Special Collections presents a sample of ephemera from days gone by, for example the “elusive file,” used by reference staff to keep track of answers to questions, like what the latitude and longitude are for Brookline. For all that’s changed, we are very much still the same: The library staff is here to help patrons find items and information; solve thorny problems technical or otherwise; and as always offer reading recommendations. This exhibit is located next to the DVDs on the first floor.
Heart to Heart: A Lively Discussion
The work in this exhibit from the Gateway Arts community forms a conversation about individuality and strength. Each artist represented shows their unique approach to composition, color, and dialogue. The exhibit also suggests the lively discussion fostered by a community working together with diversity, harmony, and respect.
Gateway Arts is a Brookline-based studio art center, gallery, and store supporting meaningful lives and careers in art for adults with disabilities. It has nurtured the creative talents of artists with diverse diagnoses, strengths, and needs since 1973.
Painting by Farah Faustin: “Boston Dunkin Coffee Happy,” 2022
Alessio’s Toy Animals and Emma’s Assorted Owl Collection
Check out the collections on display in the Children’s Room!
In our flat case, Alessio shares his toy animal collection. His favorite is the bright and colorful dragon. How many different animals can you find?
In our wall case, Emma shares her collection of assorted owls. Emma’s collection includes stuffed animal owls and an owl-shaped basket!
Emma and Alessio are 8 year-old twins who go to Lincoln School. They hope you enjoy their collections!
Stop by the Brookline Village Children’s Room to see these amazing collections! And sign up for a slot in our display cases here!
Conflicting Voices of Liberty and Slavery 1765-1795
Each year the Town of Brookline celebrates the life and ideals of Martin Luther King, Jr., at a special program on MLK Day at the Coolidge Corner Theater. This display spotlights three components of the 2023 celebration:
- Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson discusses the key themes of his new book, American Inheritance: Liberty and Slavery in the Birth of a Nation, 1765-1795.
- Joyful Voices of Inspiration, the premier black gospel group in Metro Boston, sings Lift Every Voice and Sing, “The Black National Anthem.”
- Mumbet (also known as Elizabeth Freeman) was the first enslaved African American to file and win a freedom suit in Massachusetts, helping set a precedent that led to the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts in 1783.
Community members are invited to the Town of Brookline’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Day Celebration:
Conflicting Voices of Liberty and Slavery 1765 – 1795
Coolidge Corner Theater – MLK Day, January 16, at 3:00 PM
The program is free, but tickets are required in advance at Coolidge.org/MLK.
For additional information, please visit the Town of Brookline website.
Babies, Get Your Library Cards!
The Library is happy to announce that we will no longer require children to be three years-old to sign up for a library card. Children ages birth to twelve can now sign up for a card with their parent or legal guardian present. Parents/guardians should be prepared to show their own ID and a proof of address.
Tweens and teens ages thirteen to seventeen can sign up without their parent or guardian present if they can show their student ID and a proof of address.
Are you ready to get your library card? Read more about the requirements for a library card and register for a temporary card online today!
Hirona’s Junior Ranger Badge Collection and Leela’s Art Projects
Check out the collections on display in the Children’s Room!
In our flat case, Hirona shares her collection of Junior Ranger Badges. Hirona is in the 2nd grade at Lawrence School. She loves to visit National Parks!
In our wall case, Leela shares her assorted art projects. Leela is 5 years old, and her collection includes art made of clay and pipe cleaners, as well as drawings!
Stop by the Brookline Village Children’s Room to see these amazing collections! And sign up for a slot in our display cases here!
Register for 2023 Kids Clubs Starting December 19
Registration opens Monday, December 19 at 6 PM for our Winter 2023 Kids Clubs! These clubs will run from January through March 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.
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 January 17. Each book club meeting includes a discussion of the book and an activity. This program is now full you may register for the waitlist on Eventbrite.
- Leapfrogs: 3rd and 4th Grade Book Club meets every other Tuesday from 3:45 to 4:30 PM starting on January 17. Each book club meeting includes a discussion of the book and an activity. Register on Eventbrite
- 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 January 10. Each book club includes a discussion of the book, a chance to share mini comics, and an activity. Register on Eventbrite.
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 January 10. Over the course of 5 weeks we’ll test multiple role playing games ranging from sock puppets and superheros to bears, cats, and dinosaurs. This program is now full, register for the waitlist 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 will 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.
Fine Art by Scyrus
My name is Scyrus (pronounced “Cyrus”). I grew up on a farm owned by my family located in Monroe County with the nearest town being, Holy Grove, Arkansas. My father was a farmer and my mother was an elementary, home economics school teacher. The beauty of nature, streams, forest, wild animals, domesticated animals, crops, vegetables, flowers, farm still life, education, town and city still life, worship and family members were the visual portraits that I saw every day.
I attended Philander Smith College, in Little Rock, Arkansas, with a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion and became a minister. I did not take art, but I did take some music lessons. I became interested in art as a hobby in my old age and in retirement. Now, it is my professional interest. I am self-taught, but I have taken workshops in person and online with other professional artists who have assisted me in developing my skills.
I have a deep interest in art, which is inspired by a love of nature and the things that surround us. Through my drawings and paintings, I am able to express and share what is important to me and to others in everyday life. I mainly do this in the realism art style, but my surreal and abstract art also accomplishes this.
I work mainly in Soft Pastels, but a substantial amount of my work is in Colored Pencil, Watercolor & Watercolored Pencil, Graphite, Charcoal, and Mixed Media, which includes Acrylics and Oils.
December 18, 2022: Alicia Elkort
Alicia Elkort is a poet, writer, and Life Coach. Her poems have been nominated thrice for the Pushcart, twice for Best of the Net, and once for the Orisons Anthology. Her first book, A Map of Every Undoing, was published by Stillhouse Press in October (2022), and her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. She lives under the New Mexican sky where each day she is renewed by the still-life of blue and cloud. For more info or to watch her two video poems: Alicia Elkort Poet
December 18, 2022: Jenn Givhan
Jenn Givhan is a Mexican-American and indigenous poet, novelist, and transformational coach from the Southwestern desert and the recipient of poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and PEN/Rosenthal Emerging Voices. Jenn is the author of five full-length poetry collections, most recently Belly to the Brutal (Wesleyan University Press), and the novels Trinity Sight, Jubilee, and River Woman, River Demon (Blackstone Press). Her work has appeared in The New Republic, The Nation, POETRY, and many others. Follow her at jennifergivhan.com.
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