Brooks Memorial Library - Brattleboro VT

SilverCircus - by NECCA
2026-02-14 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Strengthen balance and build social connection, all while playing and connecting to your inner child with SilverCircus by the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA). These circus classes are designed for older adults and are welcome to all mobility and cognitive levels. We will work with each student where they are at, while fostering a supportive and playful group dynamic. Activities will challenge the brain and the body, and will be scaled up and down to be the perfect challenge for each participant.
It is not too late to join the circus! Join us at Brattleboro Memorial Library at 11am on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays in January through May (01/10, 01/24, 02/14, 02/28, 03/14, 03/28, 04/11, 04/25, 05/09, and 05/23).

LEGO-Palooza Winter Session!
2026-02-12 15:00 - 17:00, 2026-02-05 15:00 - 17:00, 2026-01-29 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!

POSTPONED-Sing & Dance With Robin
2026-02-12 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-02-05 10:30 - 11:30, 2026-01-29 10:30 - 11:30 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Sing & Dance With Robin is POSTPONED until further notice.

Beyond I Have A Dream: A Discussion of The Radical Martin King
2026-02-11 18:30 - 20:30 | Main Reading Room
Event Information Updated (02/11):
Brattleboro Common Sense is planning this event to be a public discussion with the descriptive title “Beyond I Have A Dream” and with short presentations by Etan Nasreddin-Longo, Reverend Arnold Thomas, Rv. Lise Sparrow, and Dr. Mary Gannon, honoring King and Black History Month and featuring Q&A and public discussion more than presentations. The purpose will be to raise awareness of King’s radical evolution and of other militant anti-racist thought.
A commentary by Rev. Thomas’ published in Jun 1, 2020, was the inspiration for this event. He lamented the outcry about the killing of George Floyd: “The increasing numbers of black and brown people across the nation and in Vermont have also increased in their intolerance of noisy-gong-and-clashing-cymbal-like rhetoric of whites who momentarily raise their voices against what they see as a momentary crisis and then resume their lives supporting and sustaining the systems of their own privilege.”
About the Presenters:
Dr. Mary Gannon is a training consultant with the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, a prominent activist around Brattleboro, and honored for Lifetime Achievement by the Windham County NAACP.
Reverand Dr. Lise Sparrow and Dr. Gannon founded the the Community Equity Foundation. As a leader of Vermont Interfaith Action pastor, Rev. Dr. Sparrow made the Guilford Church a well known resource for social justice events and organizing. She received special commendation for her work by the Vermont Legislature.
Professor Etan Nasreddin-Longo has served as director of the Vermont Legislative Panel on Racial Disparities in Montpelier and as counsel to the Vermont State Police on officer training. Locally, he has been a visiting professor at Marlboro College. In 2022, he gave a public introductory lesson on critical race theory for BCS.
The Reverend Arnold Thomas: The reverend’s awards in the ministry and civil rights advocacy are far too many to mention. He is:
• Cofounder, Vermont Social Equity Caucus of the State House and Senate
• President & Founder, Northern Berkshire Human Rights & Relations Task Force
• Board Member, Vermont Racial Justice Alliance
• Board Member, Vermont ACLU
These are only four positions he holds in community leadership in social justice only around Vermont. His scholarship and leadership positions outside Vermont are quite extensive and far-reaching.
All are welcome to join in what promises to be a compelling conversation.

Game Cafe!
2026-02-11 18:00 - 20:45, 2026-02-04 18:00 - 20:45, 2026-01-28 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!

Food, Ecosystems and Community: Lessons from Nature
2026-02-10 19:00 - 20:45 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Join Edible Brattleboro for a winter workshop series exploring the living systems at the heart of a community food forest. Together, we’ll learn how to create regenerative, resilient landscapes-where soil, plants, and people work together in mutually supportive relationships.
The series features nationally recognized speakers Didi Pershouse and Dave Jacke. Didi is an author, educator, and policy strategist, whose work focuses on living soils, carbon cycles, and the role of soil health in resilient ecosystems and communities. Dave Jacke is co-author of Edible Food Forest Gardens and a leading voice in permaculture and ecological design. Jacke will present two talks exploring forest gardening as a model for home and community landscapes, and how ecosystem principles-such as diversity, cooperation, and interdependence-can inform resilient social structures. Together, these speakers bring deep ecological insight and practical wisdom rooted in nature based systems.
Whether you’re cultivating a backyard, tending a shared green space, or simply interested in how ecosystems sustain life, this series offers insight, inspiration, and actionable ideas for nurturing landscapes that grow, adapt, and nourish for generations.
Speaker Schedule:
– Tuesday, January 13 | 7:00 PM
Didi Pershouse — Author • Educator • Policy Strategist
Soil as a Living System: How Healthy Soil Supports Ecosystems and Communities
An exploration of soil biology and the critical role living soils play in climate resilience, food systems, and community health.
-Tuesday, February 10 | 7:00 PM
Dave Jacke — Co-author of Edible Forest Gardens
Gardening Like a Forest: Ecosystem Mimicry for Homes and Communities
Healthy forests maintain, fertilize, and renew themselves, naturally. Wouldn’t you like to grow an abundant food-producing ecosystem like this in your back yard or neighborhood? You can! Edible forest gardens mimic the structure and function of natural forests while growing food, fuel, fiber, fodder, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, and fun. We can meet our own needs and regenerate healthy landscapes, communities, and ecosystems at the same time. We will dive into the vision of forest gardening, a little history, some science, a few living examples, and a sampling of some useful perennial edibles you can use in your own gardens.
-Tuesday, March 10 | 7:00 PM
Dave Jacke
Ecosystem Social Structures
Functional social interactions between species lie at the core of healthy ecosystems. Understanding species and community niches, interspecies relationships, food webs, guilds, polycultures, and the principles that undergird these structures greatly improves our ability to design and manage healthy forest gardens—and healthy human societies!
-Tuesday, March 24th | 7:00 PM
Ricky Baruch and Deb Habib — Founders of Seeds of Solidarity in Orange MA, with over three decades of experience gardening, farming and teaching widely.
Grow Food Everywhere!
Celebrate spring with this engaging presentation and inspiration for abundant gardens to come. Appropriate for both beginning and experienced gardeners, you will gain ideas for building rich, living soil with local resources and regenerative no-till methods. Learn from presenter experience and interactive conversation as you gather practical ideas for low maintenance and climate resilient methods that grow healthy soil and nourishing food for home or community, and in all settings.

Voices Live: Who Governs Brattleboro, and How?
2026-02-10 18:00 - 20:30 | Main Reading Room
Brattleboro voters face critical ballot questions on March 3rd regarding our town’s future voting structure. These questions, and how the vote outcome will affect Town government, are more complex than they appear.
Join us for an expert panel discussion to demystify these choices before you head to the polls.
The Issues at Stake:
The upcoming vote will determine:

The Meeting Format: Should we retain the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) or move to an Open Town Meeting (OTM)?
The Voting Method: If RTM is discontinued, should we use Australian Ballot or Open Voting for all budget articles?

Featured Panelists:

Kate O’Connor: Chair, Brattleboro Charter Commission
Andy Davis: RTM Proponent
David Gartenstein: Open Town Meeting Proponent
Tom Franks: Australian Ballot Proponent

Light refreshments will be available at 6 PM; presentation begins at 6:30 PM, moderated by Randy Holhut (the Commons).
This discussion will broadcast on Comcade Channell 1079, on YouTube (@BrattleboroTV), and online at brattleboro.tv
Sponosored by: Vemont Independent Media/The Commons, Brooks Memorial Library, and BCTV

Library Board of Trustees
2026-02-10 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

Read to a Dog
2026-02-10 15:30 - 16:30, 2026-02-03 15:30 - 16:30 | 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.

Art & Exploration at the Library
2026-02-10 13:30 - 15:00, 2026-02-03 13:30 - 15:00 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
We are pleased to offer the second iteration of this free 6-week book exploration and art-making course for learners ages 60+, after last year’s successful pilot-program with River Gallery School teaching artist, Kate Milliken.
Participants will have the opportunity to explore books on a variety of themes including history, food, nature, music, film, and classic novels, and create art in response to those themes through mixed media techniques.
This course is perfect for participants new to creating art and interested in a social book club experience. Supplies are provided. Registration is required. Sign up for one or all sessions in this exciting offering, in collaboration with River Gallery School and Bradley House.
To register: stop by or call the circulation desk (802)254-5290; or, email: outreach@brookslibraryvt.org.

Mud Season Speaker Series - Salamander Crossing Brigades
2026-02-09 18:30 - 20:00 | 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.

Brattleboro in Stitches
2026-02-07 13:00 - 16:00, 2026-01-31 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.

Community Conversations with Brattleboro State Legislators
2026-02-07 10:30 - 12:00 | Main Reading Room
As the Brattleboro Legislative Delegation gears up for the start of a new legislative session in January, these monthly sessions are an opportunity to meet the Brattleboro Representatives and discuss issues that matter to you. Topics will include healthcare, education, climate change, and housing. All are welcome to join your Vermont Legislators, hear from experts, and share your experiences.
These conversations are scheduled monthly on the 1st Saturdays from 10:30 AM – 12 PM. (Scheduled dates: 2/7, 3/7, 4/4, 5/2, and 6/6.)

Vermont Workers Center Sponsored Government Benefits Enrollment/Info Session for Government Benefits (SNAP and Medicaid)
2026-02-06 14:00 - 16:30 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
The Workers Center is sponsoring an informational walk-in session for those interested in applying for SNAP (food benefits) and Medicaid enrollment. Assistance will be provided.
Volunteers available between 2 – 5 PM on January 23; and, 2 – 4 :30PM on February 6th – both events are happening in the Community Room.

LEGO-Palooza
2026-02-05 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!

A Lifeline for Difficult Times: The Taking Solace Series
2026-02-04 18:00 - 20:00 | Main Reading Room
Starting last November, Center for Solace (formerly Brattleboro Area Hospice) & Brooks Memorial Library
began an 8-month collaboration on the first Wednesday of each month, from 6-8 pm.
Come join us for a wide range of conversations
on tender topics, from Death Cafes, to film & discussion nights,
speaker panels, a climate-grief dialogue, and more.
Together we’ll explore some of the challenges of being alive in our time.
For instance, how might we navigate illness, caregiving, or loss?
Or beyond that, face a much broader anguish for our fragile planet itself?
Because we know that at least one form of solace
stems from staying connected.
To quote poet David Whyte, “Solace is not meant to be
an answer, but an invitation, through the door of pain and difficulty,
to the depth of suffering and simultaneous beauty in the world
that the strategic mind by itself cannot grasp or make sense of.”
February’s Topic: Holding Our Own
Come join us in the Main Reading Room on Wednesday, February 4th to watch Holding Our Own. This inspiring one-hour film features the work of local artist Deidre Scherer and the music of Center for Solace chorus Hallowell. It will be followed by a community dialogue about the unique power of the arts to help offer solace in difficult times.
And to find out about further topics, please follow
Center for Solace or Brooks Memorial Library on Facebook:
centerforsolace.org, or brookslibraryvt.org.

SEVCA's Volunteer Tax Prep Assistance (VITA) Program
2026-02-04 12:30 - 18:30 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
The IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program offers free basic tax return preparation to qualified individuals.
The VITA program has operated for over 50 years. VITA sites offer free tax help to people who need assistance in preparing their own tax returns, including:
-People who generally make $67,000 or less
-Persons with disabilities, and
-Limited English-speaking taxpayers
SEVCA’s VITA program also assists Vermont homeowners and renters with Homestead Declarations, Property Tax Credit Claims, and Renter Rebate Claims, even if they are not required to file a tax return.
VITA services are not only free, they are also a reliable and trusted source for preparing tax returns.
Services are by appointment only. Information to request an appointment, COMING SOON.
If you would like more information, visit sevca.org/tax services, email estrasser@sevca.org, or call or text 802-428-3032.

Mineralogical Society
2026-02-03 18:00 - 20:45 | Meeting Room A – Community Meeting Room, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301, United States
Join the Brattleboro Mineralogical Society to discuss Minerals and other Geological topics!

Brattleboro Great Books Group
2026-02-02 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 SONS and LOVERS, by D.H. Lawrence, on MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd, 2026, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., in the Mezzanine Quiet Reading Room of the Brooks Memorial Library. The January meeting was cancelled, and reading/discussion was deferred due to inclement weather and illness of several members.

Sons and Lovers is one of the most perceptive novels on the dialectical relationship between mothers and sons (and daughters, too)! His first major novel, this work closely parallels Lawrence’s own life.
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For Mon. March 2nd, the group will be discussing Dostoyevsky’s THE DEVILS (a.k.a. The DAEMONS or THE POSSESSED), one of his most complicated, and messy, novels. How can I describe it? As an adult, existential “CAT in a HAT,” but with the anarchic “Thing One” and “Thing Two” multiplied to perhaps a half-dozen malevolent “Things!” Get started early, as this is 650 pp., complete with Russian names and patronames, is worth the effort for its deep psychological, philosophical and religious insights.

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

BookMarked: A Book Party for Children and Tweens!
2026-02-02 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.

Actors Theatre Playhouse Auditions
2026-01-31 10:15 - 12:15 | VT
Make – Up Audition for The Actor’s Theatre Playhouse 10 Minute Play Festival
