Closed for Christmas Holiday
2025-12-24 - 2025-12-25 | The Burnham Library, 62 Main Street South, Burnham Library, Bridgewater, CT, 06798, United States

Close at 2:00 Happy New Year
2025-12-31

Closed: Happy New Year
2026-01-01

William C. Kavanek: A Retrospective Opens
2026-01-02 10:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
William C. Kavanek: A Retrospective
Burnham Library is pleased to present a special exhibition honoring William C. Kavanek (1924–2008), a distinguished American marine artist and charter member of the American Society of Marine Artists. The retrospective will be on view January 2 – January 30, 2026, during library hours, with a public reception on Saturday, January 10, 2:00–4:00 PM.
Kavanek began his artistic career in his late 40s and became a full-time artist in 1978, dedicating his life to capturing marine subjects and coastal life. His work, celebrated nationally, reflects a deep connection to water, sailboats, shorelines, and the everyday life of coastal communities. This exhibition highlights both his acclaimed maritime scenes and more personal works, offering a poetic and technically skilled look at his legacy.

French Conversation Fridays
2026-01-02 13:30 - 14:30, 2026-01-09 13:30 - 14:30, 2026-01-16 13:30 - 14:30
French Conversation Fridays
Join us for a relaxed meet-and-greet as we launch French Conversation Fridays! Whether you’re fluent or rusty, practice your French, meet fellow language learners, and enjoy a welcoming, low-pressure space to speak, listen, and learn together. Moderate to fluent speakers are welcome—à bientôt!
Questions? Contact jkallay@burnhamlibrary.org

Burnham School Visit
2026-01-06 14:00 - 15:00
Burnham School visit for grades 2 & 4

Burnham School Visit
2026-01-08 11:00 - 15:00
Burnham School Visits
Grades K, 1, 5 & 3.

PK Little Crafts
2026-01-09 10:30 - 11:00
Burnham Library Presents: PK Little Crafts
1st Fridays of the month (1/9*, 2/6, 3/6) *1/9 due to New Year holiday*.
10:30am
Crafts specifically for our toddlers and preschoolers! Simple, seasonal crafts to help practice fine motor, scissor and prewriting skills!
Registration required. Email Mrs. Lianne at lambruso@burnhamlibrary.org

CANCELLED - Family Fort Reading Night
2026-01-09 17:30 - 19:00
Burnham Library Presents: Family Fort Reading Night
Friday, January 9th, 5:30pm-7:00pm Come to the library after hours for a night of fort building and family reading! Bring your own sheet, build a fort and then spend some time reading together as a family in your fort!
Registration required. Please email Mrs. Lianne at lambruso@burnhamlibrary.org.

Table Top Gaming Club
2026-01-10 13:00 - 17:00
Are you ready to dive into a world of adventure, strategy, and fun? Whether you’re a seasoned tabletop game aficionado or just curious to see what all the excitement is about, our monthly meet-up has something for everyone! Why Join Us?

Explore New Games: From favorites to the latest hits, discover a wide variety of games that will challenge your mind and spark your imagination.
Meet Like-Minded Enthusiasts: Connect with fellow game lovers, share tips and strategies.
All Skill Levels Welcome: Whether you’re a beginner or a master, our meet-up is the perfect place to learn new games or showcase your expertise.

Don’t miss out on the fun! Grab your friends, roll the dice, and join us for an unforgettable gaming experience. 🧩
Questions? Contact jkallay@burnhamlibrary.org

Drop-in thru the back door.

William C. Kavanek: A Retrospective Opening Reception
2026-01-10 14:00 - 16:00

Virtual Author Talk: The Creative and Compassionate Art of Seeing Others Deeply with David Brooks
2026-01-13 14:00 - 15:00
REGISTER & SUBMIT QUESTIONS HERE
via Digital Livestream or on Demand
Join us for an online discussion with prominent cultural writer and bestselling author David Brooks on his book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply, in which he helps us pose essential questions: If you want to know a person, what kind of attention should you cast on them? What kind of conversations should you have? What parts of a person’s story should you pay attention to?
Driven by his trademark sense of curiosity and determination to grow as a person, Brooks draws from the fields of psychology and neuroscience and the worlds of theater, philosophy, history, and education to present a welcoming, hopeful, integrated approach to human connection. How to Know a Person helps readers become more understanding and considerate toward others, and to find the joy that comes from being seen. Along the way it offers a possible remedy for a society that is riven by fragmentation, hostility, and misperception.
The act of seeing another person, Brooks argues, is profoundly creative: How can we look somebody in the eye and see something large in them and, in turn, see something larger in ourselves? How to Know a Person is for anyone searching for connection, and yearning to be understood.
Register now to take part in a riveting and timeless conversation on how to connect with people from all walks of life, and why doing so is paramount to our individual and communal growth.
About the Author: David Brooks is one of the nation’s leading writers and commentators. He is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times, a writer for The Atlantic, and appears regularly on PBS Newshour. He is the bestselling author of The Second Mountain, The Road to Character, The Social Animal, Bobos in Paradise, and On Paradise Drive.

Winter Chess Club
2026-01-13 15:15 - 15:45, 2026-01-13 16:00 - 16:30
Burnham Library Presents: Winter Chess Club
Grades 1-5
Every other Tuesday (1/13, 1/27, 2/10, 2/24, 3/10, 3/24)
Jeremy Lingenfelser will introduce kids to the game of chess or help players who know the game, learn new strategies. Open to all abilities!
Available in 2 sessions. 3:15pm-3:45pm OR 4:00-4:30pm.
Registration required. Please register with Mrs. Lianne at lambruso@burnhamlibrary.org. When emailing, specify which session time you would like.

Cozy Cups & Crafts: New Years Vision Boards
2026-01-13 18:00 - 19:00
Join us to start off the New Year with an evening of relaxing Vision & Inspiration Board making! Unwind and create your own unique vision or inspiration board on canvas using magazine cutouts, stickers, paint pens, and a variety of other mixed media materials – whatever inspires you! Feel free to bring your own photos or any additional materials you may want for your vision board from home. Light refreshments will be provided.
This program is for ages 12+. Registration is required to attend. Please RSVP below.
Questions? Email Katie at ksteele@burnhamlibrary.org

home School Hangout- Artventure
2026-01-14 12:00 - 12:45
Burnham Library Presents: Home School Hangout- Artventure
2nd Wednesdays
12:00pm-12:45pm
Ages 6+
Learn about famous artists and try out some artwork in the same style! A new artist and project each session.
Registration required. Please email Mrs. Lianne at lambruso@burnhamlibrary.org to register.

CANCELLED Home School Hangout- Artventure
2026-01-14 12:00 - 12:45

Kids Klub- Mini Architects
2026-01-15 15:15 - 16:00
Burnham Library presents: Kids Klub (Grades 2/3) – Mini Architects
3rd Thursdays (1/15, 2/19, 3/19)
3:15pm-4:00pm
Using multiple materials and a new prompt each month build different structures. We have Magnatiles, wooden blocks and planks, LEGOs and much more to build with!
Registration required. Email Mrs. Lianne at lambruso@burnhamlibrary.org to register.

The Art of Scandal: Theft, Vandals, and Forgeries with Jane Oneail
2026-01-15 18:00 - 19:00
Culturally Curious: The Art of Scandal: Theft, Vandals, and Forgeries with Jane Oneail
Zoom Presentation
WATCH THE RECORDING HERE
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/j5kkCG8hBL6ts_tm46sdJQCb7-M3hODRzW2RC0F79jrJA9rLYBTbuBkLfTUY8pDp.YDfQj6NlGNB9ab4c
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Three town libraries (Roxbury, Bridgewater, and Washington) are collaborating to bring you The Art of Scandal: Theft, Vandals and Forgeries. The program explores some of the most brazen criminal acts in the art world, featuring the iconic works of legendary artists including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Rembrandt.A captivating program is set to take the audience into the hidden world of high-stakes heists, dramatic recoveries, and the enduring power of art. With expert commentary and behind-the-scenes details, viewers will learn how these treasures were stolen, the global efforts that led to their recovery, and the meticulous restoration processes that brought them back to life.
About the presenter: Jane Oneail is the founder of Culturally Curious, a company that curates and presents art appreciation programs. Jane holds a master’s in Art History from Boston University and a master’s in Education from Harvard University. Born and raised in NH, she has worked at some of the state’s most esteemed cultural institutions, including the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, where she served as Executive Director, and the Currier Museum of Art, where she held the role of Senior Educator. Jane has also taught at the college level for more than a decade, most recently at Southern New Hampshire University.

Virtual Author Talk: Nature, Art, and Service as Medicine with Journalist Julia Hotz
2026-01-20 14:00 - 15:00
REGISTER & SUBMIT QUESTIONS HERE
via Digital Livestream or on Demand
Be sure to jump start your new year with us as we chat virtually with journalist and author Julia Hotz about her book The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power of Movement, Nature, Art, Service, and Belonging.
The Connection Cure combines diligent science reporting, moving patient success stories, and surprising self-discovery to help us discover the lasting and life-changing power of social prescribing. Traditionally, when we get sick, health care professionals ask, “What’s the matter with you?” But around the world, teams of doctors, nurses, therapists, and social workers have started to flip the script, asking “What matters to you?”
Science shows that social prescribing is effective for treating symptoms of the modern world’s most common ailments—depression, ADHD, addiction, trauma, anxiety, chronic pain, dementia, diabetes, and loneliness. By integrating age-old medicines like art, nature, movement, and volunteer service into patient’s daily lives, social prescriptions are radically changing health and healthcare in more than thirty countries. Julia Hotz travels around the world to survey them —sea-swimming lessons for depression, “culture vitamins” for anxiety, a fishing club for ADHD, a farm-based day-care for dementia, a phone-buddy program for social isolation, and many more.
As the first book on social prescribing, The Connection Cure empowers you to find, experience, and implement this revolutionary medicine in your own community. The success stories Julia finds bring a long-known theory to life: if we can change our environment, we can change our health. By reconnecting to what matters to us, we can all start to feel better.
Register today to find out how you can use the wisdom of social prescribing to live your best life!
About the Author: Julia Hotz is a solutions-focused journalist based in New York. Her stories have appeared in The New York Times, WIRED, Scientific American, The Boston Globe, Time, and more. She helps other journalists report on the big new ideas changing the world at the Solutions Journalism Network. The Connection Cure is her first book.

Mythical Makers
2026-01-20 15:15 - 16:00
Burnham Library Presents: Mythical Makers
Grades 1-5
3rd Tuesdays (1/20, 2/17, 3/17)
3:15pm-4:00pm
Join Miss Katie to read stories and make a creative craft on the featured mythical creature!
Registration required. To register, please email Mrs. Lianne at lambruso@burnhamlibrary.org.

Young Explorers- Animal Explorers
2026-01-21 15:15 - 16:00
Burnham Library Presents: Young Explorers (k/1) Animal Explorers
3rd Wednesdays (1/21, 218, 3/18)
3:15pm-4:00pm
Participate in games and activities all with an animal theme!
Registration required. To register, email Mrs. Lianne at lambruso@burnhamlibrary.org.
