Floating Library (2014) was a temporary autonomous zone aboard the Lilac Museum Steamship berthed at Pier 25 on the Hudson River in New York City for the month of September 2014.

Set under open skies for fearless dreaming, the main deck became a reading lounge with shelves and seating made from pallets. Art installations, books, artist publications, and manifestoes were on view. During the month, over seventy volunteers, artists, visionaries and 4,000 visitors convened around performances, roundtables and workshops that shone a spotlight on reclaiming public space, maker culture, environmental concerns, and community engagement.

The Floating Library’s free public programming encouraged horizontal exchange. Highlight events include bookmaking with Center for Book Arts and Small Editions, DIY modular furniture building, conversations on food transportation on the Hudson with Heritage Radio Network, office hours with United States Department of Art and Culture, a Sensory Walk with the Movement Party, poetry reading with Ugly Duckling Presse, and “We All Live Downstream,” a participatory voyage initiated by Mare Liberum  and  350.org that disembarked onboard after three-weeks traveling down the Hudson on paper boats that networked climate change activists.