Weekly Updates from HPL

Special Notice

Reminder: All Hartford Public Library (HPL) locations will be closed today, Wednesday, December 24, and Thursday, December 25, in observance of Christmas. HPL will be open our regularly scheduled hours on Friday, December 26.

All HPL locations will close at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 31, and will be closed Thursday, January 1, in observance of New Year's. HPL will be open our regularly scheduled hours on Friday, January 2.

HPL’s Boundless Library @ Rawson will be closed for winter break from December 23 to January 6, and will reopen on Thursday, January 8, with regular schedule hours.

Happy Holidays!

Click HERE for hours and locations.

Something New

Minor Black Figures

Brandon Taylor

Booklist Editor's Choice for Adult Books 2025 | NPR Books We Love 2025 | Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year 2025

"Taylor is onto something rich and appealing—a story unafraid to foreground love and lust, and that treats emotional ambiguity as a starting point, not as the fuzzy ending common in literary fiction. A piercing, precise, and affecting tale of young love and high art."

—Kirkus Reviews

"There’s much to admire in this portrait of an artist in flux."

—Publishers Weekly

Find it HERE in our catalog

Never Saw Me Coming

Tanya Smith

Named Amazon's Editor's Pick

"Smith is deliriously entertaining company, keeping her foot on the gas all the way through. It’s a gripping real-life caper from a charismatic antihero."

—Publishers Weekly

"An action-packed chronicle of deceit, betrayal, and greed."

—Kirkus Reviews

Find it HERE in our catalog

Kwanzaa Celebration

Join us for a unique celebration of family, community, and culture at our annual Kwanzaa Festival! There will be music, art, refreshments, performances and more!

Registration is encouraged.

Saturday, December 27 | 12:00 - 4:30 p.m.

Downtown Library

Center for Contemporary Culture

500 Main Street

Warming Centers

All HPL locations are welcoming warming centers during the winter months. Please stop by to read, relax, and enjoy everything your library offers during its regularly scheduled hours.

Click HERE for hours and locations.

Holiday Crafts

The holidays don't have to be boring. Join us at the Library, we compiled a list of festive crafts, story times and more.

Get Crafty

Local Artist?

Have you produced an EP or full-length album? Do you live and regularly perform in the Hartford region? The Beat is looking for the next group of artists to join the collection!

Submit your music and join other Hartford artists on HPL's streaming platform. A paid, $250, opportunity for artists accepted into The Beat.

Deadline: December 31, 2025.

Learn More & Apply Here