Sixteen Acres – Springfield City Library

Discover Your Summer Events & Activities

Join us for Discover Your Summer: Summer Reading decorating events, kickoff parties, crafts, and more! | All Ages

SUMMER READING CLUB CHALLENGE

June 21 – August 27 | All Ages

This summer, join our Discover Your Summer Reading Club to read and get rewards, enter raffles for prizes, and more! Click the button below to learn more.

Learn About Summer Reading Club!

Summer Reading kickoff concert & Party!

Thursday, June 2 | 3:30-7:00 PM | All Ages

Join us at Forest Park Library as we kick off Summer Reading! Celebrate summer with games, prizes, activities, and a live concert by regionally renowned salsa group, Orquesta Sensacional! Let’s Party!

At the following library locations: Forest Park Branch

Create summer reading program decorations!

Wednesdays, June 8 & June 15 | 5:00-6:00 PM | Ages 3+

Help the Children’s Room create decorations for the Summer Reading Program! We’ll be making sea-themed decorations this year, and we want to make as big a splash as possible!

At the following library locations: Central Library

Decoration Day!

Wednesdays, June 8 & June 15 | Open Hours | Children & Families

Join the fun as we decorate the library for Summer Reading Club. Help us create an ocean-full of sea-inspired crafts just right for this year’s Summer Reading Club.

At the following library locations on June 8: East Springfield, Mason Square
At the following library locations on June 15: Sixteen Acres

Discover Your Summer: Drop-In Crafts!

June 14 & 28, July 12 & 26, August 9, 16, & 30 | Open Hours | Teens

Stop into the Central Branch Library every other Tuesday between June 14 to Aug 30, to see what creative project is waiting for you.

At the following library locations: Central Library

Discover Your Summer: Crafts & Scavenger Hunts!

All Summer Long | Open Hours | All Ages

Check with your local library branch to see what activities, crafts, and scavenger hunts they have going on that week! Available while supplies last.

At All Library Locations

Summer reading Challenge accepted!

3rd Wednesday of the Month: June 15, July 20, August 17
3:00-4:30 PM | All Ages

The Summer Reading Challenge is on! Join us for a monthly meet-up to enjoy some snacks and chat about the books that we’re reading – and what we’re excited to read next!

At the following library locations: East Forest Park Branch

Summer Reading Kickoff with Sparky the fire dog!

Wednesday, June 15 | 3:00-4:30 PM | All Ages

Come join Sparky and the firefighters from the East Forest Park station to celebrate summer reading – with a special guest appearance by Bruins mascot, Blades!! Enjoy some ice cream, check out the cool fire truck – and while you’re at it- sign up for this year’s Discover Your Summer Reading program!

At the following library locations: East Forest Park Branch

Central Library Summer Reading Kickoff!

Saturday, June 18 | 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM | All Ages

Join us to kick-off summer fun! Music by DJ, activities and games, as well as face painting by the Happy Face Painter. While you’re here, DISCOVER our annual summer reading program. Ed Popielarczyk will stop by with walk-about magic too! Fun for all ages. On the Springfield Museum quad. No rain date.

At the following library locations: Central Library

Summer Reading Kickoff!

Wednesday, June 22 | 1:00-3:00 PM | All Ages

Join us on the lawn for games, raffles and crafts to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation- and summer reading! Discover your summer at the Springfield City Library.

At the following library locations: Indian Orchard Branch

How Many? How much? How heavy?

June 20 – August 27th | Open Hours | All Ages

Using your best guesses, guess how many, or how much, or how heavy are the items in our Guessing Jar. Twice a month there will be a new jar. Closest guess wins a small prize.

At the following library locations: Indian Orchard Branch

summer reading celebration!

Thursday, July 7th | 1-2 PM at Brightwood | 3-5 PM at East Springfield
Children & Families

Celebrate Summer Reading! Performer Tom Sieling will keep your toes tapping with an “ocean-full” of songs guaranteed to entertain the whole family. Come join the fun! Refreshments provided.

At the following library locations: Brightwood Branch & East Springfield Brach

Summer Feeding = Summer Reading

Monday through Friday: June 27 – August 26th | All Ages Up to 18

Visit the library locations listed below for special activities, like gardening programs, food trucks visits, as well as delicious nutritious lunches for kids up to age 18!

For more information go to: www.homegrownspringfield.org

June Crafts for Children, Teens, & Families

Crafts and activities at the library in June! | Children, Teens, and Families

Father’s Day Cards

Saturday, June 4 – Saturday, June 18 | Open Hours | All Ages

Drop by to make a card for dear ol’ Dad. Supplies and templates will be provided so that you can craft a card that will put a smile on the face of Dad, Pop, Grandpa and Uncle Joe. Show someone how special they are with a personalized card made by you! All supplies provided.

At the following library locations: All Library Locations

bad art night

Wednesday, June 29 | 5:00-6:00 PM | Children & Teens

Head to the children’s room at Central Library to make the weirdest and worst art you’ve ever seen! Geared for ages 5+.

At the following library locations: Central Library

The Haunting of Mirror Lake Manor: A D&D Mini-Campaign

Join us for a seven-week Mini-Campaign online! Beginners and seasoned players welcome. | Teens

Have you been itching to play D&D? Join us for a seven week Mini Campaign “The Haunting of Mirror Lake Manor!” Beginners and seasoned players welcome.

This program will be held online only. We will use a combination of Zoom and Roll20. (Computers at library locations will be available for the program if needed.)

The campaign will run every Saturday afternoon between April 16th and June 4th, from 2:00-4:30 PM. Registration is required, as program space is limited to 6 players. The registration link is above. Please be aware that you will be registering for all dates of the campaign.

Please send any questions to DM Sam Hoffman: shoffman@springfieldlibrary.org

Writing Fun Fridays

We’ll have a rotating selection of colorful materials for pre-writers and beginning writers including worksheets, stationery, writing prompts, easy mad libs and more! | Sixteen Acres | Children

Sixteen Acres Branch
Every Friday in June, July, & August
1:00-4:30 PM | Ages 2-7

Drop in for some fun Friday learning this summer! We’ll have a rotating selection of colorful materials for pre-writers and beginning writers including worksheets, stationery, writing prompts, easy mad libs and more.

Ideal for ages ages 2-7 with younger and older children welcome. Children 7 and under must be accompanied and consistently supervised by an adult.

Eager Readers Book Club

The book group for reading enthusiasts reads mostly contemporary novels, although occasionally historical fiction, adventures, and some non-fiction. | Sixteen Acres | Adults

Sixteen Acres Branch
Third Tuesday of the month | 6:30-7:30 PM | Adults 18+

Join this long-running book group of reading enthusiasts! Newcomers welcome. The group reads mostly contemporary novels, although occasionally historical fiction, adventures, and some non-fiction. The book club members jointly choose upcoming books. Check below for this month’s book! No registration required, just drop by.

Upcoming Selections:

June 21 – American Dirt
by Jeanine Cummins – (2020) fiction

Lydia Quixano Perez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with four books he would like to buy-two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city.

July 19 – The Art Forger
by Barbara A. Shapiro – (2012) fiction

On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art worth today over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that there’s more to this crime than meets the eye.

Teen Choice Day

Suggest YOUR program idea that you would like to see at the library. Then join us for the fun! | Teens

Join us for YOUR choice in teen programming! We’re inviting all 13-19 year-olds to suggest super fun activities they would like to see at the library. Talk with your local branch librarian or connect with us through polls, suggestion boxes and more.

We’ll announce each library’s selection on the first of the month. Coming to a library branch near you starting in April 2022!

Central Library
2nd Monday of each month, 4-5:30 pm

East Springfield Branch
2nd Wednesday of each month, 4-5:30 pm

Forest Park Branch
4th Tuesday of each month, 3-5 pm

Indian Orchard
3rd Wednesday of each month, 5-6 pm

Sixteen Acres Branch
1st Tuesday of each month, 4:30-6 pm

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! | Sixteen Acres | Adults

Sixteen Acres Branch
Last Tuesday every month
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.

Cooking for Beginners

Learn to cook easy meals with our Cooking for Beginners course – separate classes for Teens and Adults! | Sixteen Acres

Cooking For Beginners – Teen Edition

Sixteen Acres Branch
3rd Tuesday every month
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
May 3 (canceled), 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! | Sixteen Acres | Children and Adults

Lunch Bunch – Tween Edition

Sixteen Acres Branch
1st Saturday every month
May 7, Jun 4, Jul 9, 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
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.

1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Read just one book a day to build a foundation for lifelong success. Prizes awarded for every 100 books! | Children

All Library Locations
Starts January 2022, ongoing

All it takes is sharing one book a day with your child to build a foundation for lifelong success. Start your child’s book journey today! The goal is to have read 1,000 books before your precious one starts kindergarten.

If you read just 1 book a day, you will have read about 365 books in a year. That is 730 books in two years and 1,095 books in three years. If you consider that most children start kindergarten at around 5 years of age, you have more time than you think. So, let’s get started!

How to Participate

Read with your child. Studies have shown that reading with your child provides a great opportunity for bonding. Reading together is fun and will create life-long memories for the both of you.

Keep track of the number of books you read with your child. Ask your librarian for a paper log to start on your reading journey.

You may choose instead to log your books online using Beanstack. Visit our Beanstack website or download the app to log your books digitally. You can view Beanstack instructions here or ask a librarian on how to use it.

After each 100 books you read, visit your local Springfield City Library branch to collect your free book prize. After 1000 books, come in and get a tote bag!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can participate in this program?
– Any child from birth until they enter kindergarten.

How long does the program take?
– The program will take anywhere from a few months to a few years. The program is self-paced and will depend on how often you read together.

Can we repeat books?
– Yes!

How many of my children can participate?
– All of them (provided they have not started kindergarten). Make it even more fun and read as a family!