During the months of March and April, colorful enameled jewelry by Toni Strassler will be on display at the Brookline Village Library. Using the ancient technique of cloisonné, Toni, a long-time Brookline resident, fires vitreous grains of enamel that are enclosed in fine gold or silver metal wires to produce pictorial images of scenes and other designs. After building up many layers, the images are polished and then placed into the handmade setting such as a brooch or pendant. Many pieces will be on exhibit along with an explanation of this challenging technique.
Spring Kids Club Registration Opens March 13
Registration opens Monday, March 13 at 6 PM for our Spring 2023 Kids Clubs! These clubs will run from April through June on Tuesdays afternoons. Please view event listings for specific dates. All clubs meet in the Rabbit Hole on the ground floor of the Brookline Village Library. Registration for all spring kids clubs is on Eventbrite
Book Clubs
We have three book clubs for kids grades 1-4. Please read each book club description carefully and be sure to register your child for the correct book club. At this time, book club registration is limited to one club per child.
- Pollywogs: 1st and 2nd Grade Book Club meets every other Tuesday from 3 to 3:30 PM starting on April 11. Each book club meeting includes a discussion of the book and an activity. THIS CLUB IS NOW FULL. You may join the waiting list on Eventbrite.
- Leapfrogs: 3rd and 4th Grade Book Club meets every other Tuesday from 3:45 to 4:30 PM starting on April 11. Each book club meeting includes a discussion of the book and an activity.
- Bullfrogs: Graphic Novel Book Club. This book club is open to all kids in 1st through 4th grade and meets every other Tuesday from 4:00 to 4:45 PM starting on April 4. Each book club includes a discussion of the book, a chance to share mini comics, and an activity.
Our Kids RPG club explores a variety of role playing game systems to encourage creativity and social emotional skills. This club is open to kids ages 5-9 and meets every other Tuesday from 3 to 3:45 PM starting on April 4. Over the course of 5 weeks we’ll test multiple role playing games ranging from sock puppets and superheroes to bears, cats, and dinosaurs. THIS CLUB IS NOW FULL. You may join the waiting list on Eventbrite.
Registering for one of our Kids Clubs indicates a commitment to regularly attend club meetings. Please do not register for one of our clubs if you know your child will miss more than one meeting. If your child misses a second club meeting, their spot may be given to the next person on the waiting list. We understand that illness and emergencies occur – if an absence due to unforeseen circumstances is communicated to staff, it will not be considered a no-show.
Infinite Gestures: A Printmaking Exploration of Visual Evolution
Local artist Joshua Brennan explores the idea of expansion and self-reference through printmaking. Beginning with a hand-made image, he experiments with different iterations, both digitally and on paper. The resulting prints reflect the ebb and flow of the creative process, celebrate the growth cycle through experimentation and transformation, and explore the possibilities of printmaking and gestural abstraction.
Brennan teaches printmaking at Boston University, where he is also the Technical Associate in Printmaking. He has given numerous demonstrations and workshops at schools and universities. Brennan’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including seven solo/two-person shows and over 40 group exhibitions. For more information, please visit his website.
Hannah’s Art Installation
Check out the collection on display in the Children’s Room!
In our wall case, Hannah shares their art installation. Hannah is in 4th grade at Lawrence School.
Here is an excerpt from Hannah’s artist statement: “The gray part symbolizes fear/unhappiness. The cat symbolizes hope/courage. This gray part is shattered, which symbolizes that you should focus on your hope and happiness. Thanks for reading!”
Stop by the Brookline Village Children’s Room to see this amazing collection! And sign up for a slot in our display cases here!
Poetry in Bloom
Together with our partners—Brookline Parks & Open Space and the Friends of the Minot Rose Garden—the Library presented Poetry in Bloom. From April 1 through August 31, 2023, this project brought poetry to a beloved community rose garden in a local park.
The Park
The Minot Rose Garden sits within Winthrop Square Park, at the intersection of Browne and St. Paul streets. It was created in 1971 and named for Henry W. Minot, a former Chair of Brookline’s Park and Recreation Commission. Neighborhood volunteers have been helping maintain the space since the 1980s. The group of volunteers, now known as the Friends of the Minot Rose Garden, worked with the Town to extensively restore the garden in 2004. Today, the garden features more than 70 rose varieties—from old-fashioned cabbage roses to the newest hybrid tea varieties—across 12 beds and a trellis. It is jointly maintained by the Friends and the Town, under the guidance of Master Rosarian David Cannistraro. To learn more about the Friends, please email minotroses@aol.com or visit their Facebook page.
The Poems
Five poems with a connection to roses were on display in the garden: “Roses” by George Eliot, “We Pulled a Rose in Summer Time” by Elizabeth Curtis Holman, “Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca” by José Martí, “Rosebush” by Valerie Worth, and “Vaseful of Wild Roses” by Jennifer Barber. The first three are in the public domain and can be found online. The latter two are used with kind permission from the authors or their publishers. Learn about each of the poets in these brief profiles.
Visiting
Winthrop Square Park is a ten-minute walk from the Coolidge Corner Library. Free street parking surrounds the park on Browne, Still, St. Paul, and Freeman streets. The nearest T stops are Kent Street and St. Paul Street, on the C branch of the Green Line.
Programs
The following programs were held in conjunction with Poetry in Bloom:
- Flower Arranging, February 28 & June 6 – Book recommendations from the instructor
- Silk Painting: Flower Magic, March 5 – Photos
- Easy Rose Gardening, April 1 – Photos
- Memorias y Poesías, June 27
June Mollov’s Icelandic Horses Display
June Mollov is a nine year old animal lover who rides Icelandic horses in Vermont. She has a two year old corgi named Brisket. June’s library display is about Icelandic horses and the evolution of the horse.
Simone’s Bunny Pirate Ship and Arbel’s Rock Collection
Check out the collections on display in the Children’s Room!
In our wall case, Simone shares her Bunny Pirate Ship installation. Simone is in 3rd grade at Lincoln School. Her Pirate Ship features origami bunnies and sea creatures surrounding the ship!
In our flat case, Arbel shares his rock collection. Arbel is 4 years old, and he likes rocks because they are pretty and remind him of the different places he’s been!
Stop by the Brookline Village Children’s Room to see these amazing collections! And sign up for a slot in our display cases here!
Kids February Vacation Week Programs
School is out and we’ve got exciting children’s programs at all three Public Library of Brookline locations. We hope you’ll join us to learn, create, and explore!
Tuesday, February 21
Join Joy from Joys of Nature to learn about Animals in Winter. How do mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and birds stay warm in New England? Find out and meet live animals. We’ll be holding this program at 3 PM and at 4 PM in Hunneman Hall at the Brookline Village Library. Free tickets are required and will be available at the Children’s Desk 30 minutes before each session. This program is intended for children ages 5-9.
Wednesday, February 22
Set sail on a journey into the wonderful world of Science with “Pirates Lost at Sea” by Talewise Science. You’ll be able to participate in interactive science experiments to help tell the story! This program will held in the Putterham Library Meeting Room at 2 PM.
Thursday, February 23
Move, groove, and sing-a-long with Folk Tunes and Story Songs featuring The New Grown-Ups at 10:30 AM in Hunneman Hall at the Brookline Village Library. This concert is a musical journey through roots music and folk songs for kids of all ages, but it may be most appropriate for kids ages 0-5. Free tickets are required for this program and will be available 30 minutes before the program at the Children’s Desk.
Try your hand at four different art styles as you learn about Black illustrators and the work they do. Kids Celebrate Black Artists from 3 to 4 PM in Hunneman Hall at the Brookline Village Library. This is a drop-in program where kids can make it to one, or all four, stations about different artists. This interactive program is for children ages 5-9.
Friday, February 24
Learn how to write and draw comics that will make readers laugh, think, or observe something interesting with comic artist Jonathon Todd in his workshop, Writing and Drawing Comic Strips and Gag Cartoons. This program will be held in the Coolidge Corner Library Meeting Room at 10:30 AM and is for kids in second through fourth grade and is limited to 20 participants.
April 16, 2023: Eugenia Leigh
Eugenia Leigh is a Korean American poet and the author of Bianca (Four Way Books, 2023) and Blood, Sparrows and Sparrows (Four Way Books, 2014), finalist for both the National Poetry Series and the Yale Series of Younger Poets. Her poems and essays have appeared in numerous publications including The Nation, Poetry, Ploughshares, Waxwing, and the Best of the Net anthology. The recipient of Poetry’s Bess Hokin Prize as well as fellowships and awards from Poets & Writers, Kundiman, and elsewhere, Eugenia received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and serves as a poetry editor at The Adroit Journal.
April 16, 2023: Martha Collins
Martha Collins’s eleventh volume of poetry is Casualty Reports (Pittsburgh, fall 2022); her tenth, Because What Else Could I Do (Pittsburgh, 2019), won the Poetry Society of America’s William Carlos Williams Award. Her previous books include three focusing on race and racism (Admit One: An American Scrapbook, White Papers, and Blue Front) and the paired volumes Night Unto Night and Day Unto Day. Her fifth collection of co-translated Vietnamese poetry, Dreaming the Mountain: Poems by Tue Sy, is due in May 2023. Collins founded the U.Mass. Boston creative writing program and later served as Pauline Delaney Professor of Creative Writing at Oberlin College. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her website is marthacollinspoet.com.
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