Hartford Musicians: Submit to The Beat Today!

The Beat is looking for the next group of artists to join HPL's collection!

The Beat is an online streaming service that offers a collection of diverse, local music through its user-friendly digital platform. Only HPL library card holders can download the recordings to play later.

Musicians are invited to submit three full length tracks representative of their overall work. Selected musicians will receive an honorarium of $250 and could also be invited to perform in concerts organized by HPL and The Bushnell

More info and instructions on submitting HERE

Celebrating Asian American &

Pacific Islander Heritage Month

She Who Became The Sun

Shelley Parker-Chan

Two-time British Fantasy Award Winner

A bold and beautifully written fantasy book that reimagines the rise to power of the Ming Dynasty’s founding emperor.

“Gorgeous and sprawling masterpiece of historical fantasy.”—Buzzfeed

"Forceful, immersive, and unforgettable. This inspired queer retelling of Chinese history is an exciting read.” —Library Journal, starred review

Interpreter of Maladies

Jhumpa Lahiri

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize Pen/Hemingway Award Winner

A stunning debut collection of short stories that flawlessly charts the emotional journeys of characters seeking love beyond the barriers of nations and generations.

“A writer of uncommon elegance and poise.”—New York Times

"Storytelling of surpassing kindness and skill.”—The San Francisco Chronicle

Expressions In Sound & Motion

Photography Exhibit by Maurice D. Robertson

"My ongoing photo work is a love affair with nature and jazz and its offshoots. My photo artistry is simply a quest for displaying the energy of nature’s glory and with performance, connecting the audience to some of the past and present contributors to America’s greatest cultural, contribution to the world."

-Maurice Robertson

Maurice D. Robertson artist, photographer, jazz music aficionado, and nature lover, has been serving the music community in Hartford as a volunteer jazz announcer since 1976. His weekly show, Accent on Creative Music, airs on Wednesday nights from 9pm-12am at WWUH.org, 91.3FM. Maurice is also a board member with the Hartford Jazz Society - America's oldest ongoing jazz society - and was honored by the Jazz Journalists Association as a national Jazz Hero in 2018.

Exhibit at Park & Albany Libraries

Opening Reception

June 8

6:00 - 8:00 pm

1250 Albany Ave.

Hartford Public Library Presents:

Stride Piano - Be Bop

Jazz 101 is an interactive six-week series with audience discussion and instrumental demonstration. Discover why Jazz is our most enduring art form.

Matt CeChamplain

Stride Piano - Be Bop

June 5

6:00 - 8:00 pm

Pianist Matt DeChamplain attended the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts studying under Jimmy Greene and Dave Santoro and obtained his bachelors degree from the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz at the Hartt School in 2010 and graduated with his masters from the University of Toledo in Ohio in 2012. Learn more about Matt HERE

Free! Register HERE

We're getting ready to blast off in 3..2..1..

We are gearing up for our Summer Learning programs at all our branches! We have lots in store for all ages, including our summer reading challenge and more. Visit your favorite branch to register.

Save the Date!

Summer Learning Kick Off

Saturday, June 10

12:00 - 3 pm

Ropkins Library

1750 Main Street

Stay tuned for more details!

Learn more/register HERE

Virtual book discussion with author

"Don't Bite The Apple, Eve is a book of prose, poetry, musings, statements of my beliefs, hopes and experiences. It shares a delicate combination of past darkness and future light through stories of self, family, love and faith." Author Kimolee Eryn

Don't Bite the Apple, Eve Book Discussion

Sunday, May 28

2:00 - 3:00 pm

Author Kimolee Eryn will be joining the discussion

Teen Tuesdays @ Albany

Create an immersive projection mapped art using Adobe Illustrator and OBS Studio.

Thursday, May 30th

3:00 - 5:00 pm

Albany Library

1250 Albany Ave.

Ages 13-19

Get Caught Reading

Book it to the library!

There’s still time to Get Caught Reading at our Barbour Branch. If we see you with your nose in a book this week, you’ll get a prize, and entered into a raffle!

All the Shades of Black:

An Exploration of Race, Gender, and History

Is history and damage able to be corrected? And if so, how?

Scholar, a freelance teaching/performing artist, poet, writer, and environmentalist, Alycia D. Jenkins, a.k.a. Lady Abstract, will be in conversation with Shanta Lee, writer across genres, journalist, visual artist and public intellectual.

Alycia D. Jenkins is the author of The Laughing Elephant in the Room. Shanta Lee is the author of GHETTOCLAUSTROPHOBIA: Dreamin of Mama While Trying to Speak Woman in Woke Tongues, and, Black Metamorphoses.

Saturday, June 3

Albany Library

1250 Albany Ave

11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Three Cheers for Graciela

Hip Hip Hooray!

"I have a huge interest in connecting with not just the Puerto Rican community, but also Latinos from Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Dominican Republic, everything. It's such a wonderful thing. The more you talk and interact with people, the more you learn about their culture." Graciela Rivera

Graciela Rivera, Park Street Library @ the Lyric Branch Manager, was featured in CT Public online discussing her commitment to supporting the Hispanic community through multi-cultural and bilingual events at the Library. Read the article HERE