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What's New at Boca Raton Public Library
All You Need Is Love ... and BRPL!

February celebrates love and connection. We have some great ways for you to connect with others this month. Youth Services is celebrating the season with a virtual Valentine storytime and craft demonstration where kids can write a secret message with homemade invisible ink. If you’re looking for some friendly competition, we recommend our Virtual Storytelling Slam where you can share your first-person story and even win a prize. Connect with other book lovers in our Historical Fictionados Book Club and An Hour to Kill Mystery Book Club. Lastly, we are excited to announce that we are about to connect with our community in a new way with our mobile library van! Feel free to say "hi" when you see the new van around town.
 
Wishing you all a lovely month,
Amanda Liebl, Events & Community Engagement Coordinator
 
All classes and programs are virtual and free. Enrollment is required. Please click on the titles below to enroll and provide an email address. A meeting link will be emailed upon enrollment.
 
What's New for Adults
Historical Fictionados Book Club: The Night Watchman, by Louise Erdrich
Thursday, February 11, 7:00-8:00pm
Virtual discussion
Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman. Click here to reserve or access your copy of the book.
Story Central Virtual Storytelling Slam
Sunday, February 14, 5:00-6:30pm
Virtual program
Have you been to one of our virtual storytelling slams yet? Don't miss out on the fun! Join us for this friendly competition for adults to share true, first-person stories of 5-7 minutes in length. Sign up to tell a story or just listen and enjoy. Judges in the audience select the winner, who is awarded a prize. No poems or essays. Stories are not to be read or memorized. Hosted by Caren Neile, PhD, who has taught storytelling studies at FAU for nearly two decades.
False Contradictions: MLK and Malcolm X
Tuesday, February 16, 4:00-5:00pm
Virtual presentation
Paying special attention to the role they played in the South Carolina civil rights movement, Candace Cunningham, PhD, will examine the lives, activism, and rhetoric of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Her talk will challenge the notion that the alternative options for black racial advancement the two leaders embodied were inherently oppositional, and position their activism within the longer civil rights movement that began in the late nineteenth century.
An Hour to Kill Mystery Book Club: Snow, by John Banville
Friday, February 19, 10:30-11:30am
Virtual discussion
Detective Inspector St. John Strafford has been summoned to County Wexford to investigate a murder. A parish priest has been found dead in Ballyglass House, the family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family. As he delves further, he learns the Osbornes are not at all what they seem. And when his own deputy goes missing, Strafford must work to unravel the ever-expanding mystery before the community’s secrets, like the snowfall itself, threatens to obliterate everything. Click here to place a hold on this book.
Friends Speaker Series: Jill Ayn Schneider, How to Boost Your Immune System Using Natural Healing
Sunday, February 28, 3:00-4:30pm
Virtual presentation
Jill Ayn Schneider, BA, LMT, is the Director of Circle of Life Publishing Company. At age of 29, in 1975, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Walking away from allopathic solutions of a hysterectomy, chemotherapy and radiation, she turned to acupuncture, a macrobiotic diet, herbs, and meditation. Since then, she has kept herself very much alive, youthful and dedicated to staying vibrant on all possible mind-body levels.
What's New for Children, Tweens and Teens
New StoryWalk at Serenoa Glade Preserve
Serenoa Glade Preserve, George Snow Park
1101 NW 15th Street, Boca Raton
There's a new StoryWalk at Serenoa Glade Preserve in George Snow Park! StoryWalk is a fun, educational activity that places a children's storybook along a popular walking route. A new book is presented every eight weeks for a fresh, new experience. Currently, we invite you to stomp along to the beat of Dancing Feet! by Lindsey Craig. Thanks to the Friends of Boca Raton Public Library for funding this wonderful experience for families.
Virtual Story Time on Facebook
Facebook, @BocaLibrary
Story Time Playlist
It's story time anytime thanks to our Youth Services team! This month, story times will celebrate Valentine's Day, Children's Dental Health Month, and more. Visit our Facebook Story Time Playlist with your little ones all month long for a variety of fun stories.
Valentine's Day Mystery Heart Messages
Facebook, @BocaLibrary
Craft Time Playlist
Kids, make your own Valentines to show your friends and family how much you care! Look for our Facebook video this month that will show you how to make Mystery Heart Messages with items you probably have around the house.
Virtual Dungeons and Dragons
Saturday, February 13, 20, 27, March 6, 13, 20, 2:00-4:30pm
Online
Join us for virtual Dungeons & Dragons hosted by Youth Services! Whether you’re a beginner to role-playing games or an experienced player looking for a fun campaign, we’ve got your back. Starting Saturday, February 13th, we will host a beginner-friendly virtual D&D campaign using the Roll20 interactive roleplaying platform. This program is open to teens and young adults. Space is limited, so sign up quickly!
Teen Graphic Novel Club: Silver Surfer: New Dawn, by Dan Slott
Thursday, February 18, 5:30-6:30pm
Virtual discussion
Join Mr. Luckas in discussing The Silver Surfer Vol 1: New Dawn, by Dan Slott, an Eisner-winning and New York Times bestselling comic-book writer. The Silver Surfer, sentinel of the cosmos, is often alone on his quest to defend space. All that changes when Surfer meets earthling Dawn Greenwood, a young woman determined to push the Surfer's boundaries. Enrollment is required. A link to the meeting will be emailed upon enrollment. Read this book for free on hoopla with your Boca Raton Public Library card.
Pathway to Sustainability
Upcycle Old Shirts into Tote Bags
Facebook, @BocaLibrary
Craft Time Playlist
This year, the library is celebrating its new signature initiative, Pathway to Sustainability! Join Morgan, our Teen Librarian, for a fun video on Facebook this month where she'll show you how to upcycle shirts by making them into tote bags.
On-Demand Recorded Sustainability Classes for Adults
February, Library Website
Sustainability & Green Living Page
Coming soon! Our free recorded classes for adults will include several videos on the topic of sustainability, including:
- Sustainable Gift Giving (watch now)
- Trash Talk: 2021 Resolution Zero Waste
- Being Sustainably Productive
- The Great Paper Waste: How to Get Rid of Junk Mail and Lead a Greener Life
Recycle Batteries, Cell Phones and Eyeglasses at the Libraries
Do you have old batteries (single-use or rechargeable), eyeglasses or cell phones hanging around your house? Recycle them! Look for the recycling bins at the Downtown and Spanish River Libraries where you can deposit these used items and keep them out of the landfill.
 
What's New in the Digital Library
Grammy Award Nominees Playlist on Freegal
Looking for some new music for the new year? Freegal’s 2021 Grammy Award Nominees playlist is a good place to start. Check out all the Freegal curated playlists here. Create an account or log in to stream unlimited music -- ad-free!.
 
Trace Your Family's Roots from Home with Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com has extended remote access to library cardholders through March 31, 2021. Take advantage of this rare opportunity to trace your roots from home for free.
 
Take Control of Your Finances with WeissRatings
Getting your financial house in order has never been easier. The library offers the full WeissRatings suite of consumer guides and financial planning tools to help you find insurance companies, investments, Medicare plans and more that are right for you. You can access the full suite of guides and tools here.
 
More to Enjoy
Into the Blue: Photography Exhibit by Max Blakesberg
February 8-March 27, Monday-Saturday, 9:00am-3:00pm
Downtown Library Lobby
Enjoy the beautiful nature photography of Max Blakesberg! He has traveled the globe to capture intimate moments in some of the most remote places on Earth. His goal is to express his passion for photography through compelling imagery that educates and provides insight into the natural world in which we live.
New Mobile Library Services Van
Thanks to a generous donation from Friends of the Boca Raton Public Library, a new Mobile Library Services van will bring the Library to more residents of Boca Raton. With the van, the Library will provide materials, resources and services to residents without access to traditional library buildings due to mobility, transportation, and/or socio-economic limitations, investing in the future of the community by removing barriers and providing equity of access for all citizens. Library team members will use the new vehicle to sign up residents for library cards with full access to digital materials, deliver library materials to residents with access challenges, and participate in community and City events. Be sure to wave when you see us driving around town!
 
New Community Bookshelf at Dixie Manor Apartments
Thank you to Friends of the Boca Raton Public Library for generously funding a Community Bookshelf for the Lois Martin Community Center in the Dixie Manor neighborhood. Our library staff selected and installed new bookshelves to be filled with updated, relevant, diverse, and fun reads for all ages from babies through adults. Located in the Cornelius Riley Reading Room, the Community Bookshelf was designed as a “take one, leave one” service that the Dixie Manor community can use to create and maintain lifelong readers and learners in their neighborhood.
 
Coming Soon: Mobile Hotspots Available for Checkout
Don't have access.to the Internet? Soon, you will with your Boca Raton Public Library card. Just hook up your device to one of our mobile hotspots, which you can borrow for 14 days (one per household). Thanks to a partnership with the Southeast Florida Library Information Network (SEFLIN), mobile hotspots will be available at both libraries at the checkout desk, or you can place a hold on one and pick it up through our curbside service. Watch for our upcoming announcement when they have arrived!
 
Library Team Member Spotlight
Name: Shilo Perlman
Position: Library Assistant III, Events and Community Engagement
 
What She Does: After working almost 20 years in the Youth Services section of the library, Shilo moved to the Events & Community Engagement (ECE) section, where she’s been for two years. As part of ECE, she plans the library’s large events, represents the library at City-sponsored events, visits schools, and much more, all with the goal of connecting the library more to our community. COVID obviously changed much of that for the time being, but she remains busy working on other projects, including the two StoryWalks that have been installed on City's nature trails. The first one was installed over the summer in partnership with Palm Beach County along the Pondhawk Nature Trail near the Spanish River Library. The second was just installed a few weeks ago in Serenoa Glade Preserve in George Snow Park. 
 
Why She Loves Her Job: "I am so proud of everything the Boca Raton Public Library has to offer. Therefore, I love my job because I get to share my pride and joy with the community! Whether I am installing a new StoryWalk book, talking to families at an event, or presenting a storytime for children, I couldn’t be more proud to represent our libraries. I want everyone to love the library like I do and know that BRPL has something to offer everyone. I can’t wait for the day when I can begin attending community events again and sharing my love of the library with those who may not be able to get to us!"
 
What I'm Reading Now: The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
 

Library Hours
Express Library Hours
Monday - Saturday: 9:00am-3:00pm
Sunday: Closed
Express Service includes new library cards and renewals, checkouts, and browsing for up to 30 minutes, 50-person capacity. Facial coverings are required.
 
Curbside Holds Pick-up Hours
Monday - Saturday: 9:00am-5:00pm
Sunday: Closed
 


Boca Raton Public Library
400 NW 2nd Avenue, Boca Raton, FL 33432
1501 NW Spanish River Blvd.,Boca Raton, FL 33431
561-393-7852 | www.bocalibrary.org
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