a destination visit.”

Poets House has more than 50,000 volumes of poetry in its library, making it one of the most comprehensive open-stack collections in the country. It also hosts over 200 programs annually, which include panels, lectures, readings, writing workshops, and walking tours in New York City and nationwide. Programming for children has been a particular success thanks to the new space. “Last year, we had 8,000 children come through Poets House, which would have been impossible in our loft space,” said Christina Lem, director of foundation and government partnerships. “Poetry is critical for their creative language development.”

The long-term physical stability made possible by its new space allows Poets House staff to focus on expanding its collections and programming, and as a result, channels poetry to a wider audience.

“Poetry is one of humanity’s oldest, deepest art forms,” Briccetti said. “It is the best of language.”