Beflast Free Library

POSTPONED Climate Resilience Fair POSTPONED
2025-06-07 10:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Steamboat Landing, Belfast, Maine
Due to the forecast of rain, wind and thunderstorms on Saturday the Climate Resilience Fair has been postponed. We will reschedule for a date in the fall. Stay tuned…
Please join the Belfast Free Library and Waldo County Climate Action Coalition on Saturday, June 7 at Steamboat Landing in Belfast for the Climate Resilience Fair, from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM.
There will be 40+ local businesses and non-profits with resources and examples of ways to prepare for a changing climate. A full list of participants can be found at Waldo County Climate Action Coalition website.
Come check out our powerhouse lineup of speakers in the Boathouse!
10:15 – 10:45- David Gibson, Director of Energy, College of the Atlantic
11:00 – 11:30 – Jack Shapiro, Climate and Clean Energy Director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine
11:45 – 12:15- Sean Birkel, Maine State Climatologist
12:30 – 1:00- Parker Gassett, Community Climate Resilience Coordinator, Maine Sea Grant
1:15 – 1:45 -Steve Ouillette, En-ROADS Global Climate Simulation
2:00 – 2:30- Nick Janzen, Policy & Partnerships Director, Maine Conservation Alliance
2:30 – 3:00- Alan Gibson, Principal, GO Logic
This FREE event includes family activities, music and food trucks! Portable Pie Place and Stone Fox Farm Creamery.
Music starts at 12:00 with local favorites Sea Strings, at 1:00 pm The Driveway Band , and at 2:00 pm Pinwheel Coalition.
Event information is being updated; more info can be found here at the Waldo County Climate Action Coalition website. If you’d like to volunteer to help with the event please email waldoclimateaction@gmail.com.

No Knitting Group Today -
2025-06-11 16:00 | Abbott Room
No knitting group Weds. June 11th. See you next week!
Knitters, crocheters, yarn enthusiasts of all experience levels are welcome to join us every Wednesday , from 4:00-5:30 pm in the Abbott Room.
This drop-in event is a chance for knitters- and crocheters too- of all ages and experience levels to chat, get tips, and learn from each other while working on their own projects. Library staff will have computers available to demonstrate how to use Ravelry.com and other websites to help find patterns and organize your work. Registration is not required. For more information please call 338-3884 ext.10
Contact bharrington@belfastlibrary.org to sign up to to join the knitting group.

Does Anything from the Year 1776 Matter Today? with Liam Riordan
2025-06-12 18:00 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
This Maine Speaks event with Liam Riordan, Professor of History at the University of Maine, is presented by the Maine Humanities Council and the Belfast Free Library. The program will take place in the Abbott Room with a Zoom option.
Register for the Zoom link here.
This illustrated talk looks at the text of the Declaration of Independence (“all men are created equal . . . with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”) and considers some of its late-eighteenth century context. This will set the stage for a discussion about the meaning of the Declaration’s political ideals as well as its more sordid qualities for US public life today.
Liam Riordan is a history professor at the University of Maine who specializes in the American Revolution. He is the co-editor of What We Know, What We Wish: Maine Statehood, Historical Commemoration, and the Urgency of Public History, forthcoming from UMass Press in June 2025.

Wiggle & Rhyme
2025-06-16 10:00 - 11:00 | Abbott Room
For Babies and Toddlers
Come join us! The first 20 minutes are early literacy rhymes and songs followed by play and social time with bubbles! Content is prepared for birth through age 2.
Date: Mondays, June 16, August 18 and 25
Time: 10:00am
Location: The Abbott Room of the Belfast Free Library

Genealogy group meeting~ “Ghosted”: Let's Talk about Genealogic Vanishing
2025-06-18 14:00 - 15:30 | Abbott Room
All genealogists have them—ancestors who seemingly vanish all of a sudden, sometimes with no mention, sometimes with an explanation that feels inadequate, as if they have just “ghosted” us. Join us for a conversation about our “ghosted” ancestors.
All are welcome! This is a hybrid meeting, with the option to join in-person in the Abbott Room or to join online over Zoom. To receive the Zoom link or for more information, please email Sharon Pietryka at spietryka@belfastlibrary.org.

Library will be CLOSED in observance of the Juneteenth Holiday
2025-06-19

Preschool Storytimes in City Park
2025-06-20 10:00 - 11:00 | City Park or Abbott Room
Join us outside for stories, puppets and songs!
Located on City Park Road. Rain location is at the Belfast Free Library.
Date: Fridays, June 20 and 27, July 11 and 18, August 22 and 29
Time: 10:00am
Location: City Park Road (rain location at the Belfast Free Library)

Summer Reading Begins
2025-06-23 | Youth Services Floor
Summer reading begins at the Belfast Free Library! Grab your gameboards from the Youth Services desk on the 2nd floor and get reading!

"Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives: 200 Years of the Murch Family in Belfast"
2025-06-23 19:00 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
“Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives: 200 Years of the Murch Family in Belfast” will be the topic of the Belfast Historical Society’s meeting at 7:00 pm, June 23, in the Abbott Room at the Belfast Free Library. Dana Murch, local genealogist and historical society member, will present the program will include stories about the Mayflower; the War of 1812; pump and block making; lawyers and judges and postmasters; Gettysburg; poetry; ice-making; hydro-electric generation; weather-keeping; shoe shops; the Pygmy Circus; and World War II.
The Belfast Historical Society presents talks of local historical interest on the 4th Monday of the month from April through October. All presentations are at 7:00pm in the Abbott Room at the Belfast Free Library and are open to the public. Seating is limited to 75.
FMI visit BelfastMuseum.org or call 207 338-9229. These programs will be recorded and can be viewed on Belfast Community Television and on the museum website.

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
2025-06-24 16:00 - 18:00 | Plaza in front of the Library
All are invited to celebrate the recent installation of a state-of-the-art heat pump system at the Belfast Free Library, the result of a collaboration between the Belfast City Council and the Library Board of Trustees. Please join us at the open house and ribbon cutting for this successful community project on Tuesday, June 24th from 4-6 pm.

Adult Summer Reading Bingo Starts!
2025-06-25 08:00 - 17:00
Pick up your Bingo Card at the main circulation desk and join the fun!

Read to a Dog
2025-06-26 10:30 - 11:30 | Abbott Room
Join in to read to a dog!
Drop in during the hour and enjoy a calm exercise in reading to one or all available therapy dogs. This program increases reading fluency and confidence.

Date: Thursdays, June 26, July 3, 10 and 17
Time: 10:30am
Location: Abbott Room at the Belfast Free Library

Teen Pet Portraits with Bridget
2025-06-26 14:00 - 15:00 | Abbott Room
Come join Bridget and Jamison
Follow along with local artist Bridget Matros in creating a personalized watercolor portrait of your own pet! Whether you’re painting for yourself or for a loved one, enjoy a calm and relaxing environment in the company of Jamieson the therapy dog.
Please send a photo of the pet you’d like to paint in advance to
rbox@belfastlibrary.org
For those who don’t send in or bring their own pet photo, a photo of Jamieson will be provided.
This event is for teens ages 11-17.
Time : 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Date: Thursday, June 26th
Location : The Abbott Room of the Belfast Free Library

Chewonki Presents: Discover the World of Predator Animals
2025-06-30 14:00 - 15:00 | Abbott Room
What Makes Predator Animals So Unique?
Explore attitudes toward predators and reasons for their decline throughout history because of habitat loss and human interference. Discussion emphasizes the importance of predators in maintaining the world’s ecological balance. Participants have the opportunity to study mounted animals and see three live, non-releasable predators.
Date: Monday, June 30
Time: 2:00 – 3:00pm
Location : The Abbott Room of the Belfast Free Library

The Wheelbarrow Poets Meet
2025-07-01 09:30 - 11:00 | Abbott Room
The Wheelbarrow Poets meets weekly on Tuesdays in the Abbott Room from 9:30-11:00 a.m. Writing prompts are sent in advance of the gatherings by Belfast Poet Laureate Maya Stein, and participants share work and discuss. Open to writers ages 18 & up. Email jkaber1948@gmail.com for more information and to register.
