The Mercantile Library

Read with us this summer ❤️‍🔥📚

Summer Reading Challenge with The Mercantile Library
Read books, make friends, earn prizes!

Our Summer Reading Challenge is an opportunity to meet your fellow Mercantile members, and have some literary adventures along the way. We’ll be raffling off tickets to one of our always sold-out Signature Series lectures. You can get some personalized recommendations to load up your TBR. And there’ll be free T-shirts & tote bags. What could be better?

WHEN

June 1 through August 1

Join us at 6 p.m. June 8 for a Kick-off Party where you can meet other readers, get your book tracker, and ask our librarians for personalized recommendations
We’ll celebrate our summer of reading with a Wrap-up Party, 6 p.m. August 3!

HOW THE CHALLENGE WORKS

Keep track of every book you read June 1 through August 1

One book = one raffle ticket in our grand prize drawing
Select books, including Make Believe by Mac Barnett, our 2026 Innovation speaker, count for two raffle tickets

Grand prize is two tickets to the 2026 Memoir Lecture with Roxane Gay!

Questions? Email [email protected]

Ready to read with us? Sign up today link in bio!

Falcons can’t read, but they are the fastest animal on earth. And there is a pair that have nested on the 11th Story ledge of the Mercantile Library. Join us for a conversation with raptor experts and enthusiasts, all while viewing the Library’s resident peregrine falcon family.

Free & open to the public. Reservations requested https://www.mercantilelibrary.com/events/calendar/2026/06/04/library-falcons

Panelists:
Jeff Hays, Biologist, Raptor, Inc
David Orban, VP Animal Programs, Cincinnati Zoo
Cedric Rose, Collector, The Mercantile Library
Moderator: John Faherty, Warner Huguenin Executive Director, The Mercantile Library

The Library will be closed Saturday, May 23, through Monday, May 25, in observance of Memorial Day.

Breaking (Egg) Alert! We had our first peregrine falcon hatchling in the Mercantile Library's peregrine falcon nestbox on Mother's Day, with a second appearing this morning: https://www.youtube.com/live/qQ3P2q2N_h0?si=AuV1dZA06tq36gen

Mercantile Library 60 likes. "Mercantile Library peregrine falcon nestbox 2026"

Because sometimes the best things in life are free (with rsvp 😉) link in bio or visit mercantilelibrary.com

An inside look at the Supreme Court justice reshaping modern America.

Join us for an evening with Peter Canellos, prize-winning journalist and author of Revenge for the Sixties, the first major biography of Samuel Alito and the decades-long conservative legal movement that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. From Dobbs v. Jackson to the broader transformation of the Court, this conversation explores the people, politics, and personal history behind one of the most consequential shifts in American law.

Reception at 6 pm | Program at 6:30 pm
Free and open to the public | Registration required
https://www.mercantilelibrary.com/events/calendar/2026/05/07/revenge-for-the-sixties-an-evening-with-peter-canellos

Copies of Revenge for the Sixties will be available for sale and signing, courtesy of Joseph-Beth Cincinnati.

Stationery Club, led by library member, Eric Caoili, is a gathering for anyone who appreciates good pens, paper, planners, and handwritten notes

We’ll have plenty of stationery and other useful tools available—think markers, washi tapes, paper, glue, stickers, junk journaling ephemera, and organizational supplies—to help you plan, write, and work with intention. We will even have stamps and letter writing materials for those cards you've been meaning to send.

Feel free to bring along any of your own stationery as well, along with items you want to dust off and de-stash with the group. You will have opportunities to show and tell us about what you're working on, and to share stationery you're excited about!

RSVP Required
https://www.mercantilelibrary.com/events/calendar/2026/05/14/stationery-club

A Sunday rooted in color, creativity, and community.

Join Cincinnati & Mercantile Library Poet Laureate, Dick Hague, for A Reading of Color Poems

Poetry books will be available for purchase.

Attendees are invited to visit early for time to write, paint or think in the library indoor spaces and gardens. Please arrive between 10 -11am and RSVP at [email protected]. A tour of the current Feature Space exhibit, The Egg Was First will take place at 12:30 pm.
The Egg Was First is an exhibit featuring the artist, Aka Pereyma with work by her daughters Vaka Pereyma and Christina Pereyma.

In addition, it includes a collection of pysanky, the Ukrainian decorated
egg by many of Aka’s family members.

Come for the poems, stay for the space.

Iron Insights is the publishing debut of spoken word artist, poet, and speaker Laurent Che, offering a powerful collection of poetry that invites readers into a transformative journey grounded in perspective.

Each poem stands on its own while contributing to a larger message. Through reflections on emotional intelligence, self-worth, resilience, and personal philosophy, Laurent challenges us to reconsider how we see the world and reminds us that when perspective shifts, everything shifts.

Join us for an evening with the author
6 pm reception | 6:30 pm program
Free and open to the public. Registration required
https://www.mercantilelibrary.com/events/calendar/2026/04/21/iron-insights-an-evening-with-laurent-che

Copies of Iron Insights will be available for sale and signing

About the author
A Cincinnati native, Laurent Che is a renowned spoken word artist and inspirational speaker who has performed across the country and beyond. With a background in marketing and advertising, including work with Foot Locker and LinkedIn, he blends storytelling and strategy to amplify voices and ideas through his work. Through his business, Laurent Che Speaks, he continues to craft what he calls brand anthems, using poetry as a vehicle for impact and connection.

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.” — Ernest Hemingway

Don't miss Poet Laureate Office Hours with Richard Hague this Saturday at noon!