There's always fun and learning happening at Pierson Library. You can download the calendar as a .pdf here!
February Programs
For Kids & Families
Thursday Morning Musical Storytime with Liz
Thursdays (2/1, 2/8/, 2/15, 2/22, 2/29): 10:30am-11:00am
Experience the magic of music and storytelling with Liz at our weekly Musical Storytime! Join us for a unique adventure where captivating stories come to life with the enchanting power of music. Liz will transport young minds into the world of rhythm, melody, and imagination. Don't miss this harmonious journey! No advanced registration necessary.
LEGO Afternoon
Thursdays (2/1, 2/8/, 2/15, 2/22, 2/29):): 3:00pm-4:45pm
Lego of your stress and stop into the library on Thursday afternoons to enjoy our large collection of Legos. We'll have a new building challenge each week. Display your work at the library, build with friends, and enter to win a different Lego-themed prize each Thursday through January. No advanced registration is necessary.
Happy Groundhog Day
Friday, February 2 (Pick up craft at the children’s desk)
It's Groundhog Day! Stop in and make your own cleverly named Groundhog puppet.
Valentine’s Day Card Workshop
Week of February 5-9: during library hours
Stop in to create a different valentine each day for friends and family.
Magic the Gathering
Monday, February 5 & 12: 3:30-4:30pm
Kids in grades 4-8 gather at the library for an afternoon of Magic the Gathering! Stretch your imagination in this quest-based game and spend a cozy afternoon in the library while adventuring with friends. Call to register at 802-985-5124
Tuesday Morning Storytime with Suzi
Tuesdays (2/6, 2/13, 2/20, 2/27): 10:30am -11:00am
Join us for a delightful story time experience with Suzi! Our program is filled with enchanting stories, engaging songs, and plenty of smiles. It's the perfect opportunity for young minds to explore the magic of books and foster a lifelong love for reading. Don't miss out on the fun! No advanced registration is necessary.
Pierson Playdate
Wednesdays (2/7, 2/14, 2/21, 2/28): 10:30am-11:30am
Looking for a place for your little one to play on these cold winter days? Join us in Town Hall for fun, frolic, and friendship for both littles and their parents/caretakers. Appropriate for ages 2 to 5. No advanced registration is necessary.
Pokémon Club
Saturdays (2/3, 2/10,2/17, 2/24): 2:00pm-4:00pm
Pokémon fans gather to play Pokémon Battle Academy. Meet fellow enthusiasts and spend a few hours sharing your knowledge of all things Pokémon. Space is limited. To register, please call us at 802-985-5124.
Read to a Dog
Saturdays (2/10 & 2/24): 10:30am-12:00pm
Celebrate the joy of reading with Taffy, our certified therapy dog! Join our 'Read to a Dog' program to enhance literacy skills in the delightful company of this furry friend. Taffy provides a supportive and non-judgmental environment, making reading a rewarding experience for emerging readers. Boost confidence and fluency with Taffy by your side! Space is limited. To register, please call us at 802-985-5124
Multicultural Movie Night: Inside Out
Friday, February 9: 5:30pm-7:15pm
Join us for a heartwarming movie night featuring 'Inside Out.' Follow the emotional journey of young Riley as her personified emotions navigate growing up. Perfect for all ages, this animated adventure is filled with laughter, tears, and valuable life lessons. Rated PG/95 minutes
Who moves under the moon?
Saturday, February 24: 10:30am-11:30am
Join us to learn about the animals that make their homes in and around Shelburne. In this program for children, Vermont Master Naturalists, Nicole Hernandez and Debbie Van Buren, will share wildlife camera photos and talk about the scat and animal tracks that provide clues about who is wandering in our nearby woods and neighborhoods.
For Teens
After School Hangout
Wednesdays (2/7, 2/14, 2/21): 2:00pm-4:00pm
Join us on early release day to game, snack, and chill with friends!
Youth Book Advisory
Wednesdays (2/7 & 2/21): 2:30pm-3:30pm
Love to read? Help us build a library collection that truly reflects the interests and ambitions of our community! Assist Katie in finding exciting new publications and recent releases, identify gaps in our collection, and create eye-catching displays of recommended reads. Snacks provided. Recommended for ages 11-15. Interested? Email Kate Bosley @ kbosley@shelburnevt.org. **Please ask to join the waitlist.**
For Adults
Is Shelburne's Wildlife Habitat at a Tipping Point? A Poster Exhibit of Challenges & Solutions
February 1-29 (in the first-floor gallery)
How much do you know about Shelburne's remaining forests and wildlife corridors? Come see our exhibit revealing Shelburne's last remaining forested tracks and wildlife corridors and learn more about what you can do to help preserve them.
Essentials of Black Cinema Screening: Do the Right Thing
Tuesday, February 6: 6:00pm-8:00pm
The first film in our Essentials of Black Cinema series honoring Black history and celebrating Black artistry is Spike Lee’s 1989 classic. With an all-star class and a master director in top form, Do the Right Thing simmers with still topical issues of identity, home, and representation while being a masterclass in what the film medium can do and a darn entertaining movie as well! Run time: 120 Minutes.
Second Thursday Lecture Series: The Wyeths: First Family of American Art with Thomas Denenberg
Thursday, February 8: 6:00pm-7:00pm
Join Shelburne Museum director Thomas Denenberg for a lecture that places the Wyeths at the center of twentieth-century visual culture and offers new perspectives on three painters who have shaped the way Americans view their world.
Sweetheart Cupcake & Pheromone Party with Moonstruck
Tuesday, February 13: 6:00pm- 8:30pm
Calling all singles! Find love via science and gather for cupcakes and romantic comedy! Based on 2010’s match-making events of artist Judith Prays, we ask that those seeking arrive with a t-shirt that they’ve slept in for three nights Ziploc-bagged. Upon sniffing, participants can take their photo with any olfactorily pleasing garment bags. Next, the pictures will be projected in a slide show and bada-bing, bada-boom, a match is made! We will all then enjoy the frosted treats and the Cher and Nic Cage meet-cute film Moonstruck.
Informal Valentine’s Day Chocolate Tasting
Wednesday, February 14: 3:00pm-4:00pm
A quirky adventure in taste for the lay connoisseur! We will sample an inclusive variety of local, corporate, specialty, and homespun chocolates; discerning what tastes earthy, fruity, milk weedy, vegetal; sharing our experiences with chocolate, our Proustian sense memories; ranking and deciding, once and for all, what chocolate reigns supreme.
Shelburne Acoustic Jam
Thursday, February 15: 6:00pm-8:00pm
What could be better than a free evening of singing and music? Please come join like-minded music makers and listeners for an evening of bluegrass, country, and folk played by local musicians. Appropriate for all ages. No advanced registration necessary.
Is Shelburne's Wildlife Habitat at a Tipping Point? Exploring Challenges and Solutions (Part 1)
Thursday, February 15: 6:00pm-7:00pm
Join us for the first part of our series on Shelburne's wildlife habitat, featuring Jeff Parsons from Arrowwood Environmental and Sean MacFaden, a member of Shelburne's Natural Resources & Conservation Commission. In August 2022, Arrowwood Environmental was commissioned by the Town of Shelburne to conduct a comprehensive inventory and analysis of forested wildlife habitat. In this presentation, you will see the findings, hear insights about crucial habitat areas, and learn why the maps are important to Shelburne.
Writers Studio: A Partnership with the Charlotte, Pierson, & Carpenter-Carse Libraries (offsite)
Tuesday, February 20: 6:30pm-7:30pm
Exercise your writing skills in a supportive writing session with award-winning writer and editor Geoffrey Gevalt of Hinesburg. The second session of the series will take place at the Carpenter Carse Library, located at 69 Ballards Corner Road Hinesburg, VT 05461.
Essentials of Black Cinema Screening: The Learning Tree
Tuesday, February 20: 6:00pm-8:00pm
Next in our series of Black-directed film is the 1969 bildungsroman The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks. Parks was an artistic polyglot - poet, composer, director, photographer; he based this film of Black youth in 1920’s Kansas off his own semi-autobiographical novel. Run time: 107 minutes.
Is Shelburne's Wildlife Habitat at a Tipping Point? Exploring Challenges and Solutions (Part 2)
Thursday, February 22: 6:00pm-7:00pm
In the second installment of our series on Shelburne's wildlife habitat, join Chittenden County Forrester Ethan Tapper and Charlotte Land Trust Director Kate Lampton. Ethan will delve into wildlife and forest ecology, with a special focus on Shelburne's remaining wildlife corridors and habitats. Kate will then discuss the role of land trusts and their significance in preserving forest blocks and wildlife corridors. Don't miss this insightful exploration into the challenges and solutions surrounding Shelburne's wildlife habitat.
Essentials of Black Cinema Screening: Daughters of the Dust
Tuesday, February 27: 6:00pm-8:00pm
The third film in our series is the poetic Daughters of the Dust about generational change within the Gulla culture (an ethnic group off the coast of South Carolina). From 1991 and directed by Julie Dash it was the first theatrically released film directed by a Black woman and remains a distinctive work of art with a warm, and nearly unparalleled elegiac style. Runtime 113 minutes.
Essentials of Black Cinema Screening: Get Out
Thursday, February 29: 6:00pm-8:00pm
Last, but certainly not least, is Jordan Peele’s masterful creepfest Get Out from 2017. Super genre literate, smart and conscious, darn-near formally perfect, and a true roller coaster ride; this film will make you laugh, shriek, squirm, and think! Not all is as it seems when Chris visits his white girlfriend’s family in Upstate New York. Imagine an amalgam of Stepford Wives, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and Evil Dead 2. A true film-lover's film and perhaps the perfect note to end our series on. Runtime 103 minutes.
Race: The Power of an Illusion (Documentary Screening & Discussion)
February 27, 28, 29: 6:00pm-7:30pm
The division of the world's peoples into distinct racial groups has become so deeply embedded in our psyches, many would promptly dismiss any suggestion of its falsity. Yet, that's exactly what this provocative, three-part series by California Newsreel claims. Race: The Power of an Illusion questions the very idea of race as innate biology, suggesting that a belief in inborn racial difference is no sounder than believing that the sun revolves around the earth. Join us for a three-session screening and discussion of this classic yet still timely documentary. This program is presented in collaboration with Shelburne’s Equity & Diversity Committee.