June 2019 -- Upcoming Events - Join Us!
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
See you at PVDFest  Ideas !
June 2 - 9, various locations

Proudly presented in partnership by the Providence Department of Arts, Culture + Tourism, Providence Public Library, Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, and Rhode Island Historical Society , PVDFest  Ideas!  2019 is part of the fifth annual PVDFest. Join us at locations throughout downtown for  walking tours ,  book launches  and  discussions ,  film screenings ,  reconsiderations of monuments , and conversations on  water ,  waterway restoration ,  the history of vacant spaces , and much more - see the full schedule at  pvdfest.com/pvd-ideas/ !
Part of  PVDFest Ideas !

Thursday June 6
12 - 1 pm
Waterplace Park Basin (outside Union Tunnel)
Free

It’s easy to think of an open space as somewhere where nothing has yet been built, but in urban environments, that often isn’t the case. PPL’s current exhibit, part of the  41.8219° N, 71.4171° W Exhibition & Program series , uses a digital tour and site-specific signs located throughout the city to examine the layered histories of parking lots, city parks, empty lots, and other open places. Join Angela DiVeglia, PPL’s Curatorial Assistant, for a lunchtime conversation about her research and curation process for the exhibit, vacancy, urban farming, landscape as palimpsest, places that no longer exist, wastelands, urban wilderness, and what the earth remembers.

This program takes place outside and there is no formal seating; participants are welcome to bring their own portable chairs, or to sit on the ground.
PVD Young Makers Maka-A-Thon
 
June 8 & 9 (During PVDFest)
Providence City Hall

PVD Young Makers is hosting our first ever "Make a Kinder Providence" Make-A-Thon! This is an opportunity for people in the community to come together, build teams, and work on projects to make a kinder city (tools and on-site training provided by PVD Young Makers & FabNewport). 

The event is free and registration is required to participate.  On June 9, City Hall will open to the public and teams will present what they've made. This event is WIDE open to interpretation and ideas, so if there's something you'd like to add, please let us know. 

Announcing our Inaugural
PPL Give Day !

3 - 7 pm
PPL Grand Hall

We're excited for our first-ever  PPL Give Day  on  June 12, 2019,  and can't wait for you to be a part of it. Curious about how you can participate? It's as easy as 1, 2, 3...
  1. Respond "Going" to our Facebook event, invite your friends and share!
  2. Come to the Library on June 12 for fun games and activities (including live music, a book sale, trivia and more!) starting at 3:00 pm!
  3. GIVE! A gift of ANY amount makes a huge difference!

Still not convinced? When you make a gift of  any  amount on Wednesday, June 12, not only will you contribute to our $10,000 goal, but you'll be entered to win a  PPL Swag Bag and a private hard hat tour for you and 6 of your friends!

Whether you give $5 or $500,  you can make a difference in the lives of thousands of Rhode Islanders.

Stay tuned for more updates! And thank you for helping  #PPLGive!
Check out our Exhibition at Rhode Tour - See What Used To Be!
Providence's Vacant Spaces
 
We've officially launched our 2019 Exhibition & Program Series, titled 41.8219° N, 71.4171° W (PPL’s coordinates). Both exhibition and programs will examine themes of permanence and impermanence, mutability and immutability, and create intentional links between the two. Although the object of each differs, both the exhibition ( digitally on Rhode Tour at:  prov.pub/UsedToBe - Providence's Vacant Spaces ) and programs will study the evolution of the urban landscape and the imprints left by human activity.

Beginning with PPL’s building and rippling outward, the 41.8219° N, 71.4171° W exhibition explores how our environment illuminates the city’s larger history and encourages people to look at their surroundings in ways that they haven’t looked before. It focuses on the histories of vacant places and open space throughout Providence, utilizing site-specific signs and a digital tour featuring maps, photographs, and information gleaned from PPL’s Special Collections. As PPL is in the midst of a major building transformation for the 21st century, the 41.8219° N, 71.4171° W program series will consider how PPL’s physical continuities and changes over the past 120 years reflect the evolution of Providence as a city, a culture, and a community.

We are pleased to present this year's exhibition in partnership with Rhode Tour and as part of  Year of the City, Providence 2019 . See more
Historical/Architectural Tours

Next Tour - Tuesday, June 21 | 10:30 am
Tours run the first & third Tuesdays each month.

The Library opened this classic Venetian Renaissance building in March 1900. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the Library is a prime example of turn-of-the-century American architecture. We invite you to visit and learn about this architectural gem at the heart of our community, along with our unique and special collections, including the Rhode Island Collection.

Meet at the Library's historic 225 Washington Street entrance. Tour runs approximately one hour or more. If street parking, plan accordingly.

NEWEST BOOK CLUB!

The Nature of Things Book Club at PPL!

NEXT MEETING:
Weds, June 26 | 7 - 8 pm
PPL Ship Room

The group is reading:   A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.

This group meets the last Wednesday of every month. Join us...all are welcome!

Are you curious by nature? Do you wonder about the world around you?
Join the newest PPL book club  to explore our fascinating world and discover all there is to know! Members choose non-fiction titles to pique our curiosity and lead us to amazing discoveries. Copies of each month’s title will be available for check-out at PPL’s service desk in the Rhode Island Room. For more information, contact Tien Tran at  ttran@provlib.org.