Every Tuesday at 10am we’ll be posting a new storytime via Youtube. You can check out our channel here. An accompanying take-home craft available for everyone at the library.
Adult Events
Live Vermont Animals!
Join us this Friday July 24th at 10am for live Vermont animals with Michael Clough from the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum. He’ll be bringing local animals from turtles to birds of prey. Check out the animals and learn something new.
This event will be held outside behind the library and will be socially distant. Feel free to bring your own blanket or chairs and please wear a mask.
Worthen Library Birthday Scavenger Hunt
Find as many book characters as you can between July 8-18 in local store windows. Remember to Shop Local! Check off the characters you find on the form below and bring it with you to…
Collect your prize on Saturday, July 18, 10:00-11:00 AM at the Library!
You will also have the opportunity to support your neighbors at the Grand Isle County Food Bank: Cash Donations will be accepted to help our Island Community.
We will be giving away free popcorn and the bricks from our brick campaign will be installed.

The Hate U Give
2020 marks the 18th year of the Vermont Reads program, in which Vermont Humanities invites people across the state to read the same book and participate in a wide variety of community activities related to the book’s themes.
Mississippi writer Angie Thomas’ debut novel, The Hate U Give, runs headlong into the challenges faced by young black kids in a world that doesn’t value their bodies or respect their voices. Yet it’s a universal story about a young girl making the choice to speak out. Starr’s struggle to find her voice will likely resonate deeply with any kid who is facing down violence in their home, their neighborhood or their country.
Movie Discussions
The library owns copies of the all the movies we will be discussing. We will be loaning them out for two day periods to give as many people as possible to view the movies. The discussions will take place at 6:30 on Zoom. Please email the library worthenlibrary@gmail.com for the link.
- Tuesday August 18th – The Hate U Give
- Tuesday September 1st – Fruitvale Station
- Tuesday September 15th – I am Not Your Negro
- Tuesday September 29th – Do the Right Thing
- Tuesday October 6th – BlacKKKlansman
Justice and Equity Art
The library will be providing families with blank yard signs to create justice and equity art. Stop by the library today to pick up your blank lawn sign.
Book and Short Story Discussion
The library will be holding a book discussion for “The Hate U Give” on Wednesday September 16th at 6pm. Please stop by the library to pick up or reserve you copy of the book today.
The short story group will be reading short stories written by Black authors for the month of August. The short story group meets every Thursday at 6:30 pm. Please email the library (worthenlibrary@gmail.com) for the zoom link.
Anti-Racist Resources
This is a first step in normalizing conversations about race and racism and it begins with the exploration of white supremacist ideology and why it continues to persist in modern society.
It’s going to be an uncomfortable—maybe even painful—but hopefully liberating journey to greater empathy.
Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade, and many others were killed by individuals complicit in perpetuating oppression and racism. We say their names because as an organization, the Worthen Library acknowledges and believes the lived racist experiences of black and brown people are valid.
The resources listed below include a wide variety of topics where racism, oppression, discrimination and bigotry show up in society. This list is just a start, there are an incredible number of resources available.
-Borrowed from our friends at the Denver Public Library
Adult Non-Fiction Books at Worthen Library
- Black is the Body
- The Warmth of Other Suns
- The Source of Self-Regard
- Please Stop Helping Us
- The Sun Does Shine
- An African American and LatinX History of the United States
- When They Call You a Terrorist
- How to be Antiracist
- Democracy in Black
- The Souls of Black Folk
- Tears We Cannot Stop
- The Fire This Time
- A Black Women’s History of the United States
- Between the World and Me
- Citizen : an American Lyric
- So You Want to Talk About Race
YA Books at Worthen Library
Children’s Books at Worthen Library
- Whoosh! : Lonnie Johnson’s super-soaking stream of inventions
- The Youngest Marcher
- Mighty Meg Series
- Saturday
- The Day You Begin
- Mae Among the Stars
- Islandborn
- Last Stop on Market Street
Podcasts
- Floodlines from The Atlantic
- 1619 from The New York Times
- Intersectionality Matters! from The African American Policy Forum
- Throughline from NPR
- Pod Save the People from Crooked Media
Articles
- “America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
- Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists)
- ”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22, 2011)
- The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
- The Combahee River Collective Statement
- “The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston | Vox (May 28, 2019)
- Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD
- “Where do I donate? Why is the uprising violent? Should I go protest?” by Courtney Martin (June 1, 2020)
- ”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
- “Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)
This is a first step in normalizing conversations about race and racism and it begins with the exploration of white supremacist ideology and why it continues to persist in modern society.
It’s going to be an uncomfortable—maybe even painful—but hopefully liberating journey to greater empathy.
Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade, and many others were killed by individuals complicit in perpetuating oppression and racism. We say their names because as an organization, the Worthen Library acknowledges and believes the lived racist experiences of black and brown people are valid.
The resources listed below include a wide variety of topics where racism, oppression, discrimination and bigotry show up in society. This list is just a start, there are an incredible number of resources available.
-Borrowed from our friends at the Denver Public Library

Adult Non-Fiction Books at Worthen Library
- Black is the Body
- The Warmth of Other Suns
- The Source of Self-Regard
- Please Stop Helping Us
- The Sun Does Shine
- An African American and LatinX History of the United States
- When They Call You a Terrorist
- How to be Antiracist
- Democracy in Black
- The Souls of Black Folk
- Tears We Cannot Stop
- The Fire This Time
- A Black Women’s History of the United States
- Between the World and Me
- Citizen : an American Lyric
YA Books at Worthen Library
Children’s Books at Worthen Library
- Whoosh! : Lonnie Johnson’s super-soaking stream of inventions
- The Youngest Marcher
- Mighty Meg Series
- Saturday
- The Day You Begin
Podcasts
- Floodlines from The Atlantic
- 1619 from The New York Times
- Intersectionality Matters! from The African American Policy Forum
- Throughline from NPR
- Pod Save the People from Crooked Media
Articles
- “America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
- Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists)
- ”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22, 2011)
- The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
- The Combahee River Collective Statement
- “The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston | Vox (May 28, 2019)
- Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD
- “Where do I donate? Why is the uprising violent? Should I go protest?” by Courtney Martin (June 1, 2020)
- ”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
- “Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)