Honoring World Refugee Day

Join us!

Join us on the Downtown Library patio to honor the strengths and contributions of refugees while Hartford Public Library (HPL) provides essential services and resources.

Passport resources, register to vote, sign up for a library card, or join our Summer Learning challenge.

Wednesday, June 26 | 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Downtown Library, 500 Main Street

Refugee Stories: An Exhibit of Peace and Transformation

Stop by to see the exhibit featuring stories of immigrant women and refugees in Connecticut.

Park Street Library @ the Lyric

603 Park Street

On view through July 31

This event is A Poetry on the Streets Project in collaboration with Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services Connecticut.

HOME IS...

Jack fruit plants

Colorful Kitenge

a wooden chair that only my dad

used to sit on

Kinyoni, my ancestors

once a week we sit together as a

family and tell stories

about our ancestors

Love and unity

fried rice

my parents tell us what the

future holds and how to

overcome challenges

the baby puppet my mom tied to my back

so I could pretend I was a mom



My family.



BY: KEZIYA

HPL Book Recommendations:

Celebrating Pride Month

Blessings

Chukwuebuka Ibeh

“A moving story about truths that can’t be hidden and finding a way to live freely when it’s against the law.”

—USA Today

“Lovely… Ibeh sets his story in the years leading up to the country’s 2014 anti-gay law and, intriguingly, connects the dots of queer persecution and the everyday tragedies that are woven into the fabric of Nigerian life… Moving… Revelatory yet unresolved, simple yet polyphonic, hopeful yet full of heartbreak.”

—New York Times

Find it HERE in our catalog

Lost & Found: A Memoir

Schulz, Kathryn

National Bestseller

New York Times Editiors' Choice

"By the end of these exquisite existential wanderings, Schulz comes to a quiet truce with her finding that ‘life, too, goes by contraries . . . by turns crushing and restorative . . . comic and uplifting.’ Schulz’s canny observations are a treasure."

—Publishers Weekly

“Sublime, compassionate . . . brilliant.”

—Minneapolis Star-Tribune



Find it HERE in our catalog

Jazz 201

Don't miss the last Jazz 201 of the season!

Harmonizing History

Join Professor Atla DeChamplain, Jazz and Commercial Music Vocal Teacher at the University of Rhode Island, as she teaches on Jazz Singers and the role of Jazz Vocals throughout Jazz History. 



Monday, July 1 | 6 - 8 p.m.

Downtown Library, Center for Contemporary Culture

500 Main Street

No advanced registration is required and light refreshments will be served. Please enter through the Library's Arch Street entrance only

Jazz 201 is presented by the Richard P. Garmany Fund. 

Summer Lunches

Free for children!

It's lunch o'clock

Thank you to Hartford Public Schools' Food & Child Nutrition Services for providing FREE summer lunches to children and teens ages 18 and younger.

June 24 - August 16

Monday through Friday

12 - 1 p.m.

The FREE summer lunch program is available at the following locations: Albany Library, Barbour Library, Camp Field Library, Dwight Library, and Park Street @ the Lyric Library.

Show Your Pride!

Celebrate Pride Month

Join the Albany Library for Drag Queen story time, free books, rock painting, light refreshments, and more!

Thursday, June 27 | 12 - 2 p.m.

Albany Library, 1250 Albany Ave

A Place Like No Other

HPL offers engaging, educational, and fun programming for all ages.

Check out our programming calendar HERE

Teen Time

It's time to get creative! Join us to make your very own rolled beeswax taper candle.

Wednesday, June 26 | 3 - 4 p.m.

Barbour Library, 261 Barbour Street

Mini Canvas Painting

Create your very own mini canvas, select from a range of staff-provided ideas or let your creativity run free with a personalized design. Registration is required.

Thursday, June 27 | 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Ropkins Library, 1750 Main Street

Henna Art Workshop

Learn about the ancient art of Henna and design your own masterpiece.

Thursday, June 27 | 2 - 3 p.m.

Dwight Library, 7 New Park Avenue

“We live remarkable lives because life itself is remarkable, a fact that is impossible not to notice if only suffering leaves us alone for long enough.”

― Kathryn Schulz, Lost & Found: A Memoir

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