Architecture + Design Monthly Free Film Series Begins Wed, Sept. 21 at 118 Elliot

The Architecture + Design Film Series will kick-off its 10th season of free, monthly films shown in person simultaneously at 6:30 pm at 118 Elliot in Brattleboro, 118 Elliot Street, and at Burlington City Arts’ Contois Auditorium up north, on September 21, 2022 with “M.C. Escher: Journey to Infinity” (2019, Robin Lutz, 81 minutes, Netherlands, mostly English with some subtitles). Doors open at 6:15 pm. Film showings are free and open to all (masking is optional but appreciated) and are also available for virtual viewing all day through the A+D Film website at: www.adfilmseries.org.


Free Irish Music Concert and Book Launch: Doiminic Mac Giolla Bhríde, with Frances Morton

Join us at 6:30 pm on Monday, June 3rd, as we welcome internationally known Irish musician, Doiminic Mac Giolla Bhríde, and his partner, Frances Morton! They will be giving a FREE concert of his own sean-nós music, after introducing his second Irish-language children’s book, Polcaphonc. He will play a few fun songs from the book!

About the book: Polcaphonc (Polka Dot)
The Songbook/CD for kids by Dominic Mac Giolla Bhríde (from the artists who created Icí Pící), has English (Béarla) translations for each song.


Free Author Talk at Brooks Library: Independence Corrupted

Join us at 7 pm on Monday, May 6th,  in the Main Reading Room at Brooks Memorial Library,  as author Charles Schudson presents a FREE presentation about his new book, Independence Corrupted: How America’s Judges Make Their Decisions.

With twenty-two years in America’s courts, Judge Schudson knows the factors affecting judicial decision-making.  With scholarship and impassioned accounts of compelling cases, he brings readers behind the trial bench to see judges analyzing actual trials and sentencings – of abortion protesters, sex predators, murderers, white supremacists….


Free Hip Hop Concert with Rebel Diaz

Join us at 8 pm on Friday, May 10th, as Brooks Memorial Library hosts a kid-friendly concert by hip hop artists, Rebel Diaz! Doors will open at 7:30 pm.

Rebel Diaz is a political hip hop duo out of the Bronx, New York and Chicago, IL consisting of the Chilean brothers Rodstarz (Rodrigo Venegas) and G1 (Gonzalo Venegas). Rebel Diaz uses their music as an organizing tool and to spread knowledge about injustice.


Free Diversity Day Film Screening: I Am From Here

Join us at 7 pm on Thursday, May 2nd as we present a FREE screening of the movie: I Am From Here, in honor of Diversity Day.

This is an instructional film, originally created for public school staff, teachers, and administrators in Vermont. It was commissioned by the Vermont-NEA Racial Justice Task Force in collaboration with the National Education Association. Bess O’Brien from Kingdom County Productions produced the 30-minute film. She interviewed parents, community members, educators, and students from Vermont. Bess filmed their accounts of living in and going to school in Vermont.


Free Foundation Fundraising Workshop

Join us at 1 pm on Thursday, April 25th, at Brooks Memorial Library, as Richard Wizansky of Bold Moves Consulting joins our own Jeanne Walsh for a FREE public program about foundation fundraising…


Jill Lepore: These Truths – Free Author Talk

Join us at 7 pm on Saturday, April 27th, at Brooks Memorial Library, as Harvard professor, New Yorker staff writer, and best-selling author gives a FREE public talk about her new book, in our Main Reading Room. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.


5 Ways to Park for Free in Brattleboro

With new meters and higher rates for parking in Brattleboro, let’s review some ways you can park for free and do errands downtown.

1. Patronize businesses with free parking

This one is obvious and easy. A few places downtown have parking lots that are free to use while doing business at the establishment. Shop at the Co-op? Free parking. Doing banking at BS&L? Free parking. Need something at Brown & Roberts? Free parking.


Free Film Screening: Why We Fight

On Friday, March 8th  at 6 pm, join us at Brooks Memorial Library, as Brattleboro Solidarity shows  a FREE screening of the documentary “Why We Fight.” This film describes the rise and maintenance of the United States military–industrial complex and its 50-year involvement with the wars led by the United States to date, especially its 2003 Invasion of Iraq.


Valentines for Veterans: Free Workshop Activity

Join us at Brooks Memorial Library at 10:30 am on Saturday, January 19th, for a morning of card making for our veterans, some of the many men and women who have given so much in service to our country.
This workshop is absolutely FREE, and all materials will be provided.


Special Meeting Brattleboro Selectboard with Governor Phil Scott and Members of the Cabinet

Everyone is welcome to join Governor Phil Scott, members of the Cabinet, and the Brattleboro Selectboard, from 10:30 – 11:30 am on Tuesday, Oct. 23, for a special meeting in the Community Meeting Room at Brooks Memorial Library. Discussion topics will include (but might not be limited to):

Summary of Current Projects and Events in Brattleboro
Thank You for State Partnership and Support
Opportunities for Additional Shared Successes
Regional Economic Hubs
Transportation Matters
Matters of Social Equity and Public Safety


A Ramble Through Small Town New England, with Author Richard Marshall

Join us on Saturday, June 16th at 2 pm for an author reading and discussion of A Ramble Through Small-Town New England: Volume One, by Richard Marshall. Read his statement below for more information!

The idea of writing a book about towns along the southern New England border came while sitting on my deck in Whitingham on a beautiful sunny day. I was looking at a Vermont map and saw all the towns stretching from Brattleboro to Bennington. Why not go to each town, meet the people there and write about my impressions of what I saw and heard and, where possible, have people write their own stories? I interviewed artists, farmers, store owners, entrepreneurs, factory owners and many others.


Climate Change Cafe Workshop: Healing Our Divisions and Biases and Unifying Our Movements

Healing Our Divisions and Biases and Unifying Our Movements

Join the Climate Change Cafe on May 22nd at 7 pm for a FREE talk and workshop with Sherri Mitchell. This will be a special event held in the Main Reading Room, downstairs.

This workshop will provide participants with an opportunity to look at the divisions and biases, including hidden biases, that have been built into our societies and ideologies. Participants will look at the divisions created by our shared history, the biases informed by that history, and the ways that they prevent us from joining our movements, with special emphasis on how colonization has impacted our thinking and the ways that we engage one another and the world around us.


Author Reading with Naima K. Wade

Join us at Brooks Memorial Library on Wednesday, May 23rd at 7 pm as local author, poet, performer, businesswoman and community organizer Naima K. Wade reads selections from her first Chapbook, War is Over We Are Unbound. She will also share selections from her memoir, Elbow Dreams: Growing Up in Vermont During The Turbulent Late 1960’s.