Adult Programs
For more information on previous programming and projects, including videos of recorded programs please visit our
Previous Programs and Projects page.
Digital Navigator Office Hours
Every Wednesday
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Struggling to get online? Finding it hard to job hunt, find housing, pay bills, or schedule appointments without internet access? The Digital Navigators of the Hudson Valley are here to help! Join Kate, our Communications Manager and Digital Navigator of the Hudson Valley, for free tech assistance. She can help you with:
- Setting up and using email
- Navigating websites for job applications
- Accessing online government services
- Scheduling online appointments
- Basic troubleshooting for personal devices
- And much more!
Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are appreciated! Email communications@roejanlibrary.org or call 518-325-4101 to reserve your spot with Kate.
Qigong & Tai Chi at the Library
Every Thursday
10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Qigong and Tai Chi are approaches to movement that have been practiced for hundreds of years and are particularly helpful for dealing with stress, limited ability to move, those wishing to developing better balance and flexibility and can be practiced by nearly everyone young and old. Although Tai Chi is generally practiced standing, Qigong can be modified to allow participants to be seated.
This weekly drop-in class, open to all, is taught by David Haines, who has been a practitioner of Qigong, Tai Chi, and mindful movement for 50 years, a teacher for 40 years, and a certified Trager Movement practitioner for 35 years. Since moving into the area in 2006 he has taught at Omega Institute, Simon’s Rock college, Columbia-Greene Community College, as well as various libraries, senior centers, and school district community education classes.
Classes are held in the Roe Jan Library Community Room or outdoors, weather permitting. Wear comfortable clothes.
This project has been supported by a grant from the Fund for Columbia County of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
In-Person Tech Lab:
*This program has been postponed. New date and time TBD. Stay tuned!
In this in-person workshop, presented by our resident tech guru, Pam Doran, dive into the world of artificial intelligence and learn practical ways to use ChatGPT for everyday tasks. No registration required.
Program will take place in the Library’s Community Room.
Zoom Around the World Book Club
Monday, March 24
6:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Join our online book club, sponsored by the Columbia County Libraries Association.
This club will meet via Zoom on the fourth Monday of each month to read and discuss books by international authors.
Since our meeting in February was postponed, the selection has not changed. Join us in March in discussing Hungry Ghosts by Trinidad & Tobago author Kevin Jared Hosein.
To join, email columbiacountylibraries@gmail.com.
Tea Time at the Library
Every Fourth Thursday of the Month
Next Meeting: March 27
2:30 p.m.
Plan to visit the library on the fourth Thursday of each month at 2:30 p.m. to discuss fun and informative topics. Each month’s gathering will have a different theme; listen, discuss, and enjoy a cup of tea (or coffee if that’s your preference!), and sometimes a fun activity. There will also be plenty of time to chat, get to know your neighbors, and wind down. This month, Moira Krum will join us for a conversation on the Italian Renassiance!
Come join the discussion and enjoy a cup of Harney’s Tea (or coffee) and some fresh baked goods on the house.
Reading & Discussion Group: Sustainability
Wednesday, March 26 – August 27
6:00 p.m.
What does it mean to be sustainable, to live a sustainable life, and to create sustainable communities? We hear the words “green” and “sustainable” wherever we turn, but what does it mean in practice? While there has been renewed attention to sustainability in recent years, as climate change becomes a more imminent threat to our communities, the idea is not new. This reading and discussion series will explore how different authors and communities have understood the meaning of ecological sustainability and how they have tried to put it into practice in the world. Rather than books of doom and gloom, the books selected provide readers with hope, with examples of how individuals can make a difference.
We will read 6 books over the course of 6 months in the spring and summer—meeting the 4th Wednesday evening of each month, March through August.
Julia Alvarez, A Cafecito Story (2001)
Jean Giono, The Man Who Planted Trees (1953)
Alan Weisman, Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World (1998)
Ben Hewitt, The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food (2009)
Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (2007)
Wendell Berry, Another Turn of the Crank: Essays (1995)
Registration is limited to 15, and it is the intention that participants will complete the series together, attending all 6 sessions. Books will be provided, some will be available as ebooks or audiobooks. To register, email director@roejanlibrary.org.
Sustainability, Roeliff Jansen Community Library is made possible with support from Humanities New York.
Roe Jan Writers Series: Cameron Russell
Sunday, March 30
1:00 p.m.
Cameron Russell is a model, writer, artist, organizer, and parent to Kohli, Asa, and Shola. Her book How to Make Herself Agreeable to Everyone, a political coming-of-age memoir about twenty years spent working and organizing in the fashion industry came out this year from Random House. National Book Award winner Imani Perry writes Russell’s book is, “unforgettable. Fiercely intellectual, deeply vulnerable, and unapologetically honest.” And Christy Turlington, supermodel and founder of Every Mother Counts, called it, “A unique and honest perspective on the fashion industry. Cameron Russell doesn’t just hold the door open for more voices from within fashion, she makes a compelling argument as to why they must be heard.”
Russell spent the last twenty years working as a model for clients like Prada, Calvin Klein, Victoria’s Secret, H&M, Vogue and Elle. With over 41 million views and counting, she gave one of the most popular TED talks of all time on the power of image. She is the co-founder of Model Mafia, a collective of hundreds of fashion models striving for a more equitable, just, and sustainable industry, and was the force behind campaigns including #MyJobShouldNotIncludeAbuse, which brought the #MeToo movement to fashion and #SupplyChange, linking fashion’s leather supply chain and deforestation in the Amazon and built pressure for and knowledge of immediate solutions. Her next book is about care work, gestation, and climate catastrophe. Her work as an organizer and interdisciplinary artist leverages creative collaboration and collective storytelling to build a more livable world.
Community Read: Heather Bruegle
Tuesday, April 1
Time: TDB on Zoom
Zoom with indigenous Historian Heather Bruegl to celebrate and discuss Columbia County’s Community Read Project. To receive the Zoom login information, please email columbiacountylibraries@gmail.com.
Introduction to the Canine Good Citizen
Saturday, April 5
1:00 p.m.
The Canine Good Citizen is useful in that it provides a framework for how a dog should behave, especially in public around people and other dogs. This seminar will be presented by Nora Hayes, MSW, a local dog trainer who owns a day care boarding and training business in Hillsdale. Nora is a certified American Kennel Club evaluator for the Canine Good Citizen test and a therapy dog evaluator for Bright and Beautiful Therapy dogs. She has conducted obedience classes and tests in a number of sites including the Great Barrington Claire Teague Center, the Village of Chatham town hall, and local parks.
The suggested donation for the seminar is $25 and will go to the Columbia Greene Humane Society.
Film Screening: Free for All: The Public Library
Sunday, April 6
1:00 p.m.
Kick off National Library Week by joining us for a screening of the new documentary, Free For All: The Public Library.
Free for All: The Public Library tells the story of the quiet revolutionaries who made a simple idea happen. From the pioneering women behind the “Free Library Movement” to today’s librarians who service the public despite working in a contentious age of closures and book bans, meet those who created a civic institution where everything is free and the doors are open to all.
We will be joined by AnnaLee Dragon, executive director of the New York Library Association, for a discussion following the film.
Tour of the Forge Project
Friday, April 11
2:00 p.m.
Forge Project is a Native-led initiative centered on Indigenous art, decolonial education, and supporting leaders in culture, food security, and land justice. Located on the unceded homelands of the Moh-He-Con-Nuck in Taghkanic, NY.
Join the Roe Jan Library for a site visit of Forge Project. Visits typically include a conversation, refreshments, overview of Forge Project’s core programs and areas of focus, as well as a tour of the common spaces and art collection works on view.
Space is limited to 12 participants. Register by emailing director@roejanlibrary.org.
Read On! Book Club
Wednesday, April 16
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Join us for the third meeting of Roe Jan’s Read On! Book Club. This month, we are reading Foster by Claire Keegan. The book is available to borrow through the Mid-Hudson Library System and on Libby and Hoopla.
Led by Fran & Kate, this fiction book club will meet on the third Wednesday of every month. All are welcome! For more information, email communications@roejanlibrary.org.
Book Marks! Book Club
Thursday, April 17
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Join our nonfiction book club, Book Marks!, led by Circulation Librarian Robin Gottlieb. Meets the 3rd Thursday of every month. For our April meeting we are reading The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers.
Copies are available to borrow through the Mid-Hudson Library System, Libby, and Hoopla. Email circulation@roejanlibrary.org for more information.
Cookbook Club
Saturday, April 19
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
We invite everyone in our community to join the Cookbook Club! We meet on the 3rd Saturday of the month from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the library.
For March, the theme will be “Easter & Passover Favorites.”
Everyone is welcome—more members mean more delicious dishes! For more information, please contact Rita at rlj304@gmail.com or Monique at monique.rinere@gmail.com.
Storytelling Workshop
Saturday, April 26
1:00 p.m.
As Braiding Sweetgrass makes clear, storytelling can play an important role in teaching and learning. In this engaging workshop, participants will learn about Ancram Center’s unique approach to storytelling. This process, developed through the Center’s celebrated Real People Real Stories program, utilizes fun, creative problem-solving exercises, along with the fundamental principles that guide the development of a new play. By the workshop’s end, participants will identify a personal, compelling, true to life story, along with a plan to bring that story to life!
Ancram Center teaching artists work with storytellers to help them prepare their stories for the stage. According to RPRS creator, Paul Ricciardi, “The goal is not to create a polished monologue, but to allow the spontaneity of a real-life story to shine through.”
If interested, storytellers can further work with an Ancram Center teaching artist to prepare their stories for the stage, including an opportunity to participate in the Center’s celebrated Real People Real Stories production.
The two-hour workshop is appropriate for late teens and adults. Registration is required and participation is limited to 14. To register, email director@roejanlibrary.org.
Concert: Christine & Elliot Spero –
A Tribute to Joni Mitchell
Sunday, April 27
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
“Both Sides Now” is a show with Christine and Elliot Spero that will lovingly take you on a journey through the music of Joni Mitchell, the Canadian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter who is one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s circuit. Mitchell became known for her personal lyrics and unconventional compositions, which grew to incorporate elements of pop, jazz and other genres. Be lifted by songs like “Both Sides Now,” “Chelsea Morning,” “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Help Me,” “A Case of You,” and so many others.
Singer/pianist Christine Spero is no stranger to the stage — as a teen she recorded with Neil Sedaka and Don Kirschner at RCA records. Her song “He Wasn’t Always That Way” won the USA Songwriting Competition Jazz Category, and her song “Caribbean Nights” was one of the finalists. She and multi-instrumentalist/producer Elliot Spero have been recording and playing live shows together for over 30 years, performing a diverse repertoire of pop, Latin, and jazz from writers such as James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, Steely Dan, Peter Gabriel, Todd Rundgren, The Beatles, Bonnie Raitt, Roberta Flack, Burt Bacharach, Sergio Mendes and Jobim as well as Brazilian classics, Motown songs and jazz standards.
This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CREATE Council on the Arts.
Job Search and Resume Help
Job search coaching, with an emphasis on resume writing and using online resources to find jobs, is offered by volunteer Career Coach, Beth Gordon. Beth provides help with finding career opportunities, resume and cover letter writing, interviewing preparation and reviewing job resources.
Career Coaching and Job Search Help sessions cover résumé and letter writing, skills assessments, career planning and Internet job search. These one-on-one sessions are designed to help people of all ages seeking career coaching, goal setting, or help updating and improving their professional profiles.
Job Help sessions are by appointment only and are typically conducted via Zoom. You can make an appointment by calling or emailing the library or contacting Beth Gordon directly at bagordon323@gmail.com. In person help at the library can be provided with prior arrangements as well.
Senior Balance and Strength Class with Dr. Paul Spector on Zoom
Tuesdays, 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
ZOOM LOGIN INFORMATION:
https://zoom.us/j/759916157
Meeting ID: 759 916 157
Passcode: 592902
*Please note the start date has been moved from January 12th to January 19th.*
To watch past recordings of Dr. Spector’s class, visit our YouTube channel playlist.
