Author Talk: Frances McNamara - Three-Decker Murder in a Nutshell

Author Frances McNamara presents slides as she discusses Book Two in her Nutshell Murder Mysteries book series, Three-Decker Murder in a Nutshell, which is set in East Boston in 1920. The story was inspired by the author’s family as both sets of her grandparents lived......More

Author Frances McNamara presents slides as she discusses Book Two in her Nutshell Murder Mysteries book series, Three-Decker Murder in a Nutshell, which is set in East Boston in 1920. The story was inspired by the author’s family as both sets of her grandparents lived in East Boston during this time. Come hear how an author uses city and family history to concoct a murder mystery! Frances McNamara grew up in Boston, where her father served as Police Commissioner for ten years. She has degrees from Mount Holyoke and Simmons Colleges, and retired from the University of Chicago. She now divides her time between Boston and Cape Cod. This event is for ages 16 and up.   Accessibility Notice: We strive to make our events accessible. To request a disability accommodation and/or language services, contact the department listed in the "Contact Info" pane on the right. Please allow at least two weeks to arrange accommodation.

Information Hours for Adult English Learners

Literacy Services team members are available to answer questions about our programs and resources for adult English learners. Accessibility Notice: We strive to make our events accessible. To request a disability accommodation and/or language services, contact the d......More

Literacy Services team members are available to answer questions about our programs and resources for adult English learners. Accessibility Notice: We strive to make our events accessible. To request a disability accommodation and/or language services, contact the department listed in the "Contact Info" pane on the right. Please allow at least two weeks to arrange accommodation.

Baby Lapsit 1

Join us for bounces, rhymes, stories, songs, and activities.  We will have the same program back to back. We ask that you choose one time to attend.  For ages 0-24 months.

Baby Lapsit 2

Join us for bounces, rhymes, stories, songs, and activities.  We will have the same program back to back. We ask that you choose one time to attend.  For ages 0-24 months.

Storytime

This weekly storytime features books, songs, movement, and a craft.  For ages 2-5.  For large groups, please call the branch to make arrangements.

LEGO Builders

Drop in anytime during the hour for free-building with LEGO bricks.  See what you can create! We will have Mega Blocks available for younger kids as well.

Gardening at the Bremen Street Community Garden

Drop in and join us on Wednesdays from 4 to 5 p.m. this summer to help with our plot in the Bremen Street Community Garden! Tasks will include weeding, planting, watering, and harvesting. Accessibility Notice: We strive to make our events accessible. To request a dis......More

Drop in and join us on Wednesdays from 4 to 5 p.m. this summer to help with our plot in the Bremen Street Community Garden! Tasks will include weeding, planting, watering, and harvesting. Accessibility Notice: We strive to make our events accessible. To request a disability accommodation and/or language services, contact the department listed in the "Contact Info" pane on the right. Please allow at least two weeks to arrange accommodation.

Virtual Author Talk: Michael Luo - Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America

Join us in-person at the East Boston Branch of Boston Public Library on May 29 for an Exclusive Watch Party — a broadcast ......More

Join us in-person at the East Boston Branch of Boston Public Library on May 29 for an Exclusive Watch Party — a broadcast discussion from American Ancestors headquarters in the Back Bay about the Chinese experience in America. Esteemed Chinese-American Michael Luo, executive editor of the New Yorker magazine, will present his research going back to the 1850s Gold Rush and his new book Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America. After his brief talk, Luo will be joined on screen by Harvard historian Jill Lepore to talk more about the American experience, then and now. Bring your neighbors, friends, and anyone who has experienced coming to America and/or wants to hear and share thoughts on what it means to be American or an immigrant today. Drawing on archives from across the country and written with a New Yorker writer’s style and sweep, Michael Luo’s work is revelatory and unforgettable, an essential American story. Strangers in the Land follows the Chinese from their early gold-rush years to modern times; as their numbers grew, horrific episodes of racial terror erupted. At the book’s heart is a shameful chapter of American history: the brutal driving out of Chinese residents from towns across the American West. Luo documents the terror’s victims, the resultant activism, and the resilience of communities that persisted in the face of bigotry and persecution. Only in 1965 did America’s gates swing open to people like Luo’s parents, immigrants from Taiwan. Today there are more than twenty-two million people of Asian descent in the United States and yet the “stranger” label remains, says Luo, who will present this history with illustrations before a discussion with the acclaimed American historian and fellow New Yorker writer Jill Lepore. This program is in partnership and sponsored by American Ancestors. Michael Luo is an executive editor at The New Yorker and writes regularly for the magazine on politics, religion, and Asian American issues. He joined The New Yorker in 2016. Before that, he spent thirteen years at the New York Times, as a metro reporter, national correspondent, and investigative reporter and editor. He is a recipient of a George Polk Award and a Livingston Award for Young Journalists. Jill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She is also a staff writer at The New Yorker. A prize-winning professor, she teaches classes in evidence, historical methods, humanistic inquiry, and American history. Much of her scholarship explores absences and asymmetries in the historical record. She is a wide-ranging and prolific essayist and the author of many award-winning books including These Truths: A History of the United States and The Deadline, a collection of essays. We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution, will be published in September.

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Conversation Group

Practice speaking English with other adult learners in an informal and friendly group setting. The group is led every Thursday by a volunteer teacher and will take place in-person at the East Boston Branch. Class requires basic English-speaking skills. Beginner stude......More

Practice speaking English with other adult learners in an informal and friendly group setting. The group is led every Thursday by a volunteer teacher and will take place in-person at the East Boston Branch. Class requires basic English-speaking skills. Beginner students should contact the Literacy Services department for a list of beginner class options.  This is a drop-in program. No registration is required. For more information, contact the East Boston Branch at 617-569-0271 or Literacy Services at 617-859-2446 or literacyservices@bpl.org. Accessibility Notice: We strive to make our events accessible. To request a disability accommodation and/or language services, contact the department listed in the "Contact Info" pane on the right. Please allow at least two weeks to arrange accommodation.

Cookies, Coloring, and Games

Bring the whole family to the library and relax with board games and coloring. Cookies will be served.  Accessibility Notice: We strive to make our events accessible. To request a disability accommodation and/or language services, contact the department listed in the......More

Bring the whole family to the library and relax with board games and coloring. Cookies will be served.  Accessibility Notice: We strive to make our events accessible. To request a disability accommodation and/or language services, contact the department listed in the "Contact Info" pane on the right. Please allow at least two weeks to arrange accommodation.

Baby Lapsit 1

Join us for bounces, rhymes, stories, songs, and activities.  We will have the same program back to back. We ask that you choose one time to attend.  For ages 0-24 months.

Baby Lapsit 2

Join us for bounces, rhymes, stories, songs, and activities.  We will have the same program back to back. We ask that you choose one time to attend.  For ages 0-24 months.