MPL: Spring Flings

A Showering of April Events

Rebecca Appelbaum
April 09, 2024

Welcome back friends! It’s a new month and we’ve got plenty coming up, but we’ll start with a couple announcements.

Firstly, Patriot’s day is going to be Monday, April 15th this year, and we at the Millis Public Library will be closed for it. Stop by in the week leading up to it for any of your entertainment needs, and check out our e-resources if you miss us, or pop in on Tuesday, April 16th to pick something up after the holiday.

Next up! We all love a good early dismissal day, but we also want everyone to have a good time on them! The library is seeking High Schoolers to help engage the middle schoolers who come to the library on Early Dismissal days. Mentors would encourage positive use of the Library spaces & lead activities. High School students who have strong leadership skills and are comfortable with middle school aged kids and are interested in earning volunteer hours should email Rachel at [email protected]. Upcoming Early Dismissal Dates are Friday April 12th, Friday May 17th & Wednesday June 12th, so contact us with your availability and let us build a game plan together.

Our newest club, Library Legends has been rescheduled! Join us on Tuesday, April 23rd at 2:30pm for our Middle and High Schooler-centric club - all are welcome! We’ll be having a cheese tasting and be doing some acrylic painting for students in 6th-12th grade. Come enjoy and help us figure out what our next activity will be!

Onto programs! The next meeting of Color and Chill is at the end of the week and we have no clue where the time went! Join us on Friday, April 12th for at least a hour of quiet relaxation before your busy weekend! Coloring has been proven to help reduce stress, so take a break us, our new coloring sheets, music, and snacks. The latter two will start at 6:30pm, but if you want more ‘you’ time, you’re welcome to stop by and get started earlier—the room will be set for you. No registration required!

It’s also almost time again! Join us for Writer’s Space: our monthly gathering of writers! Share ideas, frustrations, lyrics and triumphs. Laugh, cry, and look cross while you think it out with us on Tuesday, April 16th. We’ll be starting at 7pm, with this month’s prompt "The first time I".

Each month we will discuss or (not discuss) a prompt given the month before. Free write or finish your masterpiece. We don't even care if you doodle nonsense— We just want to see you put pen/pencil/stylus/keyboard to page/paper/screen/program and have another calm place to hang out and get some light refreshments. No registration required, but sign up here if you want email reminders.

And speaking of forming tales, we’ve got some storytelling for the kids the next day! Join us for Big Ryan’s Tall Tales, at 10:30am on Wednesday, April 17th for local favorite Big Ryan as he tells fun and funny stories to make you giggle! Recommended for Children Ages 3-8, all ages welcome! No registration required, just bring yourselves!

Did you miss our salsa classes? Did you catch some of them but want more? Latin Dance is coming back! Pick up new moves, practice old ones, and feel the rhythm with local instructor Jaime Staraitis. This drop in class is free to attend and will be held the following Wednesdays this spring at 6pm:

April 10, 17
May 29
June 5, 12

No partner required and no prior experience necessary! No registration required.

It’s back! We’re once again hosting Teen Paint Night! Come down on Friday, February 19th at 6:30pm, so let your creativity reign free on your own blank canvas and layer your colors on!

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

Following that, Millis Memory Cafe is back on Monday, April 22nd! Come spend the morning with us as we host a welcoming place for individuals and families living with memory changes. Each café event will feature a guest artist or performer, time for conversation, as well as coffee and refreshments.

The cafe will run from 10:30 AM to 12 Noon in the Roche Brothers Community Room. All are welcome and there is no cost to attend. Contact Kim at [email protected] or visit millislibrary.org/memorycafe for more information.

Last but certainly not least, as the culmination of the year’s Millis Reads, we’d like to invite you to join us on Thursday, April 25th for a discussion on this year’s main dish “Eight Flavors” with author Sarah Lohman!

Lohman will join us (virtually) to discuss and answer questions about her book “Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine”, sharing how the book came to be as well as some readings that didn't make it to publication. We’ll be screening the event in the Roche Bros room at 6:30pm, so register here to claim your spot and hear from this amazing author!

Sarah Lohman is a culinary historian and the author of the bestselling books “Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods” and '“Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine”. She focuses on the history of food as a way to access the stories of diverse Americans. Endangered Eating is a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and was named one of the Best Books of 2023 by Amazon’s Editors, Food & Wine, and Adam Gopnik on the Milk Street podcast. Her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and NPR. Formerly the Culinary Curator at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Lohman has lectured across the country, from the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC to The Culinary Historians of Southern California. She is a columnist for Gastro Obscura and writes about rare foods. Lohman is based in Las Vegas and is a frequent collaborator with the Neon Museum Las Vegas and is co-host of the Las Vegas City Cast podcast.

For a full list of upcoming events at the Millis Public Library, please visit our event calendar.