Sixteen Acres | Springfield City Library

413 Gourmet Club

A cooking class meets book club series for those who love to cook at home. Cook together – hands-on and in-person! | Adults

Sixteen Acres Branch
Last Tuesday every month
Nov 30, Dec 28, Jan 25, Feb 22, Mar 29, Apr 26, May 31, Jun 28, Jul 26, Aug 30, Sep 27
6:00 – 7:30 pm | Adults

Join us for a new cooking class meets book club series that will be hands-on and in-person for those who love to cook at home.

During the class, participants will assist in creating a pre-selected dish from the chosen cookbook of the month. Participants are encouraged, but not required, to check out the selected cookbook ahead of time and to bring an accompanying dish from it to share.

Registration for this event is required with a limit of 10 participants.

Register on our online calendar.

Book List (subject to change):

November: Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman
December: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
January: Cravings or Cravings: Hungry for More by Chrissy Teigen
February: Barefoot Contessa Month: any Ina Garten cookbook!
March: Eating Out Loud by Eden Grinshpan
April: Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
May: Simply Julia by Julia Turshen
June: The I Hate to Cook Book by Peg Bracken
July: Antoni in the Kitchen by Antoni Porowski
August: The Pioneer Woman Month: any Ree Drummond cookbook!
September: Indian-ish by Priya Krishna

These programs are funded by a grant from LSTA.

Self Care 101 for Teens

Make your own calming tea blend, an aromatherapy scrub, and learn journaling skills at this fun session. | Teens

Central Library – Teen Area
Wednesday, November 3 | 4-6 pm | Teens

Forest Park Branch
November 8-12 | 3-5 pm | Teens
November 13 | 1-3 pm | Teens

~~Sixteen Acres Branch~~
~~Tuesday, November 9 | 4-6 pm | Teen~~s – CANCELED

East Springfield Branch
Wednesday, November 10| 4-6 pm | Teens

Self care is especially important as we head into the colder times of the year. Make your own calming tea blend, make an aromatherapy scrub, and learn journaling skills that can help you organize your thoughts.

Open to teens 13-19, first come first serve, while supplies last.

Cooking for Beginners

Start your culinary journey with our Cooking for Beginners course – separate classes for Teens and Adults! Join us monthly and learn to cook easy meals.

Cooking For Beginners – Teen Edition

Sixteen Acres Branch
3rd Tuesday every month
Nov 16, Dec 21, Jan 18, Feb 15, Mar 15, Apr 19, May 17, Jun 21, Jul 19, Aug 16, Sep 20
6:00 – 7:30 pm | Ages 13-17

Start your culinary journey with our Cooking for Beginners course. Teens will learn meals and snacks that you’ll be able to recreate at home in no time. Come ready to learn and enjoy some tasty morsels at the end of the class!

The lesson for each month will be shared ahead of time. Pre-registration is required with a limit of 10 people per class.

Register on our online calendar.

Cooking for Beginners – Adults

Sixteen Acres Branch
1st Tuesday every month
Nov 2, Dec 7, Jan 4, Feb 1, Mar 1, Apr 5, May 3, Jun 7, Jul 5, Aug 2, Sep 6
6:00 – 7:30 pm | Ages 18+

Start your culinary journey with our Cooking for Beginners course.

Reference librarian Chelsea will teach the class to make meals and snacks that you’ll be able to recreate at home in no time. Come ready to learn and enjoy some tasty morsels at the end of the class.

The lesson for each month will be shared ahead of time. Pre-registration is required with a limit of 10 people per class.

Register on our online calendar.

These programs are funded by a grant from LSTA.

Lunch Bunch Cooking Classes

Join us for cooking classes for tweens and for parents to learn to make easy healthy lunches! | Children and Adults

Lunch Bunch – Tween Edition

Sixteen Acres Branch
1st Saturday every month
Nov 6, Dec 4, Jan 8, Feb 5, Mar 5, Apr 2, May 7, Jun 4, Jul 2, Aug 6, Sep 3
11:30 am – 12:30 pm | Ages 8-12

Are you a kid who wants to be more independent and find ways to cook for yourself? Join us to learn how to make fun, healthy lunches. For tweens ages 8-12. Classes limited to 10 participants and pre-registration is required.

Register on our online calendar.

Lunch Bunch – Parents

Sixteen Acres Branch
One Saturday every month
Nov 20, Dec 18, Jan 15, Feb 19, Mar 19, Apr 16, May 21, Jun 18, Jul 16, Aug 20, Sep 17
11:30 am – 12:30 pm | Ages 18+

Are you stuck in a rut when it comes to making healthy, easy lunches for your children? Parents, join us to learn some fun ways to make healthy lunches. For parents ages 18+. Classes limited to 10 participants and pre-registration is required.

Register on our online calendar.

These programs are funded by a grant from LSTA.

Out/Spoken Words: Workshops with Springfield’s Poet Laureate

Join a master class with Springfield’s Poet Laureate, Magdalena Gómez, for an introduction to writing and performing poetry! | Teens and Adults

Mason Square Branch – For young women 14 to 19 years old
Saturdays, October 30 and November 6 | 1-3 pm

Brightwood Branch – For women 20 years old and up
Tuesday, November 16 and Thursday, November 18 | 6-8 pm

Mason Square Branch – Rehearsal for ALL participants
Saturday, November 20 | 10:30 am – 2:30 pm

Mason Square Branch – Performance for ALL participants for the public
Saturday, December 4 | 1-2:30 pm

Join this master class with Springfield’s Poet Laureate, Magdalena Gómez, for an introduction to writing and performing poetry in ways that invite/excite/inspire!

Space is very limited in each of the cohorts with pre-registration required. Fill out the application form here.

PLEASE NOTE: A commitment to attend both sessions as well as participate in one four-hour rehearsal with participants from all three cohorts at the Mason Square Library on Saturday, November 20, and the big group performance on Saturday, December 4 are required.

Out/Spoken Words is for participants at ALL levels in their poetry writing and performance. Master Classes are usually for professionals in a particular field. This is a Master Class for anyone who truly loves poetry and/or spoken word and wants to share that passion with others.

Participants will be provided with tools and encouragement to conjure poems and voice for performance of their original writing. All we ask is your willingness to fully participate, and to bring a poem that matters to you to your first session, whether you wrote it or not. You will be expected to always arrive 15 minutes before start time; complete simple assignments; and commit to your sessions, the rehearsal and performance.

Space is limited – so be certain you want this! Only sign up if you will commit to the entire process, out of your kind consideration for others.

Please wear loose, comfortable clothing and soft soled shoes or sneakers; this class will be physically interactive. Cost is $5 for each participant for materials.

About the presenter:

Magdalena Gómez was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. She studied English and Theater at Lehman College, and Spanish Literature at the University of Sevilla, Spain. She is the author of Shameless Woman (Red Sugarcane Press, 2014) and the co-editor of Bullying: Replies, Rebuttals, Confessions and Catharsis (Skyhorse Publishing, 2012). Her new book of lyrical narrative will be released by Heliotrope Books, NYC, in April 2022.

The recipient of the New England Public Radio Arts and Humanities Award, Gómez served as a member of the COVID-19 Cultural Impact Commission for the State of Massachusetts.

The Poet Laureate of Springfield, Massachusetts from 2019 to 2022, she received an Academy of American Poets Fellowship in 2021, with funds from The Mellon Foundation. Her website is http://www.latinapoet.com/

Gun Violence and Art Therapy – October 26

Springfield College professor and freelance visual artist Simone Alter-Muri presents on gun violence and how art therapy can aid healing. | Adults

ONLINE VIA ZOOM
Tuesday, October 26 | 6:30-7:45 pm | Adults

Please click to register in advance of the program.

Springfield College professor and freelance visual artist Simone Alter-Muri presents on gun violence and how art therapy can aid healing.

2020 was the deadliest gun violence year in decades (Washington Post, June 14, 2021). Hear how art therapy can promote healing in both individuals and in the community, and meet other local community member concerned about gun violence.

A question and answer will follow the presentation. For adults 18+.

This program is sponsored by the Springfield City Library, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and the Springfield Cultural Council. It is underwritten by the Springfield Cultural Council, a local agency that receives funds from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Click for ZOOM link for event.

Robert Meeropol: Justice for Ethel Rosenberg – October 25

Robert Meeropol examines the controversial trial and execution of his parents, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. | Adults

ONLINE VIA ZOOM
Monday, October 25 | 6:30-7:30 pm | Adults

Join us for an informative program via Zoom examining the controversial 1953 trial and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Our featured guest will be Attorney Robert Meeropol, the younger son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Robert and his brother Michael are demanding an official exoneration of his mother Ethel for espionage. They claim their mother was not a spy and her trial was a perversion of justice.

Attorney Meeropol strongly suggests that those interested in this program read Anne Sebba’s book Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy.

To join this Zoom program, please use this link.

Comic Zone! Make a Springfield City Library Comic Book

Your artwork can become part of a Springfield City Library comic book! | Children and Teens

Central Library
Forest Park Branch
Indian Orchard Branch
Sixteen Acres Branch
October 1-30 | Open Hours | Ages 11-18

Pick up a comic book kit (templates and pencils) starting on October 1. Drop your finished comic (with your name and contact info on the back) off at your participating branch by October 30.

Your artwork will become part of a Springfield City Library comic book! Copies will be printed for all participants.

Art must be in black and white.

Call Meg at (413)263-6846 for more information.

Inktober! Draw Every Day

Get your artistic flow on with prompts for a different drawing each day, or just draw what you like! Every day, open hours, in October. | Adults

Central Library – Wellman Hall
Forest Park Branch
Indian Orchard Branch
Sixteen Acres Branch
October 1-31 | Open Hours | Adults

It’s Inktober!

Visit us for a low-key, zero-pressure table with lots of supplies and a quiet place to draw and be inspired. Get your artistic flow on with prompts for a different drawing each day, or just draw what you like!

Take a photo and tag your drawing #InktoberSCL to be featured on our social media! For adults.

October Crafts and Take & Makes for Kids

Crafts and activities for kids in October at the library! | Children

Deluxe Paper Bag Puppet Kit

September 1 – October 30

Paper bag puppets are a simple but super fun way to get creative. Take your puppet making to the next level with our deluxe kits! We’ll provide several bags plus a variety of clothes and accessories. You provide tape or glue and your amazing imagination. Be sure to put on puppet shows for family and friends!

At the following library locations: East Springfield Branch, Sixteen Acres Branch

Hispanic Heritage Month Take & Make

September 15 – October 15

Stop by the Brightwood Branch Library to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month! Grab one of our activity bags to complete either at the library or at home. Supplies are limited and on a first come, first serve basis!

At the following library location: Brightwood Branch

decorate a fall pumpkin

October 1-16

Decorate a small Styrofoam pumpkin with the supplies we give you or better yet, add things from home! Send a photo to tlabroad@springfieldlibrary.org to be entered in a raffle to win a small prize.

At the following library location: East Springfield Branch

harvest fun

October 1-23

Stop by Mason Square for a bit of Autumn fun. We’ll have a different craft weekly to celebrate fall.

At the following library location: Mason Square Branch

LEGO SAMPLErS

October 1-31

Does your child like to create and would enjoy trying out Legos for the first time? Or are they a Lego expert who would like some new pieces? Stop by for a sampler bag of Lego bricks and get building!

At the following library location: Sixteen Acres Branch

LEaf RuBBING Art

October 4-9

With crayons, fresh leaves and paper make a colorful art masterpiece.

At the following library location: East Forest Park Branch

Booooooooo Craft

October 18-23

Booooo! Come create your own ghastly ghost. Frightfully fun family craft.

At the following library locations: East Forest Park Branch, East Springfield Branch

cotton swab skeleton

October 25-30

Rattle on down to the library and create a silly skeleton!

At the following library locations: Brightwood Branch, East Forest Park Branch, East Springfield Branch, Forest Park Branch, Indian Orchard Branch, Mason Square Branch