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Simply Storytime

Join us for stories, songs, and rhymes for children and their caregivers. Stay afterwards to play and connect. Recommended for children ages 5 and under. No registration required.  We recommend […]

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Legos at the Library

We’ve got the bricks; you bring the creativity! The theme changes bi-weekly. Please leave your personal LEGO® sets at home. Registration is required for each session, and children must be five […]

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Sherlock Holmes Club of the Upper Valley: The Kipling-Doyle-Holmes Connection

 Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) and Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) were contemporaries who admired each other’s writing and shared many beliefs and associations. Their stories were widely read throughout the English-speaking world […]

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Past Programs

Author, fortune teller, and cultural educator Jezmina Von Thiele talks about her recent book, Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling, co-authored with Paulina Stevens. She offers an introduction to the Roma, an Indian diaspora people more commonly known by the slur/misnomer “Gypsies", and shares what it’s like growing up in a fortune telling family and being raised to do this work. This program took place on September 22nd, 2026 at the Howe Library in Hanover, NH.
Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling: A Conversation with Author Jezmina Von Thiele
Justin Strauss, Associate Professor of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth, guides us through the earliest evidence for animals in the fossil record and what hypotheses exist for driving early animal evolution. In addition to this historical narrative, Professor Strauss will also take us along for a ride into his research in the remote mountains of northwestern Canada, where the search for these fossils also happens to be in the some of the last vestiges of wilderness on our planet.
Searching for the Oldest Animal Fossils
Ashley Offill, Curator of Collections, Hood Museum of Art, explores the instrumental role of archeology in forming many early museum collections, and the legacies and lessons of archaeological objects in the modern museum. This talk is in dialogue with the Hood Museum exhibitions Stone, Sand, and Clay: Connecting Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean and From Mastodon to Mosaic: Building an Academic Art Collection in America. This talk took place at the Howe Library in Hanover, NH, on July 29, 2026.
Excavations and Exhibitions: Digging into Archeology and the Art Museum
Russ Cohen, naturalist and wild foods enthusiast, grew up in Weston, Mass, where he spent much of his free time in the woods, thereby cultivating a strong spiritual connection to nature. He received his bachelor's degree in land use planning from Vassar College in 1978, and received a masters in Natural Resources and a law degree from The Ohio State University in 1982. Until retiring from state service, Russ was employed by the Riverways Program (now part of the Division of Ecological Restoration) of the Mass. Department of Fish and Game since 1988, and served as its Rivers Advocate from 1992 until June of 2015. Other past employers have included the Nature Conservancy, the Land Trust Alliance, The Hillside Trust, a land trust in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society. This program was cosponsored by Howe Library and the Hanover Conservancy. https://www.hanoverconservancy.org/
Edible Plants
Chelsea Hanrahan, volunteer investigative genetic genealogist with the DNA Doe Project, presents on how genealogists use DNA research to assist law enforcement, shares real-life case examples, and discusses ways the public can contribute to this important work. Since 2021, Hanrahan has combined her lifelong interests in genealogy and true crime through her work in investigative genetic genealogy. In addition to volunteering with the DNA Doe Project, she serves as a researcher for the New England-based podcast Murder, She Told and works with the F.A.I.R. Lab at the University of New Hampshire to support forensic anthropology research and public education efforts surrounding genetic genealogy. This talk took place at the Howe Library in Hanover, NH on July 7th, 2026.
Investigative Genetic Genealogy and the DNA Doe Project: A Crash Course
Anthropologist Laura Ogden discusses the ongoing legacy of Charles Darwin in the Fuegian Archipelago of southernmost Chile, with particular focus on the ways Darwin’s depictions of Indigenous people in the region continues to shape the present. Her talk is based on a decade of research in the region, including collaborations with ranchers, conservation organizations, and the Yagán Indigenous community. This talk took place at the Howe Library in Hanover, NH, on May 7, 2026. Laura Ogden is Professor of Anthropology at Dartmouth College. Her current book project, supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship, is called 'The Book of Birds: A Memoir of Extinction,' and explores our obligations to species threatened with extinction.
Darwin, Colonialism, and the Lost Tribes of the Fuegian Archipelago
Paul Musselwhite, Professor of History at Dartmouth, discusses the Upper Valley at the time of the American Revolution, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Paul Musselwhite is a historian of early America with a particular focus on the political economy of early plantation societies in North America and the Caribbean. This talk was co-sponsored by the Howe Library and the Hanover Historical Society, and took place at the Howe Library in Hanover, NH, on May 13, 2026.
Celebrating the 250th: Frontier of Revolution: The Upper Valley in 1776
What does it take to make the outdoors open to all? Join us for an energizing conversation with three inspiring speakers who are breaking down barriers to trail access—through innovative design, inclusive planning, and game-changing adaptive equipment. This program reimagines what an “accessible trail” can be, highlighting practical solutions and powerful stories that are reshaping our shared landscapes. This talk took place at the Howe Library in Hanover, NH on April 30, 2026, and was co-sponsored by the Howe Library, the Hanover Conservation Commission, and the Hanover Bike Walk Committee. Abigail Johnson is an emerging leader in inclusive outdoor design and community-centered planning. Jeff Alexander is a changemaker as the Director of Strategic Partnerships & Business Development at Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports. Russell Hirschler is a leading voice in community trail development and accessibility as Executive Director of the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. Moderator Jennie Chamberlain serves as a Hanover Selectboard member, lectures in Film & Media at Dartmouth, and is an advocate for mobility justice, active transportation, and sustainability.
Inviting Everyone Into Nature

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