Rockland Public Library

Catching Up With The Classics is a book group that meets monthly. We will now being meeting in person, in the Children’s Garden, while the weather is nice. The book for January is I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Happy New Year!

We’re always looking for new readers! Email pking@rocklandmaine.gov for more info, or call the Library, 207-594-0310, to request a book title.

Enjoy a themed musical storytime, with dancing, songs, rhymes, and 2 books. This program is great for toddlers – early elementary. We meet in the Community Room; masks are recommended.

Enjoy your favorite picture books as Miss Katie reads them to you! We meet down in the Community Room, masks are recommended.

Let’s take a walk!

Wednesday Walkers is back! Join Patty or Jessie every Wednesday at 10:30 for a 45-60 minute stroll around town. Promoting healthy activity and social connections; all abilities are welcome- no walker is left behind! Meet promptly at 10:30 in the Library lobby (White St. entrance).

Sing and sway along with new and familiar nursery rhymes and songs. This storytime is for little ones and music lovers, with lots of songs and one short story at the end. We meet in the Community Room; masks are recommended.

Historian Bob Greene

Did you know that Maine’s Black history goes back to at least 12 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock? The history of the Pine Tree State includes many Black builders, farmers, fishermen, ship captains, educators, and more whose lives have often been forgotten or ignored. In fact, the first doctor in Maine may have been a Black man, and the nation’s first Black lawyer practiced in Portland after passing the bar. Rockland Public Library will host historian Bob Greene, who will explore and celebrate this often hidden side of Maine’s history.

Bob Greene is a retired journalist and genealogist who has researched the Black history of his native state for years. A native of Portland, Greene is the eighth generation of his family to be born in Cumberland County. His roots in Maine stretch back into the 1700s. After retiring, he returned home to Maine; his genealogical research has led to his deep knowledge about Maine’s Black history. He contributed to Maine’s Visible Black History, The First Chronicle of its People, co-authored by H.H. Price and Gerald E. Talbot. Greene currently lives in South Portland and is on the Board of Trustees of the Maine Historical Society as well as the Board of Directors of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Southern Maine. He currently teaches a course on Maine’s Black history at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine. Greene is also the 2021 recipient of the Maine History Society’s Neal Allen Award, which is presented each year for exceptional contributions to Maine History.

This event will be held in-person in the Community Room, with limited seating. For more information, please email elewis@rocklandmaine.gov.