A Legacy of Courage: Poetry and Book Readings
2026-02-28 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Main Reading Room
In celebration of African American History month, Brooks Memorial Library and the Windham Co. NAACP are co-sponsoring A Legacy of Courage – Poetry and Book Readings on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 at 2pm. Join us for an inspiring and illuminating afternoon as we hear the words of African-American poets and writers over the last two hundred years, voices of courage and resilience. We will hear the powerful words of Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, June Jordan, Howard Thurman, Nikki Giovanni and many more.
In these challenging times, we look to these activists, abolitionists, poets and writers whose words can strengthen our resolve and offer us vision to continue on, helping to bend the arc of the universe toward justice. There are few things more powerful than the printed word and hearing voices of history come through. We will honor and celebrate this legacy together.
If you have a favorite poem or reading, please bring to share!
We hope you can join us at Brooks Memorial Library for this event.
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“Life is a hard battle anyway. If we laugh and sing alittle as we fight the good fight of freedom, it makes it all go easier. I will not allow my life’s light to be determined by the darkness around me.” (attributed to Sojourner Truth)
“Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth.” – June Jordan
The Windham County Vermont Branch of the NAACP is dedicated to serving the needs and promoting the social, economic, political and inter-personal power of people of color and their allies living in our county.
For information and details, visit www.windhamnaacp.org

Brattleboro Great Books Group
2026-03-02 19:00 - 21:00 | Meeting Room D – Quiet Reading Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
The Brattleboro Great Books Group will be discussing Fyodor Doyevsky’s novel “The Devils” (a.k.a. “the Daemons” and “The Possessed”) on Monday, March 2nd, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Mezzanine Quiet Room of the Brooks Memorial Library.

“The Devils” (approx. 668 pp., any edition) is an emotionally harrowing, structurally messy story of a group of mostly upper-class provincial intellectuals in 1860’s and 1870’s Russia. Its characters are striking, multi-faceted and memorable. Although I am reading the Penguin Classic Edition translated by David Marshack, due to failing eyesight, I am relying on a YouTube, 3-part narrated edition (the one with a sinister illustration of three ominous characters). Each one, narrated by an excellent actor, is approximately 10+ hours, or requiring a 30+ hour commitment, but well worth your time.

April 6th discussion will be Volume I, “Swann’s Way,” of Marcel Proust’s 7-volume opus “Remembrance of Times Past” (A la recherche du gems perdu”)

For further information, email Michael N. LANDIS, at emagicmtman@gmail.com, or call him at (802) 257-1851).
In case of inclement weather, the discussion will be again deferred.

Game Cafe!
2026-03-04 18:00 - 20:45, 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, 2026-04-15 18:00 - 20:45, 2026-04-22 18:00 - 20:45 and 1 more date | 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!

LEGO-Palooza Winter Session!
2026-03-05 15:00 - 17:00, 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!

Library Board of Trustees
2026-03-10 16:30 - 18:00, 2026-04-14 16:30 - 18:00 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Monthly meeting of the Brooks Memorial Library Board of Trustees. Citizen attendance and commentary welcome!
Board of Trustees

Sci-Fi Reading Group
2026-03-16 19:00 - 20:30 | Meeting Room D – Quiet Reading Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
The Sci-Fi Reading Group will meet in the Quiet Reading Room from 7:00pm – 8:30pm to discuss The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander!
In the early years of the 20th century, a group of female factory workers in Newark, New Jersey slowly died of radiation poisoning. Around the same time, an Indian elephant was deliberately put to death by electricity in Coney Island. These are the facts.Now these two tragedies are intertwined in a dark alternate history of rage, radioactivity, and injustice crying out to be righted. Prepare yourself for a wrenching journey that crosses eras, chronicling histories of cruelty both grand and petty in search of meaning and justice.
The Sci-Fi Reading Group meets the third Monday of every month and is open to curious minds, whether or not they’ve read this month’s selection.

Teen Game Night!
2026-03-20 18:30 - 21:30 | Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Join us from 6:30pm-9:30pm to play games with the Teen Advisory Board!
We will have a selection of board and card games to play with as well as a Jackbox Party Pack set up. Feel free to bring your own games as well.
We’ll be spread out across the whole 2nd floor. Pizza and snacks provided!
Hosted by the Teen Advisory Board. “Teens Only” events are open to people in grades 7-12.

Financial Empowerment
2026-03-23 17:30 - 19:00 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Financial Discussion and Q & A with representatives from SEVCA and Mascoma Bank
These FREE classes are being held on the 4th Mondays of the month throughout 2026, with different topics for each session and peer support encouraged throughout. A light meal will be served at 5:30PM; the discussion starts at 6:00 PM.
In March, the focus is on credit reports. Participants will be offered support for receiving, understanding, and checking their credit reports and for ensuring that they are correct.
Registration is required. To sign-up, you can call (802-254-5290), stop by the circulation desk, or email us at circ@brookslibraryvt.org

Green Carnation Reading Group
2026-03-23 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-04-27 19:00 - 20:30 | Meeting Room D – Quiet Reading Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Discussions of books by and for queer people. For more information, please visit the Green Carnation Reading Group Facebook page.

District 8 Discussion
2026-04-04 14:00 - 16:00 | Meeting Room D – Quiet Reading Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
District 8 Residents are invited to join in on the final discussion on Saturday, April 4th, in Quiet Room D from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, and any suggestions from the last meeting and new ones on the Agenda, Town Budget, Human Service, etc., and before both meetings, please write dates and time below. Furthermore, you can email me, Gary Stroud, at garycs2004@gmail.com for additional information.
Important Dates

April 8: An Informational Session will be held on April 8, 2026, starting at 7 p.m. in the Brattleboro Area Middle School Multipurpose Room.

April 11: Open Town Meeting will be held on April 11, 2026, starting at 8:30 a.m. in the Brattleboro Union High School gymnasium.

Important Documents and Other Information

View the complete warning for this meeting here.

View the 2025-26 Annual Town Report here. Print editions of the report are available at the Brooks Memorial Library and Town Clerk’s Office during regular business hours. An addendum to the Town Report is in production and will be posted on the Town’s website prior to Open Town Meeting.

Learn more about the budget on the FY27 budget project page and view the Finance Committee’s FY27 Report here.

On Feb. 25, 2026, the Human Services Review Committee hosted an informational forum to discuss municipal human services funding. View it here.

Visit this page to learn more about Robert’s Rules of Order, which are rules of procedure that will guide the meeting.

Watch the Selectboard’s discussion about the Open Town Meeting warning here.

Brattleboro Great Books Group
2026-04-06 19:00 - 21:00 | Meeting Room D – Quiet Reading Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Monthly discussion of “Great Books”

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!

Teen Movie Night! - SUPERMAN
2026-04-17 18:30 - 20:30 | Main Reading Room
The Teen Advisory Board invites you to join us for a Teens Only movie night showing of Superman!
Due to construction at the back of the library, this Teen Movie Night will be downstairs in the Main Reading Room of the library!
The movie will start at 6:30pm. Snacks provided!
Hosted by the Teen Advisory Board. “Teens Only” events are open to people in grades 7-12.

Transom Story Lab Workshop - for Young People, Ages 8 - 18
2026-04-20 10:00 - 14:00 | VT
As part of National Library Week (April 19-25) celebrations, Brooks Memorial Library is delighted to host an exciting opportunity for young people, ages 8-18. As part of Retreat Farm’s America at 250 series, co-presented with Vermont Public and Vermont Community Foundation, journalist and radio producer Sophie Crane of Transom Story Lab will bring a team of tech assistants to the library on Monday, April 20th from 10 to 2 PM. They will present a hands-on audio storytelling workshop, with a focus on the topic of this year’s Library Week theme, “Find Your Joy.” Participants will learn interviewing skills, audio recording basics, and how to shape real conversations into short stories.
This workshop experience will be about curiosity, connection, and finding meaning and joy in everyday moments. Attendees will go off-site for interviews downtown, with adult supervision. Registration is limited to 18 participants. The program will conclude with public screenings of the finished stories during National Library Week at a Brooks Memorial Library Celebration on April 25. No experience is needed and all equipment – and light lunch – will be provided.

Please note: participants will be going off-site for interviews downtown with adult supervision. Registration is required, as is parent/guardian permission. For any questions, please email: outreach@brookslibraryvt.org.

Sci-Fi Reading Group
2026-04-20 19:00 - 20:30 | Meeting Room D – Quiet Reading Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
The Sci-Fi Reading Group will meet in the Quiet Reading Room from 7:00pm – 8:30pm to discuss A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker!
In the Before, when the government didn’t prohibit large public gatherings, Luce Cannon was on top of the world. One of her songs had just taken off and she was on her way to becoming a star. Now, in the After, terror attacks and deadly viruses have led the government to ban concerts, and Luce’s connection to the world—her music, her purpose—is closed off forever. She does what she has to do: she performs in illegal concerts to a small but passionate community, always evading the law.
Rosemary Laws barely remembers the Before times. She spends her days in Hoodspace, helping customers order all of their goods online for drone delivery—no physical contact with humans needed. By lucky chance, she finds a new job and a new calling: discover amazing musicians and bring their concerts to everyone via virtual reality. The only catch is that she’ll have to do something she’s never done before and go out in public. Find the illegal concerts and bring musicians into the limelight they deserve. But when she sees how the world could actually be, that won’t be enough.
The Sci-Fi Reading Group meets the third Monday of every month and is open to curious minds, whether or not they’ve read this month’s selection.

City Nature Challenge Kick-Off Event
2026-04-25 10:00 - 11:00 | Main Reading Room
There is nature all around us! Knowing what species are in our city/town and where they are helps us study and protect them, but the ONLY way to do that is by all of us – scientists, land managers, and the community – working together to find and document the nature in our area.
By participating in the City Nature Challenge, not only do you learn more about your local nature, but you can also make your city/town a better place – for you and other species!
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Kick-Off Event
Saturday, April 25
10-11am – Intro to the Challenge & ID Tips – Brooks Memorial Library Community Room
12-1pm – Identification Walk – West River Park (333 West River Road, Brattleboro, VT)
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We’ll start with a Kick-Off Event on Saturday, April 25, from 10am-11am in the Brooks Memorial Library Community Room. It will be followed by a nature walk from 12-1pm at West River Park (333 West River Road, Brattleboro, VT) so folks can apply their news skills, contributing to citizen science. An ID Session is scheduled for Tuesday, April 28 at 7pm in the Community Room.
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About the ID Session on April 28: whether you’re a seasoned user of iNaturalist and have made many IDs of other people’s observations to bring them to Research Grade, or you’re using iNaturalist for the first time during the April 24-27 observation period of the City Nature Challenge, we’d love to have you join the effort to identify as many of the observations made in Windham County during the Challenge as possible. If you’re new to this, we’ll help you learn how to use the identification features of iNaturalist.
The CNC, held globally by iNaturalist, is the largest annual biodiversity census in the world, and this year, we’re taking part in Windham County! Our local Windham County Nature Challenge is being organized by the Brattleboro Conservation Commission and cosponsored by several local Conservation Commissions, Brooks Memorial Library, and the Connecticut River Conservancy.

Financial Empowerment
2026-04-27 17:30 - 19:00 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Financial Q & A with SEVCA and Mascoma Bank
All are welcome to these programs, held on the 4th Mondays of the month throughout 2026, with different topics for each session and peer support encouraged throughout. Representatives from SEVCA and Mascoma Bank facilitate the discussions, share their expertise, and respond to individual questions and concerns. A light meal will be served at 5:30PM; the focused conversation starts at 6:00 PM.
As a follow-up to March’s discussion on “Credit Reports”, the April topic is “Repairing Credit.”
Registration is required. To sign-up, you can call (802-254-5290), stop by the circulation desk, or email us at circ@brookslibraryvt.org

City Nature Challenge - Nature ID Session
2026-04-28 19:00 - 20:30 | Main Reading Room
Join us for an identification blitz as part of the Windham County City Nature Challenge (CNC), on April 28, between 7 and 8:30 pm in the library’s Community Room. Whether you’re a seasoned user of iNaturalist and have made many IDs of other people’s observations to bring them to Research Grade, or you’re using iNaturalist for the first time during the April 24-27 observation period of the City Nature Challenge, we’d love to have you join the effort to identify as many of the observations made in Windham County during the Challenge as possible. If you’re new to this, we’ll help you learn how to use the identification features of iNaturalist.
The CNC, held globally by iNaturalist, is the largest annual biodiversity census in the world, and this year, we’re taking part in Windham County! Our local Windham County Nature Challenge is being organized by the Brattleboro Conservation Commission and cosponsored by several local Conservation Commissions, Brooks Memorial Library, and the Connecticut River Conservancy.
