Summer Learning Kicks Off June 10
Saturday, June 10, 12:30-3 pm
Downtown Library Terrace

Read. Go. Do.  These are the watchwords of summer learning for all ages.
Join us for the kickoff of Summer Learning. Activities include face painting and airbrush tattoos; a scavenger hunt in the library; free treats from Ice Cream for a Dream; a photo booth; Paws to Read; maker spaces in the Center for Contemporary Culture including Strawbees and buttons; signups for a year-long access membership to the Connecticut Science Center at reduced rates; and a concert by FriendZWorldMusic.
The City of Hartford is providing two balloon animal sculpture artists,
two caricature artists, stilt walkers and jugglers. Visitors can interact and learn about animals and reptiles presented by Curious Creatures. 
Participants of all ages can visit hplct.beanstack.org and create an account. That will make it easier to keep track of progress. 
Join us. We cap the summer with a trip to a Yard Goats Game on Aug. 31.
Let's have fun.
Information
Digitize Latino Family History
Día de la Digitalización: 
Latinos y Latinas de CT en La Primera Guerra Mundial 
Digitization Day: CT Latinos in WWI
sabado, el 10 de junio, 11h-16h
Saturday, June 10, 11 am - 4 pm
Hartford History Center, 3rd floor (Downtown)

Especialistas entrenados en digitalización y grabación digitalizarán objetos y fotografías y grabarán entrevistas de veteranos latinos/as residentes de Connecticut para la colección digital de la Biblioteca Estatal de Connecticut. Habrán asistentes que hablan español e ingles.

Trained digitization and recording specialists will digitize photographs, memorabilia, and record interviews of Connecticut-based Latino veterans for the digital collection of the Connecticut State Library. Spanish and English speakers will be available.
Information: http://hhc.hplct.org/world-war-i-and-america/
This program was made possible in part by the Connecticut State Library and a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.


En Tertulia
Estadidad, Independencia, o Colonia

Jorge Limeres
Tuesday, June 6, 6-7:30 pm
Park Branch, 744 Park St.
On June 11, Puerto Rico’s electorate will vote to bring “a solution” to the island’s colonial status. Join the discussion on the reality, the myth and consequences of this event.
El 11 de junio el electorado puertorriqueño ira a votar por “la solución” del estatus colonial de la Isla. Únase al dialogo sobre la realidad, el mito y las consecuencias de este evento.

Be Smarter About Art

Art Appreciation 101

Lauren Cross
Saturdays, 2-4 pm
June 24 through July 29
Downtown Library

Want to know more about art?  Lauren Cross, of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, will help you see art with a deeper understanding. Each of the six sessions includes a hands-on art-making lessons. All supplies will be provided.
The class includes walking field trips to observe some of  Hartford's artistic treasures.
Adults 55 and older, and Hartford residents are given priority for admission.
This Lifelong Learning class is supported by the Ensworth Charitable Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee.
Sign up by contacting Sarah Pelletier, 860-695-6320 or [email protected].
June Is Audio Book Month
Listen To Your Next Book
Hartford Public Library has many ways to listen to your favorites.  Check out books on CD. In stock is Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s “My Own Words,” a selection of her writings and speech, and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”. Coming soon is Jacqueline Woodson’s “Another Brooklyn,” Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me,” and  “The Inexplicable Universe” by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Or you can download the entire “Harry Potter” series as e-audio books on One Click Digital. See our download apps.

Gardening At Barbour
Community Growing Project
Barbour Branch, Tuesdays, Thursday, 3-6 pm
Families at the Barbour Branch turned out May 20 to plant seeds in the Mount Moriah Community Garden run by KNOX.
To prepare, Branch Manager Anwar Ahmad had youngsters read  The Greening Book: Being A Friend To Planet Earth in April, listen to E. Diann Cook talk about nutrition, and learn about the Earth through word games, recycling activities and writing.Students placed seeds in soil, and took pods home.  
Students and families were helped by Senita Brown when planting their gardens. The Barbour Gardening Group will continue reading about plants and tend the garden throughout the growing season.
Muncipal ID Program
Apply at the Library, City Hall
Hartford City ID is a new municipal photo identification card program available to all city residents. Applicants must provide proof of residency.  The cost is $10 for ages 17 and younger, and 65 and older; and $15 for adults 18 to 64.  Apply at Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St., Mondays and Wednesdays, 5 to 7 pm, and Saturdays, 11 am to 4 pm. The City's Office of Town & City Clerk in Room 104 at 550 Main St. is also accepting applications from 2 to 4 pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Strategic Planning
Talk To Us
Albany Branch, 1250 Albany Ave.
Thursday, June 15, 6-7:30 pm
Join Hartford Public Library’s CEO Bridget Quinn-Carey, Board President Greg Davis, and Andrea Comer, Board Member and Chair of Strategic Planning Committee, for a presentation and discussion about the library’s preliminary strategic planning report.  The presentation will introduce four different potential operating scenarios designed to ensure that HPL remains a vibrant and sustainable organization for the future. Your feedback and participation are a critical component of the Board’s strategic planning process.
Please RSVP by calling 860-695-6285 or email  [email protected]

ArtWalk 
Pablo Delano
Hartford Views
Exhibition Runs Through July 1
ArtWalk, Downtown, 3rd Floor
Pablo Delano, a painter-turned-photographer, documents the city of Hartford in flux. His large- format photographs focus on the built environment of this small metropolis. The photographs, spanning eight years, highlight the nuances and contradictions inherent in a city with a layered history, and record what has been lost over time. They are not sociological statements, despite their subject matter. Delano’s love of visual form, design, composition, and color elevate the images to works of art. 

Learn To Play Chess
DIG Chess Lessons

Downtown, YOUmedia, 2nd Floor
Thursdays, June 15, June 29, 6-8 pm
Albany Branch, Thursdays, June 1, 8, 22, 4-6 pm

DIG Chess tutors will help you learn. DIG (Determination, Integrity, Growth) was started in 2013 by Dan Pelletier, as a soccer coaching enterprise. The following year he started teaching his players chess, and last year he decided to teach others. 

Meet The Author
Author's Table 
Stephanie Queen
Beachcomber Investigations, Book 1
Saturday, June 3, Noon-3
Downtown, Main Floor

Ex-special ops legend Dane Blaise is desperate to recruit Shana George away from Scotland Yard to partner with him in his new venture, Beachcomber Investigations. But first they need to stop a sniper from killing Acer, Dane's old friend from the unit. 
In spite of their love/hate relationship, can Dane and Shana make their partnership work? Or will their volatility interfere and get Acer or one of them killed?
Stephanie Queen is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and once had a job as a Keebler Elf. She lives in New Hampshire.

Children's Book of the Week

Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans

Story by Phil Bildner; Illustrations by John Parra
Kirkus Reviews writes: “An almost-true story of a man who loved his job and did it well. In this colorful mélange of fact and fiction, Bildner tells the tale of Cornelius Washington, a sanitation worker who cleans the streets of the French Quarter of New Orleans and performs his job with flair. Hurricane Katrina changes all of that, leaving trash, death, and decay in its wake, “a gumbo of mush and mud.” After weeping for his city, Cornelius joins forces with his neighbors and the waves of people who come to New Orleans post-Katrina from all over to help make New Orleans sparkle once again. 
Children's Programs
Hartford Public Library offers programs for children and their families and caregivers from birth to middle school Downtown and in our branches. These include reading readiness, STEM activities, and nutrition information.

Teen Programs
YOUmedia, Branches
The Downtown Library offers YOUmedia, a space for visitors ages 13-19, to hang around, mess around, and geek out.  
Teen specific programs are also held in our branches.
Ongoing YOUmedia activities include 3D sculpting and and design, and anime character creation, Thursdays, 6-8 pm; anime character creation; and drawing on Mondays and Wednesday, 1 to 6 pm; and Open Mic Wednesdays, 6 -8 pm.
Or play tabletop games Tuesdays, 4:45-5:45 pm at Ropkins and try poetry workshops, 3 to 6 pm at Barbour.

Thank You For Your Support
We Love Your Help
The Hartford Public Library needs your support throughout the year. Please consider making a pledge or donation to help us continue to offer a place that cultivates opportunities, empowers and inspires individuals, and fuels a more prosperous future.
We thank the leaders of Aetna, Travelers, and The Hartford, for their generous support.

Adult Classes 
Immigrant Career Pathways 
Runs Through June 30
The American Place, 2nd Floor, Downtown
The Immigrant Career Pathways Program, sponsored by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, serves as a pipeline to jobs in the food service industry for English-language learners in the Hartford area. Eligible students may enroll for free in either one of two classes: the ESL and Food Service Training class or the ServSafe Manager Certification class. All classes are held in the morning. Information: 860-695-6292 or email [email protected]
Study For Your GED

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 9:30-11:30 am
Classes run through July 27
Barbour Branch, 261 Barbour St.

Take classes in writing and math to prepare you for the GED test. Open enrollment.
Register: 860-695-6349 or 860-695-7400.  
Classes at Mark Twain Branch
Adult Learning
Wednesdays, 6-7:30 pm
Runs through June 21
Mark Twain Branch, West Middle School
927 Asylum St.

Ongoing classes include: Spanish For Beginners, Wednesdays, 6-7:30 pm through June 21; Citizenship Test Prep Class, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-7:30 pm; and Read to Succeed, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, 2-7:45 pm, and Thursdays, 2-5 pm.
Information: 860-695-6316 and [email protected]
Legal Services
Lawyer At Your Library
First Tuesday of Each Month, 11 am-1 pm
Upcoming: June 6
Downtown Library, The American Place 

Meet privately with an attorney from Greater Hartford Legal Aid concerning questions about rights in the workplace. No appointment necessary. Topics include unlawful discrimination, wages and overtime, and rights of former offenders. Visitors are seen on a first-come, first-served basis. 
Passport Office
You can apply for a passport at Hartford Public Library. Hours are Monday though Thursday, 3:30 to 7 pm; Saturday, 10 am to 3 pm.  No appointment is needed and photos can be taken on site.

The Passport office is located on the second floor in The American Place.

American Job Center

Monday-Thursday, 10 am-6 pm
Fridays, 10 am-5 pm,
Main Floor, Downtown

 Looking for a job? Feeling a bit rusty on your interview skills or bewildered by all the new technology a successful job search demands? We can help! CTWorks Capital Workforce Partners and HPL Library have partnered to bring a CTWorks "American Job Center" to the Downtown Library.
Information

Catalog Options
Have you checked out our
mobile-friendly catalog?
Hartford Public Library | 860.695.6300 | hplct.org