Raffle Contest Winner!

Check her out. Congratulations to Nicole Amaro for participating in our HPL App contest in December. Thank you for downloading and engaging with our new phone app. 

Haven’t downloaded it yet? It’s now available on Android and Apple devices!

Upcoming Highlights

Thursday, January 22:

Create a photo collage. Register HERE.

Camp Field Library | 30 Campfield Avenue | 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Create your 2026 vision board. Register HERE.

Downtown Library, Café | 500 Main Street | 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Meet us with the Astronomical Society of Greater on the patio for some winter stargazing and learn about the night sky. Register HERE.

Downtown Library, Patio | 500 Main Street | 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, January 24:

It's sew simple. Learn how to sew at a beginner's pace. No experience required. Register HERE.

Albany Library | 1250 Albany Avenue | 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 28:

Celebrate Hot Tea Month with a relaxing wellness workshop, where you can sample different blends of tea. Register HERE.

Downtown Library, Café | 500 Main Street | 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

For more fun, engaging programming and events, click the buttons below!

Baby Grand Jazz



Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Digba Ogunbiyi began playing drums at his local church before studying at the Peter King College of Music and the Music Society of Nigeria. Active in the Nigerian music scene, he has performed with artists including Lagbaja, Etuk Ubong, and The Cavemen, and has also played at the Lagos Jazz Series and the Abuja International Jazz Festival. 

Can’t make it in person? Watch the live stream on HPL's YouTube, HPL’s Facebook, or on HPATV.

Sunday, January 18 | 3:00 p.m.

Doors open at 2:00 p.m.

Downtown Library

Center for Contemporary Culture (CCC)

500 Main Street

Thank you to our 2026 presenting sponsor, The Kaman Foundation, for their generous support, and to our longtime partners, The Hartford Jazz Society and WWUH 91.3 FM, for helping us bring incredible music to the community every week.

Book Recommendations

Thornhedge

T. Kingfisher 

Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novella

"The way Thornhedge turns all the fairy tales inside out is a sharp-edged delight."

—Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor

Find it HERE in our catalog

The Chosen and The Beautiful

Nghi Vo

An Instant National Bestseller

"A vibrant and queer reinvention of F. Scott Fitzgerald's jazz age classic. . . I was captivated from the first sentence."

—NPR 

Find it HERE in our catalog

"There was a heat to her that put the day to shame, as if she were burning up with fever from within."

—Nghi Vo, The Chosen and The Beautiful

The Results Are in

Did you like the new look for our book recommendations?

35% - Yes, I rarely read the reviews

65% - No, please revert back to the original and include reviews

Author Talk

You're invited to an evening with Suzanne Hopgood, longtime Hartford resident and former HPL Board member. Suzanne will be in conversation with Chion Wolf, Host of Audacious on WNPR, celebrating Suzanne's new book, Get Your Own Coffee: Underestimated, Overlooked and Now the Boss.

Tuesday, February 10 | 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Snow date: Thursday, February 12

Downtown Library

Café

500 Main Street

For more information, contact Jessica Dolan, HPL's Assistant Director of Development, at jdolan@hplct.org or (860) 695-6325.

A Chance To Get Creative!

HPL's The American Place has teamed up with Hartford Film Company to offer you a chance to win a cash prize. All you have to do is create a video and post it on social media about smart money habits.

To learn more about the contest, including the rules and regulations. Click HERE.

Check out THIS example video to get started.

Join Our Friends

The Bushnell is presenting Broadway's SUFFS from Wednesday, January 27, to Sunday, February 1.

ABOUT THE SHOW

SUFFS is about the brilliant, passionate, and funny American women who fought tirelessly for the right to vote. Created by Shaina Taub, the first woman to ever independently win Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score in the same season, this “thrilling, inspiring and dazzlingly entertaining” (Variety) new musical boldly explores the triumphs and failures of a struggle for equality that’s far from over. Winner of the Outer Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Musical. 

Resources & Services

Warming Centers: 

All HPL locations are welcoming warming centers during the winter months. Stop by to read, relax, and enjoy everything the Library has to offer. Click HERE for hours and locations.

Fight Hunger: 

Facing food insecurity? Here's help:

• Text "211Food" to 898211
• Enter your zip code when prompted
• Identify an open food pantry near you
• For more information, click HERE.

Free Medical Rides: 

HPL + Bus or Car Rides = FREE rides to medical appointments for Hartford residents 18+. Contact us or have your provider contact us to schedule transportation to your next verified medical appointment. Please call: (860) 840-1264.

Your support makes a difference.