Filter Events by
View More
View More
View More
This class will be held virtually course fee is $25 for both classes. Register here.
View More
Celebrating Black Voices
Monday, January 17, 2022
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Virtual
Learn more about books that received the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and Celebrating Black Voices events in our online reading challenge. Participants who complete the challenge will earn $2 bear bucks to spend in the Friends of the Library Bookstore. Age 5 & up.
View More
Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award (Friends of the Library Exhibit)
Tuesday, February 01, 2022
Sunday, March 20, 2022
Exhibit Hours in Meeting Rooms 1B/C:
Monday–Thursday: 3–7 PM
Friday–Sunday: 1–5 PM
With funding from a generous bequest from Marian Armstrong, The Friends of the Library proudly presents Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards. This exhibit, curated by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, features 34 prints of illustrations from the award winners since 1973. These award-winning illustrations and children’s books highlight stories and figures from Black history, honoring the triumphs and struggles of African Americans throughout time. They also evoke the beautiful facets integral to the culture and fabric of our nation such as music, rhythm, and folktales. Learn more.
Black Voices Exhibits
Wednesday, February 02, 2022
Sunday, March 20, 2022
Other
These exhibits are a combination of books and various selections from the Coretta Scott King book and illustrator award winners. For all ages.
February 2–March 20
Monday–Thursday: 9 AM–9 PM
Friday: 9 AM–5 PM
Sunday: 1–5 PM
Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Library and Bridgwaters Lounge
275 N. Jordan Avenue, Bloomington
Youth Art Contest: Oceans of Possibilities
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Virtual
Calling all youth artists! For Youth Art Month, we're challenging you to create and submit an original 2D work of art based on the theme of our summer reading games: Oceans of Possibilities! The winning artwork will be made into a collectible summer reading prize bookmark! Entries should be 3x7 inches (stop by the children's information desk to grab a template, if needed). Drop your entry off at the Downtown Library children's information desk, the Ellettsville Branch, or the Bookmobile by March 31 to enter! Make sure your entry has your name and contact information written legibly on the back. Ages birth–12.
View More
Want some extra help or company while you work? Join us for our workshop on March 17!
Registration is closed
Preschool Storytime
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Join in the fun with stories, songs, puppets, and more that encourage the development of early literacy skills! For ages 3–6 and caregivers. Please register each child and caregiver for each storytime individually.
View More
Registration is closed
VITAL English Language Group: Book Club with Neil Klein
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
New English speakers practice everyday language skills in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. The current book club selection is They Called Us the Enemy, a graphic memoir from actor/author/activist George Takei.
View More
Masks required. Low intermediate English skills suggested.
If you do not speak English, please fill out the VITAL Services form to learn about programs for beginners
Little Makers
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Explore your creativity with different materials and techniques at this fun, open-ended art experience. Dress to mess. For ages 3–6 and their families.
"Among Us" Plushies
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Registration is closed
VITAL English Language Group: Conversation with Mary Depew
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
New English speakers practice everyday language skills in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. Learners enjoy friendly conversation, learn about daily life in the US, gain confidence, and meet new people from around the world.
View More
Intermediate English skills suggested. If you do not speak English, please fill out the VITAL Services form to learn about programs for beginners.
Registration is closed
VITAL English Language Group: Conversation with Sylvia McNair
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
New English speakers practice everyday language skills in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. Learners enjoy friendly conversation, learn about daily life in the US, gain confidence, and meet new people from around the world.
View More
Intermediate English skills suggested. If you do not speak English, please fill out the VITAL Services form to learn about programs for beginners.
3D Printing at the Library
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Ready to level up your 3D modeling skills? Join us to learn the basics! We'll design a model that you can keep. Please note that 3D printing takes time––you may need to return at a later date to collect your print. All ages.
View More
Registration is closed
Prenatal Yoga
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Prenatal yoga is a gentle exercise that supports your changing body's needs, builds strength, and deepens awareness of your mind, body, and connection with your baby. For pregnant adults. Please register.
View More
The Power of Words Lifelong Learning Class
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Virtual
This IU Lifelong Learning class is being held in conjunction with the Friends of the Library's Power of Words program. It will provide critical thought and context to the works of Jacqueline Woodson, our featured author for the Power of Words. The class includes two sessions. Generations in Motion: African American Portraits will be led by John McCluskey on March 1, while the second class, Navigating Childhood and Society in Recent African American Films, will be led by Audrey McCluskey on March 8. Audrey and John are Emeriti Faculty, Indiana University, African American and African Diaspora Studies.
This class was originally scheduled to take place in person on January 27 and February 3 and included the Power of Words book signing and Our Voice exhibit opening reception on February 5.
If you would like to support the Power of Words, please purchase your Premium ticket at givebox.com/pow2022. You will enjoy preferred seating for the Power of Words, a ticket to the book signing at the Library following the event, and the Gala opening reception for the Marian Armstrong exhibit, Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winners.
Please note the Buskirk-Chumley Theater requires proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid-19 test https://buskirkchumley.org/coronavirus
This course is approved by the Indiana State Library for 4 General Library Education Units (LEU’s). Earn an additional 2 LEU's by attending Woodson's Power of Words talk at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Contact Grier Carson (gcarson@mcpl.info) for further information and requirements.
Please register at mcpl.info/iupow
Thursday, Jan. 27
Generations in Motion: African American Portraits
“All growth is change, but all change is not growth.”
The above comment by essayist and novelist James Baldwin is a cue for this course’s exploration of the theme of transition in African American writing. This theme has been portrayed, dramatized, and symbolized in countless ways throughout the history of formal and informal literature. Class readings and commentary will focus on examples of two emphases.
The first is physical migration, such as that from the rural South to the urban North, and from the Caribbean to the U.S. What memories accompany the luggage in these journeys? What are the specific expectations for the “new land”? (Consider here The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson).
The second form of transition is in accounts of growth and development into adulthood. Certainly, both transitions can occur simultaneously in the published works. (Consider Richard Wright’s classic, Black Boy). How are the meanings of adulthood articulated, modeled, or challenged within these works? How might knowledge of these transitions and the questions they raise enter future conversations and understanding of cultural and political movements?
We will explore sample text from several short stories and a non-fiction narrative. Excerpts will be handed out in class.
About the Instructor:
John McCluskey, Jr., is professor emeritus of African American and African diaspora studies and English at IU Bloomington. He is author of two novels, Look What They Done to My Song and Mr. America’s Last Season Blues. His short fiction has appeared in numerous journals and collections including Ploughshares, Southern Review, Ancestral House: The Black Short Story in the Americas and Europe, Best American Short Stories and Calling the Wind.