February 2025 Newsletter: Black History Month and More!

February Newsletter: Black History Month and More!

Check out what’s going on at the library in this month’s newsletter.

Featured: Black History Month

February is Black History Month! This year’s theme is African Americans and Labor, focusing on the various intersections between the visible and invisible labor of Black people’s work with key moments in Black History. Check out these lists to learn more!

• Our Work is Everywhere (adults)
• Brick by Brick (adults)
• Black History Month and Labor (adults)
• 2025 Coretta Scott King Award Winners and Honors (kids and teens)
• Black History Month Books (teens)
• Celebrating Black Voices (kids)

You can also catch one of our programs! This month, all StoryTimes will have a Black History Month focus, as well as all teen Movie Matinee showings. Teens can play "Who Said It?" throughout the month in our teen room, to guess if a quote is by poet Amanda Gorman or singer Childish Gambino. Lastly, our Maker Studio will be highlighting Black scientists and inventors. 

Featured: AARP Tax Help Returns!

AARP’S Tax Aide is back again for the 2024 tax season! This free service began on February 4th and lasts until April 9th, with appointments available at 10am and 10:30am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Call the library at 517-351-2420 to reserve your spot today!

Featured: Strategic Plan Update

This last year we’ve been hard at work creating a new strategic plan, which will guide our priorities for the next few years. We’ve gotten community feedback via surveys, focus groups, and interviews, and we’ve looked at benchmarking data from across the country, and we’ve used all of it to create a great plan. We’re excited to share it with our community very soon!

Please save the date for Monday, March 17 for a community unveiling party! This event will be held from 3-6pm in the library’s cafe area. We’ll begin with a short speaking program, then transition into an open house with cake, activities, giveaways, and ample opportunities to ask questions. We can’t wait to share what the library can do for you!

Featured: Library Rebrand

Since we’re updating our Strategic Plan, we wanted to update our branding too! We’re currently in the process of refreshing our logo, color schemes, and other design elements. We want to make sure our brand is keeping up with the times and reflects where we want to go in the future, while also celebrating our 101 year history and the unique character of our library.

So far, we’ve been collecting a lot of community feedback: we had a survey with over 820+ responses, and we’ve held three community focus groups and two staff focus groups. We’re also using some of the data we collected during our strategic planning process. We’d like to give a huge thanks to everyone who has provided their opinions! Stay tuned for more updates on this process. You can learn more here. 

Featured: Upcoming Programs

Library programs are free and open to the public; you don’t even need a library card! Unless otherwise noted, no registration is required.

• Sunshine Garden Club (ages 6-13): Tuesday, February 11, 5:30-6:30pm                  
  • Join members of the MSU Sunshine Garden Club at the library for a series of programs to learn about the biology of plants, the practice of gardening, and the value of community garden spaces. Registration is encouraged to ensure a spot; parents and caregivers do not need to reserve a program spot for themselves, but are encouraged to attend the program with their young gardener(s).
• Youth Chess Club (ages 6-13): Wednesday, February 12, 4:45-5:45pm                  
  • A welcoming space for youth to learn chess, meet other local players, and practice the game with mentors from the East Lansing High School Chess Team. Registration required.
• Movie Matinee (teens): Thursdays, February 13, 20, & 27, 3-4:30pm                  
  • Drop in after school every Thursday of February to watch a movie in the teen room. Each week will feature titles related to Black History Month.
• Community Writing Center (all ages): Thursdays, February 13, 20, & 27, 5-6:30pm                  
  • Drop in for assistance with any kind of writing project, personal or professional! Need some help drafting a report for school, a cover letter for a job, or a letter to an elected official? How about your creative fiction project, your most recent poetry, or the script for a play? Get a second pair of eyes on whatever you're working on. Free and open to all ages.
• Family Activity Day (kids): Sunday, February 16, 2-4pm                  
  • Join the MSU Friendshop for a fun day of educational activities. Friendshop MSU is a club consisting of students who are passionate about working with children and their families. 
• Painting With Police (kids): Saturday, February 22, 10:30-12pm                  
  • Join the East Lansing Police Department for a fun storytime and a painting project! Children who attend will receive a wooden toy car to paint, courtesy of the R.J. Scheffel Memorial Toy Project. Snacks will be available as well. 
• Reading in Translation (adults): Tuesday, February 25, 5:30-7pm                  
  • Come listen to an immersive reading of the award-winning Italian author and actor Giuliana Musso’s Dentro (Inside): A True Story, If You Think So, in which she confronts the social effects of taboo in contexts of domestic and sexual abuse. Excerpts of the play will be read by professors Juliet Guzzetta and Helen Viet. This event is part of a series of events that will take place in anticipation of the U.S. debut of the play at the Wharton Center. Participants at this event will be eligible for free and subsidized tickets for the full performance of Dentro on Thursday, March 20th. 
• The Natural World Through Poetry & Prose: A Reading (adults): Wednesday, February 26, 6:30-8pm                  
  • The natural world surrounds and infuses all of life and carries mystery and interpretation. Through poetry and prose, writers Laura Apol, Jan Shoemaker, and Mary Anna Kruch will share their ideas about and interactions with the natural world, whether dormant or in full flush. 
• Books on Tap (adults): Tuesday, March 11, 6:30-8pm                  
  • Join us on the second Tuesday of every month at One North Kitchen East Lansing for drinks and a lively book discussion! This month we’re reading The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon. Please register to attend. 

Save the Date: Books, Bites, and Bids

Our annual fundraiser Books, Bites, and Bids is on the horizon. Join us Friday, April 11 at 5:30pm for a silent auction, catering, beer and wine, and other activities to support local history initiatives. 

Spotlight: LearningExpress Library

Need some test prep help? Check out LearningExpress Library. Provided by MeL.org, you can prepare for the  ACT, SAT, U.S. Citizenship test, and more! 

Find Us on BlueSky! 

As BlueSky becomes increasingly popular, we’re joining too! Give us a follow! You can also still find us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

What’s your favorite social media platform? Let us know in a minute or less with this quick survey.

ELPL in the News:

• WKAR: East Lansing Public Library plans to rebrand, asking for patron feedback
• Library Roundup: What the ELPL Board has Been Discussing the Last Few Months

Up and Coming Dates:

• The library will be closed Monday, February 17, for Presidents Day.

Catch ELPL Next Month:

Be on the lookout for more excitement in March! ELPL will be sharing featured reading lists, book displays, and programs throughout the month. Some of the library programs will include:

• Strategic Plan Unveiling Party
• Local Legends Guest Readers
• Bug Day
• And more!

For more information, visit the library’s website or follow ELPL on social media!