February at the New Bedford Free Public Libraries

Main Library613 Pleasant St. Circulation: 508-991-6275Reference: 508-991-6278 Monday-Thursday: 9AM-9PMFriday & Saturday: 9AM-5PMCLOSED: Sundays and Holidays

Paul A. Cyr History Room: 508-991-6276

Mon-Tues: 9AM-5PMWed-Thurs: 1PM-9PMFri & Sat: Limited Hours**Call for schedule

Art Room: 508-979-1787

Mon & Thurs: 1-9PMTues & Wed: 9AM-5PMFri & Sat: Limited Hours*

*Call for schedule

It is February at the New Bedford Free Public Library and thismonth we celebrate Black History Month. Please feel free to visityour local library for engaging displays about Black HistoryMonth and be sure to explore the many events happening in ourcommunity that celebrate Black History Month. More informationregarding Black History Month can be found throughout thisnewsletter and feel free to follow the hashtags and websites foundin the headers of this newsletter as they all pertain to informationand history surrounding Black History Month.

Also happening in February we start off with a bang and celebrate National Take Your Child to the LibraryDay! Visit the Downtown Library on February 1st from 12-2PM and have fun with games, crafts, sign up foryour own library card, and more! "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats will be available for a story walk inEnglish, Spanish, & Portuguese. All families are welcome to this free event and no preregistration is required. Hey kids! Have fines got you down? Don't let library fines hold you back from your next great read! NewBedford youth, 17 and younger, can read at the New Bedford libraries to forgive late fees from February 1st-29th. For every 10 minutes of reading, $1 will be taken off your account. This offer does not include lostbooks and please ask library staff for more details. Calling all young local artists, poets, and writers! The New Bedford Free Public Library is having its thirdYouth Writing Contest! Enter in your poem or short story for a chance to win a prize! All entries will beaccepted with any word count or number of pages. The deadline for entries is April 30th and winners will beannounced May 11th. Submissions can be entered digitally at bit.ly/nbwrites2020 or at any of the NewBedford Library locations.

HOURS AND LOCATIONS

Lawler Branch745 Rockdale Ave.508-991-6216 Howland-Green Branch3 Rodney French Blvd.508-991-6212 Monday & Friday: 10AM-6PMTuesday & Thursday: 12PM-8PMSaturday: 9AM-5PM CLOSED: Sundays, Wednesdays, andHolidays

Casa da Saudade Branch58 Crapo St. 508-991-6218 Wilks Branch1911 Acushnet Ave.508-991-6214 Monday & Wednesday: 10AM-6PMTuesday & Thursday: 12PM-8PMSaturday: 9AM-5PM CLOSED: Sundays, Fridays, & Holidays

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All New Bedford Libraries will be CLOSED on Monday, February 17th for President's Day

Black History Month

The year 2020 marks the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment and theculmination of the women’s suffrage movement. The year 2020 also marks thesesquicentennial of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and the right of black mento the ballot after the Civil War. The theme speaks, therefore, to the ongoingstruggle on the part of both black men and black women for the right to vote.This theme has a rich and long history, which begins at the turn of thenineteenth century, i.e., in the era of the Early Republic, with the states’ passageof laws that democratized the vote for white men while disfranchising free blackmen. Thus, even before the Civil War black men petitioned their legislatures andthe US Congress, seeking to be recognized as voters. Tensions betweenabolitionists and women’s suffragists first surfaced in the aftermath of the CivilWar, while black disfranchisement laws in the late nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries undermined the guarantees in the Fourteenth and FifteenthAmendments for the great majority of southern blacks until the Voting RightsAct of 1965. The important contribution of black suffragists occurred not onlywithin the larger women’s movement, but within the larger black voting rightsmovement. Through voting-rights campaigns and legal suits from the turn of thetwentieth century to the mid-1960s, African Americans made their voices heardas to the importance of the vote. Indeed the fight for black voting rightscontinues in the courts today. Courtesy of asalh.org

African Americans and the Vote

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FOR ADULTS

ORIGAMI HOUR FOR ADULTS Tuesday, February 4th1:30PM | Casa da Saudade LibraryLearn how to create beautiful origami.

MOVIE MATINEE IN PORTUGUESE Tuesday, February 25th 1PM | Casa da Saudade LibraryMovie titles will be posted at the Casa da SaudadeLibrary closer to the date of the event.

TECH DAYS AT CASA

APOIO AS NOVAS TECNOLOGIAS Thursdays 5-7PM | Casa da Saudade LibraryTechnology assistance (by appointment).

ADULT PINTEREST CLUBTuesday, February 18th6PM | Wilks LibraryLearn how to knit!

FINANCIAL PLANNING SESSION Thursday, February 27th5-7PM | Wilks LibraryHave questions about your finances or needguidance? Sign up for a free 30-minute session witha financial planner. Contact the Wilks Library tosign up.

EXPLORE: #BLACKHISTORYMONTHNEW BEDFORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY

BOOK CLUB

TECH DAYS AT CASA

APOIO AS NOVAS TECNOLOGIAS Mondays 10AM-12PM | Casa da Saudade LibraryTechnology assistance (by appointment).

ADULT CRAFTING Thursdays5:30PM | Howland-Green LibraryCome craft with us and explore a different themeevery week!

WILKS BOOK CLUB Thursday, February 20th2PM | Wilks LibraryThe Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak

PM BOOK CLUB Tuesday, February 18th 6PM | Lawler LibraryBreathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

DOWNTOWN BOOK CLUB Wednesday, March 11th 7PM | Downtown LibraryThe Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the NaturalHistory Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson

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IN THE LOOP KNITTING GROUP Mondays 11AM-1PM | Lawler Library

QIGONG AT THE LIBRARY Thursdays 4-5PM | Lawler Library

(TGIF) TECHNICALLY GOOD INFORMATION FRIDAYS Fridays 10AM-1PM | Lawler LibraryTechnology assistance (by appointment).

SCRABBLE SCRAMBLE Tuesday and Thursday, February 6, 11, 20, 25th 1-4PM | Lawler Library

CHESS CLUB Mondays6-8PM | Main LibraryCome learn how to play chess! All ages and levelswelcome, minors must be accompanied by an adult.

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DROP-IN STORY TIME

No registration required

INSPIRE: G.CO/BLACKHISTORYMONTHNEW BEDFORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY

PROGRAMS FOR KIDS

STORY & CRAFT Fridays4PM | Lawler Library

FAMILY STORY TIMESaturdays11AM | Main Library

BILINGUAL STORY TIME Saturday, February 8th3PM | Casa da Saudade LibraryPortuguese and English Story Time

BILINGUAL STORY TIME Saturday, February 22nd3PM | Casa da Saudade LibraryCape Verdean Creole and English Story Time STORY & CRAFT

Wednesday, February 5, 12, & 26th 10:30AM | Wilks LibraryPAJAMA STORY TIME

Thursday, February 20th 6PM | Lawler Library

STORY & CRAFT Tuesdays5PM | Howland-Green Library

CRAFTY KIDS CLUB Saturday, February 8th1PM | Lawler LibraryValentine's Day Cards

CRAFTY KIDS CLUB Saturday, February 22nd1PM | Lawler LibraryBeaded Snowflake

WINTER STORY HOUR & CRAFTS Tuesdays 6PM | Casa da Saudade Library

Tail Waggin' TutorsLawler Library

February 10th & 24th

4-5PM

PAJAMA STORY TIME Tuesday, February 25th 6PM | Wilks Library

DROP-IN LEGOS Saturdays10AM-2PM | Wilks Library

GENRE TASTING Wednesday, February 19th 5PM | Main LibraryMystery? Biography? FairyTale? Which genre tastesthe best to you duringwinter school vacationweek? Wear a chef hat,design your own apronand discover your newfavorite genre through ourmenu of book tastings for aspecial treat! LEAP YEAR DAY

Saturday, February 29thAll Day | Main LibraryTake home a frog craft tocelebrate Leap Year Day!

FAMILY STORIES Thursday, February 13th5-7PM | Main LibraryThis AHA! Night (History,Herstory, Ourstory), learnabout genealogy resources atyour library and discover tipson using Ancestry LibraryEdition. Drop-in and create afamily tree craft with yourfamily and share familystories.

FOR TEENSTEEN WRITERS CLUBThursday, February 20th4-5PM | Lawler LibraryStop by the New Bedford Free Public Library LawlerBranch for our Teen Writers Group where you can:Share your latest writing project in a judge-freeenvironment | Come up with a crazy story using cardsfrom SUPERFIGHT! | Do a round of storytelling whereyou add to the plot...and more!

TEEN ANIME CLUBFriday, February 14thThursday, February 27th4-5PM | Lawler LibraryTalk about your favorite Japanese-style comic oranimated series that you've read or been following whilewatching episodes at the library!

TEEN ADVISORY BOARD Thursday, February 6th4-5PM | Lawler LibraryVoice your choice on what to do in the teen roomand find out about future planned events!

ANTI-VALENTINES DAY Thursday, February 13th4-5PM | Lawler LibraryEat heartbreak cake and bittersweet hearts for yourdismay, all while watching episodes of My TeenRomantic Comedy SNAFU (courtesy ofCrunchyroll).

EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITYWASH AND READ PROJECT

STORY TIME AND CRAFTMultiple Dates and LocationsSaturday, February 8th:

10-11AM at Wash World South12-1PM at Wash World West2-3PM at Bush Cleaners

Saturday, February 22nd:10-11AM at Wash World North

Monday, February 24th:2-4PM at EZ Clean

This project is funded through the United Way of NewBedford.

LGBT WINTER FILM SERIES New Bedford Whaling MuseumFebruary 9th at 1PM - Brother OutsiderFebruary 23rd at 1PM - Boy Erased

MOVIES AT THE MUSEUM

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSEFriday, February 21st11AM-2PM | New Bedford Art Museum608 Pleasant StreetJoin us for an exclusive meet and greet with Spider-Man! That's right, Spidey will be at the Museumbefore the movie to talk comics with kids andadults. The movie will start at noon and runs 117minutes. The mobile library will be at the event witha special selection of comics and graphic novels torent, and free popcorn! Please register at:newbedfordart.org/gallery-events

SPREAD KNOWLEDGE: ASALH.ORG/ABOUT-US/OUR-HISTORY/ NEW BEDFORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY

YOUTH WRITING CONTEST Ongoing through April 30th All New Bedford LibrariesEnter in your poem or short story for a chance towin a prize! All entries will be accepted with anyword count or number of pages. The deadline forentries is April 30th and submissions can be entereddigitally at bit.ly/nbwrites2020 or at any of the NewBedford Library locations.

READ AWAY YOUR FINES All of February All New Bedford Libraries New Bedford youth, 17 and younger, can read at theNew Bedford libraries to forgive late fees from February1st-29th. For every 10 minutes of reading, $1 will betaken off your account. This offer does not include lostbooks and please ask library staff for more details.