Join the Friends of Robbins Library Saturday, May 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., for the Spring-for-a-Book Sale at the Robbins Library. 

Friends members only: Shop early from 9:30 to 10 a.m.

Come browse for books in the Community Room, on the fourth floor and at outside tables behind the Robbins. 

Book donations are currently being accepted at the Robbins Library.  Look for the big blue bin in the front lobby near the circulation desk.

We welcome donations of gently used books and media. No textbooks please. 

A Spring-for-a-Book Sale at Robbins Library is set for Saturday, May 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Friends of the Library members only shop early from 9:30 to 10 a.m.

Come browse for books in the Community Room, on the fourth floor and at outside tables behind the Robbins. 

Donations began being accepted at the Robbins Library on Monday, May 9.

 Look for the big blue bin in the front lobby near the circulation desk.

We welcome donations of gently used books and media.  No textbooks please. 

Pride Prom king and queen, Sham Payne and, Jayden Jamison.

Arlington’s Pride Prom, an alternative prom for LGBTQ+ teens and their friends, returns in person Friday, May 20, from 7 to 10 p.m., p.m. in the newly renovated event space at the Community Center, at 27 Maple St.

The event is an opportunity for teens to dance, celebrate, and come together no matter how they define themselves.  

This year, Pride Prom features a DJ and dancing, dress-up accessories, a quiet chill-out room, gender-neutral bathrooms, an all-queer adult staff from the library and partner organizations and a special performance from prom king and queen, Sham Payne and Jayden Jamison.

Alternative proms have been growing in popularity since the late 1990s. Robbins Library was the host of its first alternative prom in 2017, then known as Drag Prom.

In 2020 it was renamed Pride Prom to more accurately reflect the spirit of the event and welcome teens to come to the prom however they feel comfortable. The prom is open to teens from Arlington and beyond and strives to offer a welcoming space for queer and gender noncomforming teens, allies and friends. 

Click to access >>

UPDATED April 11: Local-history research has become easier in Arlington. Thanks to a gift from local historian Richard A. Duffy to the Arlington Libraries Foundation, The Arlington Advocate and other Arlington newspapers dating from 1871-2005 have been digitized.

The Historical Arlington Newspapers online resource is available at robbinslibrary.org and includes searchable full-page scans complete with photos and vintage ads. Look through the archive here >>

Users can search by topic or browse by publication or date. Entire pages of the newspaper or individual images and articles are downloadable.

Local-history librarian Steven Prochet said in a April 4 news release: “People will be able to easily discover the life events of their loved ones, moments in Arlington history, and details related to homes and businesses in Arlington.” 

Join the Friends of the Robbins Library at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, in person, for an evening with Judy Foreman, a former Boston Globe science writer.

Foreman plans to discuss her 2020 book Exercise is Medicine -- How Physical Activity Boosts Health and Slows Aging.” She was a staff writer at The Globe for 23 years and a health columnist for many of those years.

Her column was syndicated in national and international outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News and Baltimore Sun. She has also published A Nation in Pain (2014), and The Global Pain Crisis (2017), all published by Oxford University Press. Her latest book, CRISPR’d,(2022) is a medical thriller.

She swims competitively with U.S. Masters and sings with Boston’s Back Bay Chorale. 

Join the Friends of the Robbins Library for its in-person monthly program and annual general meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14, titled "Discover the Outer Emerald Necklace, the Bay Circuit Trail and Greenway." 

Learn about this close-to-home trail that traverses 230 miles from Plum Island to Duxbury Kingston Bay. The Bay Circuit Trail provides a place for recreation while ensuring the protection of open space.  

Spring is around the corner, and trails in Massachusetts await.

Presented by Kristen Sykes, director of Southern New England Conservation Projects and Partnerships at the Appalachian Mountain Club.

Robin Wall Kimmerer. / Dale Kakkak photo

UPDATED March 16: The town libraries' annual Arlington Reads Together returns in March. This year’s selected title is Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigineous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

The New York Times' best seller focuses on indigenous peoples’ understanding of the natural world and the intersection between indigenous and scientific knowledge. 

Library visitors can pick up copies of Braiding Sweetgrass at the Robbins or Fox Library, or request a copy by phone or online via the MLN catalog. The title is also available as a digital download ebook or audiobook via Hoopla. 

Book discussions and other events take place throughout March and started March 6. See a listing of events below. 

Kimmerer is a self-described “mother, scientist, decorated professor and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.” In addition to Braiding Sweetgrass, she is the author of the highly acclaimed Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses.

Kimmerer was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. Her work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain and numerous scientific journals.

Children and Young Adult Book Sale at Robbins Library

Saturday, March 26, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Community Room

Support Arlington’s libraries by purchasing children’s and teen books, movies, and music at the sale.

There will be craft activities to keep children occupied as parents search for books. 

Join the Friends of the Robbins Library for its next pop-up book sale, set for 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 26, in the back parking lot of the Robbins Library.

For sale are bags of books. Bags are marked by genre and sell for $5 (cash, check or charge).

Offerings include a large number of children’s materials, including board books, picture books, early readers, chapter books, series and young adult.

Bags include mysteries, fiction, history, CDs, biographies, cookbooks and short stories.

UPDATED Feb. 15: Join the Friends of Robbins Library for this interesting virtual presentation with author Marty Gitlin, "The Ultimate Presentation for Red Sox Nation," set for 7 p.m.  Wednesday, Feb. 16.

The event is free and open to all; registration is required on Eventbrite at redsoxwithmartygitlin.eventbrite.com. 

Gitlin has written about numerous books for more than a dozen publishers since turning his attention to strictly freelance writing in 2006.

Most of those works have been in the educational market, but he has recently gained success as an author of trade historical, pop culture and sports books, with such titles as Powerful Moments in Sports: The Most Significant Sporting Events in American History (2017), A Celebration of Animation: The 100 Greatest Cartoon Characters in Television History (2018), The Ultimate Boston Red Sox Time Machine Book (2020) and Kyrie Irving: Uncle Drew, Little Mountain and Enigmatic NBA Superstar (2019).