Check out What’s Happening at the East Boston Branch Library!

Teen Listening Skills Workshop
Saturday, August 25th at 2 p.m.
Sharpen your listening skills just in time for the school year with local educator Kim Kerrigan!


Bees & Honey / Abejas y Miel
Thursday, Sept. 6th at 6:15 p.m.
Dave Strickler, an avid local beekeeper, will give a talk on honeybees in urban environment, what it’s like to raise honeybees in your backyard, and the small things you can do to help honeybees flourish. He’ll also bring a sampling of honeys for tasting that will delight your taste buds and change the way you think about honey.

Introduction to Genealogy
Monday, Sept. 10th at 6:30 p.m.

Interested in learning about your family history, but not sure how to begin? Getting Started in Genealogy will teach you the basics of genealogical research. Topics will include how to begin, how to find available resources, how to record and organize your research and much more.

Jeanne Belmonte is a board member of the of the East Boston Museum and Historical Society and a professional genealogist/family historian with more than 10 years of research experience.

Sponsored by the Friends of the East Boston Branch Library.


Birds of Prey
Saturday, Sept. 15 at 2 p.m.
Mass Audubon Society returns to the East Boston Branch of the BPL with Birds of Prey.  Live birds will be present!!!!!

Orientation Workshop for Foreign-Trained Professionals
Saturdays, Sept. 22nd and 29th from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

Join us for a New Immigrants Orientation Workshop! We are bringing in experts to answer questions and provide resources that will help recent immigrants build on their foreign training to reach their potential in the United States. Attendance is FREE.  Participants are expected to attend both sessions.
Sponsored by the African Bridge Network and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Advancement.



Book Discussion Club:  Substance Use Recovery Memoirs and Stories:
Thursday, Sept. 27th at 6:30 p.m.

For our September Book Discussion Club, we will be focusing on memoirs and stories that talk about substance use, addiction, and recovery as part of SAMHSA's National Recovery Month. 

Starting August 20th, choose from a selection of titles ranging from graphic novels to fiction to first-hand accounts from people in recovery. Print, ebook and audiobook options are available. We will meet on September 27th to discuss the books we have selected while enjoying light refreshments.

Check out What’s Happening at the East Boston Branch Library in August!

Meet a Park Ranger
Wednesday, August 1st at 2 p.m.
Join us and a Park Ranger for a family-friendly afternoon! Read a book with a Park Ranger, become a Junior Ranger, and learn more about Boston Harbor Now's Library Pass Program. 

Summer Eats at the East Boston Branch Library
Monday-Friday, lunch 12:30-1:30 p.m. and snack 3:30-4:30

This summer, children and teens can enjoy free, healthy meals at the East Boston Branch Library through the Summer Eats Food Service Program. Children are also invited to join in the fun at the library during this time which includes Read Boston on Mondays in July and drop-in arts and crafts and board games Tuesday through Friday in July and Monday-Friday in August.

A nutritious snack will also be served at 3:30 p.m.each weekday.

Summer Eats will provide nutritious meals to kids and teens 18 and under through the federal Summer Food Service Program. Working in partnership with local communities, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Project Bread – a leading statewide anti-hunger organization – support Summer Eats programs across the state to reach as many children and teens as possible.


Break-dancing with the Floor Lords Crew
Saturday, August 11th from 1-4 p.m.

The Floor Lords Crew will be showcasing the foundational  steps and history of hip-hop culture in Boston here at the East Boston Branch at 1:00pm on Saturday August 11th @ 1:00pm!
The Floor Lords was established in 1981 at the adolescence of the Hip-hop culture. Two groups formed into one, to create a powerhouse crew. Since then, they have played a significant role in the growth of Hip-hop culture, contributing wholeheartedly by helping to define and ultimately expand upon the art of break dancing or more commonly known as “B-boying” around the world. 

Historic New England:  The Magic of Music:  Melba’s Triumph
Friday, August 10th at 3 p.m.


Historic New England invites students to explore the life of Melba Liston. Using the book, Little Melba and her Big Trombone, students will meet Melba, an extraordinary jazz trombonist who faced numerous challenges in her life to create toe-tapping tunes. Students will look at instruments from the past, listen to Melba’s music, and create a musical instrument to take home with them.
For ages 6-12.


Senior Sock Hop
Thursday, August 16th from 1-4 p.m.

Put on your dancing shoes and travel back in time to the 1940’s and 50’s! Strike a pose at our  photo booth, test your knowledge of all things 50’s in a fun trivia game and dance the afternoon away!

June events at the East Boston Library

Check out What’s Happening at the East Boston Branch Library


Family Story Time 
This weekly story time features books, songs, and movement. Tuesdays at 11:15 a.m.. For ages 2-5 accompanied by an adult. 

Little Groove Music
Tuesday, June 5 and Tuesday, June 12 at 10:30 a.m.
Little Groove presents music classes for toddlers and preschoolers.  Come sing, move play instruments and more.  For ages 2-5 accompanied by a caregiver.

Countdown to Kindergarten Playgroup
Fridays at 10 a.m.
For children 1-5 years of age.Moms, dads, grandparents and other caregivers are welcome! Children will start to build on their school readiness skills. 

Translation and Social Justice
Monday, June 4th, 6-7:30 p.m.
GrubStreet and the Boston Public Library present Translation and Social Justice, a bilingual creative writing workshop. Instructors: Denise Delgado and Gabriel Sosa.  This workshop welcomes participants comfortable in either English or Spanish and is open to anyone with any level of writing experience or skill.

Drop-In Tech Help for Adults & Seniors
Mondays from 1 p.m.-2 p.m. Tech confusion? We can help!
If you have questions about a laptop, Chromebook, Android or iPad tablet, Kindles and eBook readers, iPods, or about smartphones of all sorts, drop by with your fully-charged device and we can help you learn a new technique or trick to get your tech device working for YOU!

Yu-Gi-Oh Club -meets every Saturday from 1:30-3:30. 

English Conversation Groups 
Mondays at 6:30 and Tuesdays at 1 p.m.
Come practice speaking English with our conversation group.  It meets  meet on Mondays.These groups are free and open to the public.  No registration needed.

Legendary Locals of East Boston
June 7th at 6:30 p.m.
Join us for this lecture by Dr. Regina Marchi, a fourth-generation East Bostonian and professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University. Dr. Regina Marchi will tell the history of East Boston through the experiences of its diverse residents. East Boston is the site of key developments in the nation’s history, including the first naval battle of the American Revolution, the creation of the world’s fastest sailing ships, the country’s first underwater tunnel, and the nation’s first public branch library. Learn about its famous residents from colonial governor, John Winthrop and repentant Salem witch trial judge, Samuel Sewall, to clipper ship builder Donald McKay and the world’s first female clipper ship navigator, Mary Patten. (Sponsored by the Friends of the East Boston Branch Library.)

Eastie Makes a Cookbook
Have you learned how to cook something amazing from your grandparents?  Have a recipe you want to pass down?  Invented a new recipe? Add your recipe, your culture, and your voice to our cookbook!

We will be collecting recipes, stories about your favorite foods, and photos of meals you’ve made from now until the end of June. Share your recipe with librarian Djaz in person, by posting to this event, or by emailing Djaz at jidakaar@bpl.org!


Read to a Dog
Monday,  June 4th and June 18th at 4-5 p.m.
Nellie loves to listen to stories. Come read a book to her and make a new dog friend. She’s available on a first-come, first-served basis.
•Special thanks to Dog B.O.N.E.S. of Massachusetts

Boston Looks Seaward
Thursday, June 14th at 6:30 p.m
In the nineteenth century in his East Boston yards Donald McKay built clipper ships whose sailing records have yet to be broken. Today Boston continues to look seaward as we embrace our maritime heritage. Learn more about that history in this slide lecture by William Fowler, Professor Emeritus at Northeastern University (Sponsored by the Friends of the East Boston Branch Library.)

For information any of these programs, call or come in to the East Boston Branch Library, 365 Bremen Street, (617) 560-0271.

Google Map to Bremen Street

Get Free Information on Getting into, Going to and Paying for College at the East Boston Branch Library

From the EB Branch of the BPL:

SALT is on the move-and bringing its free financial resources to East Boston on Tuesday, May 12th from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. and Thursday, May 28th from 2-8 p.m. Education Advisors will available for one-on-one sessions to give help with choosing a college and the admissions process, applying for financial aid and scholarships, advice on how to make smart decisions about paying for college and loan counseling to help you understand your repayment options.  For more information, visit saltlive.org

Meridian Street library plaque to be moved after all; victory for preservationists in East Boston!

Here's the latest on the plaque issue at the Bremen Street Library from Maddy McComiskey:

Just a happy note to let everyone know that Copley has consented to installing the Meridian St. Library Plaque in our beautiful new library as a momentous reminder of the fact that the first public branch library in the City of Boston and in fact the country was in East Boston. It is a great day for history and heritage of the Boston Public Library at the East Boston Branch Library. "It is a great time to be a Friend of the Library.

Earlier Christine Schonhart, Director of Branch Libraries for the BPL, wrote Maddy McComiskey of the East Boston Friends of the Libraries.

Maddy,

We have the plaque and I'm sure we can find a place for it at the new branch. I will ask our Facilities department to begin that process. It was certainly not a slight to the East Boston history, only that we had only discussed adding the Druker plaque to the quiet reading room and had not planned for the East Boston plaque. But we can make it happen in the quiet reading room...

Sincerely,
Christine Schonart

Here's a picture of the plaque!