Discussing HPL's YOUMedia Center and its Role in the Community
HPL Goes Beyond Words: Eli Williams

Eli Williams of Soundboardz productions in the Library’s YOUmedia center talks about what the Library means to him and to the other teens that create music. Eli is featured in the video, created by Pita Group for HPL’s Beyond Words event.

News
On the Artwalk in January:
Shadow Castings
January 13-February 26
Downtown Library, 3rd Floor

Christine Dalenta and Benjamin Parker, photographer and paper sculptor, practice a unique combination of paper folding and photographic techniques. Their process results in cameraless images, created through the action of light on folded light-sensitive paper.         

Dalenta and Parker’s project was prompted by the acquisition of a vintage photographic paper designed to fold without cracking. Dalenta and Parker folded this light-sensitive paper in the darkroom, exposed it, and processed it through standard photographic chemistry. The resulting prints complicate the differentiation between image and object, as the paper itself has modulated the light.              

Photographic paper is, for the most part, seen as functionally transparent. In the work of Dalenta and Parker, however, the material nature of the paper is celebrated and bound to the image it holds.
  Kwanzaa Celebration:
Weave a Mkeka
Saniya Ashley-Keller holds a Kwanzaa Mkeka Mat that she made at the Albany Branch. The Mkeka is one of the seven symbols of Kwanzaa and acts as a strong foundation. Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26 through January 1 and honors African heritage.

The workshop was conducted by Youth Services Librarian Kara Morse. Join us to make your own at one of our upcoming events:

Goodwin - Wednesday, December 28, 2-3 pm
Downtown
- Wednesday, December 28, 3-4 pm
Barbour - Friday, December 30, 3:30-4:30 pm
Support HPL in the Giving Season
Hartford Public Library is a place for learning, a place for transforming communities, a place for the arts -- a place like no other.

Please consider a gift in support of our ongoing work in the Hartford community during the holiday season.

Click here to support HPL
Holiday Closings
Hartford Public Library will be closed on the following days in December and January:

Saturday, December 24
Sunday, December 25
Monday, December 26
Sunday, January 1
Monday, January 2
Monday, January 16

Note: Mark Twain Branch at Hartford Public High School is closed for school vacation Monday, December 26 through Friday, December 30.  

Click here for HPL's full 2016-17 Holiday/Closing Schedule
Baby Grand Jazz 2017
The James Weidman Apertuistic Trio opens the 14th Annual Baby Grand Jazz Series, sponsored by The Charles H. Kaman Charitable Foundation. The 16-concert series opens January 8 and runs through April 30. The free, hour-long concerts are held Sundays, 3 pm, in the Center for Contemporary Culture on the main floor of the Downtown Library at 500 Main St. The concerts are presented in partnership with the Hartford Jazz Society and WWUH 91.3 FM.

Click here to learn more
Last Call for Artists:
Draw a Hartford History Maker
Portraits due by December 31, 2016
On display February 1-February 28, 2017

Last year, our project So Much More Than a Month highlighted the lives of African-Americans who made a difference in our community. This year, we’re asking volunteers to create portraits of black visionaries and changemakers in our city.

Those interested in volunteering can email kgrant@hplct.org to be assigned a name. The Hartford History Center will provide an image and information as a reference. You may work in any medium or size you'd like.

Prints will be exhibited in the Hartford History Center and posted on Facebook in February.

Programs
School Vacation Activities
at Hartford Public Library
Looking for activities for your family while schools are on break next week? Look no further than your local branch. Here's a sampling of programs for youth and teens over the next few days:

Tuesday: Dynamic Figure Drawing 
4-7pm (Downtown)
Wednesday: 
Paint Like Pollock - 12-1 pm;
Paint a Winter Scene - 1-2 pm (Albany)

Thursday: Paper Shapers Origami
4-5 pm (Dwight)

Friday: Weave a Mkeka
3:30-4:30 pm (Barbour)

Saturday: Playstation 4 Tournament
12-4 pm (Downtown)

 YouMedia (Teen) Calendar | Youth Calendar

Kwanzaa Festival 2016

Downtown Library
Thursday, December 29, 12-5 pm

Join special guests including RaPoet Khaiim Kelly, artist Jackie Bright, and master drummer Inara Ramin, as we celebrate Kwanzaa. Sankofa Kuumba Cultural Arts Consortium will talk about the seven principles of African Heritage. There will be an open mic, traditional drumming and dance, African jewelry, a soul food dinner for families to enjoy, and more.

Please call 860-695-6330 for more information.
Celebrate First Night With Caravan Puppets
Saturday, December 31, 12-1 pm
Downtown Library Children's Department

Join us in celebration of First Night in Hartford. Caravan Puppets will put on The Season of Lights, a performance celebrating the winter holidays with tales of wonder and light. All kids who attend will receive a free book and a pair of gloves, funded through a generous donation from Trinity Health New England.

UConn Writing Center at HPL
First Saturday of Each Month
Upcoming: January 7
Wallace Stevens Room  

Meet with students, graduate students and professors from UConn Hartford, to discuss your writing and receive feedback. Writing of all kinds and at all stages - planning, drafting or revising - is welcome. 

Visitors are met on a first-come, first-served basis for approximately one hour.

Read more
Honoring Art & Humanity: Ghanaian Artisans Showcase
Open through January 27
Cultural Corridor, 3rd Floor
Downtown Library

The artisans of Ghana create hand-carved furnishings and unusual  products for the international market  using traditional tools and employing centuries-old craftsmanship.    

Julius Aboagye, founder of the African Heritage Collection, has forged a partnership with the highly-skilled indigenous Ghanaian artisans, which provides financial support for the artisans’ families and helps to sustain their trade and the environment.
Hip Hop in Hartford: 1981-'91
On view through January 27
Hartford History Center, 3rd Floor
Downtown Library

Join us in viewing our archival exhibition, “Hip Hop in Hartford: 1981 – 1991,” which features photographs, newspaper articles, footage, and fliers from Hartford’s early Hip Hop community.

Click here for more information
Youth & Family Services
E-Resource of the Week: Explora
Explora is a computer interface for schools and public libraries that connects students with information in its data bases. Enter a search term and articles will appear. HPL has two editions, one for elementary school students, and one for middle and high school students.  

Book of the Week:
Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold
Newbery-honor winning poet Joyce Sidman has written beautiful poems about how animals survive the winter and what goes on under the snow. Perfect for this time of year!

Teen Services

Duct Tape Whatever

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4 pm
Downtown Library, 2nd floor

Come to YOUmedia for the twice-weekly Makerspace challenge. Duct tape whatever you want in December. Make phone cases, pencil pouches, and decorations.

Animefication

Thursdays 6-8 pm
Downtown Library, 2nd floor

Animefy yourself and your friends at YOUmedia.

DIY Lip Gloss

Dwight - December 27, 4-5 PM 

Make your own lip gloss using household items and use measuring tools to add ingredients!
Graphic Novel Studio

Blue Hills - December 27, 4:30-5:30 PM 

Learn techniques to create and illustrate your own graphic novel!
Adult Learning

U.S. Citizenship Classes

Cycles range from 12-to-14 weeks and repeat. Legal assistance with application completion and submission included.

Passport Services
You can apply for a passport at Hartford Public Library. Evening and Saturday hours. 

No appointment is needed and photos can be taken on-site.

Online Learning

Accessible through the library website in the Online Education & Research Section. All free with your library card. Log in with your card number and create a user name and password.

  • Learn a New Language: Learn or practice more than 100+ languages using the online learning program Transparent Language.
  • LearningExpress Library™: Build your academic skills in reading, writing, math, and science; prepare for standardized tests, college admissions tests, and professional licensing and certification.
  • Universal Class: Select from over 500 courses in a wide variety of subjects through a program called Universal Class. Learn a new hobby, improve your computer skills, or expand your job or career options. 
  • Career Online High School (COHS)Earn your high school diploma online, must be 24 or older.
 
Lawyer at Your Library
First Tuesday of Each Month, 11 am-1 pm
Upcoming: January 3
Downtown Library, The American Place

Meet privately with an attorney from Greater Hartford Legal Aid concerning questions about rights in the workplace, such as:
  • Unlawful discrimination, including race, sex, physical or mental disability.
  • Violations of laws concerning wages and overtime, family and medical leave, domestic violence leave..
  • Rights of certified or licensed workers (such as Certified Nurse Aides, bus drivers,).
  • Rights of former offenders such as rejection/firing from a job due to one’s criminal record.   
No appointment necessary. Visitors are seen on a first-come, first-served basis.
business-meeting-convo.jpg

American Job Center

Monday-Thursday, 10 am-8 pm
Fridays 10 am-5 pm  

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.

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