June 1 – August 18
The New Haven Free Public Library invites you to our 2024 Summer Learning Program. Visit your local branch to sign-up for a library card, get your reading log and join us for events, activities, and more!
La Biblioteca Pública de New Haven los invita a una semana de eventos para el Inicio del Programa de Enseñanza de Verano 2024. Visita la sucursal local y regístrate para una tarjeta de biblioteca, recibe tu registro de lectura, y acompáñanos a eventos, actividades, y más.
Kickoff Week
Ives Main Library
Saturday, June 1
1-3 pm
Enjoy STEAM activities with Cool-ology founder Claudia Esposito, local author Yvette Cole, a recycled craft with the Yale Center for British Art, face painting, and indoor mini golf.
Mitchell Branch
Monday, June 3
5-7 pm
We’ll have our annual ladybug release, lawn games, bubbles, popsicles, Ranger Harry and his animal pals, and a special craft led by the Yale Center for British Arts.
Wilson Branch
Tuesday, June 4
4-5:30 pm
Summer Reading starts at Wilson Library with an animal friendly event that the whole family can enjoy. Join Xen to pet, learn and cuddle with her farm animal friends on the Wilson entrance ramp!
Stetson Branch
Wednesday, June 5
5-7 pm
Justice for all! Join Stetson for a Summer Reading kick off with refreshments, music, and activities.
Fair Haven Branch
Thursday, June 6
4-5 pm
Our friends from Riverside Reptiles return with live animals and invertebrates-some that are friendly to the ecosystem, and some that are foes. Come meet some new faces!
This year’s Summer Learning Challenge theme is Read/Renew/Repeat.
While you enjoy those summer beach reads, we invited you to think about the environment and how CT keeps its beaches clean.
How to participate:
- Set a personal reading goal for June 1 through August 18.
- Track your progress on the Reading Log. All participants who meet their goal earn one raffle ticket!
- Attend library programs and track them in your Event Log. For every two programs you attend, you earn a bonus raffle ticket!
- Trade in your completed booklet at any NHFPL branch in for raffle tickets. Raffle winners will be drawn on Friday, August 23, 2024.
All participants who meet their goal win a FREE book and will be entered in the Grand Prize drawing for a personalized, behind-the-scenes tour of Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library with New Haven City Historian Michael Morand! You will also receive a raffle ticket to enter a drawing for your choice of one of three gift cards to local businesses.
Stay connected along the way and share what you’re reading!
Tag us @nhfpl and use the hashtag #GetCaughtReading for a chance to be featured on our social media stories or posts!
All participants who meet their goal win a FREE book and will be entered in the Grand Prize drawing for a personalized, behind-the-scenes tour of Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library with New Haven City Historian Michael Morand! You will also receive a raffle ticket to enter a drawing for your choice of one of three gift cards to local businesses.
Adult Writer’s Group
Mondays, June 3 and 17, 2:30-4 pm | WILSON
Join fellow aspiring and experienced writers in a safe and supportive environment to work on your craft. Prose writers and poets are welcome!
Free Interior Design Workshop
Monday, June 17, 6-7:30 pm | MITCHELL
Sankofa Creative Interiors and Redesign invites you to a free workshop. Discover how paint color and other elements bring calmness to your surroundings.
Spanish Language Conversation Club
Wednesdays, 4-5 pm | FAIR HAVEN
Interested in learning Spanish? Improve your skills in this casual and informal club.
Ask A Gardener
Thursday, June 20, 5-6 pm | WILSON
Thursday, July 18, 5-6 pm | WILSON
Three of our branches now offer free seeds and books on how to grow them. But sometimes plant problems can be tricky. Stop by with a leaf, a picture or a question about your gardening challenges.
Free Friday Films
Fridays, 2-4 pm | IVES
Cool down and enjoy a film each Friday!
Make a Book! Bookbinding 101 with CAW Instructor Paulette Rosen
Saturday, June 1, 2-4 pm | IVES SQUARED
Have you always wanted to learn how to make a book? Learn to sew a 1 section pamphlet with an accordion fold-out page, then adapt it into a hardcover book embellished with decorative paper. For people ages 15 and up. All material is provided. Registration is required
Meditation with Elm Community Insight
Saturdays, 10:30-12 pm | IVES
Join us for Saturday morning meditation.
Author Talk with Erica Cirino – Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis
Wednesday, July 17, 6-7:30 pm | IVES
Erica will share both important facts and immediate actions we can take to help our communities and protect ourselves and our families from the health hazards of plastics.
Summer Art Workshops
Saturday, June 15, 22, 29, 2-4:30 pm | IVES SQUARED
Elevate your appreciation of art by recreating artwork from well-renowned women artists! Each week we’ll do a new project.. These programs are generously sponsored by the Marie Boroff Grant from the Elizabethan Club of Yale University.
Urban Life Experience Book Discussion: Don’t Cry For Me
Saturday, July 13, 12-1:30 pm | WILSON
This month we discuss Don’t Cry For Me by Daniel Black.
Humanist Association of CT Book Discussion: Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
Saturday, July 20, 2:30-4:30 pm | WILSON
All are welcome to join this monthly club and discuss great books.
Fiction
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Greenwood by Michael Christie
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad by Damilare Kuku
The History of Bees by Maja Lunde
The Overstory by Richard Powers
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman
You Like It Darker: Stories by Stephen King
Non-Fiction
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Can I Recycle This? A Guide to Better Recycling by Jennie Romer
Certifiable: How Businesses Operationalize Responsible Sourcing by Chris Van Bergen
Investing in the Era of Climate Change by Bruce Usher
Life Between the Tides by Adam Nicolson
Mycelial Mayhem: Growing Mushrooms for Fun, Profit and Companion Planting by David Sewak
Regenerative Fashion: A Nature-Based Approach to Fibres, Livelihoods and Leadership by Safia Minney
Small is Possible: Life in a Local Economy by Lyle Estill
The Ecology of Commerce: a Declaration of Sustainability by Paul Hawken
Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis by Erica Cirino
The Market Gardener: a Successful Grower’s Handbook for Small-scale Organic Farming by Jean-Martin Fortier
How do I earn raffle tickets?
You’ll automatically earn a raffle ticket by meeting your reading goal and handing in your booklet. You can earn one bonus ticket for every two NHFPL programs you attend. This includes Young Minds programs you accompany your children to. Turn in your booklet once completely finished as raffle tickets will only be distributed once. Any additional programs attended after turning in your booklet will not count towards bonus tickets.
What can I do with these raffle tickets?
Head over to your preferred Library location and use your raffle ticket(s) to enter the drawings for a $50 gift card to one of three local New Haven businesses:
Atticus Bookstore Café & Market | Bark & Vine | East Rock Breads
Can I win multiple gift card raffles?
You’re welcome to enter as many gift card raffles as you’d like. Once your name is drawn you will be disqualified from winning additional gift cards. Please keep this in mind when you enter.
Does program attendance increase my odds of winning the Grand Prize?
No. Each participant may earn no more than one entry into the Grand Prize drawing for meeting their reading goal. Program attendance only gives you bonus entries for the gift card prizes. If you attend programs but do not meet your reading goal, you will not be entered for the museum tour.