All library locations and services will be closed Tuesday, December 24, through Thursday, December 26, for the winter holiday.

Humanities events

Humanities: Honoring Connections, Broadening Horizons

Our humanities program brings nationally recognized authors and world-class scholars to the library community through events that focus on music, art, local history, religion, literature, and culture.

Programs are often developed in partnership with our many local arts and humanities organizations, nonprofits, and institutions.

Humanities programming is funded by the Durham Library Foundation.

Durham Library Foundation

2024-2025 Humanities Events Calendar

Upcoming Events

Durham at a Crossroads: the 1986 Mayoral Recall Battle

Saturday, January 25, 2025 • 3:00pm - 4:30pm

Main Library (300 N. Roxboro St) (Main Auditorium)

By the early to mid-1980’s Durham had become a very different place than it is today.  In this economically stagnant city of dying textile mills and tobacco factories, many realtors steered new homebuyers in the region from even thinking...

Ages: Adult, Emerging Adult: 18-24 Year Olds, High School, Intergenerational, Senior Citizen

Registration required

DCoL Humanities Presents - Billy Collins

Tuesday, January 28, 2025 • 6:00pm - 7:30pm

Main Library (300 N. Roxboro St) (Main Auditorium)

Step into the imaginative world of Billy Collins, one of America's most celebrated poets. With his distinctive voice, wit, and profound insights into everyday life, Collins invites readers to experience poetry in a new and accessible way....

Ages: Adult, Emerging Adult: 18-24 Year Olds, Senior Citizen

Registration required

Telling the Full Story: Uncovering Hillsborough's Hidden History

Tuesday, March 18, 2025 • 6:00pm - 7:30pm

Main Library (300 N. Roxboro St) (Main Auditorium)

Save the date for an inspiring evening on March 18, 2025, at 6:00 PM at the Durham County Main Library! Join The Alliance for Historic Hillsborough and members of the Telling the Full Story committee for an engaging panel discussion about...

Ages: Adult, Emerging Adult: 18-24 Year Olds, Senior Citizen

Registration required

David Menconi presents, “From the Mountains to the Sea – A Brief Overview of North Carolina (and Durham) Music”

Saturday, April 12, 2025 • 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Main Library (300 N. Roxboro St) (Main Auditorium)

Join us for this special Library Fest event where we'll trace some of the currents of North Carolina’s incredibly influential music history, which includes key contributions to the evolution of jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, rock and...

Ages: Adult, Emerging Adult: 18-24 Year Olds, High School, Intergenerational, Senior Citizen

Registration required

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Play time. Bestselling authors at your fingertips; just hit play! Covers of "Solito" by Javier Zamora, "The Poet X" by Elizabeth Acevedo, "Yellowface" by R. F. Kuang, "Maybe You Should Talk To Someone" by Lori Gottlieb, "Everything I Learned about Racism I Learned in School" by Tiffany Jewell, and "Mother-Daughter Murder Night" by Nina Simon.

Get in touch!

Humanities Coordinator Celeste Holtzmann.

Celeste

Email: choltzmann@dconc.gov

Celeste is a North Carolina native from the small town of Ridgeway. A winding road of customer service jobs and volunteer opportunities fed her passion for serving community and the various members of it. A graduate of UNC Asheville (BA) focusing in the art of printmaking and from NCCU (MLS) focusing in public libraries, she is thrilled to now take on the role of Humanities Coordinator for the exceptional community of the Durham County Library system. If you could only know one thing about her, she’d want you to know that she wants to HEAR FROM YOU! The humanities and libraries share the common thread of community and sharing voices, so please share yours! There may not be enough days in the year to do it all, but your ideas, interests, and suggestions matter!

More about Celeste >

Pronouns: she/her