Library

Our library & public space welcomes anyone who wants to read, to listen to music, to watch films, to be inspired or to meet other people.

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GINY Library © Goethe-Institut New York

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Just digital media

Book Recommendations

Our thematic lists

Interested in learning more about our collection? We've put together lists on a variety of subjects.

Fiction & Nonfiction New Acquisitions

Fiction New: Translations into English

Nonfiction Diversity, Antiracism & Decolonialism

Borrow books and media

Lending Service

Our library is open to the public and the use of books and media are free of charge. Membership is required for borrowing privileges. Library members may register for a personalized account in order to renew borrowed media via the Online Catalog.
eLibrary

The eLibrary is the free, virtual library of the Goethe-Institut. Once you've registered, this service allows you to borrow digital media -- such as ebooks, audio and video files, and electronic newspapers and magazines -- for a predetermined period of time, by downloading them either directly onto your device or via app.

Around the library

Post-reunification novels
Looking back on the "Baseball bat years"

Growing up in East Germany after German reunification is historicised and literarily reappraised in several novels – a time marked by a lack of prospects, frustration, xenophobia and violence. Click through to read more about titles that are available to borrow from our library now.
Books by & about women
The Future is Female

What motivates female authors to write? What would the world look like if women were in power? Which books by women inspired Elke Heidenreich the most? Find answer to these questions and more in this selection of new books by and about women.
New translations
Summer Reading

Summer is here, and our list of new German literature in translation is perfect for the beach, the park, or just your air-conditioned apartment. All are available at our library, so stop by, say hi, and borrow a book.

Stream Now

Goethe on Demand
New Directions – 20 Years of Young Cinema from Germany

New Directions is an online film series featuring 20 films as a retrospective of 20 years of exciting and innovative cinema by a new generation of filmmakers who are not afraid to experiment and challenge the film world with ever new perspectives.

GoD New Directions

A Transatlantic Podcast
The Big Ponder

This transatlantic podcast explores abstract concepts and phenomena through personal radio essays. Every other week, one of our producers transforms a broad topic into a captivating story told from a U.S.-German perspective.

The Big Ponder Visual Illustration: © Nicole Hamam

Current Music from Germany
Popcast

Rock, pop, hiphop, electro: at the beginning of every month we shine our search beacon into the nation’s studios and clubs from Kiel up north to Weilheim way down south. Together with Zündfunk, Bavarian Radio’s scene magazine, we showcase the latest music by riveting off-the-charts bands.

Popcast © Goethe-Institut | Illustration: DOON 東

Podcast Series
Hannah Arendt: Between Worlds

In recent years many people have turned to the work of Hannah Arendt to try to understand what is happening in our world today. But who was Hannah Arendt? And why is she so relevant now? Over the course of 7 podcast episodes, Samantha Rose Hill talks with artists, poets, writers, scholars, musicians, and activists who think with Hannah Arendt as they explore questions of solitude, peace, privacy, freedom, love, and politics.

Hannah Arendt: Between Worlds

Translation

Translator’s Prize New York
Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize

The annual Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize is awarded each summer to honor an outstanding literary translation from German into English published in the USA the previous year. The translator of the winning translation receives $10,000.
Young Translator’s Prize New York
Gutekunst Prize of the Friends of Goethe New York

In 2010, the Goethe-Institut New York received a generous donation in memory of Frederick and Grace Gutekunst. A prize was created to identify outstanding young translators of German literature into English and assist them in establishing contact with the translation and publishing communities.
Translation Grant Program

The Goethe-Institut’s translation grant program supports non-German publishers in publishing German-language literature, with the aim of making works accessible to non-German speaking readers.

Photo: Loredana La Rocca

Visit us

Opening Hours

Mo–Th (Service w/SelfCheck Machine) 10:00am–6:00pm

Tu, We, Th (Service w/Librarian) 1:00-5:00pm (or by appointment)

Contact

E-Mail

library-newyork@goethe.de

Telefon (toll-free within the USA)

+1 877 GOETHE1

Telefon

+1 212 4398688

Library

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Search for books and media in the catalog