Author and world traveler Joe Fahey will be at the library to share more travel tales that are featured in his new book, Global Entries! Fahey will discuss the process of turning his popular travel presentations into a full-length book, as well as some backstories of his many adventures. Copies of his book will be available for purchase and signing. No registration required.
Come to the library once a month to work on your fiber arts project and chat with fellow crafters! All fiber and fabric arts projects are welcome—knitting, crochet, sewing, embroidery, cross stitch, etc. This is a drop-in program that anyone is welcome to attend. Bring yourself and whatever your latest project is—we look forward to seeing you!
Join fellow home cooks and culinary enthusiasts for a monthly discussion of different spices and cuisines! Each month, we'll be discussing a featured spice, including its history, cultural significance, and common uses. At each meeting, you'll have a chance to pick up a sample of the next month's spice, including a selection of recipes to try it in. Attendees are welcome to use the spice at home however they choose to over the next month and come back to discuss how it went, what recipes they tried, and learn what other attendees did.
Our featured spices for fall 2025 include:
Spice kits for the October 15 meeting will be available for pick-up at the library's circulation desk beginning on September 15. After that, spice kits for the next month will be distributed at each meeting, with leftover kits being made available at the circulation desk the following day. Kits are available on a first-come, first-serve basis while supplies last. Anyone is welcome to attend the monthly discussions even if they didn't pick up that month's spice kit. The kits will feature 2-4 recipes that utilize the month's spice, and enough sample of the featured spice to make 2 of the recipes.
This program is sponsored by Beyond the Page, the National Endowment for the Humanities and Madison Community Foundation.
Help track biodiversity in our community with this BioBlitz program for the Wisconsin Science Festival! Meet us at Hickory Hill Conservancy to identify different plants and animals using either the iNaturalist app on your phone, or using the paper forms we'll also have available. Learn more about what a BioBlitz is on the Wisconsin Science Festival website.
You are cordially invited to dine with the Detective Club, the the crème de la crème of the crime-writing elite, in celebration of their 50th anniversary. But when Sir Aubrey St. Clair, one of your own, turns up dead in his study, it's up to the club to determine how it happened. Everyone falls under suspicion as they have secrets to hide—will the truth be able to come to light?
Join us for a role-playing murder mystery game featuring a short plot written by mystery author Ruth Ware! Attendees will each be assigned a character to act out as we spend the evening determining which of the guests is the culprit behind the murder of Sir Aubrey. Instructions and light refreshments will be provided.
Registration is required for this program, as there are a minimum and maximum number of attendees needed to play the game. Email Kelly at kmckewin [at] rgpl.org to sign up. The program is open to ages 15+.
Join the Friends of the Library for their annual art auction! Bidding will open on Monday, October 27 and go until Saturday, November 15 at noon. Winners will be contacted that afternoon.
All proceeds from the art auction go to the Friends to help support special library projects and programming.
Join the Carpe Librum Book Club in reading This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub! The book puts a new spin on classic time travel tropes as it follows Alice, who wakes up on the morning of her 40th birthday to find herself back in her 16-year-old body in the year 1996. The most surprising part: reuniting with a younger, livelier version of her presently ailing father. Armed with new perspective on the past, is there anything she'll try to change if she can?
Carpe Librum is our adult fiction book club. Members are welcome to join us every month for our discussions, or just when the title catches their eye. Email kmckewin [at] rgpl.org (kmckewin[at]rgpl[dot]org) if you'd like to get on the monthly book club email list, or to receive this month's discussion questions in advance.
*Carpe Librum normally meets on the first Thursday of the month. Please note that this meeting will take place one week earlier than normal and will serve as our November book discussion. Meetings will resume as normal on December 4.
Join us for another season of morning movies at the library! Free coffee, tea, and popcorn are available at each showing. Our line up for the fall includes:
September: The Phoenician Scheme (2025). Wes Anderson's newest dark comedy follows a wealthy business man and his daughter as he tries to embark on a new path in life, only to become the target of scheming tycoons and determined assassins. Rated PG-13. Run time 1 hour and 41 minutes.
October: Beetlejuice (1988). After a happily married couple dies in a car accident, they haunt their former home. When the new family ruins the home with renovations, they ask a devilish spirit for help scaring them off. Rated PG. Run time 1 hour and 33 minutes.
November: Wicked (2024). Watch (or re-watch) the first installment of Wicked before seeing Part 2 in theaters! This film adaption of the 2003 musical stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda. Rated PG. Run time 2 hours and 40 minutes.
*Note that November's screening is one week earlier than normal due to Thanksgiving holiday closures.
Join Becky and Steve Webster of Ukwakhwa as they share their family’s journey from growing Tuscarora white corn in their backyard to creating a 15-acre homestead rooted in Indigenous food sovereignty. Named Ukwakhwa: Tsinu Niyukwayay^thoslu (Our Food: Where We Plant Things), their farm is a space where community members come together to learn about growing, harvesting, seed keeping, and traditional foodways. Becky and Steve will reflect on how caring for the land and their heirloom crops is both an act of cultural reclamation and a path toward healing and connection.
After their talk, Becky and Steve will lead a hands-on corn pounding demonstration using a traditional Haudenosaunee mortar and pestle to pound toasted white corn. Participants will also sample warm corn mush, a simple and nourishing dish prepared from the pounded corn. Participants will also learn about its significance in Haudenosaunee food culture. Together, they’ll share stories, techniques, and insights into the labor, love, and values embedded in every seed and every bowl.
Presenter
Becky and Steve Webster, Oneida Nation citizens in Wisconsin, grew their first crop of Tuscarora white corn in 2015. They co-founded Ohe·láku, a co-op of Oneida families growing Iroquois white corn, and later established a 15-acre homestead named Ukwakhwa: Tsinu Niyukwayay^thoslu (Our food: Where we plant things). Their goal is to teach community members about growing, preparing, and preserving traditional foods and crafts. They share their knowledge through their YouTube channel, Ukwakhwa, and in 2021, launched Ukwakhwa Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to cultural revitalization. Follow their journey on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or ukwakhwa.org.
This program is sponsored by Beyond the Page with support from the Madison Community Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities.
Join us for a Zoom discussion about all things Jane Austen with best-selling YA author Tirzah Price! More information to come.