Help celebrate the extraordinary wealth of Black history and culture in the past and present at one of the library's Black History Month events coming up in February. There's an author event, concerts, a cooking program and open mic talent shows and poetry workshops for you to choose from, alongside all of our regular programming during the month of February.

 

It's going to be an exciting month filled with discovery, history, joy, remembrance and beauty - and everyone is welcome.

 

We look forward to welcoming you to our Black History Month celebrations for Plainfield, here at your Library.

 

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Black History Month Celebrations at Plainfield Public Library

 

    February will see two major musical events at the Library in celebration of Black History Month. 

 

... now read on for our second BHM musical celebration on February 13th!

 

  

Bradford Hayes' quartet took the library by storm last year with an electrifying standing-room-only set. Be sure not to miss this return performance as part of our Black History Month celebrations.

This fantastic concert will be one to remember, and better yet, it's free!

 

It's sure to be a busy event, so get here early to grab a seat!

 

 

 

  We're starting to collect seeds to put together a seed library that we hope to launch in a few months' time. We're working with local gardening expert Nico Simmons (dreamingofblooms@gmail.com) to tailor our offering as best we can to our community and environment.

Do you have extra seeds you'd like to share with the community? We're particularly interested in sharing organic, heirloom seeds for sustainable vegetable gardening, as well as native plant seeds.

If you have or would like to donate some seeds that we can share with the community, we'd love to have them. (Please be sure that the seeds are unexpired and in good condition.) You can give in seeds at the Reference and Information Desk- and if you have any questions, you can contact Andrew Eason at andrew.eason@plfdpl.info 908 757 1111 ext 139.

 

If you're interested in plants and the environment, don't miss our upcoming event with the Native Plant Society of NJ- see below.

  February comes with fun for all ages, adults included!

• Adult Craft: Make a fun craft item with another edition of our program for adults who like to make stuff. Tuesday, February 11 at 5:30pm in Room 2
• Family Board Games - with pizza for everyone! Wednesday, February 12, from 6pm in Room 2
• TWO Jazz concerts: one with the Brandon McCune Quartet on Saturday February 8th at 11am in ALD, and the other with the Bradford Hayes Quartet on Thursday February 13th at 6:30pm in ALD
• Adult Book Club -Nickel And Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. Wednesday, January 29, 7-8:30pm in Room 5.
• PLUS more events featured below

 

 

An evening poetry workshop and open mic with Davian Williams, born in Somerville NJ. Williams is an artist, poet and storyteller whose imagery and questioning voice challenges preconceptions and concrete ideals to create a an authentic and personal experience. Influenced by music, photography and film as well as the written word, Williams' recent debut collection  Live From the Limbic System offers a full-length feature of memories and motivation, fantasies and fears, love, losses and laughs.

 

Join us to hear from Williams and the audience in this combination open mic and poetry workshop. Best for ages teen to adult.

 

(You may also enjoy our Black History Month Talent Showcase on Feb 25th.)

 

Join Mary Roberts, co-founder of the Union County Chapter of the Native Plants Society of NJ for a presentation of the short film Nature’s Best Hope, based on the book by Douglas W. Tallamy, and a Q&A session on all things native plants, from finding the right species for your corner of the world, to sowing and harvesting seeds and more.

 

Find out all about why native plants are great for our environment and why they might just be the best fit for your garden!

 

If you're a keen gardener, you might also be interested to know that we're asking for seed donations to help set up a seed library, emphasizing native, organic and heirloom seeds, too. 

 

Come join us to discuss this month's book.

 

From the Goodreads decription of Nickel and Dimed:

"... a classic of undercover reportage.

Millions of Americans work for poverty-level wages, and one day Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that any job equals a better life. But how can anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 to $7 an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, taking the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon discovered that even the "lowliest" occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts. And one job is not enough; you need at least two if you intend to live indoors.

Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity -- a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate strategies for survival. Instantly acclaimed for its insight, humor, and passion, this book is changing the way America perceives its working poor."

 

Interested? New members are always welcome - whether you've read this month's book and want to share your thoughts, or just want to try us out.

 

Misinformation is an unfortunate part of contemporary life: there are many actors out there with an interest in making us believe things that are at best not quite what they seem or at worst outright lies. With the appearance of AI in every corner of the information space, we face new challenges from a flood of plausible-seeming material that can be produced effortlessly, but - even when created with no intent to mislead - may not be fact-checked or accurate.

How can we be information-savvy and build our "immunity" to being misled by misinformation and "facts" hallucinated by AI? Are we doomed to a post-truth future?

 

Join Librarian Erik Stevenson for a discussion on how to deal with misinformation on the internet and as we encounter it in real life.

 

Got a talent? Come share it with us at our Black History Month Celebration Talent Showcase and Open Mic. From spoken word to singing and more, all are welcome to showcase their special gifts. We can't wait to applaud your talents!

Performers and attendees of all ages are very welcome. If you are interested in performing, please register here.

 

For further information, please contact Rosa Nicks at rosa.nicks@plfdpl.info or call 908 757 1111 ext. 122

Local History, Genealogy & Special Collections

The Plainfield Room is open for historical and genealogical research. Our hours are Monday-Friday, 9AM to 4:30PM and Tuesdays from 9AM to 7PM. Please contact us to schedule an appointment. The Memoir Writing Club meets on Thursday, February 13th. This month's writing prompt is "snow." New members are welcome!

 

Join us as we kick off America 250 and celebrate Stories of Resistance!

 

Black Women's History Conference

Book Signing and Meet & Greet:
The Nine O'Clock Whistle

Saturday, February 22, 2025

12-2PM in the ALD Room

Join us for a Book Signing and Meet & Greet with authors Dr. Willa Cofield, Cynthia Samuelson, and Mildred Sexton for The Nine O'Clock Whistle: Stories of the Freedom Struggle for Civil Rights in Enfield, North Carolina (University Press of Mississippi: 2025). The Nine O’Clock Whistle covers a range of historically and contextually significant stories, including details from Dr. Cofield’s grandfather’s early life as an enslaved person and her family’s rise to prominence in the Enfield Black community, to the roles the authors played in the local protest movement during the 1960s. Ultimately, Cofield, Samuelson, and Sexton squarely repudiate the assertion that the civil rights movement bypassed communities in northeastern North Carolina, and prove instead that the movement drastically changed the lives of people in towns like Enfield forever.
Books will be available for sale and autographs.

 

 

Teen Programs for February

Well well well, if it isn't our old friend February again... We hope your plans for 2025 are going smoothly as we look forward to this month's programs and activities. We can't wait to see you, especially if you're bored or want a place that is paradoxically both tons of fun AND a quiet safe space to relax. (What can I say, that's libraries for you?)

 

 

 

 

 

   ► Video Game Hangout  is back again on Saturday February 15 at 2pm (ages 9-18)

 

 

 

 

 

 

For general information, please contact the Reference Department. For department-specific information, you can contact the relevant departments:

 

Reference - (908) 757 1111 ext. 112 or email ref@plfdpl.info

Circulation - (908) 757 1111 ext. 111 or email circ@plfdpl.info

Children's - (908) 757 1111 ext. 129 or email yp@plfdpl.info

Local History - (908) 757 1111 ext. 136 or email localhistory@plfdpl.info

Literacy - (908) 757 1111 ext. 122 or email lit@plfdpl.info

 

Library Hours

________

 

 

Please note the following changes to our usual schedule for February

 

 

The Library will be CLOSED in observance of Presidents' Day on

Monday, February 17, 2025

 

______

 

Opening Hours:

 

Monday - Thursday: 9am-8:45pm
Friday: 9am-4:45pm

Saturday: 11am-2:45pm

Sunday: CLOSED