MPL: Bloomin' and Spring Breakin'

Break into Spring🪻🌸

Rebecca Appelbaum
April 15, 2025

Hello friends and welcome (or welcome back)!

Firstly, we want to thank everyone for an amazing book sale! We hope you found some amazing new reads or watches (or puzzles or games) and we can’t thank you enough for coming out and helping support the library. With that support, we have an amazingly busy couple weeks coming up with the warm weather that’s rolling in, so lets get to it!

We don’t know how the end of April snuck up on us so quickly, but Patriot’s day is right around the corner. We at the Millis Public library will be closed on Monday, April 21st to celebrate this most New England of holidays, and we want to invite you to come down and stock up whatever you may need for the long weekend. We’ll be open normal hours leading up to and after the holiday, but if you miss us, please check out our e-resources!

Also! We Promised you details of this year’s Millis Reads Trip… And we have them!

One of the best ways to combat the detrimental effects of screen time is to get outdoors and disconnect. As a wrap up to our Millis Reads 2025 program on Digital Wellness, please join us for a day trip to the Massachusetts Trustees of the Reservation site, The deCordova Sculpture Park.

For Adults and Ages 12+ with Adult

Your $20 ticket includes transportation to and from The deCordova Sculpture Park by Silver Fox Coach and admittance to the grounds. To view the grounds or learn more about the park, please visit their website. Please bring your own picnic or plan on eating at the Twisted Tree Cafe on the museum grounds. Pickup and drop off will be at the Millis Public Library at 10am and 4pm, respectively. Tickets must be purchased in-person at the Millis Library. We accept cash, check, or payment through paypal at the desk.
Tour the grounds on your own or use the guided tour app available for free. For those with mobility issues, there is one fully accessible path through the grounds. DeCordova is internationally recognized as a major venue for the exhibition and interpretation of modern and contemporary outdoor sculpture. The Sculpture Park occupies the entire campus: 30 acres of beautifully landscaped lawns, forests, fields, gardens, and terraces on a rolling site along the shore of Flint's Pond in Lincoln, Massachusetts. At any given time, approximately 60 sculptures are on display in the Sculpture Park. The Sculpture Park collection includes works by significant twentieth- and twenty-first-century artists including Dorothy Dehner, Andy Goldsworthy, Antony Gormley, Dan Graham, Nam June Paik, Beverly Pepper, Jaume Plensa, and Ursula von Rydingsvard. Unplug, relax, and enjoy.

This event is outdoors and being held rain or shine. Please take weather into consideration when planning your visit!

Then, for the first item in our programing lineup is the return of Board Game Night! If you haven’t come to this, there’s no better time— join us on Thursday, April 17th at 6pm to meet new friends, play a few games, and just have fun! This monthly get-together doesn’t require any prior game knowledge, and will feature a different game each time for everyone to learn and play together. If you’re an experienced gamer, bring your favorite to play and teach us— we’ll be excited to learn.

Next up we have Teen TV: Retro Night where we’ll be showing three classic episodes from the 80s, 90s, and 00s on Friday, April 18th at 6pm! See what was popular in decades past (and get bragging rights if you've caught them before)! We've got the snacks and drinks— just bring yourselves! Recommended for grades 6th-8th, no registration required.

Facts of Life S2 E9 "Gossip" (1981)

Tootie's gossiping causes a rift between Blair, Jo and Nancy; it almost costs Mrs. Garrett her job.

Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air S2 E1 "Did the Earth Move for You? (1991)

Will's feelings for Kathleen will never be the same after they are trapped together by an earthquake.

That's So Raven S1 E18 "If I Only had a Job" (2003)

When Raven foresees her father being sacked from his job as a chef and tries to prevent it, she only makes things worse, but for once things turn out for the best.

Then, after the holiday, we’ve got the return of Writer’s Space. If you’ve been trying to find a dedicated group of fellow wordsmiths, we have good news for you! You’ve got it. Come join us to do everything from actual writing, to brainstorming, to ranting about why your characters won’t do what you want them to (yes, to all the non-writers out there. That’s not a metaphor. They rebel constantly), to getting help figuring out what that word you’re looking for is— and everything in between! No matter where you are or what you want to do, join us on Tuesday, April 22nd at 7pm and get started with your people. No registration required.

Then, we’ve got the spring break line-up for all the parents out there. Starting on Wednesday, April 23rd, we’ve got a couple things lined up to keep you going! Starting with Big Ryan’s Tall Tales at 10:30am, join us for some funny tales from local favorite Big Ryan! Recommended for kids ages 4-8, all ages welcome!

After that, also on Wednesday, April 23rd, at 3:15pm, we’re doing BINGO for Kids! Come play BINGO for small prizes! Recommended for Children ages 5-10, all ages welcome!

Then, on Thursday, April 24th at 2pm, we’ll be doing Perler Bead Art! Recommended for children ages 5-10, all ages welcome as we create art you get to take home!

No registration is required for any of these, so come down and have fun!

And while it’s not quite part of the Spring Break program line-up, we have another part of our Millis Reads programing coming up that week— our No-Tech Lock in for Middle School will be on Saturday, April 26th at 3pm. We’ll be playing games, making art, eating snacks and having fun!

This program is part of our Millis Reads program which this year is focused on Digital Wellness. To honor this, we ask that all participants leave their phones at the front desk during this library program for some valuable bonding time free of the distraction of screens. Phones will be available for emergencies and returned to students when they are coordinating pick up. Register here to attend!

We also wanted to put in a reminder for the next Millis Memory Cafe. The next gathering will be on Monday, April 28th at 10:30am as we work to create a welcoming place for individuals and families living with memory changes. The guest performer this time will be guitarist and singer, John Poirier.

As always, there’s no registration needed and everyone is welcome.

And lastly (for this letter), we’ll be hosting another art night for our middle schoolers! Join us on Friday, May 2nd at 6:30pm for Paint Your Own Flowerpots! Take this chance to make your mom, grandmother, or caregiver a mother's day gift by painting your own flower pot (Moms and Grandparents, don’t tell that you know). Participants will also get a a packet of flower seeds to plant in their pot for a wonderful surprise later in the spring!

All supplies will be provided, register here to claim your set. Recommended for grades 6th-8th.

As always, there’s so much more we’re doing than will fit into any one newsletter. If you want to see everything we have going on, check out our event calendar!

Until next time, take care of yourselves and we hope to see you soon!

—Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians