From Bebop to Big Band, Dixieland to Ragtime, Swing to Latin, Afro-Cuban to Cool: April is Jazz Appreciation Month! Head to the library with your little ones to learn more about jazz’s history, legends, and influence on music today. Discover the spirit of jazz by exploring books and music in the library’s collection or by attending one of our upcoming programs! Read on to learn more.

This week marks the Week of the Young Child (April 1-7), an annual event sponsored by the National Association for Young Children that celebrates early learning, children, their teachers, and families. HCPL is here to support your family and community in early learning. Read on to find out more about resources that support our littlest library users!

In this year’s All Henrico Reads title, The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford, main character Dorothy Moy is a poet laureate who channels her pain and trauma into her art. Poetry remains a running theme throughout the novel, as Dorothy pays homage to other poets and their verses.

Feeling inspired, I gave myself a mission to read more poetry and to figure out why I liked it. Along the way I have discovered many amazing poets, poetry collections, and writers. The library is a great place to find new poets! April is National Poetry Month, and this month, we challenge you to do the same. Here’s how I did it.

Tap into your creative side! March is Youth Art and National Craft Month. In addition to events this March, the library offers art-centered programs all year-round to help foster creativity and self-expression in children and young adults. Whether it’s crafting, painting, or journaling, we offer something for everyone. No experience necessary! Read on to learn more about our upcoming programs and recommended resources.

And last but not least, we're sharing our favorite Adult picks! With unique titles that span across several different genres, it's our hope that this list offers a little something for everyone. Click through the links below to learn more about each title.

Our staff read a wide range of Teen titles this year including bone-chilling thrillers, adventure-filled fantasies, inspiring and educational nonfiction, heartwarming romances, historical fiction, coming of age tales, and so much more.

It's the end of the year, which means it's time to share our staff's favorite recently published titles. We're kicking this week off with our favorite Children's books, but stayed tuned as we share our Teen and Adult lists over the next few days! What are some of your favorite titles from this past year? 

Short Story Day always takes place on the shortest day of the year (of course!). This year it falls on December 21^st. Why celebrate short stories? According to Edgar Allen Poe, they leave the reader with “a sense of the fullest satisfaction.”

Whether you know it as a remix, retelling, or reimagining, stories that incorporate elements from classic tales or well-known legends provide ways for us to explore the “what if.” Retellings, reimaginings, and remixes all provide us with a somewhat familiar set-up, but have a modern twist, be it setting or otherwise. From retellings of Greek mythology to remixes of Jane Austen, the books below provide an example of the wide range of retellings we have in our teen collection. Happy reading!