Oakland Public Library

2 Municipal Plaza

Oakland, NJ 07436

201-337-3742 oaklandnjlibrary.org

LIBRARY HOURS

Mon, Tues, Thurs: 9:30 - 8

Wed, Fri, Sat: 9:30 - 5

Sun: 1 - 5

(closed on Sundays

in July and August)

June Adult Programs

Artist of the Month

"Artist’s Choice"

Paintings and Drawings by the

The Oakland Senior Center

The exhibit for June and July, Artist’s Choice, include paintings by members of the Oakland Senior Center. The contributing artists for this exhibit are, Gerry Bird, Ellen Buccellato, Kathleen Henkel, Terry Martino, Arlene Novak, Saundra Pomerantz, Carol Tidona, Christopher Vander Wal and Skip Weber.

The Oakland Senior Center is a great place for people who love to create art. The art class has explored collage and has currently been drawings portraits.

This class is comprised of seniors who love art and enjoy painting with friends. All are welcome to join. You can stop by and check both venues out. There is no sign up.

Paintings on left by Saundra Pomerantz

Yoga with Sonia

Following a short break, Yoga with Sonia returns on June 25 and runs ever Tuesday night @6:30 through August 13

Participants must register for each class individually on our

EVENTS CALENDAR.



Favorite Foreign Films

KOLYA

Monday, June 3 @10am

As the Cold War winds down, former concert cellist Louka (Zdenek Sverák) barely makes ends meet providing accompaniment at funerals after being blacklisted from his much cushier job with the Prague Philharmonic. For a fee, he marries a Russian woman (Libuse Safránková) so she can become a Czech citizen, but she immediately emigrates to West Germany, sticking the bachelor with her sickly 5-year-old Kolya (Andrej Chalimon) and a host of official questions about the sham marriage.



• 1996
• PG-13
• 1h 51m
• Czech

COMICS PLUS

offers Thousands of digital comics, manga, and picture books for readers of all ages, and it is FREE with your library card.

GET THE APP AND Try it today!

Our Favorite Museum:

The Intrepid

Experience the world’s first space shuttle, a nuclear weapons-carrying submarine, dozens of military aircraft, a supersonic spy plane, and the world’s fastest commercial airliner displayed in and around the legendary aircraft carrier, Intrepid—an awe-inspiring place for an unforgettable adventure.

SPONSORED BY:

THE NEW FRIENDS OF

THE OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY

One of our favorite things:

17' Indoor/Outdoor Projector Screen

Turn any event into a great event with this portable easy to use screen. Compatible with any projector, get the big screen effect at your next event!

NEW FICTION:

Red Star Falling - Steve Berry

Swan Song - Elin Hillerbrand

Flashbrand - Iris Johansen

A Daughter of Fair Verona - Christina Dodd

For the Love of Summer - Susan Mallery

NEW NON-FICTION:

Becoming Earth - Ferris Jabr

Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI - Madhumita Murgia

Democracy or Else - Jon Favreau

The Hidden History of the White House - Corey Mead

Just Add Water - Katie Ledecky

NEW DVDs:

American Fiction

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

The Boys in the Boat

The Long Game

Lights Out



REMEMBER - OPL Offers free digital audiobooks through HOOPLA. Download the titles to your device and stream through your bluetooth wherever you are, 24/7. Don't have a HOOPLA account? CLICK HERE

BOOK CLUB

Author Spotlight: Iryna Kapitonova

A local resident has helped to share the experiences of Mrs. Kapitonova, who lives with her husband Ivan and their son in Kyiv, Ukraine. She has chronicled daily life during the first war-torn year in her beloved homeland in the book Tulips & Ashes. Iryna was gracious enough to allow herself to be interviewed through emails for OPL's June Newsletter.

Have you lived your whole life in Ukraine?

I was born and raised in Ukraine and spent my childhood in a small town in Western Ukraine. The only extended period that I spent outside of Ukraine was a year as an exchange student in America. I was chosen as a finalist in the Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX) established by the US government for young people from post-Soviet countries. I lived in a small town in Minnesota, went to a public high school, and learned why volunteering and taking initiative are important—that year shaped me in many ways. I moved to Kyiv to study at a university and have lived there ever since. I currently work as an elementary school teacher, teaching English and Science.

What was your experience as the war started?

With the initial Russian aggression starting in 2014, I couldn't think that anything of this scale would be possible in the heart of Europe in the 21st century. As we saw Russia accumulating forces along the border of Ukraine, we were also getting ready - packing emergency backpacks, developing action plans, keeping a car gas tank full at all times, etc. We needed no explanation when we woke up to the sound of explosions in Kyiv on the morning of February 24, 2022. We prayed, packed some more things, and left our apartment. At first, we planned to go to my hometown, but the roads were too busy, so we went to my grandma's village, about two hours away from Kyiv. That's where we stayed for a year and a half until we returned to Kyiv at the end of August 2023. We were trying to contact our friends and see if everyone was safe. We were learning how to live a life during the war - finding safe places during air raids, hunting for food and necessities while the stores were trying to restore their logistical chains, moving through checkpoints between towns, and so many other things that are too ordinary now.  

Why were you motivated to start your daily chronicle & have you continued this daily?

I wrote my first post on the night of February 22, 2022, about 30 hours before the full-scale invasion. As I was tucking my son in for the night, knowing the big war could start any moment, I felt desperate and helpless because I wanted the world to know the truth. I was hoping there was still something the world could do to prevent it from happening. Not expecting much, I wrote a post for my friends on my Facebook page but made it available for the public audience. To my great surprise, that post was shared hundreds of times, so on the first day of the big war, I started getting messages from people from all over the world. For some of them, I was the only person from Ukraine they had ever "encountered”, so they messaged me to ask an eyewitness if what their media were reporting was true. I tried responding to all the messages, and that's when I realized that I had a responsibility to keep the people aware of what was happening in Ukraine. That's what I have been doing daily for the past 822 days. I never thought it would be that long, but I also can't give it up now.

How did the publishing of your book come about? 

I never planned for it to become a book, so I was surprised when I got a message from my friends with this suggestion. A family I met and became friends with during my exchange year in Minnesota is working with the Envision Berlin ministry now, and they offered to turn my daily updates from the first year of the full-scale invasion into a book to help reach more people and tell them the truth. It became a beautiful team effort, and I am incredibly grateful to them. I loved that I was given a voice and could share my story. It was also important to me that the readers would know that with all the ugliness of the war and the horrible sufferings of my people, Ukraine should not be perceived as a helpless victim in need of pity. I wanted to show the remarkable and inspiring things that come through despite the grief and devastation - the sacrificial love of our defenders, the solidarity and compassion shared by strangers in the street, the defiant resilience of our people, and the hope that keeps us going. That inspired the book's title, "Tulips and Ashes." Envision Berlin organized a Kickstarter campaign to help raise funds to cover publishing expenses, and it was inspiring to see people supporting this idea, making it possible. Even now, when I hold the book, it is still hard to believe it is real.

Where can people find your daily writings?

All of my daily updates are available on my Facebook page. Please feel free to look it up. https://www.facebook.com/ira.kapitonova

Preschool Story Time will be held Tuesday, June 4^th at 11:00 am in the Library’s Story Tower. (This is the last session for Spring 2024). Oakland children, ages 2 to 5, will be singing along to favorite songs and listening to stories with Ms. Barbara. Registration is not required.

Tots Library Club, a program designed for the youngest library users, birth to 2-yrs.-old, and their caregivers, will be held Thursday, June 6^th from 10:30 to 11:00 am. (This is the last session for Spring 2024.) Toys (yours or ours) will be available for a brief meet-and-greet from 10:30 to 11:00 am. A short segment of nursery rhymes, fingerplays, and songs will follow. The program will be held in the Library’s Story Tower. Registration is not required.

Terrific Two’s & Three’s! is a story time for two to three-yr.-olds, and their caregivers. Join us at 11:00 am on Friday, June 7^th in the Library’s Story Tower. (This is the last session for Spring 2024.) Oakland children will enjoy stories, songs, and fingerplays. Registration is not required.

Toddler Dance Party!

Friday, June 14 @11am

REGISTER HERE

Introducing the “Toddler Dance Party” with Ms. Joyce, our latest addition to the Friday music line-up for young children. Please join us Friday, June 14^th for a short session from 11:00 to 11:20 am. Oakland two to three-yr.-olds, and their caregivers, are invited to attend. Two full class sessions will follow in July. The program will be held downstairs in the Library’s Meeting Room. Registration is required, and is now being taken.

Jiggly Wiggly

Friday, June 28th

REGISTER HERE



Miss Christina will present her wonderful “Jiggly Wiggly” music program on Friday, June

28th at 11:00 am. Oakland children, ages 2 & up, and their caregivers, will enjoy music

and movement activities. The program will be held downstairs in the Library’s Meeting

Room. Registration is required, and begins Wednesday, June 12 th . Each child, including

siblings, must be registered.

Save the Date - Summer Reading Kicks off on Tuesday, June 25!

The 2024 “ADVENTURE BEGINS AT YOUR LIBRARY” Summer Reading Club kicks off Tuesday, June 25th at 1:00 pm. The Good Humor Ice Cream Truck will be outside the Library with FREE ICE CREAM for Oakland children! Registration is required, and begins Wednesday, June 12th. Each registered participant will be issued an ice cream voucher. Supplies are limited. Reading Club materials will also be available for pick-up.

Small prizes will be awarded all summer long for eager readers! Thanks to the New Friends of the Oakland Public Library, this is just the beginning of many great things to come this summer! All programs are FREE OF CHARGE!

SAVE THE DATE!!

FRIDAY, JULY 5^TH at 11:00 am: TODDLER DANCE PARTY!!! Join Ms. Joyce for a fun combination of singing, stretching, and dance activities. Oakland children, ages 2 & up, are invited to attend. The program will be held downstairs in the Library’s Meeting Room. Registration is required, and begins Wednesday, June 19^th. Each child, including siblings, must be registered.

MONDAY, JULY 8^TH at 6:00 pm: OPL PLAYERS!!! This is the FIRST of FOUR practice sessions for the Library’s drama club, under the direction of Michele Woodward. Oakland children, ages 6 & up, will meet downstairs in the Library’s Meeting Room from 6:00 to 7:30 pm on the following dates: Mondays, July 8^th & July 15^th, AND Thursdays, July 11^th & July 18^th. The play will be presented Monday, July 22^nd at 7:00 pm. (Participants MUST be registered, and able to attend EACH of these sessions, please!) Register BY PHONE OR IN-PERSON ONLY, beginning Wednesday, June 19^th. The title of the production is yet to be announced.

THURSDAY, JULY 11^TH at 3:45 pm: CASEY CARLE’S BUBBLEMANIA!!! Bubble artist, Casey Carle, presents a dazzling assortment of bubbles in various shapes and sizes, along with comedy, audience participation, and jazzy music! Oakland children, ages 4 & up, are invited to enjoy this one-man show! Registration is required, and begins Wednesday, June 26^th. The program will be held on the Library’s stage.

FRIDAY, JULY 12^TH at 11:00 am: JIGGLY WIGGLY!!! Oakland children, ages 2 & up, are invited to join Ms. Christina for her wonderful music program. The program will be held downstairs in the Library’s Meeting Room. Registration is required, and begins Wednesday, June 26^th. Each child, including siblings, must be registered.

Teen Programs

FOLLOW US