Build Your Own Board Game!
2025-02-15 12:00 - 14:00, 2025-03-01 12:00 - 14:00, 2025-03-15 12:00 - 14:00, 2025-03-29 12:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Do you have a knack for design, math, art, or Dungeons & Dragons? Then join Jordan in making your very own board game this winter. By the end of the workshop, you will have a game that you can take home and force your friends and family to play! All ages.
The workshop will meet on Saturday, February 15th and March 1st, 15th, and 29th from 12-2pm. It will be offered in person at SPL.
Jordan Ramsey is an active member of the board game community of Deer Isle. He volunteers at the Deer Isle-Stonington After School Program and leads board game afternoons at the Island Community Center on Sunday afternoons. He has also created a handful of his own games that he and his friends playtest once a month.

What If We Get It Right? Public Conversation Series
2025-02-19 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-03-05 18:00 - 19:30 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
A four-part public conversation series on Visions of Climate Futures based around the book of the same name by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. Participants are welcome to join in person at SPL or by Zoom. The conversation dates are Wednesday, January 22nd, February 5th and 19th, and March 5th from 6-7:30pm. Reach out to SPL at the contact information below to sign up.

Island Artist Group Exhibit Reception
2025-02-22 14:00 - 16:00 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Fox (oil) by Patrick Monaghan
Reception for the fourth annual island artist group exhibit at Stonington Public Library. Light bites and beverages will be served. Live music performed by island trio Rugosa Rose.
The exhibit runs from February 4 through April 26 and can be viewed during library hours.

Rosswords: Crosswords with Chris
2025-02-23 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-03-09 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-03-23 11:00 - 12:00 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Grab your pencils and sharpen your minds. The key to becoming a better solver is not knowing lots of trivia BUT in training your mind to stay flexible when solving. Don’t get boxed in, think outside the box! Ideally for solvers ages 14 & up.
The workshop will meet on Sunday, February 23rd and March 9th and 23rd from 11am-1pm. It will be offered in person at SPL.
Chris Ross is obsessed with word games. Yes, he solves Wordle and Connections and Spelling Bee every day, and he’s completed the New York Times crossword for 2,531 consecutive days and counting. He loves the challenge of puzzles that bend his brain and lives for the AHA! moment when everything falls into place.

Reader's Choice: The Island of Sea Women
2025-02-24 18:30 - 19:30 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Reader’s Choice: Kendra Chubbuck
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
MILS catalog record
“Set on the Korean island of Jeju, The Island of Sea Women follows Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls from very different backgrounds, as they begin working in the sea with their villages’s all-female diving collective. Over many decades—through the Japanese colonialism of the 1930s and 1940s, World War II, the Korean War, and the era of cellphones and wet suits for the women divers—Mi-ja and Young-sook develop the closest of bonds. After hundreds of dives and years of friendship, forces outside their control will push their relationship to the breaking point.” – From cover jacket
About Kendra
Hometown: Bath, Maine.
Current residence: Isle au Haut.
Connection to the island: My connection dates back five generations on my mother’s side to the late 1790s. I live on Isle au Haut year-round—all 12 months.
Why do you read? My mother was an avid reader, and she taught us to love books at a young age. So I would say I’m a lifelong learner from reading various genres of books. I read for information, escape, relaxation, knowledge, understanding of certain subjects, and to escape from life sometimes.
What genre do you hate to read? I will not read horror. I don’t like the feeling of being petrified and being shocked or scared. I have nightmares and bad dreams.
Last book you LOVED: The Convenant of Water and Cutting for Stone. Both are by Abraham Verghese.
Currently reading: Walking Sacred Sites: Listening to Their Stories by Maine author Margaret W. Jones.
Why did you choose The Island of Sea Women? I can’t swim, and I’m just not a water person. Yes, I live on an Island! It is a very scary read for me, and it isn’t one that I would have picked up on my own without it coming recommended. The women in this book are something else. They have amazing physical strength; they’re hardworking, resilient, and no-nonsense. In addition to their demanding job, they lived through historical upheavals and massive shifts in their daily lives: from WWII to the Korean War and from pigsty latrines and oil lamps to toilets and electricity. These women worked hard to support their families while the husbands took care of the kids and did very little else. Each female character is deeply flawed and was given lots of room to grow throughout this book, so I could think of these two women as real people upon which this book is based. It was fascinating to learn about their lives, but I don’t think I could have lived their shoes.

Music with Abby – a Pre-K program
2025-02-25 11:00 - 11:30, 2025-03-25 11:00 - 11:30 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Let’s get musical! Explore rhythm and music with island singer, songwriter, and musician Abby Litman on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 11am. Kids won’t be hushed for making noise in the library. In fact, they’ll be encouraged.

Rosswords: Crosswords with Chris
2025-03-02 11:00 - 12:00 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Grab your pencils and sharpen your minds. The key to becoming a better solver is not knowing lots of trivia BUT in training your mind to stay flexible when solving. Don’t get boxed in, think outside the box! Ideally for solvers ages 14 & up.
The workshop will meet on Sunday, February 16th and 23rd and March 9th and 23rd from 11am-1pm. It will be offered in person at SPL.
Chris Ross is obsessed with word games. Yes, he solves Wordle and Connections and Spelling Bee every day, and he’s completed the New York Times crossword for 2,531 consecutive days and counting. He loves the challenge of puzzles that bend his brain and lives for the AHA! moment when everything falls into place.

Story Time with Stonington Fire Department
2025-03-08 10:00 - 11:00 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
SPL story time returns to Stonington Fire Department! The fire department crew will come to the library to read aloud to kids and their families, and following the story, they’ll invite everyone over to the fire department for a guided tour and look behind the scenes. All welcome, no registration required.

Edible Island: Irish Soda Bread
2025-03-08 13:00 - 16:00 | Healthy Island Project Kitchen, 91 S Burnt Cove Rd, Stonington, ME
Edible Island is back with another workshop, and just in time for St. Patrick’s Day! Learn how to make Irish soda bread with Lorraine Coakley. RSVP by contact information below.

Read with Tenny – a Pre-K program
2025-03-11 11:00 - 11:30, 2025-04-08 11:00 - 11:30, 2025-05-13 11:00 - 11:30 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Visit and read with certified therapy dog, Tenny, on the second Tuesday of every month at 11am. His person, Jessica Shively, will bring him by SPL to meet some of our youngest patrons and their families. It’s a chance for kids to learn new ways of interacting with a dog and with each other in a (loosely) structured activity. Tenny is a 3 year old, 105 pound Great Pyrenees mix who grew up on the Maine coast. He loves love and sharing it with other people. His human, Jessica, moved to Stonington from Castine in the summer and spends her days beachcombing with Tenny and exploring new hiking trails.

Rosswords: Crosswords with Chris
2025-03-16 11:00 - 12:00 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Grab your pencils and sharpen your minds. The key to becoming a better solver is not knowing lots of trivia BUT in training your mind to stay flexible when solving. Don’t get boxed in, think outside the box! Ideally for solvers ages 14 & up.
Chris Ross is obsessed with word games. Yes, he solves Wordle and Connections and Spelling Bee every day, and he’s completed the New York Times crossword for 2,531 consecutive days and counting. He loves the challenge of puzzles that bend his brain and lives for the AHA! moment when everything falls into place.

Hand-Braided Rag Rug Workshop
2025-03-22 12:00 - 14:00 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Taught by Shannon Lindsay & Mary Ann O’Rourke
Learn how to repurpose your old shirts and save them from a landfill. We’ve got plenty of material to get participants started. Bring fabric scissors if you have some. RSVP to the email below.
Rugs pictured above were made by Shannon Lindsay and are on display at SPL through April 26th in the 4th annual Island Artist Group Exhibit. Mary Ann O’Rourke is exhibiting a tapestry woven on a loom and decorated with felted mythological sea creatures. She also has a papier mâché mermaid on display and handmade cotton potholders on sale at SPL.

Reader's Choice: Enormous Changes at the Last Minute
2025-03-24 18:30 - 19:30 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Reader’s Choice: Anneli Sundqvist
Enormous Changes at the Last Minute by Grace Paley
MaineCat catalog record (SPL copy on order)
“In this collection of short stories, originally published in 1974, Grace Paley ‘makes the novel as a form seem virtually redundant’ (Angela Carter, London Review of Books). Her stories here capture ‘the itch of the city, love between parents and children’ and ‘the cutting edge of combat’ (Lis Harris, The New York Times Book Review). In this collection of seventeen stories, she creates a ‘solid and vital fictional world, cross-referenced and dense with life’ (Walter Clemons, Newsweek).” – From publisher website
About Anneli
Hometown: I grew up in the north of Sweden.
Current residence: I moved to Deer Isle in 2008, after many years of traveling the world, and have lived here full time since then.
Why do you read? I love to read historical fiction, as it’s always been the only way for me to comprehend that subject. In general I favor books that offers a glimpse into other peoples realities, whichever genre it happens to be.
Currently reading: As has been the case for a while now, I’m reading whatever’s on the book club’s roster, and that’s all I can keep up with, and some odd New Yorker articles.
Why did you choose Enormous Changes at the Last Minute? I was choosing between different short story collections and this came to me sight unseen from a friend in the book publishing industry. I watched a YouTube with Paley reading one of the stories and was immediately infatuated!

Story Time
2025-04-12 10:00 - 11:00
Monthly story time with hands-on activity. Fun for kids of all ages!
SPL hosts story time on the second Saturday of every month from 10-11am. Check our website or social media (@stoningtonpublicllibrary) for details, because we often go offsite to various island locations for story time.

The Serviceberry - A Public Conversation
2025-04-16 18:00 - 19:30 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
We continue our public conversation series with a discussion of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s newest book, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World,with the option to join in person or via Zoom. Co-hosted by SPL and Linda Nelson, Stonington economic and community development director. RSVP to email address below.

The Great Down-Easter Egg Celebration
2025-04-19 07:00 - 13:00 | Island Community Center, 10 Memorial Ln, Stonington, ME, 04681
Come enjoy a Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser from 7am to 10am at the Island Community Center and stay to pick up an Easter bucket for each child. Families can then parade down Pink St. toward downtown with stops at area businesses and Stonington Public Library. End the morning at the Opera House for a free movie showing.

Rosswords: Crossword Tournament Recap
2025-04-27 13:00 - 15:00 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Join Chris Ross for a recap of the 2025 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament followed by a group solve of one or more tournament puzzles. Nearly 900 competitors convened in Stamford, CT on Saturday and Sunday, April 5 and 6, to test their crosswor-thiness across 7 crosswords constructed by some of the best in the business. All welcome, no registration required.

Reader's Choice: American Born Chinese
2025-04-28 18:30 - 19:30 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Reader’s Choice: Pat Dobbs
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
MILS catalog record
“All Jin Wang wants is to fit in. When his family moves to a new neighborhood, he suddenly finds he’s the only Chinese-American student at his school. • Born to rule over all the monkeys in the world, the story of the Monkey King is one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables. But the Monkey King…wants to be hailed as a god. • Chin-Kee is the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, and he’s ruining his cousin Danny’s life. These three apparently unrelated tales come together with an unexpected twist, in a modern fable that is hilarious, poignant, and action-packed.” – From cover flap
About Pat
Hometown: New York City and Madison, NJ.
Current residence: Stonington, Maine.
Connection to the island: I came to the island for one week each summer for about 40 years until I moved here full time. My sister, Nancy Greene, is also on the island and part of what drew me here.
Why do you read? I love to learn, and I love to go to another place.
What genre do you hate to read? Hmm…probably science fiction and fantasy. But the truth is, it’s not that I hate them. Rather, I’ve never been drawn to them.
Last book you LOVED: I’m a Maisie Dobbs devotee. I loved the latest in the series, The Comfort of Ghosts.
Currently reading: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. It’s really good.
Why did you choose American Born Chinese? The author beautifully talks about self acceptance and racism by weaving three separate stories together. You can just have fun with the stories, but you can also go deeper and learn about yourself from these stories.

Alewife Story Time
2025-05-10 10:00 - 11:00
Change of plans: tomorrow’s story time, Sat 5/10, will be at SPL at 10am. Mike Thalhauser from MCCF will still be joining us and will read-aloud an alewife picture book. Then he’ll lead a fish print activity, and participants can take home their own fish print t-shirts. Bring a t-shirt, if you got one to use. We’ll have a small number of t-shirts on hand.
SPL hosts story time on the second Saturday of every month from 10-11am. Check our website or social media (@stoningtonpublicllibrary) for details, because we often go offsite to various island locations for story time.

Downeast Restorative Justice Community Info Session
2025-05-14 17:00 - 19:00 | Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington, ME, 04681
Are you curious to know more about Restorative Practices? Looking for a volunteer opportunity to help support youth in your community? Interested in becoming a trained facilitator?
Downeast Restorative Justice is a local non-profit working in communities and schools to help bring people together and promote social healing. Join us for this community info-session to learn more about what Restorative Practices are, about what our community programs are, and about the different ways you can be involved.
Our info sessions are always followed by an opportunity to take part in training, whether this is to work with us as a volunteer, or for yourself, to bring restorative practices into your work, school, or personal community.
Hybrid options on Zoom are available by pre-registration at, all@downeastrestorativejustice.org

Story Time Aboard the Otter
2025-05-17 11:00 - 12:00 | Isle au Haut Boat Company, 37 Seabreeze Avenue, Stonington, Maine, 04681
Come aboard the Otter, an Isle au Haut mailboat, for a spin around Stonington Harbor and a read-aloud picture book chosen and read by Captain Garret Aldrich. It’s become an annual tradition for Captain Aldrich to lead this trip for Stonington Public Library. Contact SPL at phone or email below to register.
Wings, Waves & Woods Festival will take place May 14-18, 2025. The full schedule of events will be announced in March on the Island Heritage Trust website.
