Georgetown Public Library

Everybody likes to Cha-cha! Join the Adultish team at the Library on September 1 at 7 p.m. for a free beginners Salsa and Cha-cha class with Athur Murray Dance Center! This class is friendly and meant for beginners who are ages 18+. Grab your friends, your dancing shoes, and come on down.

Elena Lewis of Arthur Murray Dance Studios will lead basic intros to Cha-Cha and Salsa style dancing. Elena is the co-owner of the Arthur Murray Dance Center in Georgetown. She and her husband, Carlos Hernandez, opened their studio 7 years ago. She has been dancing professionally with Arthur Murray for 17 years. She loves positively impacting people’s lives through the benefits of dance. She has a bachelor’s degree in Mexican-American Studies from UT Austin and a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from UT El Paso.

Have any questions? Reach out to the Library via library@georgetown.org or by phone at 512-930-3551.

For fifteen years, the Georgetown Public Library has hosted the Texas Society of Sculptors annual summer show. The competitive, juried exhibit is a popular tradition in Georgetown that includes sculptures throughout the building on both the first and second floors. Participating sculptors work in wood, glass, bronze, ceramics, and more. Most pieces in the exhibit are available for purchase.

On Sunday, July 16, exhibit prize winners were announced at an awards reception attended by the sculptors, TSOS members, and the public.

This years exhibit award recipients are:

First Place – “Final Fetch” by J.P. (Pat) Childress
Second Place – “PELECAAN” by Ken Law
Third Place – “Fallen Heart” by John Pezze
Honorable Mention: Metal – “Being for Self” by Lyle Adair
Honorable Mention: Stone or Wood – “The Working Men” by Jim Woodruff
Honorable Mention: Mixed media– “Gatekeeper” by Patrick Fleming
Librarians’ Choice – “Adrian’s Compadre” by John Pezze
Peoples’ Choice – “The Messenger” by Matt Donner

Each award is accompanied by a cash prize. The Georgetown Arts and Culture Board provided a total of $2,200 to fund the awards.

The People’s Choice award was determined by ballots cast by visitors to the library in the first few weeks of the exhibit, and the Librarians’ Choice award was decided by a vote of the library staff.

The juror for this years first, second, and third place and honorable mention awards was Danny Grant, a teacher at Atelier Dojo and Art+ Academy.

This years exhibit opened Sunday, June 18, and lasts through Saturday, September 16. An exhibit catalog is available for those who would like to walk through the exhibit and see all 59 pieces.

The library will also host a sculpture demonstration featuring several of this years sculptors demonstrating their techniques and processes. The free event will be held in the library lobby, 402 W. Eighth St., on Saturday, Sept. 9, from 1 to 3 p.m.

For more information about this years exhibit and events, contact Adult Services Librarian Ann Evanst ann.evans@georgetown.org or TSOS Exhibit President Matt Donner at mattdonner.tsos@gmail.com

The Georgetown Public Library is proud to announce that we are a certified KultureCity location! What does this mean?

KultureCity is a nonprofit focused on using their resources to revolutionize and effect change in the community for those with sensory needs. Staff at the library have undergone training, signage alerting people to quiet and noisy areas has been hung throughout the building, and sensory bags equipped with noise-canceling headphones, fidget tools, and verbal cue cards are available at each desk for check out. A Comfort Room in the kid’s area has been outfitted with soft furniture, soft lighting, and other tools to provide a soothing atmosphere for those who are experiencing sensory overload. Sensory bags and the Comfort Room are available for all ages.

The Georgetown Public Library is the first library in the Austin metroplex to achieve this certification. We wanted to be more inclusive, kind, and thoughtful towards our entire service population while providing the most comfortable and accommodating experience possible.

To help those with sensory challenges, you can view the social story about the GPL on the KultureCity website and app, to get an idea of what it is like to visit the Library on any given day.

Sensory Storytime

The Library is also hosting special sensory storytimes for children with autism spectrum and sensory-processing needs. This interactive storytime emphasizes socialization, freedom of movement, and sensory engagement through storytelling, song and rhyme, and free play.

Siblings are welcome to join in. Caregiver attendance is required. Sensory Storytimes are posted on the Library events calendar.

For more information visit https://library.georgetown.org/storytime/ or call the library at 512.930.3551

Read over 40 magazines online, including back issues of items like Consumer Reports, Dogster, Rolling Stone, and more….using your library card! Check out Flipster today.

• Download the Flipster app on mobile or log in at flipster.ebsco.com
• Search for the Georgetown Public Library
• Use your library card number to create an account
• Download magazines and read them!
• No returns needed
• Instant access
• Back issues available

In recognition of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, visit the Library on April 23 at 2 p.m. to hear Jack Fingerhut from Congregation Havurah Shalom of Sun City share the story of his father, Arnold Fingerhut.

Arnold was hidden by Catholic neighbors in their barn in Poland for four years while World War II raged across Europe. After liberation, he immigrated to Germany where he began to build a new life. But his story was just beginning, as Arnold would soon take the first steps toward the promise of the American dream.

Attendees will see and hear clips from Arnold Fingerhut’s testimony which was recorded by Steven Spielberg’s ‘USC Shoah Foundation’ project. This event is free and open to the public.

The Library is in the process of upgrading our meeting room software. Unfortunately, this means that we are pausing taking reservations for a month. No reservations will be taken from April 1-May 1. You can book reservations up until April 1.

We appreciate your patience as we work hard to get this new system up and running.

At this time, our meeting room rates will be increasing. The new rates will launch on May 1.

The meeting room team is available if you have any questions. You can reach them via email at librarymeetingrooms@georgetown.org or by phone at 512-930-6730.

GPL World Cinema screens films with diverse casts and settings from around the world.  On April 12 at 6:30 p.m. the Library is screening Saul & Ruby’s Holocaust Survivor Band.

From the Samuel Goldwyn Films website, “Like many survivors of the Holocaust, after World War II, Saul and Ruby moved to America, started families and careers, grew old, and retired to South Florida. For them, retirement could have been the last chapter in their story. But then they decided to start a klezmer band, named the Holocaust Survivor Band. The band summons the bittersweet memories of childhood in Poland, but more than that, it is a celebration of life. In this utterly heart-affecting and enthralling film, we follow Saul and Ruby’s musical journey, which begins in total obscurity, playing in residential homes for the elderly and small Jewish community organizations, to being invited to perform at venues across the country, including a coveted performance at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. This unique and compelling story is about having the courage to live one’s dreams, finding purpose and meaning in life at any age, the transcendent power of music, and the importance of speaking out against anti-Semitism and bigotry.”

2020. 81 minutes. Unrated.

GPL World Cinema screenings are for adults ages 18+, and are free and open to the public. If you have any questions, please reach out to the Library at 512.930.3551.

The Library is hosting SO MANY events during Spring Break for kids and tweens. Visit us during the week of March 13-18 for all these fun events.

*Events require tickets. Movies do not need tickets. Pick up tickets starting one hour before event at Children’s Desk.

March 13 | 2 p.m.: Clifford the Big Red Dog movie (PG) in the Kids Room

March 14 | 10 a.m.: *Cowboy Ken sings cowboy songs, tells stories and does trick roping.

March 15 | 2 p.m.: Paddington 2 movie (PG) in the Kids Room

March 16 | 10 a.m.: *Austin Reptile Show

March 17 | 10 a.m.: *ESTEAM free build Lego day

March 18 | 2 p.m.: *Tween (ages 9-12) Sand Art

March 18 | 4 p.m.: Teen (ages 12-18) Candle Making

Six session course on the basics of ukulele playing with two optional sessions at the end. We’ll cover chords, strumming, tabs, theory, pop songs, blues and more! Bring your own ukulele or borrow one from the library. Limited spots and ukuleles available.

This class is free and open to registrants ages 18+. Register here starting March 14 at noon. Registration is required.

Tuesdays 4:30-5:30 p.m.

April 4-May 23