Devoted fans of “Sesame Street” may remember an episode in 1978, the show’s ninth season, when Big Bird got a library card, followed by several more episodes devoted to finding and reading library books. Other characters have spent time at the library over the years as well. At the New York Public Library, the efforts made by the show’s writers, producers and Muppet stars to help children think of libraries as fun places to visit have not gone unnoticed. So when “Sesame Street” begins its 45th season in September, the library will give it a party, with some help from Sesame Workshop, in the form of an exhibition, “‘Somebody Come and Play’: 45 Years of Learning on ‘Sesame Street’.”
Part of the exhibition, which will open at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, at Lincoln Center, on Sept. 18, will be a backstage look at how the show is created. Storyboards, scene designs, photographs, animation cels and musical scores from the show’s archives will be on display, as will Muppet characters like Snuffy and Super Grover. For children too young to make much of the production materials, the exhibition will include an area with “Sesame Street” books, games, apps and e-books. Screenings and public programs about writing scripts, puppeteering and other aspects of the show are also planned. The exhibition will run through Jan. 31, 2015.