Read, write, color, draw, and explore this summer with HPL right at your side. We have fun for everyone, birth to infinity! 


The summer adventure will have a virtual kick-off on Monday, June 29 at 1 pm. FriendZ World Music will help kick off a summer like no other with African drumming and dancing.

Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 1 pm an HPL youth librarian will offer an online program. Tuesdays will be storytimes, Wednesday will be a fun grab and go craft, and Thursdays will be a STEM experiment.

Each week the library will hold Zoom programs. Each week a registration link will be posted on the HPL website for our Monday - Friday Zoom programs.

All of the program information is available here or by contacting us at 860-695-6330.
LGBTQ Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. 

This month marks 50th anniversary of annual LGBTQ+ Pride traditions. The first Pride march in New York City was held on June 28, 1970 on the one-year anniversary of the  Stonewall Uprising . 

HPL staff has put together a guide to books, films, music, television, contemporary art, and podcasts about the LGBTQ+ experience.

Mayor Luke Bronin, HPL CEO and President Bridget Quinn-Carey, HPL board members and community members left their own imprint, signing a second floor support beam to commemorate a new phase of Park Library construction project.

Starting this week, the building will start to take shape. For the next six weeks the steel part of the structure will rise. Plans are for the project to be complete Spring 2021.

Free beginner-level Spanish classes will be available via Zoom Wednesday evenings from 6 to 8 pm,  July 8 to August 12, 2020. 

Native Spanish speaker, Adelaida Sarisely, is the instructor.
Register at [email protected]

Utilizing the innovative language-learning platform, Transparent Language Online learners will develop their oral/aural Spanish language communication skills both inside and outside their weekly instructor-guided sessions.  On their own time and at their own pace, students will also be able to do additional study as they gain new skills navigating the Transparent Language site’s wealth of resources and learning activities. 

In addition to contactless service offered at the Downtown Library, HPL's Library on Wheels is around town offering hold pick ups, a Wi-Fi hotspot, book giveaways, and information on the 2020 Census.

The Library on Wheels can be found at the following locations:
  • Mondays: 10 am to 3 pm, Wish School, 350 Barbour Street
  • Wednesdays: 9 am to 2 pm, Burr School, 400 Wethersfield Avenue
  • Fridays: 8 am to 1 pm, Free Center, 460 New Britain Avenue.

It’s hard for dancer, choreographer and performance artist Rosanna Karabetsos to talk about the Hartford artistic community without getting emotional.

Rosanna recently offered a hip-hop dance class for HPL's virtual programming.

"So many beautiful things have happen in this city because artists have stayed in Hartford,” she said.

“Libraries are a cornerstone of democracy—where information is free and equally available to everyone. People tend to take that for granted, and they don’t realize what is at stake when that is put at risk.” ―  Carla Hayden