Listed below are upcoming events sponsored by the Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library. For a complete list of library events and activities, click here.

FIXIT CLINIC: The Next Fixit Clinic will be Saturday, February 7, from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the Takoma Park Library, in the program room. Due to our limited resources, you can register for only one appointment per clinic and bring only one item for repair per appointment. The clinic is free, but you must register so that we can prepare for your repair! Here is the registration link: https://tinyurl.com/vj9m5tba.

The Fixit Clinic provides you with an opportunity to repair your broken small appliances, computers/devices, lamps, bikes, clothing/sewing, beaded jewelry, dull knives, broken furniture, etc, and keep it out of the landfill. At the clinic, our skilled volunteers will diagnose your item’s issue and work with you to make the repair.

Questions? Email them to: Fixittakoma@gmail.com.

FRIENDS BOOK GROUP: The Friends Book Group will be discussing Pym by Mat Johnson on Wednesday, February 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the library Program Room. (This is the discussion that was originally scheduled to take place on January 8.) Pym is one of three books planned for the year that one way or another riff on famous novels, in this case Edgar Allan Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. The library has copies of the book to borrow.

Next, the Book Group will be reading The Little Lumpen Novelita by the Chilean novelist Roberto Bolaño, for its discussion on March 12.

To get on the list for Friends Book Group alerts, contact ftpmlbookgroup@gmail.com.

BIG BOOK CLUB: Every spring and fall, the Big Book Club discusses a great work of literature from the world written throughout history. After selecting a book, a scholar or expert on the author or the work presents a lecture, and the discussion continues during subsequent meetings. This spring, the Big Book Club will be reading The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal, published in 1837. Admired by writers as diverse as Tolstoy and Hemingway, the novel takes place during the Napoleonic era and tells the life story of Fabrice del Longo. Wounded at Waterloo, Fabrice returns to Italy and eventually lands in Parma. There he becomes involved in the intrigues of his cousin Gina and her lover Count Mosca.

Discussion will kick off with a lecture on March 25, followed by subsequent discussions on April 8, April 22, and May 6.

In the fall, the Big Book Club will read The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope. First published in monthly installments beginning in 1874, Trollope’s novel satirizes 1870s English politics and the pursuit of wealth. In The Way We Live Now, the protagonist, Augustus Melmotte, a financier of unknown origin, sweeps into London with the intent to solicit investors for a Mexican railroad. While this is the main plotline in the novel, Trollope adds several other subplots that increase the reader’s understanding of late Victorian English society.

The fall discussion will kick off with a lecture on September 23, followed by subsequent discussions on September 30, October 14, and October 28.

Lectures and discussions will take place in the Program Room of the library, and begin at 7:30. To receive announcements about the Big Book Club, send an email to ftpmlbookgroup@gmail.com.

FTPML Board Meetings: The board of the Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library generally meets every 4th Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at the Takoma Park Library. If you are a member of the Friends of the Library, you are welcome to join the meeting. Our schedule sometimes changes, so if you are interested in attending a meeting, contact us first.

Recurring Events sponsored or organized by FTPML

As we come out of the pandemic, there is a mix of online, in-person, and hybrid programs. To register for these events, go to the library’s events page here: https://engagedpatrons.org/Events.cfm?SiteID=3728

SPANISH CIRCLE TIME: Thursday mornings at 10:30 – Señora Geiza leads a rousing half-hour program of Spanish songs and rhymes. Great for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and their grown-ups. This event is once again held live at the library, after taking place online since the start of the COVID pandemic. Sponsored by Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library.

JUMPSTART WITH THE ARTS WORLD AROUND MUSIC: Monthly concert series for preschoolers and caregivers, Sponsored by Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library in partnership with Carpe Diem Arts. First Tuesday of the month at 10:30 AM, at the library’s temporary location.

DÍA DE LOS NIÑOS/DÍA DE LOS LIBROS: An annual American Library Association celebration of children, families, and reading, featuring artistic performances and information about programs and services from the library and its community partners. Sponsored by Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library.