New location for Baby Grand Jazz!

First concert will be held this Sunday


Hartford Public Library's popular Baby Grand Jazz series will be held at Center Church (60 Gold St.) as scheduled, every Sunday at 3 p.m. from January 8th through April 23rd. The final performance on April 30th will take place at another location to be announced. The adjustments were made after the temporary closure of the Downtown Library due to water damage.


Seating will be first come, first seated, starting at 2 p.m. each Sunday. No registration is required. Concerts will continue to be streamed on Hartford Public Library's Facebook page and YouTube channel.


Parking: Street parking is available and free on weekends. Parking in the Hartford Parking Authority lot behind the Downtown Library is still available, a short walk away from Center Church. Find more information on directions to Center Church HERE.


Accessibility: The Center Church Meeting House is accessible to all. A wheelchair lift is located on the south side of the portico of the Meeting House (accessed via a ramp in the Memorial Garden – we recommend calling our performance coordinator, Jana, at 860-881-5646, when you arrive). Find more information about accessibility at Center Church HERE.


We look forward to seeing you on Sundays and thank Center Church for accommodating our concert series!


This week's concert will feature the AA Team, the duo of Puerto Rican-born master Latin percussionist Anthony Carrillo and New York-based pianist and midwestern import Amy Quint-Millan. Learn more HERE.

Update on the Downtown Library

Hartford Public Library's Downtown Library at 500 Main St. suffered significant water damage after a pipe burst over the Christmas holiday weekend and remains closed. Check out our FAQ document that will be regularly be updated with the latest information.

We're expanding hours at our branches

While the Downtown Library is closed we have redeployed staff to expand hours at our branch locations. Branches will operate on the schedule below beginning Tuesday, January 3rd:

 

Albany Library

1250 Albany Ave.

Monday-Thursday: 9 am - 6 pm,

Friday: 9 am - 5 pm

Saturday: 9 am - 5 pm

 

Barbour Library

261 Barbour St.

Monday-Thursday: 9 am - 6 pm

Friday: 9 am - 5 pm


Camp Field Library

30 Campfield Ave.

Monday-Thursday: 9 am - 6 pm

Friday: 9 am - 5 pm


Dwight Library

7 New Park Ave.

Monday-Thursday: 9 am - 6 pm

Friday: 9 am - 5 pm


Park Street Library @ the Lyric

603 Park St.

Monday-Thursday: 9 am - 6 pm

Friday: 9 am - 5 pm

Saturday: 9 am - 5 pm

Sunday: 1-5 pm


The Boundless Library @ Rawson (260 Holcomb St.) will reopen for public service on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons beginning in mid-January.

Best of 2022 titles

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Gabrielle Zevin

New York Times Best Seller 

A Jimmy Fallon Book Club Pick


A mesmerizing and unforgettable novel where the gaming world is a back drop for love, work and friendship.


"Delightful and absorbing. ... Expansive and entertaining.” The New York Times


"It's a big, beautifully written novel about an underexplored topic, that succeeds in being both serious art and immersive entertainment." — NPR’s Fresh Air

Killers of a Certain Age

Deanna Raybourn

Instant New York Times Bestseller


An action-packed thriller about female assassins that are passed their prime — or are they?


"This Golden Girls meets James Bond thriller is a journey you want to be part of.” Buzzfeed


“A singular suspense story … it’s impossible not to root for these dangerous dames” The Washington Post

Three Kings' Day

Andy Hart photo

Celebrate with us


Join us for arts and crafts with Ms. Nancy, food provided by our friends at Angel of Edgewood and a musical performance with Movimiento Cultural, where they'll be teaching about Puerto Rico's rich African-based folklore, music, dance and other art forms, especially the Bomba.


Friday, January 6th

Park Street Library @ the Lyric

603 Park St.

Festivities begin at 1 pm

Musical performance with Movimiento Cultural at 3 pm

We love that basketball

Sweet Georgia Brown!


Students in our Comp TIA A+ class at The American Place recently enjoyed a Harlem Globetrotters game at the XL Center in Hartford. The event allowed students to create meaningful holiday connections and memories as they work toward building a life of self-sufficiency as young adults. Many students had never heard of the Harlem Globetrotters and did not know what to expect. They were all entertained by the athleticism, comedy and theater of the evening.



Learn more about the important work the American Place HERE.

Winter crafts

Craft & Create (all ages)

Wednesday, January 4th: 4-5 pm

Barbour Library

261 Barbour St.

Join Ms. Fe and make a snowstorm in a jar.


Winter Cookie Decorating (all ages)

Thursday, January 5th: 2-3 pm

Camp Field Library

30 Campfield Ave.

Join Ms. Karina and learn how to decorate special winter cookies.

 

Welcome New Year (ages 6-12)

Tuesday, January 10th: 4-5 pm

Dwight Library

7 New Park Ave.

Make a collage of pictures and words to describe how you would make the new year different from this year.

African American Literature Book Club: January

We Are Not Like Them

Christine Pride & Jo Piazza

Good Morning America Book Club Pick

Named a Best Book Pick of 2021 by Harper’s Bazaar and Real Simple


Told from alternating perspectives, this novel follows two women, one Black and one white, whose friendship is indelibly altered by a tragic event.


“[An] emotional literary rollercoaster.” The Washington Post


Join a Zoom discussion

January 24th,

Register HERE


Learn more about our African American Literature Book Club HERE.

New year, new you

Stop by the Albany Library to write your own new year's resolutions and add them to our bulletin board


Friday, January 6

3:30-4:30pm

Albany Branch

250 Albany Ave


“The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written.”

Melody Beattie

We're hiring!

Start the new year with a new career!


Join a fantastic group of people making a difference in our community. Check out our many opportunities in a variety of departments HERE.


“And what is love, in the end?" Alabaster said. "Except the irrational desire to put evolutionary competitiveness aside in order to ease someone else's journey through life?”

― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow



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