Programs and Book Groups
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Book Groups
Some groups are meeting virtually while the building remains closed to in person groups. Call in information has been provided within each group’s information or will be emailed to registered patrons.
YA Book Club for Adults
Are you an adult who still enjoys YA titles? Then this book club is for you! Join fellow YA lovers every month to discuss a different young adult title.
Click on the program date to register.
Copies of each month’s book will be available at the library. Come in and pick one up or call to request one via our no contact pick up.
Page Turners
1st Tuesday of the Month at 1pm (*we will be meeting virtually until further notice)
This lively discussion group typically meets on the 1st Tuesday of each month at 1 p.m. virtually. The reading selections are mostly fiction choices–with a sprinkling of non-fiction and classics–with an emphasis on books appealing to an eclectic taste as well as those with interesting points of discussion. This group runs September through June. Registration is not required and drop-ins are welcome. Copies of the discussion book are available in the library to check out at the circulation desk a month prior to discussion. For more information, or to receive Zoom meeting link information, contact: Tamara Dalton, [email protected]
This year’s theme is “Award Winning Books”: Catch up on some of the Pulitzer Prize, Kirkus Review, National Book, etc. award winners you may have missed or may want to read again!
October 6, 2020: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, 2007 National Book Award winner ( 229 p., 2007)
November 3, 2020: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, 2011 National Book Award ( 288 p., 2011) (Review by Sarah H.)
December 1, 2020: Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler, 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (336 p., 1988) (Review by Deb D.)
January 5, 2021: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx, 1993 National Book Award, 1994 Pulitzer Prize (337 p., 1993) (Review by Kathy M.)
February 2, 2021: Severance by Ling Ma, Kirkus Prize 2018 (297 p., 2018) (Review by Tamara D.)
March 2, 2021: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, 2005 Printz Award for YA Fiction (194 p., 2004) (Review by Kathleen H.)
April 6, 2021: The Overstory by Richard Powers, 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (502 p., 2018)
May 4, 2021: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (273 p., 2010)
June 1, 2021: Afternoon Tea and Book Swap (location TBD)
Taste of Poetry
1st Tuesday of the month at 11:30am
Location: This group will meet virtually until further notice
Bring your lunch and an appetite for poetry. Each month we look at few poems by a well-known poet. We provide copies of the poems and lead a discussion after reading them. All are welcome. Registration is required. Once you register, a PDF of poet and poems to review before discussion as well as a link to join the virtual discussion will be sent to you a few days in advance of the meeting. For more information contact: Tamara Dalton [email protected]
2020-2021 Meeting Dates & Poets:
September 1, 2020: Kim Addonizio
October 6, 2020: Robert Frost
November 3, 2020: Lucille Clifton
December 1, 2020: Wendell Berry
January 5, 2021: Rupi Kaur
February 2, 2021: Seamus Heaney
March 2, 2021: Donika Kelly
April 6, 2021: Simon J. Ortiz
May 4, 2021: Aimee Nezhukumatathil
June 1, 2021: Clint Smith
Read It and Eat It
Virtual Meetings until further notice. Register here.
Read It and Eat It has gone virtual! For the fall/early winter register here to sign up to receive spices that you can try at home. Registering for the 9/21 spice pick up signs you up for the entire series, and also automatically registers you for the virtual meetings. These meetings are not mandatory, but a lot of fun! Join other local foodies to talk about what you made, what you liked or did not like, get recipes, and more. For more information contact Sarah Ward, [email protected]
Spices: Ground sumac, Turmeric, Fennel, Hawaij, Harissa (Your bag of spices will include information about each spice as well as virtual meeting information.)
Virtual meeting dates (all at 7pm): October 29th (ground sumac), November 19th (turmeric), December 17th (harissa), January 21st (hawaij), and February 25th (fennel)
Killer Reads: A True Crime Book Group
NEW TIME! 11:00 – 11:45am on Town Hill. To register please click on the date or send an email to Sarah, [email protected].
NPL/COA Book Group
All meetings are at 2pm. Open to all adults 18+. To register, click on the date or call the circulation desk at 508-528-3380. Registration is also available through the Council on Aging. 
September 15th: Woman in the Window by A.J Finn (Available on Hoopla as an eBook as well as an audiobook)
October 20th: Educated by Tara Westover
November 17th: The Guest Book by Sarah Blake (Available on Hoopla as an audiobook)
December 15th: Widow’s War by Sally Gunning (Available on Hoopla as an eBook)
*We will be meeting outside (socially distanced) at the Norfolk Council on Aging for the September and October meetings. In the event of inclement weather, this event will be held virtually.
Fall/Winter Programs
Sidewalk Puzzle and Game Sale
Looking for a new puzzle or game? Join us for a sidewalk puzzle and board game sale. 
Please make sure to safely distance yourselves as you browse, masks will be required.
Hand sanitizer will be available.
Prices will range from $1 to $5. All proceeds will benefit the Friends of the Library. Exact change appreciated, checks will be accepted (made out to the Friends of the Library). No credit cards.
Rain date: Saturday, October 24th
Clear Your Head and Clear Your Clutter
Interactive Movie Kits
Felted Wool Beads 101
Learn how to make felted wool beads! Felting wool is easy and relaxing. Pop up Art School will teach you virtually how to make a bead step by step. You’ll get a variety of colors of wool and wood beads to accent your handmade necklace.
This program is for adults 18+. Registration is required. Login information will be provided to participants the day before. Also, a kit with supplies will be available for pick up at the library a couple days before the program.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Norfolk Public Library.
For more information on Pop Up Art School, please visit: https://popupartschool.com/
Take and Make Craft Kits
Each month there will be a different craft kit available to pick up and try at home. Each kit will include supplies and instructions. Please note, some basic supplies will be provided by you (scissors, tape, etc.). Supplies you need to provide will be listed under each week to help you decide and plan.
Registration for each kit you are interested in will be required as supplies are limited. Registration for the first kit will open on September 1st.
Kits will be available for pick up anytime in the small lobby by the bulletin board during the week listed. Please only take the kit with your name on it.
October 19th: Halloween Yarn Garland (You will need to provide scissors and a chair)
November 16th: Fall Leaf Book Page Banner (You will need to provide leaves from outside that have been pressed, stapler, brush to apply glue)
December 14th: Cracked Glass Gem Necklace (You will need to provide nail polish to color the back of your gem)
January 11th: Cardinal Button Craft (Optional: You will need to provide a frame to display your project)
Watch. Read. Listen. Engage. How to Become an Antiracist Discussion Series
Second Thursday evening of each month at 7:30pm. Registration is required. Click on the program date to register. Those that register will be emailed login information the day before each session.
Discussion group activities will include watching movies, listening to podcasts, and reading books (both fiction and nonfiction) that will help educate about systemic racism, prejudice, white privilege and what it means to be a black person in our society. Engage in what may be uncomfortable and possibly challenging discussions with fellow community members.
Meeting dates/agenda:
October 8: Read. The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull. The Lesson uses an alien invasion story to grapple with the violent history of colonialism in the Caribbean. “An alien ship rests over Water Island. For five years the people of the US Virgin Islands have lived with the Ynaa, a race of super advanced aliens on a research mission they will not fully disclose. They are benevolent in many ways but meet any act of aggression with disproportional wrath. This has led to a strained relationship between the Ynaa and the local Virgin Islanders and a peace that cannot last.” Copies of the book will be available from the library beginning a month before discussion or download the e-book or audiobook from Hoopla.
November 12: Listen. NPR podcast Throughline: American Police. “Black Americans being victimized and killed by the police is an epidemic. A truth many Americans are acknowledging since the murder of George Floyd, as protests have occurred in all fifty states calling for justice on his behalf. But this tension between African American communities and the police has existed for centuries. [In this podcast], the origins of American policing and how those origins put violent control of Black Americans at the heart of the system.”
December 10: Read. How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi “Historian and New York Times best-selling author Ibram X. Kendi uses a mix of personal experiences, history, and science to show how a person can go from being racist to anti-racist, and how we can all build a new anti-racist society.” Copies of the book will be available at the library beginning a month before discussion.
Horror Series with Authors Rob Smales and Paul Tremblay
Join us virtually as Rob Smales discusses his process on writing horror books including Echoes of Darkness and Friends in High Places.
Rob Smales is the author of the collection Echoes of Darkness, which garnered both a five-star Cemetery Dance Online review and a 2016 Pushcart nomination. With over three dozen shorts published, his story “Photo Finish” was also nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won the Preditors & Editors’ Readers Choice Award for Best Horror Short Story of 2012. His story “A Night at the Show” received honorable mention on Ellen Datlow’s list of the Best Horror of 2014, while “Death of the Boy” and “In Full Measure” made the same honorable mentions list for 2016. Most recently, he edited the dark humor anthology A Sharp Stick in the Eye (and other funny stories) for Books & Boos Press, and released the coming of age horror novella Friends in High Places with Bloodshot Books. He hails from Salem, Massachusetts, where he lives, writes, and occasionally sleeps. More about his work can be found at www.RobSmales.com, or you can look him up on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Robert.T.Smales.
Paul Tremblay
Tuesday, October 27th, 7pm, Register here. Those that register will be emailed login information the day before this program.
Join us virtually as Paul Tremblay discusses his writing process and most recent book Survivor Song.
Paul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the author of The Cabin at the End of the World, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland, and the short story collection, Growing Things and Other Stories. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the Shirley Jackson Awards, and his essays and short fiction have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly online, and numerous year’s-best anthologies. He has a master’s degree in mathematics and lives outside Boston with his family. For more information, please visit: https://www.paultremblay.net/
Deep Delta Justice with Author Matthew Van Meter
Join us virtually as author Matthew Van Meter talks about his debut nonfiction book: Deep Delta Justice: A Black Teen, His Lawyer, and Their Groundbreaking Battle for Civil Rights in the South.
In 1966, a 19-year-old black man named Gary Duncan pulled his car over in a small town in Louisiana to stop a fight between four white kids and his two cousins. After he put his hand on the arm of one of the white children, Duncan was arrested for battery. His legal journey would take him all the way to the Supreme Court. In this powerful work of character-driven history, Van Meter brings alive how one court case changed the course of justice in the South and the entire country.
Matthew Van Meter works with people whose voices have been ignored or silenced, both as a journalist and as the Assistant Director of Shakespeare in Prison. His reporting on criminal justice has appeared in The Atlantic and The New Republic, and he is currently editing the first critical edition of Shakespeare written entirely by incarcerated people. Raised Quaker on the East Coast, he now lives in Detroit.
Registration is required for this program. Login information will be emailed the day before to those that sign up.
Under the Hidden Moon: A Virtual Author Walk with Jennifer Shaw Cronin
Join us as Medfield author, Jennifer Shaw Cronin, discusses her writing process and reads from her first published mystery book Under the Hidden Moon.
To join this Zoom Program: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82892998295?pwd=VWNoQzhSUXozV2gzM00rT1N2U2tiZz09
Ghosts and Legends with Jeff Belanger
Join us virtually as Jeff Belanger discusses New England Legends! 
For over 20 years, Jeff Belanger has been exploring the unexplained. He’s one of New England’s premiere storytellers who seeks out history, folklore, ghosts, monsters, and legends from all over the world and in your backyard. With all new stories for 2020, “Ghosts and Legends” presents highlights from his own adventures, his research from his books, podcast, and the television programs he’s worked on, plus great stories of the unusual and the haunted. Belanger’s program will delve into the reasons behind the legends.
Registration is required as space is limited. Information to join this virtual meeting will be given to those that sign up.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Norfolk Public Library.
For more information on Mr. Belanger, please visit: https://www.jeffbelanger.com/
Read It and Eat It: Fall/Early Winter Spice Exploration
Join us as we continue our spice exploration into the fall and winter. Patrons who register for this series will receive five spices. Try it at home and then join other food enthusiasts to talk about what you made, what you want to try, and what you thought of the spice at our virtual meeting. You will be automatically registered for the virtual meeting and call in information will be emailed to you. All meetings are at 7pm.
Pick up your spices anytime during the week of September 21st. They are available in the large lobby by the holds pick up tables.
Spices and Virtual Meeting Dates
Ground Sumac: October 29th
Turmeric: November 19th
Harissa: December 17th
Hawaij: January 21st
Fennel: February 25th
Questions? Please contact Libby O’Neill, Director, at (508) 528-3380 x4 or send an email to [email protected].