The Free Library’s Borrowers’ Ball brings readers and writers together in Philadelphia

    Brought to you by Freemans Auctioneers, The Circuit, with Caroline Stewart, takes you the Free Library for its annual Borrowers’ Ball. Become a regular of our new blog to keep up with the hottest philanthropic events.

    Bright lights, bright colors, and bright spheres were the theme of the Free Library’s Borrowers’ Ball, held Dec.1 at the Free Library.

    Guests entered the library on a neon citron carpet lit with enormous, multi-colored spheres and bubbles. They walked up the grand staircase, which was bathed in blue light, to the cocktail reception on the second floor in the Art and Literature Department, brightly lit in hot pink.

    Dinner, prepared by Brulee Catering, was served downstairs in the Main Lobby, which was aglow in bright green, and in Philbrick Hall, awash in shades of orange. During dinner, guests enjoyed a lively performance by three violinists, two of whom are members of Time for Three, accompanied by musicians on bass, drums, and keyboard.

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    Claudia and Richard Balderston, Bennett Lomax, Susan G. Smith, Barbara and Fred Sutherland, and Lyn and Ed Tettemer cochaired the fundraiser. Among the 375 guests were 27 writers, including Jami Attenberg, Solomon Jones, Ken Kalfus, Inga Saffron, architecture critic at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Tony Auth.

    The evening ended with a lavish dessert buffet on the second floor and dancing to the music of DJ Dramatic. Guests were joined by members of the Raven Society, the library’s young donor group.

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