All New Haven Free Public Library locations will be closed on Saturday, October 12 and Monday, October 14 in observance of Italian Heritage Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day. All locations will reopen for their normal hours on Tuesday, October 15.

Explore the themes of the NEA Big Read, An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo, and this year’s International Festival of Arts and Ideas with our micro branches!

The poems in An American Sunrise were written by Joy Harjo after returning to her family’s lands where in the early 1800s the Mvskoke people were forcibly removed to Indian Territory. In this work she opens a dialogue with history and confronts the site where her people, and other indigenous families, essentially disappeared.

Want a chance to hear Joy Harjo talk about her book but missed the conversation between her and Madeline Sayet? No problem! Watch it anytime on the International Festival of Arts and Ideas YouTube channel, or click the image on the left.

You can check out a copy of An American Sunrise in-person at any of our library locations or online from our OverDrive electronic library.

If you are interested in learning more about indigenous cultures both locally and nationally be sure to explore the titles in our micro branches.

Learning doesn’t stop there!

We also have a micro branch for this year’s Arts and Ideas Festival! It contains curated titles that correspond with their themes and programming. Be sure to check out the Festival’s entire calendar of events and explore the world as it is and how it could be.