Hamline Midway Library News

The Hamline Midway Library at 1558 West Minnehaha Ave. is a great place to chase away the winter blues and stay energized by programs for kids and adults, including the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library’s acclaimed Fireside Reading Series starting at the end of January.

The library offers Chair Yoga with Nancy Giguere on Thursdays, Jan. 11, 18, and 25 and Feb. 1, 8, 15, and 22 from 10:30-11:30am. All movement is done while seated or using the chair for balance. This program co-presented by the library and the Hamline Midway Elders Association.

Preschool Storytimes in English happen Fridays, 10:30-11am, with upcoming events on Jan. 12, 19, and 26 and Feb. 2, 9, 16, and 23. Storytimes feature stories, songs, puppets, and more. They’re a great way for caregivers to bond with children and build social skills, listening comprehension, and letter and number recognition while creating a solid foundation for lifelong learning. Children of all activity levels are welcome.

The library will also start offering Evening Storytimes on Tuesdays from 6-6:30pm starting on Jan. 23 and continuing on Jan. 30, Feb. 6, 13, 20, and 27.

Sat., Jan. 13, 1:30-3pm, the library presents the popular Science Saturdays program, where school-aged participants and their families can enjoy fun, hands-on science, and art activities. No pre-registration necessary—just come by when you can. The theme will be Stability and Structures, with activities exploring what makes certain structures stable (or not!). On Sat., Feb. 10, also 1:30-3pm, the theme will be Mirrors and Symmetry. Print a symmetrical image for Valentine’s Day!

All St. Paul libraries will be closed on January 15 in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

In January, the Start a Series Book Club is shifting from meeting on Saturday afternoons to meeting on Monday afternoons. The first meeting at the new day and time will be on Mon., Jan. 22, 4-5pm, and the book under discussion will be “The Iron Trial” by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. This book club is recommended for grades 6-8, and each month will focus on discussing the first book in a series.

Word and Sound Lab kicks off again on Tuesday afternoons from 4:30-6pm starting on Jan, 23 and continuing on Jan. 30, Feb. 6, 13, 20, and 27. Poet Becca Barniskis and musician Nick Jaffe are offering this open studio workshop for youth grades 5-8. Explore the intersection of poetry, sound, and video, and experiment with making your own creations on iPads and other tech, to be provided. Participants can also bring their own phone, laptop, tablet, or notebook. This activity, provided by a grant from the State Arts Board, is free and does not require advance registration—just show up!

The library will be offering Book Art, a great hands-on activity for adults, on Mon., Feb. 12, 6-7:30pm. Participants can learn how to fold books to create eye-catching sculptures.

On Wed., Jan. 31, 1-3pm, Jody’s Documentary Film Series will feature “Ping Pong,” directed by Hugh Hartford and Anson Hartford. The film tells the story of competitors going for the gold in the international table tennis championships—and they’re all over 80 years old. Enjoy the free film and snacks and stay for the post-film discussion facilitated by Jody. This program is a collaboration of the award-winning POV documentary series and the Hamline Midway Elders Association.

The Novels at Night Book Club meets on Thur., Jan. 25, 6:30-7:30pm, to discuss “The Round House” by Louise Erdrich. The award-winning novel tells the story of Joe Coutz, a 14-year-old boy trying to find the person who attacked his mother, a tribal enrollment specialist on a North Dakota reservation, and destroyed his family.

The Show and Tell Book Club for grades 1-3 meets on Sat., Jan. 27, 1:30-2:15pm. Come share books and do fun literacy activities!

On Sat., Feb. 3, 1-2pm, the Saints and Sinners Book Club meets to discuss good mysteries. Contact volunteer G. Balter for book lists and more information at gerribalter@gmail.com or 651-224-5570.

The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library’s popular, long-running Fireside Reading Series brings some of Minnesota’s most accomplished writers to the Hamline Midway Library every year in January and February. With cookies in one hand and coffee in the other, you can cozy up next to the library’s fireplace and experience great literature right here in our neighborhood.

The 2018 series begins on Jan. 24 from 7-8pm with a reading by Miriam Karmel from her book “Subtle Variations and Other Stories.” Acclaimed Minnesota author Faith Sullivan has said of Karmel’s collection of interlinked stories, “Reader, read this book. You will fall in love. Guaranteed.”

The series continues on Jan. 31 from 7-8pm with a reading by poet Bao Phi featuring work from his second collection, “Thousand Star Hotel.” His poems confront the silence around racism, police brutality, and the invisibility of the Asian American poor. This collection is both a loving history for the poet’s daughter and a powerful resistance to cultural erasure. Phi, a two-time Minnesota Grand Slam poetry champion and National Poetry Slam finalist, is also the author of Song I Sing and the children’s picture book A Different Pond.

Marcie Rendon reads from her debut mystery novel “Murder on the Red River” on Wed., Feb. 7, from 7-8pm. The novel introduces Cash, a tough, 19-year-old Anishinabe woman torn from the reservation as a child and shuffled through more foster homes than she can remember. Now a farm laborer and pool shark in Fargo, ND, Cash’s life changes when a dead body is found on the Minnesota side of the Red River, and her friend Sheriff Wheaton enlists her to help solve the case. Rendon, a member of the White Earth Anishinabe nation, is an accomplished playwright, poet, and author of books for children, including Pow Wow Summer.

The Fireside Reading Series continues on Wed., Feb. 14, 7-8pm, with graphic designer Carolyn Porter reading from “Marcel’s Letters,” the story of her quest to unlock the story behind a bundle of beautifully hand-written letters she found in a Stillwater antique store.

Check the library website at www.sppl.org for information on the other readers in this six-week Fireside Reading Series, and plan on coming early to these presentations—seats go fast!