The Belmont Library is planning a January chockful of exciting events and great reading. Families should mark their calendars for the Winter Reading Kick-off Jan. 7, 3 to 5 p.m. Drop in for stories, crafts, and treats.
What is Winter Reading? The Winter Reading program will be a lot like the Summer Reading program. Participants will track their reading hours and collect raffle tickets for prizes. There will be several Winter Reading events, which you will see on the monthly calendar, and programs during this time will focus on winter themes. All ages may participate.
Preschool Storytime (Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.) and Toddler Time (Wednesdays 10:30 a.m.) begin the week of Jan. 10. We will read stories, practice rhymes, and do a craft or collaborative activity together.
Also starting the week of Jan. 10 are two tween and teen groups. Movie Club: We will set up in the Children’s Room to watch, discuss, and even create movies every other Monday at 3 p.m. This program is geared toward middle school and high school kids and will be led primarily by the club members to meet their particular interests. Great Stone Face Book Club: Join this book club, which meets every other Thursday, to discuss some of the best Junior fiction of the year. We will decide together which Great Stone Face book to read together, then meet to discuss! Every other Thursday at 4 p.m.
Parents and caregivers might also consider dropping in to our Bring Your Own Baby event or taking home a craft for the kiddos. For the Bring Your Own Baby event on Jan. 15 at 11 a.m., we will choose a family-friendly movie to watch, while your little ones play nearby and are free to be noisy. While you’re in, grab a craft to take home with you, or stop in on Jan. 14 or 28 for Crafternoon, any time after 3 p.m.
The January non-fiction book group is centered on “I’ll be gone in the dark,” a masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer — the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade — from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case. The discussion is set for Jan. 13 at 1 p.m. Our Friday Fiction book group meets on Jan. 21 at 10:30 a.m. to discuss “I Let You Go” by Clare Macinktosh. “I Let You Go” follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past. Both book group titles are available digitally and at the library and we welcome hybrid attendance.
The library will be closed Jan. 1 and Jan. 17.
The Belmont Public Library is open six days a week and any time at belmontpubliclibrary.org, serving the community with books, digital resources, and cultural programming. In 2018, the library celebrated 90 years in the same building and 125 as Belmont’s community library.