Greetings,
Poet T.S. Eliot called April “the cruelest month” but it definitely is not at Broward County Library (BCL). We’ve got nothing but love for poets during National Poetry Month. And we’ll be celebrating!

April also brings National Library Week and you know we have our party hats on for that. We’d love for you to come out and celebrate our library, now in its 49th year, and libraries everywhere. Not surprisingly, there are many poems about libraries. Why not try writing one of your own in our free poetry workshops? We’d love to see it! If you’re not already a poet, we’ll make you one.

For the entire month, we will celebrate poet/cartoonist/singer-songwriter Shel Silverstein at Jan Moran Collier City Library by inviting you to post your poem on the poet tree. At North Regional/Broward College Library, we invite you to write a poetry portrait of your life. You can never start too soon, so bring your little ones to a National Poetry Month toddler storytime at Tyrone Bryant Branch. And we don’t stop there!

Do you like online events? We have a membership for you with two online poetry clubs! Poetry Club Online Workshop & Discussion meets one evening in April, May and June. Jump on to Zoom for poetry readings and discussions with featured guests and share your original work for creative feedback. The South Regional/Broward College Library will have a Poetry Club night to share your poems, explore poetry and improve your skills.

Sign on for Recital poético de John Jairo Palomino, honoring National Poetry Month in Spanish at Lauderdale Lakes Branch. Ready to take your turn at the mic? Return to the branch for a Poetry Slam to share verses, spoken word, or any form of creativity to celebrate your love of poetry, in any language. Crafters can put their verse on vinyl at Miramar Branch at a Mix, Speak, Express event. All program details are available on our Events calendar, enter keyword "poetry" in the search box and select your desired date range.

Along with sharing the pleasures of poetry with you, we’d like to surprise you with what’s at your library. We have so many cool things to do and borrow! Use National Library Week to discover our secrets at Margate Catharine Young Branch in a series spotlighting great stuff for teens, adults and kids – beyond books and computers. Browse the info table at Main Library or come to a Spring Open House at Northwest Regional Library with craft activities, magic, music, green screen photo op, and meet library service robot Temi.

Another holiday we love in April is Día, short for El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), a celebration of childhood literacy. Among its goals are connecting children to stories and libraries and linking children and their families to diverse books, languages and cultures – all things we are committed to at BCL!

Just for fun, along with Día storytimes, music and crafts, we’ll send in the clowns. Perform a bilingual, interactive story with Titania the Clown at Miramar Branch and help her craft a unique story. We’ve got a clown car full of clowns, so get ready to treasure hunt with Family Theater: A Clown Adventure with Sassy and Orly at Southwest Regional Library. Be sure to pop in to celebrate Día at Hollywood Branch for laughs and the clowning magic of Marci Poppins.

Join us in April as we share the things that give us joy!

Allison Grubbs
Broward County Library Director

Library Events Calendar

All program details are available on our Events calendar - to find a specific event use the search box, filters and select your desired date range.

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