We here at the Healdsburg Regional Library are excited to have our meeting room refreshed so that it is more comfortable and ready to serve the large number of events and programming over the next year—and when our larger full library refresh project takes place, most likely starting in early 2024, we will be able to provide some services out of this room while the rest of the building is closed for construction.
Now that the carpets have been installed and new paint applied to the walls in the library’s meeting room, it’s back to business. The library is hosting a wide variety of free events in April that we invite the public to enjoy.
April is National Poetry Month, and several of our programs this month will have related content. On Saturday, April 8, from 2 to 4pm, we are pleased to co-host a Maya Angelou Celebration with Healdsburg Jazz.
As in previous years, this event will honor Dr. Maya Angelou’s legacy on the occasion of her birthday week. The celebration will feature performances by special guest poet and curator Nia McAllister, Healdsburg Jazz poet laureate Enid Pickett, choreographer and dancer Aimee Rose and alto saxophonist Phil Vieux, as well as bassist and Healdsburg Jazz artistic director Marcus Shelby. The program will also include an open mic for any poets in attendance.
On Wednesday, April 12 from 6 to 7:30pm, our longtime “great works” book club, the Joe Mesics Literary Canon, will discuss the poems of William Butler Yeats. Book clubs in our library system aim to appeal to a variety of audiences, and this club is of special interest to those looking to read or reread books of historical note and analyze what makes books “great.”
The library will offer a special Poetry Open Mic Night on Tuesday, April 18 at 6pm. This event, presented by the library along with two special guests—former Healdsburg literary laureates Russ Messing and John Koetzner—offers a chance to share a poem or two with other local poets, poetry lovers and anyone else who is willing to give it a try. For those not up for sharing just yet, we still recommend the event as an opportunity to listen to neighbors’ creations.
Teens & Tweens
This has been a great year for teen programming at the library, with weekly popular programs on Wednesday afternoons including Game On! for gaming teens, as well as Anime Club and Universal Yums. The fun continues on Friday, April 21 at 3pm with our monthly Smash Bros Gaming Tournament. This is for teens who love playing Smash Bros or who know of someone who would like to compete. Come one, come all to our tournament and determine who is the champion this month.
It has come to our attention that a special hangout for tweens would be a win for our community. This month, we’re proud to roll out a new series of Tween Hangouts every Monday afternoon from 3:30 to 5pm.
We will have a different program every week. In April, we have oversized games and Ozobots, forest and fairy houses, Universal Yums and book making—all aimed specifically at grades 4 through 6. We have plenty of programming aimed at lower grades and teens, and we hope that this particular age group will benefit. Check in with us or on our calendar for what’s coming up next month.
This year, our Homework Help program is back for anyone from grades K–12 looking for a little assistance understanding their homework. Given the popularity of the program and the different school release times, we’ve now expanded to offer Homework Help on Wednesdays from 4 to 6pm and Thursdays from 3 to 4:30pm. We look forward to seeing students there.
Jon Haupt is the branch manager of the Healdsburg Regional Library, 139 Piper St., Healdsburg. Open daily.
