Hamline Midway Library events

The Hamline Midway Library, 1558 W. Minnehaha Ave. is going to be a hive of arts and education activities in April and May. Just about every day of the week, you’ll find an engaging program happening to wake up your spirit—not to mention all the essential information and entertainment resources you can always count on at the library, including CDs, DVDs, books, expert librarian assistance, and Internet access.

Preschool Storytimes in English happen on Fridays, 10:30-11am, with upcoming events on Apr. 14, 21, and 28 and May 5, 12, and 19. These fun storytimes teach social skills, listening comprehension, letter and number recognition, and more—all through songs, stories, puppets, and fingerplays. Children of all activity levels are welcome!

The library hosts Evening/Pajama Stories in English on Tuesdays, 6:30-7pm, with upcoming evening storytimes on Apr. 18 and 25 and May 2, 9, and 16. Pajamas, blankets, and stuffed animals are all welcome at these family events. Hear a bedtime story with your friends and neighbors!

Science Saturdays feature hands-on arts and science activities for school-aged kids and their families. On Sat., Apr. 15, 1:30-3pm, the focus is Create a Board Game. Participants can learn about planning, hypothesizing, and predicting as they create their own board games. They can also experience an over-sized board game for large muscle fun.

Kaleidoscope brings arts programming to preschoolers at the library in May. On Tuesday, May 9, 10:30-11:30am, Kaleidoscope presents M3C Cambodian Dance, offering traditional Cambodian dance performance that will engage all ages.

On Mon., Apr. 24, 10am-12pm, the Twin Cities Media Alliance and MELSA present Protect Your Privacy: Staying Secure Online. In this workshop, you can learn how to ensure that your Internet browsing, purchases, email, and other online activity is as secure as possible. Discover tools to protect your online privacy.

Book Clubs for all Ages

The Teen Book Club meets Sat., Apr. 15, 3-4pm to discuss teen books of all kinds: graphic novels, Battle of the Books, Read Brave, and more. For grades 9 and up.

The Show and Tell Book Club meets Sat., Apr. 22, 1:30-2:15pm. Join librarian Shelly to share books and do fun activities. Best for first, second, and third graders.

The Saints and Sinners Mystery Book Club meets Sat., May 6, 1-2pm to discuss mysteries. This month’s book is “Spider Woman’s Daughter” by Anne Hillerman. Contact volunteer G. Balter for more information at 651-224-5570 or gerribalter@gmail.com.

Films

On Fri., Apr, 14, the library hosts a family-friendly Silent Movie Matinee featuring Laurel and Hardy’s short silent classic “Liberty” and Charlie Chaplin’s “The Immigrant.” Enjoy slapstick comedy, hot popcorn, and cider at this event co-sponsored by the Hamline Midway Library Association. Generally best enjoyed by ages 5 and up, but all ages welcome.

On Wed., Apr. 26, Jody’s Documentary Film Series presents two short films, “Marathon” by filmmakers Theo Rigby and Kate McLean and “The Words in the Margins” by filmmaker Sara Mott. “Marathon” focuses on Julio, an immigrant from Ecuador who has spent 15 years in the United States working to make a decent life for himself and his family. Now he’s set his sights on winning the New York marathon. “The Words in the Margin,” tells the story of Axel, a 31-year-old who wants to learn to read and is paired with Steve from Kenya, who’s awaiting his United States work permit. These events are a collaboration with the award-winning PBS documentary series POV and the Hamline Midway Elders.

Arts, Dance, Literary Events

On Wed., Apr. 19, the library presents a reception and reading featuring contributors to the groundbreaking anthology “A Good Time for the Truth.” The event features IBe, Sherry Quan Lee, and Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria presenting from essays that tackle race in Minnesota with unprecedented honesty. Reception with refreshments starts at 6pm, followed by reading at 6:30pm with Q and A. The Hamline University Bookstore will be selling copies of the presenters’ books. Co-sponsored by the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, the Hamline Midway Library Association, and Hamline University.

The ARTful Expression series encourages adults to explore their artistic side through hands-on art-making classes. ARTful Expression: Drawing Light meets on Thur., Apr. 20, 1-3pm. In this workshop, adults are invited to look past what they know, slow down, and learn to identify light, highlight, and shadow to add modeling, form, and depth to drawings and bring them to life!

ARTful Expression: Drawing as Experience meets Thur., Apr. 27, 1-3pm to explore experiential drawing as a way of developing our drawing practice and inspiring the creative process. This series is facilitated by The Drawing Project artists for adults and registration is required. The first sessions of this series have filled quickly, so call the library at 651-642-0293 to reserve a spot.

The Known by Heart Poetry Class with writer and educator Naomi Cohn meets Wednesdays in May from 1-3pm. The first class on May 3 is Meet Your Muse: Get Inspired to Write. The second class on May 10 is Writing the World Around Us. May 17 the topic is Writing About Family, and on May 24, the focus is on Body Language. Registration for the series is required and begins Apr. 19; please talk to a librarian or see the library website at www.sppl.org for more details on registration and what to bring to each class. This series is co-presented by Known by Heart and the Hamline Midway Elders.

Library Closures

All libraries will be closed Sunday, Apr. 16 for Easter and Thur., May 11 for a staff training.