Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.
Groucho Marx

School Readiness Fairs


Select Dates in June, July, & August
Select RPL Locations

Set your child up for school success! Families of children ages birth to 6 are invited to attend one of six school readiness fairs we are hosting this summer. We'll have fun activities, community resources, and school personnel and translators will be on hand to get you started with the registration process. So 3, 2, 1, LIFTOFF with RPL and get ready for school!

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What’s Happening Summer 2023



Discover upcoming events at Richmond Public Library by downloading and printing RPL’s What’s Happening Summer 2023 guide. Copies are also available at all RPL locations.

First Fridays @ RPL


June 2
Main Library

Join us for First Friday @ RPL at our Main Library from 6:30-9:00PM! We'll have our Gallery Opening with June's displaying artists. The artists will all be there to discuss their work and Fetherston & Tiller will provide accompanying music for the reception. And, new this month, "In the Basement with Music One Stop Shop!" MOSS will provide a musical performance showcase from a variety of artists.

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Virginia POW Camps During World War II, with Historian Kathryn Roe Coker


June 6, 2023
Hull Street Branch Library

Did you know that there were World War II prisoners of war in Virginia? Come hear Dr. Kathryn Roe Coker discuss her latest book, VIRGINIA POW CAMPS DURING WORLD WAR II, with co-author Jason Wetzel.

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RippleCon


June 24
Main Library

Join us for our first-ever event celebrating all things fandom! Meet fantasy and comic book authors and cosplay creators. Buy some cool merch from local artists. Learn a new game and participate in a cosplay contest, then show off your skills in our Super Smash Bros. Tournament.

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Latest from the Blog

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June: Go Outside or Stay Indoors: a Daily Guide

Meg Raymond
May 29, 2023
#camping
#ice cream
#nature
#nice
#outdoors
#outside
celebrations
checklists
food
book-reviews
families
health-and-wellness
holidays
holidays-celebrations
inform-enrich-empower

June is a month full of contradictions and changes.  Spring changes to Summer.  The sun sets later and later, and rises earlier.  June 21st - the Summer Solstice - is the longest day of the year.  In the United States, it is the National Park Service’s Great Outdoors Month, celebrating a month that “beckons us to go out and explore all that nature has to offer".  Going outside is good for your health - both physical and mental - there are so many things to do outside!  But … some people are solitary, indoor creatures.  I should...

Keep Your Wheels Turnin' with these Road Trippin' Audiobooks

Hayley DeRoche
May 26, 2023
book-reviews

When the fight over whose music gets played has worn everyone in the car down to a husk of their former selves, it's time for an audiobook! These are some tried and true favorites of mine, along with kid-friendly titles that my little ones ask for again and again, mile after mile (after mile after mile after mile...). All of these are available through RPL, either on old-school CD, or through Libby (the app formerly known as OverDrive) or Hoopla. YOUNG CHILDREN My children are in elementary school now, and I'm -- well, we won't say how...

WHO'S BAD? Worst reviews, and the books, music and movies that provoked them.

Alfreda Payton
May 22, 2023
book reviews
movie reviews
music
reading suggestions
book-reviews

In early January 2023, HBO Max and TV writer-producer, Charlie Grandy had the idea to launch a redux of the 1970’s Scooby-Doo and the Gang cartoon, but with a diverse and snarky twist. They called the show VELMA, and cast comedy writer and actress Mindy Kaling to voice its lead: Velma Dinkly. This re-imagined story of teenaged detectives was T-R-A-S-H-E-D. I had no idea that there was a new Scooby-Doo cartoon or an Indian-American Velma before I’d been told by social media and critiques that it was an unforgivable failure. It was offensive...

May Book Chat with the Youth Services Team

Louis Maranski
May 12, 2023
#bookchat
#bookrecs
#childrensbooks
#kidsbooks
#rplrecommends
#youthservices
childrens
families
reading-recommendations

Welcome to the another installment in our series of blog posts featuring children's books we're currently loving! "Book Chat with the Youth Services Team" features one book recommendation from each of our Youth Services team members. We cover a variety of books from fiction to non-fiction, picture books to chapter books, graphic novels and more! We hope that this month's reading recommendations get you excited about some awesome new books we've added to our collection as well as some oldies but goodies....

When Mother's Day is Hard

Jennifer Deuell
May 10, 2023
adult
fiction
nonfiction
reading-recommendations
reading-suggestions

Mother’s Day is not happy for everyone. Instead, it can be a time of grief, pain, ambiguity, frustration, strain, and even guilt. Personally, Mother’s day has been a sad day for me for the last 10 or so years of my life, first for years of infertility and more recently for the loss of my own mother. These are just two reasons why someone might find Mother’s Day difficult. There are so many more. And we want to show our support to them, too.  As I’ve stated in several of my other blog posts, I find solace in reading. I’m sure most...