Library welcomes new year with holiday singalong

The library closed 2024 with a few fun activities, including a holiday singalong with Julia Wayne and Ari Bowles (and many enthusiastic singers from the Charlotte Children’s Center).

Our vacation time also featured a DIY fairy golf hole. Young crafters created some clever challenges with re-used materials and a lot of imagination.

Thanks to all who donated cold-weather hats and mittens to our Mitten Tree. The accessories were given to the Chittenden County Women’s Correctional Facility.

If reading is on your New Year’s Resolution list, consider one of these titles from our Top-Ten Fiction Titles for 2024:
“The Women” by Kristin Hannah
“Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus
“The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride
“Horse” by Geraldine Brooks
“North Woods” by Daniel Mason
“Frozen River” by Ariel Lawhon
“Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt
“The Hunter” by Tana French
“The Thursday Murder Club” by Richard Osman.

Programs for kids

MLK Day: Share Your Dreams
Saturday & Monday, Jan. 18 & 20
Make a difference to honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Share your hopes and dreams on the “I Have a Dream” mobile and help to build our community-care kits. Write a postcard message to an elected official or someone who shares your dreams. We’ll have art supplies out, including a LEGO printing station, to make your postcard unique.

Monthly Babytime
Saturday, Jan. 4, 10 a.m.
You’re invited to an unstructured hour for parents, caregivers, and babies to play, explore books, and chat in the young children’s area. Ages birth to 18 months.

Preschool story time
Tuesdays, 10 a.m.
Come to the Charlotte Library for preschool stories, crafts and activities. No registration required. Age 2 and over.

After-school book club
Tuesdays, 3 p.m.
Do you enjoy reading and talking about books? Ride the bus to the Charlotte Library and enjoy an afternoon of book sharing and crafts every Tuesday after school. Grades 1-3, registration required. Contact Cheryl.

Preschool free play
Wednesdays, 10 a.m.
Play in the preschool years enables children to explore and make sense of the world around them, as well as to use and develop their imagination. Explore the sensory table, sorting, playing with blocks, playdoh — these are a few of the open-ended projects planned for Wednesday morning play-based learning at the Charlotte Library.

Wildcard Wednesdays
Join us after school on Wednesdays for our series of creative and fun activities, from crafts to coding, from baking to biology. Fifth grade and up. Take the bus from Charlotte Central School with parent notification. Register.

Babytime
Thursdays, 9:30 a.m.
You’re invited to an unstructured hour for parents, caregivers and babies to play, explore books and chat in the young children’s area. Ages birth to 18 months.

Let’s Lego
Saturdays, 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Drop-in for Lego free play. We’ll have loads of Lego bricks out, along with some books and prompts for inspiration. For all ages. Please note: Children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult.

Programs for adults

Stillwater meditation
Saturdays, 9 a.m.
Poetry and meditation are offered freely and in person to the Charlotte community. Come for quiet reflection, contemplation and gentle meditation instruction. Respect for all beings and faiths is a foundational quality of our time together. Beginning and experienced meditators are welcome.

Get some permaculture
Mondays, Jan. 6-Feb. 3, 7 p.m.
Join master gardener Karen Tuininga for a five-week book study with “The Vegetable Gardener’s Guide to Permaculture: Creating an Edible Ecosystem.” Register to let us know you’ll be attending. Copies of the book available at the library circulation desk.

Power of water gallery talk
Tuesday, Jan. 14, 7 p.m.
Jonathan Hart will talk about his exhibit “The Power & Poetry of Water” on display at the library. Hart creates images of water and the results of water in natural environments as he feels, sees and imagines them. Discovering his connections to water is a strong force, and he becomes aware of the infinite. Jonathan seeks to spark curiosity, wonder and the importance of protecting our precious water resources. Join him for an informal introduction to his work. Light refreshments will be served.

Tech Help at senior center
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 10 a.m.-noon
Email enigma? Kindle conundrum? App apprehension? Computer questions? Or maybe you want to learn how to use your library card to read or listen to books on a device. Sign up for a 20-minute, one-on-one session at the senior center with Susanna, Charlotte Library’s Technology Librarian, for some tech support. She will troubleshoot with you and will provide suggestions for next steps. Make sure to bring your device and any necessary login information. When registering, please provide a specific topic/item that you need help with and include the device you will be bringing to the session (e.g. Windows laptop, Mac laptop, Kindle, iPhone, iPad, Android phone, etc.). To register, call the Senior Center: 802-425-6345.

Short story selections
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 1 p.m.
Join Library Director Margaret Woodruff to share and discuss short stories old and new on Zoom. Our group meets on the third Wednesday of each month. Story selections are sent out by email the Friday before the meeting date. Please contact Woodruff if you’d like to join the group.

Better Together book club
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 7 p.m.
Join this open group to discuss books related to parenthood. The group is now reading “Other People’s Houses” by Abi Waxman now. In “Other People’s Houses” repercussions of an affair reverberate through four carpool families, navigating a moral minefield that could make or break a marriage. Pick up a copy at the circulation desk.

Tea & a Movie
Friday, Jan. 17, 2 p.m.
Join us for the showing of a movie based on a Jane Austen novel of the same name. Enjoy tea, homemade cookies and the good company of Austen’s characters and fans.

Mystery book group
Monday, Jan. 20, 10 a.m.
Author Susan Spencer Taylor joins us via Zoom to discuss her latest mystery, “Agony Hill,” which was recently featured in the Seven Days book issue. The plot features Bostonian Franklin Warren who arrives in Bethany, Vermont, to take a position as a detective with the state police. Warren has barely unpacked when he’s called up to a remote farm on Agony Hill. Former New Yorker and back-to-the-lander Hugh Weber seems to have set fire to his barn and himself, with the door barred from the inside, but things aren’t adding up for Warren. Copies available at the circulation desk.

Ottolenghi cooking book club
Tuesday, Jan. 21, 5:30 p.m.
For our January session, we invite you to select a recipe from your favorite Ottolenghi cookbook or stop by the library to pick a recipe from ours. Make up your dish to share and join us for supper.

Men’s book group
Wednesday, Jan. 22, 7:30 p.m.
The monthly men’s book group is discussing “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.” In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new housing development, the last thing they expected to uncover was a human skeleton. Who the skeleton was and how it got buried there were just two of the secrets that had been kept for decades by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side, sharing ambitions and sorrows. Copies available at the circulation desk. Group meets monthly. Join us at the library or on Zoom.

Recurring programs

Book chat
Wednesdays, 3 p.m.
Meet each week to discuss new books, old books and books we might have missed. Each week, library director Margaret Woodruff selects a theme and highlights related titles from the library collection. No registration necessary.

Crochet & knit night
Wednesdays, 5-6:30 p.m.
Join in a casual weekly session of crocheting and chatting, knitting and catching up. Bring your project or start a new one with yarn and needles available at the library, along with plenty of books to instruct and inspire. For teens and adults.

Library contact information:
Margaret Woodruff, director
Cheryl Sloan, youth services librarian
Susanna Kahn, tech librarian
Phone: 802-425-3864
Email

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http://charlottepubliclibrary.orgThe Charlotte Library Board of Trustees meets the first Thursday of each month at 6 p.m., unless otherwise rescheduled following the Opening Meeting Law. The next scheduled board meeting is Thursday, Feb. 5, at 6 p.m. Contact the library or visit the library website for more information.