Hartford Public Library is launching two book clubs wrestling with the topics of anti-racism and social justice.

The first, called The Awakening Book Club, will start on August 13 at 6 pm. The club is targeted for young adults ages 13 to 25. Click here to sign up: bit.ly/TheAwakeningBookClub

The club hopes to create a safe and open space for young adults to connect around a good book. The biweekly discussion series will center on a book of the month that prompts much needed conversation about past and present racial injustices. 

Hartford Public Library has also been named a chapter of Noname's Book Club, an online/irl community dedicated to uplifting the voices of people of color. They do this by highlighting two books each month written by authors of color. From cult classics to the words of emergent authors, Noname’s Book Club highlights books that speak on human conditions in critical and original ways.
With the primary elections taking place August 11 and the November elections just around the corner, correct voting information is critical.

HPL has put together a list of everything you need to know to be ready to vote. Links to online registration, information about who is on the ballot and who already serves in national and local government, and more are available on our website.

Hartford Public Library’s Downtown Library will be closed Monday, August 11. Staff will still be available by phone 860-695-6300 or by email to answer your questions.

The library will be used as a polling place for the presidential primary election held that day.

We will reopen for regular service, including contact-free pickup, on Friday, August 12.

Mike Riley
Mike Riley believes that yoga is an answer to the anxiousness and anxiety that pervades the modern world. “The answers are there and the need is there,” he said.


Big Library Read connects readers around the world with the same book at the same time without any waitlists or holds. Borrow The Darwin Affair to join the book club. Please note: The Darwin Affair contains mature content.

Big Library Read is running August 3 - 17. Check out our bonus materials:
1935-2013 
Housing and Tenants Rights Advocate
1923-2014
Athlete, School Administrator, Coach, Mentor
Athlete, Civil Rights Activist, Small Business Advocate, Radio Station President, Poet
“It wasn't that time stopped in the library. It was as if it were captured, collected here, and in all libraries -- and not only my time, my life, but all human time as well. In the library, time is dammed up--not just stopped but saved.”
― Susan Orlean, The Library Book