Events for Adults
The Library, while committed to providing an oasis of calm and quiet, enthusiastically makes room for discussion and engagement. Our programs — always free — represent a range of interests as eclectic and inclusive as our community. Supported by the Friends organization, the Library screens films, presents concerts, holds art workshops, and hosts author talks and lecture series.
Planning such events, we have the enviable advantage of a rich pool of resident talent upon which to draw: writers, scholars, educators, scientists, musicians, and other accomplished individuals eager to share their expertise and experience. Widespread attendance by the public enlarges the scope of the Library and affirms its pride of place in village life.
Pastoral Literature Class
Wednesdays beginning January 8 through February 26
7:00 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.
“All good poetry,” wrote the pastoral poet William Wordsworth, “is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” If you admire the heightened sensitivities of those who think long and deeply, perhaps you’d like to join us.
Beginning on January 8, and running each Wednesday through February, we will discuss seminal works of pastoral literature, which celebrate, lament, and question our relation with the land and its creatures.
We will begin with Wordsworth, then likely move to poems and prose from The Bible, Virgil, William Shakespeare, Henry David Thoreau, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Virginia Woolf, Robert Frost, Mary Oliver, Joy Harjo, and Helen McDonald.
The class will be facilitated by Tim Donahue, a Library Board member and a high school English teacher who is capable of getting the ball rolling, but who holds more enthusiasm than expertise. For each class, we’ll read multiple poems (or an essay) and discuss one or two works in depth. If you’d like to distract yourself with beautiful language and ponder vast ideas with your neighbors, maybe this is your light in winter.
If you’d like to join, please email tpdonahue13@hotmail.com.
“Keeping It Real” Book Club
January 10
11:00 a.m.
The Hastings Public Library’s non-fiction book club will be discussing The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions by Jonathan Rosen.
Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, this book is about a brilliant young man who was diagnosed with schizophrenia before killing his girlfriend. It is a powerful story of mental illness and the history of institutionalization.
Copies are available at the Circulation Desk of the Library.
Please email has@hastingslibrary.org to register or for more information.
Tech Help
January 10, 24 or February 7
3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Are you looking for tech help? Sign up to meet with helpers at the Library!
Volunteers can help you with your laptop, phone, tablet, or e-reader.
Available for all ages by appointment only. Call to find out about availability! (914) 478-3307 or email Allee at amanning@hastingslibrary.org for more information.
Good Morning, Vietnam
January 16
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Hastings Senior Thursday presents a screening of Good Morning, Vietnam (1987 – Rated R – 2 hours).
The story of an armed forced DJ who is wildly popular with the troops, but infuriates his superiors with his wild and irreverent style.
Cookies and coffee will be served.
Please email the Library at has@hastingslibrary.org if you plan to attend.
Sponsored by the Hastings Outreach Program, Hastings Senior Council, Hastings Public Library and Destination Hastings.
Mahjong Group
Tuesdays
12:30 p.m.
If interested in playing Mahjong at the Library, call (914) 478-3307 or visit the Circulation Desk and leave your name and number.
Players will need to bring their card from the Mahjong League.
Knitting and Crocheting Group
Tuesdays
2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
At the present time, we have reached our maximum number of participants. Please know this is not a teaching group, but a social gathering for knitters and crocheters to work on individual projects.
For more information or to be added to the waiting list, please contact Reference Librarian, Jeanne Bastone: jbastone@hastingslibrary.org
Project Linus
Sundays, once a month, date TBA
For well over 10 years, the Hastings Library has hosted a group of dedicated knitters and crocheters who make blankets for Project Linus, a national organization named after the Peanuts character who always carries a security blanket with him. The donated blankets are distributed to hospitalized and other children in need of some comfort.
I recently received a very heartfelt thank you card from Doris-Patt Smith, a coordinator from Project Linus. It is such a gratifying experience to participate in this program and I invite anyone who might be interested in joining our group to email me for more information. I look forward to hearing from you.
Many thanks.
Jeanne Bastone, Reference Librarian
jbastone@hastingslibrary.org
The Seed Exchange
The Seed Exchange is at the Hastings Public Library!
Thanks to Katie Tolson and the Hastings Pollinator Pathway, the Fred and Louise Hubbard Heirloom Seed Collection has been revived.
The drawers of a vintage card catalog are labeled with the genre of seeds therein: flowers, herbs, vegetables and native plants. And, there is a clear container on top of the card catalog where you may place seeds you would like to contribute.
For questions or more information please stop by the exchange or go to the Hastings Pollinator Pathway website.