What's Happening at Your Community Libraries

During these cold winter months, a library is an especially nice place to go to – whether it is to find a good book or to take part in an interesting program with your neighbors.

February is a particularly lively month at the nine libraries of the Providence Community Library. Two of our libraries are located on the East Side: Fox Point on the corner of Ives and Wickenden Streets, and Rochambeau on Hope Street near Rochambeau.

In February, besides holding their regular ongoing programs, each PCL library will host a special party for children during the school vacation week. The party at Fox Point will be on Tuesday, February 18 from 5-7pm. The party at Rochambeau will be on Thursday, February 20 from 2-4pm.

These parties will feature food, a chance to win an “iPad mini” and a free give-away of books donated by “Books are Wings” to every child who comes. The Biomes Marine Biology Center will bring marine animals to the Rochambeau party for kids to look at and touch.

School vacation week is also Amnesty Week at PCL. If you bring a canned food to your library, PCL will waive all your overdue fines (of course all your overdue library material has to be returned too). All canned food collected by PCL that week will donated to the RI Community Food Bank. (Last year PCL collected 1,700 pounds of food during Amnesty Week.)

Throughout the month, PCL’s ongoing activities are in full swing. At Fox Point the chess club meets every Tuesday from 3-6pm. Players of all ages and levels are welcome and instruction is provided. On Wednesdays from 10:30-11:30am there is “Cradle to Crayons” storytelling and play for children 0-3 and their parents/caregivers.

At Rochambeau “Baby Books,” stories and movement for babies 0-2 years old and their parents/caregivers meets on Tuesdays at 10:30am. “Zumba4Toddlers” – Spanish music, songs and movement for 1-3 year olds and their parents/caregivers – meets on Tuesdays at 11am. “Preschool Storytime,” stories and movement for 3-5 year old children is on Wednesdays at 10:30am . “LEGO Club” (age 5 and up) meets on Thursday and Fridays from 3-5pm. And on Thursday afternoons from 1:30-4:30pm the computer lab becomes the “Game Club” with Guild Wars, Minecraft, Roblox and Pokémon MMO available to players age 9+.

Homework Help for elementary, middle and high school students is available at Rochambeau on Mondays from 6-8pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-6pm and Fridays from 1-4pm. It is available at Fox Point on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 3-6pm.

All nine PCL libraries offer such activities and you are invited to come to all of them. To discover their locations and the schedule of their programs, all you have to do is visit the PCL website at www.provcomlib.org. You will discover that some of the libraries feature programs that especially relate to their particular neighborhood interests, such as “Latino Movie Night” on at the South Providence Library (first and third Tuesdays, February-April).

Of course libraries are not just for children. PCL’s trained navigators provide assistance on health insurance enrollment under the Affordable Care Act. At Rochambeau, drop-in hours for assistance is available on Mondays from 1:30-4:30pm.

ESL classes at various skill levels are available at Knight Memorial, Mt. Peasant, Olneyville, Smith Hill, South Providence, Wanskuck and Washington Park libraries (check website for levels and hours). Rochambeau features on-going adult study groups and events ranging from concerts to lectures in the evenings.

Are you bored at home, or overrun with children who want something to do? Come to the libraries. They are free and they are yours.