New England's Maritime Knitting
2025-10-18 10:30 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Harwinton Public Library, 80 Bentley Drive, Harwinton, CT, 06791, United States
Knit So As to Turn Water:
The History of New England’s Maritime Knitting

The knitted clothing of New England reflects maritime cultures the world over. Garments like nippers, half-handers, and the infamous fisherman’s sweater each hold a romantic yet real place in our coastal history. Explore knitting a WWI submariner’s outfit with the Navy League! Imagine learning to knit with a pair of whalebone needles you carved yourself! Presenter Rebecca Bayreuther Donohue is a historian and knitter who will bring this Power Point presentation to life with examples of breed-specific yarns and recreated garments. Join us for this ode to maritime history, the sustainability of wool, and the way the sea connects us all.
This FREE program is sponsored by the Harwinton Library Friends. Thank You.
Ages 10 and up. Please register.

Evening Book Discussion
2025-10-20 18:00 - 19:00
This month’s selection is: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Shots rang out in Savannah’s grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. In this sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative, John Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.
It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman’s Card Club; the turbulent young gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the “soul of pampered self-absorption”; the uproariously funny drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young people dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.
Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a sublime and seductive reading experience.

Chess Club
2025-10-20 18:30 - 19:30, 2025-10-27 18:30 - 19:30, 2025-11-03 18:30 - 19:30, 2025-11-10 18:30 - 19:30
Chess players of all ages are invited to join our Monday night Chess Club. Sharpen your skills and make new friends while you enjoy a friendly game. Players should already be familiar with the basics of how to play.
Registration is helpful, but not required.

Fall Storytimes (Tues.)
2025-10-21 10:00 - 10:30, 2025-10-28 10:00 - 10:30, 2025-11-04 10:00 - 10:30
Come hang out with Mrs. Molly, read a story, and sing some songs! Enjoy animal yoga, crafts, or scarf play!
Ages 0-5. Please register.
Registering once will register you for all Fall Tuesday Storytimes!
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Mindful Meditation
2025-10-22 15:30 - 16:30, 2025-10-29 15:30 - 16:30, 2025-11-05 15:30 - 16:30, 2025-11-12 15:30 - 16:30
Weekly meditation group

Teen Bob Ross Painting
2025-10-22 18:00 - 19:30
Copy Bob Ross on our big screen and create a beautiful work of art to take home! All supplies provided.
Ages 11+. Please register.
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Fall Storytimes (Thurs.)
2025-10-23 10:00 - 10:30, 2025-10-30 10:00 - 10:30, 2025-11-06 10:00 - 10:30

Spooky Halloween Science Lab
2025-10-25 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-10-25 12:30 - 13:30
Get hands on performing some super cool science experiments! Cool-ology is coming to help us experience more STEM at our library through fun Halloween explosions and colorful reactions!
Please register each child separately.
Ages 7-15. Please register.
Parents welcome to attend with younger attendees.
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Trick-or-Treat at the Library
2025-10-27 - 2025-11-01
Say trick-or-treat at our front desk and earn a Halloween goodie bag! (No candy included, just toys!)
For all kids and teens.
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Small Works Drop Off
2025-10-27 12:30 - 2025-11-01 15:00
Submissions for our 2025 Small Works Fundraiser Exhibition can be dropped off at the Library this week during our normal business hours. All artwork must be framed or prepared for hanging with a wire or hook. Download labels to fill out ahead of time and make drop-off quick and easy. We can’t wait to see your work!

Let's Talk Gardening
2025-10-27 19:00 - 20:00
Join us for our bi-monthly gardening discussion group. This month is our seed annual seed swap. Bring seeds that you have saved to share with others and the Seed Library
Sponsored by the Harwinton Grows Seed Library.

Library Board Meeting
2025-11-03 19:00 - 20:00
Monthly Board Meeting

Homeschool Storytime
2025-11-05 14:00 - 15:00
One of our local homeschooling mom’s, Andrea Fitzpatrick, is providing a homeschooler storytime for homeschoolers in the area! All are welcome, of course, whether they are homeschooled or not!
This storytime series will be for slightly older kids than the normal story times that Mrs. Molly provides! This is a great opportunity for kids who still love being read to!
Ages 6-10 years old.
Parents must attend with their kids.
No need to register.
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Small Works 2025 Opening Reception
2025-11-07 18:00 - 20:00
Please join us for the Opening Reception of our 2025 Small Works Fundraiser Exhibition! All are welcome. Each year’s show features a wide variety of subjects, techniques and media. Enjoy a festive night of live music and light refreshments while you view the exhibition. Meet our talented artists and get first pick of artwork! 30% of all sales goes to support the Library. Small Works 2025 runs through December 30th.

Library Friends Meeting
2025-11-10 17:00 - 18:00
Monthly meeting

Library closed
2025-11-11
Library closed for Veteran’s Day

An Evening of Fall Crafts
2025-11-12 17:00 - 20:00
Drop-in anytime between 5pm and 8pm and do some crafts in our activity room! The whole family is welcome to attend!
Take your time, do one craft, or do them all!
Please register. Ages 0-12.
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Afternoon Book Discussion
2025-11-13 14:00 - 15:00
This month’s selection is The Library Book by Susan Orlean. On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.'” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library–and if so, who?
Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.
In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago.

Evening Book Discussion
2025-11-17 18:00 - 19:00
This month’s book selection is North Woods by Daniel Mason. Daniel Mason’s book North Woods tells the multi-generational story of a single house and plot of land in New England from the Puritan era to the present day, featuring a diverse cast of human and non-human inhabitants like Puritan lovers, twin sisters, a panther, and a beetle. The novel explores interconnected themes of memory, fate, nature, and the passage of time, using a unique, genre-blurring narrative style that blends historical fiction with elements of magical realism and humor.
