Library Events

Please join us on Sunday, June 25, at 2 p.m. for the next meeting of Books-to-Action, a social justice book club for kids and families. We'll be reading and discussing books focused on LGBTQ rights in celebration of June as LGBTQ Month. Our program is best for children ages 5 up because of the length and themes of the books we'll be reading, but younger children are welcome. No registration required.


 

Join us on Saturday, July 8 at 2 p.m. in the Takoma Park Community Center auditorium when award-winning local musician Marsha Goodman-Wood and her band present a free family concert! Marsha is known for her ability to create kids' songs that teach science concepts in a fun way as shown on her CD, Gravity Vacation. No registration or tickets are required for this free event, sponsored by the Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library. Sponsored by Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library.

The Friends Book Group will read and discuss March, the award-winning, three-part graphic memoir about the life of Congressman John Lewis on Wednesday, July 19 at 7:30 in the Hydrangea Room of the Community Center.

Written by Lewis and Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Johnson, the March trilogy recalls Lewis’s early days as an activist and leader in the Civil Rights movement. The pivotal event that opens and closes the series is the Selma, AL march on March 7, 1965, which became known as Bloody Sunday.

Julian Lucas, writing in a New York Times book review describes March as “a galvanizing account of his [Lewis’s] coming-of-age in the movement, it’s a capsule lesson in courage of conscience, a story that inspires without moralizing or simplifying in hindsight.”

Copies of all three books in the March trilogy are currently available for checkout at the library.
  Sponsored by Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library.

Join author Veronica Bartles on Saturday, July 29 at 2 p.m. as she reads her new picture book, The Princess & the Frogs, and then leads a fun craft based on the book. In the book, Princess Cassandra is desperate for a friend but decides a pet frog will have to do. When she kisses the frog in excitement, however, it turns into a prince who wants to marry her -- something which doesn't interest this particular princess. In its review, Kirkus called the book a "refreshing princess book that puts kissing in its place and rejoices in childhood idylls." Copies of Bartles' book will be available for sale, but this event is free and no registration or purchase is required to attend.


 

Join us on Tuesday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m. for the launch of the newest book by award-winning graphic novelist Gareth Hinds. Known for his graphic novel adaptations of Shakespeare plays, Beowulf, and The Odyssey, Hinds this time tackles Edgar Allen Poe in Poe: Stories and Poems. Hinds has won critical praise for his previous books, with reviewers noting his fine line and expert use of color, shadow and perspective in bringing the emotions of a story to the fore. Politics & Prose will be selling copies of Hinds' books, but our event is free and no purchase or registration is required to attend. Note: our event is best for teens and adults because of the gothic horror nature of Poe's stories, amplified by Hinds' illustrations.
 

Join us on Thursday, August 10 at 7 p.m. for a free special concert by the Alphabet Rockers in the Takoma Park Community Center auditorium. At their shows, high-energy duo Kaitlyn McGaw and Tommy Shepherd Jr. combine hip hop with social justice themes to create unforgettable music for young children and their grown-ups. The San Francisco Chronicle has said of the duo: "Alphabet Rockers tackle issues of race and diversity while inspiring a love of hip hop." Normally based in San Francisco, the Alphabet Rockers are touring in the East for a couple of weeks in August, and we were lucky to book them in Takoma Park! No registration or tickets required for this free event.

Sponsored by Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library.