Groundhog Day (but this is NOT a hidden groundhog)
2021-02-02 | Online, VT
Will they see their shadow? Groundhogs are also called woodchucks or a whistle pigs, and they are related to squirrels, according to Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia, available free with your library card via this website!

Female Husbands and Their Wives
2021-02-03 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
A First Wednesdays Program from the Vermont Humanities Council
Some people, assigned female at birth, transcended gender and lived as men in the 18th and 19th centuries, despite tremendous risk of violence. Amherst history professor Jen Manion provides examples of such people and the women they married. Press reports on these relationships exposed dynamic, contested, and varied stories of love, courage, and loss.
Jen Manion is Associate Professor of History at Amherst College and author of Liberty’s Prisoners: Carceral Culture in Early America.
Underwriter: The Samara Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation
Series Underwriter: Chroma Technology Corp.

Windham County Genealogy Interest Group
2021-02-06 10:00 - 12:00 | Online, VT
Share ideas and learn from experienced genealogists! All welcome. Please contact the WCGIG group coordinators for the link to the meeting on February 6th.
Meanwhile:

The other meeting videos have been uploaded and they are accessible at the WCGIG YouTube channel, including this one: WCGIG Meeting 12-5-20 (Youtube)
If you wish, please take a few minutes to complete a survey to help guide us in topics for future meetings: Link to WCGIG Survey
DNA presentation at Brooks Memorial Library, February 2018: Making Sense of Your DNA Testing Results with Jennifer Stone Randolph
Wayne’s Powerpoint slides on searching Vermont newspapers: Searching Vermont Newspapers by Wayne Blanchard
Jerry’s Powerpoint slides on using FamilySearch database: Navigating the World’s Largest Free Genealogical database—FamilySearch

Stay safe,
Wayne Blanchard and Jerry Carbone for WCGIG

Literary Cocktail Hour: Jay Parini on "Borges and Me"
2021-02-12 17:00 - 18:30 | Online, VT
The Brattleboro Literary Festival invites you to a conversation with poet, novelist, and biographer Jay Parini, on Friday, February 12, at 5:00 pm for a discussion of his book “Borges and Me: An Encounter.” Register for Literary Cocktail Hour with Jay Parini.

Parini teaches at Middlebury College. His six books of poetry include New and Collected Poems, 1975-2015. He has written eight novels, including The Damascus Road, Benjamin’s Crossing, The Apprentice Lover, The Passages of H.M., and The Last Station, the last made into an Academy Award-nominated film starring Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer.
Parini will be in conversation with Emerson College professor Rosario Swanson, who specializes in 20th-century Latin American Literature, women writers, Afro-Latin American writers, and the literature of Equatorial Guinea. Her work has appeared in Ottawa Hispanic Studies, Hispanic Journal, Hispania, MARGES, and others.

Teen Virtual Writing Workshop
2021-02-18 19:00 - 21:00, 2021-03-18 19:00 - 21:00, 2021-04-15 19:00 - 21:00 | Online, VT
The Teen Advisory Board invites you to join us on Third Thursdays from 7-9pm for a (virtual) writing workshop. We’ll conduct a rotating selection of writing games and exercises (both collaborative and solo). Sharing is encouraged but not mandatory. Beginners welcome!
Email Teens@brookslibraryvt.org for the Zoom link.
Hosted by the Teen Advisory Board. “Teens Only” events are open to people in grades 7-12.

Winter Carnival Story Time
2021-02-21, 2021-02-22, 2021-02-23, 2021-02-24, 2021-02-25, 2021-02-26, 2021-02-27, 2021-02-28 | Online, VT
Join us virtually during Winter Carnival for two new story time books read by our wonderful Brooks Memorial Librarians!
Two new videos will be posted on the Children’s Room Events page every day from Saturday February 20th until Sunday February 28th.

Inspiring Change in 2021
2021-02-25 19:00 - 20:00 | Online, VT
Free Virtual Event hosted by the Women’s Freedom Center Thursday, February 25th , 7PM – 8PM
Women’s Freedom Center is hosting a dialogue with our community. Together, let’s reimagine & help shape what’s possible in a new era.
Topics Include:

Aiming for economic & legal justice
Media literacy across the lifespan
Bystander empowerment to address all forms of oppression, in particular domestic & sexual violence

ALL ARE WELCOME! Questions? Call the Women’s Freedom Center office at (802) 257-7364.
To get the link, email the Women’s Freedom Center at advocates@womensfreedomcenter.net, or email Brooks Memorial Library at info@brookslibraryvt.org.

Teen Book Club
2021-03-02 19:00 - 21:00 | Online, VT
Join us on Tuesday March 2nd from 7pm-9pm to launch our new teen book club!
The book we’ll be discussing this month is “Scythe” by Neal Schusterman. Grab yourself a copy, read it, and come discuss it with us over Zoom. Email Teens@brookslibraryvt.org for the Zoom link.
Hosted by the Teen Advisory Board. “Teens Only” events are open to people in grades 7-12.

First Wednesday Lecture Series: Yiddish in America
2021-03-03 19:00 - 21:00 | Online, VT
*DIGITAL* How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish
Yiddish is imprinted in American English in terms like chutzpah, kosher, bagel, and schmooze. And the work of Sholem Aleichem, Anzia Yezierska, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Grace Paley, and Irving Howe shows the deep impact of Jewish immigration on the United States. Amherst College professor Ilan Stavans surveys the journey.

Ilan Stavans is the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities, Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College.
Register for this Event.

Inspiring Change
2021-03-04 19:00 - 20:00 | Online, VT
Free Virtual Event hosted by the Women’s Freedom Center Thursday, March 4th, 7PM – 8PM
Women’s Freedom Center is hosting their final discussion in a month long dialogue with the community. Together, let’s re-imagine & help shape what’s possible in a new era.
ALL ARE WELCOME! Questions? Call the Women’s Freedom Center office at (802) 257-7364.
To get the link, email the Women’s Freedom Center at advocates@womensfreedomcenter.net, or email Brooks Memorial Library at info@brookslibraryvt.org.

Owls of the Eastern Ice- A Literary Cocktail Hour
2021-03-12 17:00 - 18:30 | Online, VT
On Friday, March 12, at 5:00 pm, American researcher and conservationist Jonathan Slaght will join the Brattleboro Literary Festival to talk about his book ‘Owls of the Eastern Ice, a Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl’- the Blakiston’s fish owl, which is almost 2 feet tall and has a wingspan of 6’. Long-listed for the National Book award, Slaght takes us to Eastern Russia, where we join his small team for late-night monitoring missions, mad dashes across thawing rivers, drink vodka with mystics, hermits, and scientists, and listen to fireside tales of Amur tigers. Jonathan will be in conversation with Charlie Rattigan, an award-winning documentary producer and the executive director of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, known for their birds of prey rehabilitation.

Women's Freedom Center Presents Healthy Relationship Workshop
2021-03-23 19:00 - 20:30, 2021-03-25 19:00 - 20:30 | Online, VT
Join the Women’s Freedom Center for lively conversation on intimate partnerships & build skills for positive connections. This event is open to any relationship status and all genders are welcome.

Space is limited so call the Women’s Freedom Center at 802.257.7364 to reserve your spot today!

Teen Book Club
2021-04-01 19:00 - 20:00 | Online, VT
Join us on First Thursdays from 7pm-8pm to discuss a YA book with the Teen Advisory Board!
The book we’ll be discussing this month is “A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice & Virtue” by Mackenzi Lee. Grab yourself a copy, read it, and come discuss it with us over Zoom. Email Teens@brookslibraryvt.org for the Zoom link.
Hosted by the Teen Advisory Board. “Teens Only” events are open to people in grades 7-12.

Windham County Genealogy Interest Group: Black & Brown Vermont: An Identity Stolen, A Family Restored
2021-04-03 10:00 - 11:00 | 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
BLACK & BROWN VERMONT: AN IDENTITY STOLEN, A FAMILY RESTORED
The next meeting of the Windham County Genealogy Interest Group will be held via Zoom on Saturday, April 3, at 10 AM. It is free and open to the public, and registration is at http://bit.ly/WindhamGen . Historian, documentarian, genetic genealogist, and author Jerome Lafayette Narramore will present a journey to discover his origins and the genealogical challenges he faced along the way as the bi-racial descendant of enslaved ancestors of West Castleton, Vermont. He is the producer of the upcoming documentary about race in America, “A White Man Walks into a Barbershop, and his story has been featured in the recent book, “The Lost Family” by Libby Copeland. From Amazon.com review, “In “ The Lost Family,” [Copeland] delves into the many lives that have been irrevocably changed by home DNA tests—a technology that represents the end of family secrets.”Narramore is also the administrator of several DNA projects and curator of the Facebook group, “Black & Brown Vermont,” a crowdsourcing project for all data concerning the Black and Brown history of Vermont.
Facilitated by the Windham County Genealogy Interest Group, this zoom webinar is made free and open to the public with the support of Rockingham Library, Bellows Falls, Vt. and Brooks Memorial Library, Brattleboro, VT.
For more information please contact windhamcountygig@gmail.com

First Wednesday Lecture Series: Eating While Fat
2021-04-07 19:00 - 21:00 | Online, VT
Comic Josie Leavitt shares her hilarious attempts at exercising and dieting, addresses fat shaming, and describes her struggle for body acceptance in a society that could do more to welcome different bodies.
Josie Leavitt is a stand-up comic, educator, and founder of the Vermont Comedy Divas.
Register here for this free talk.

Library Visits by Appointment
2021-04-16 14:00 - 17:00 | 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Book a 15-minute appointment slot

Friday: 2:00pm – 5:00pm

How and Why? Learn all about it on our Visit by Appointment page.

Plant & Seed Swap!
2021-04-22 12:00 - 17:00, 2021-04-23 12:00 - 17:00, 2021-04-24 12:00 - 17:00 | Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Celebrate Earth Day with Edible Brattleboro, Retreat Farm, and Brooks Memorial Library as we share seeds and plants with our community. Bring your extra seeds or plants to add to the mix!
We look forward to seeing you!

Green Up Day
2021-05-01 | 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Want to help? You can pick up a Green Up trash bag at the library. Bags are available at the front door during curbside service hours, Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm.

Then get out in your community to clean up your neighborhood roads and waterways on May 1st. As a volunteer, you make a huge difference for our environment.

Green Up Vermont’s mission is to promote the stewardship of our state’s natural landscape and waterways, and the livability of our communities by involving people in Green Up Day while raising public awareness about the health, economic, and visual benefits of a litter-free environment year-round.

Make sure to stop by Turning Point of Windham County to paint rocks and distribute them throughout the community!
