Brooks Memorial Library - Brattleboro VT

Read to a Dog
2026-03-10 15:30 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Come start a new year of reading by reading to a dog! Read out loud to two sweet dogs, Kelso and Gussy! Both dogs are specially trained to read with kids and LOVE to be petted and cuddled!
Come to the Children’s Room to Read to a Dog–available on a first come first serve basis. Bring your own books or come early to pick some of ours! All Ages Welcome.

Rhyme Time
2026-03-11 10:30 - 11:00, 2026-03-18 10:30 - 11:00, 2026-03-25 10:30 - 11:00, 2026-04-01 10:30 - 11:00, 2026-04-08 10:30 - 11:00 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Join us on Wednesday mornings @ 10:30 am for 30 minutes of stories, songs, and fun!
Rhyme Time is for kids 5 & under and their caregivers.
Free and open to the public.

Game Cafe!
2026-03-11 18:00 - 20:45, 2026-03-18 18:00 - 20:45, 2026-03-25 18:00 - 20:45, 2026-04-01 18:00 - 20:45, 2026-04-08 18:00 - 20:45 | Meeting Room D – Quiet Reading Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Come join game enthusiasts in playing Magic the Gathering in various formats (including Commander/EDH) as well as other fun and creative board & card games.
Bring your favorite games- All Ages Welcome!

Sing & Dance With Robin
2026-03-12 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-03-19 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-03-26 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-04-02 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-04-09 10:30 - 11:30 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Designed for ages under 6- all ages welcome! Free and open to the public.
This lovely class is an enriching musical experience for toddlers and preschoolers, designed to support healthy cognitive, physical, and social development. Children will sing, clap, stomp, dance, and play along with the curriculum of traditional and modern folk songs. Parents will be encouraged to fully sing and participate with their child in the class.
Sponsored by the Friends of Brooks Memorial Library.

LEGO-Palooza Winter Session!
2026-03-12 15:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-19 15:00 - 17:00 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Join us on Thursdays after school from 3-5pm to play with LEGOs!
We provide the LEGOs. You build. Do not bring your own LEGOs.
Children cannot keep LEGOs, but if there is enough room, we will display them in the window.
Free and open to the public!

Brattleboro in Stitches
2026-03-14 13:00 - 16:00, 2026-03-21 13:00 - 16:00, 2026-03-28 13:00 - 16:00, 2026-04-04 13:00 - 16:00, 2026-04-11 13:00 - 16:00 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Bring a work in progress to sew, knit, crochet, embroider, or mend. Sewing machines, irons, and companionship will be provided.

LEGO-Palooza Special Session!
2026-03-26 13:00 - 17:00 | Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Join us on Thursday, March 26th from 1-5 pm for an extra-long session of LEGO-Palooza!
We provide the LEGOs. You build. Do not bring your own LEGOs.
Children cannot keep LEGOs, but if there is enough room, we will display them in the window.
Free and open to the public!

Mud Season Speaker Series - Salamander Crossing Brigades
2026-03-30 19:00 - 20:30 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Mud Season Speaker Series
The Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center and the Brooks Memorial Library invite you to a series of programs based upon the Vermont Reads 2025-26 selection, The Light Pirate, with the themes of climate resilience through community and the unstoppable power of the natural world.
The Light Pirate
Named after a catastrophic storm, Wanda is born into a world that’s rapidly changing. Rising sea levels and devastating weather patterns transform her coastal Florida town. As she moves from childhood to adulthood, Wanda adapts to this remade landscape, finding adventure, love, and purpose in a place largely abandoned by civilization.
Told in four parts—power, water, light, and time—The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton is a meditation on the beauty and violence of an untamable wilderness. It considers the dissolution of the human-made world, and helps us see how human connection, adaptability, and a little bit of magic might guide us to a new future.
Get a copy at the library!

Monday, February 9, 2026 from 6:30-8
Pumpkin and Pye: How Beavers Keep Us Cool
Pumpkin was born in a stone culvert under Upper Dummerston Road and orphaned when his mother was hit by a car. Pye was attacked and badly injured by a dog as a yearling. BEEC naturalist Patti Smith will tell how these young beavers came together and into her care. Photos and videos will illustrate the adventures that ensued.
Patti maintains that beavers are not just lovable, they are important. She will also talk about their crucial role in holding water on a warming planet and mitigating floods. Find out how communities are solving beaver conflicts in ways that allow beavers to keep us cool.

Monday, March 9, 2026 from 6:30-8
Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transformed New England
A hurricane will never surprise us again. But that’s what happened to the people of New England on September 21, 1938. Without any warning, the most destructive weather event ever to hit the Northeast pummeled the coast and blasted its way to Vermont and New Hampshire with torrential rain, flooding, and sustained winds over 100 miles per hour.
Stephen Long tells the story of New England’s Katrina, focusing on the devastation to the region’s forests and the daunting challenge facing New Englanders still in the throes of the Great Depression. His presentation is richly illustrated with archival photos of storm damage and the unprecedented recovery operation, making the storm and its aftermath come alive. A journalist and co-founder of Northern Woodlands magazine, Stephen Long is the author of Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane that Transformed New England.

Monday, March 30 at 7 pm
Salamander Crossing Brigades: help save salamanders
As our planet heats up amphibians are vulnerable. A group of important amphibians in our region depend upon temporary ponds—vernal pools—for egg-laying. These pools can dry much too fast in drought years. They are also vulnerable when they must cross roads to reach their breeding habitat. You can help! Join a Salamander Crossing Brigade. Getting adult amphibians safely across roads is a big way we can make their populations resilient.
The Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center has been organizing crossing brigades at known crossing sites for decades. Come to the library to learn more about the amazing amphibians that head for vernal pools in the spring and what you can do to help them.

Saturday, April 4, 10:30-12pm
Salamander Tea Party with BEEC
Enjoy salamander story books read by our salamander mascot, snack on salamander cookies, and learn all about salamander season in Vermont!
Naturalists will be on hand to answer questions about how and where you can take a peek at amphibian eggs or help out with amphibian conservation and community science projects including BEEC’s Salamander Crossing Brigade.

Monday, April 13 from 6:30-8
Vermont Reads Book Discussion: The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Join us for a thoughtful, guided conversation centered on The Light Pirate, a novel that follows one girl’s life as climate change reshapes Florida’s coast—and the meaning of home, resilience, and community. Rachael Cohen, environmental writer and editor, will facilitate this 90-minute discussion, creating space to reflect together on the book’s themes, characters, and emotional impact.
Participants will explore themes such as climate adaptation and how people respond—individually and collectively—to environmental change. All readers are welcome, whether the book moved you deeply or left you with lingering questions. Come prepared to listen, reflect, and engage in a meaningful exchange inspired by this powerful and timely novel.

LEGO-Palooza
2026-04-02 15:00 - 17:00 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Join us on the first Thursday of every month after school from 3-5pm to play with LEGOs!
We provide the LEGOs. You build. Do not bring your own LEGOs.
Children cannot keep LEGOs, but if there is enough room, we will display them in the window.
Free and open to the public!

Mud Season Speaker Series - Salamander Tea Party with BEEC
2026-04-04 10:30 - 12:00 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States

BookMarked: A Book Party for Children and Tweens!
2026-04-06 15:30 - 16:30 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Join us on the first Monday of the month, 4-5 pm in the Community Meeting Room for a book lover’s party! This is a chance to meet other kids who love to read (you can bring your old friends too!) and swap recommendations in a zero-pressure environment. We will have craft supplies out for open-ended art making. Snacks will also be provided.
This event is for children ages 8+. Registration is NOT required.

Read to a Dog
2026-04-07 15:30 - 16:30 | Children’s Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Read to a Dog is back! Read out loud to two sweet dogs, Kelso and Gussy! Both dogs are specially trained to read with kids and LOVE to be petted and cuddled!
Come to the Children’s Room to Read to a Dog–available on a first come first serve basis. Bring your own books or come early to pick some of ours! All Ages Welcome.

TESTED - Book Launch with Author Anna Monders
2026-04-12 13:00 - 14:30 | Main Reading Room
Brooks Memorial Library will host a book launch party with debut author—and library employee—Anna Monders at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 12 in the main reading room of 224 Main St., Brattleboro.

Set in a world ruthlessly divided by genetic class, Tested is a high-stakes novel for ages ten and up. Tested follows fourteen-year-old Mikayla, a genetic Elite, in the days before the exam that will secure her privileged life. When Mikayla discovers a secret in her DNA, she starts questioning her rigid society for the first time in her life.

Monders will demonstrate a DNA extraction experiment, engage in dialogue with Max Newirth, Teen Services Specialist and convener of the monthly Sci-Fi Readers meet-up, and answer questions about the novel, the writing life, and the publishing process.

The Friends of the Brooks Memorial Library will provide twenty-five free copies of the book to kids and teens who attend the event. Books will also be available for purchase. All ages are welcome. There will be high-grade chocolate!
