Alameda Free Library Event Alert - December 2025

Published on December 01, 2025

Event Descriptions – Ongoing Adult and Teen Events: 

Make It – Keep Calm and Carry Yarn: Please join us for a fiber arts craft circle. All kinds of fiber artists are welcome. Please bring your own materials and expertise. Limited instruction available. It will be an afternoon of community building and crafting.

Teen Advisory Group: Are you a teen in 7th–12th grade looking to share your ideas, help with library projects, and earn volunteer hours? Join our Teen Advisory Group (TAG)! Registration is required.

Grown Folks Storytime: Try a different pace of life with our new weekly storytime for adults! Bring your lunch to the Children's Programming Room of the Main Library on Wednesday afternoons for a half-hour of short stories, picture books, and other tales curated by our expert librarians.

Teen Book Club: Teen book club members choose what we read from a variety of titles and genres each month. Additionally, while supplies last, book club members receive a free copy of the book to keep. The December book is When We Were Monsters by Jennifer Niven. All teens, ages 13 to 18, are invited to join the book group. The registration link is on the calendar. We will be meeting in person in the Stafford Room at the Main Library.

Allons-y! French Conversation Circle: Join us on the second Friday of every month to practice your French conversation skills. This is a monthly series designed to increase your confidence in speaking French conversationally in your communities. All levels and dialects are welcome.

Learn Sewing at the Library: Come learn the basics of sewing from local makers Gaby and Cynthia.  We will provide materials, instruction sheets, and know-how to get you started. No registration required. This month's projects are coin purse, pincushion, tote bag. No previous experience is required - please come ready to learn! This program is designed for adults ages 18 and up.

A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book Club: Wondering what to read next? Instead of a monthly book everyone reads, A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book Club will discuss what everyone is currently reading or has recently read that they enjoyed.  The December theme is End of Year Favorites. Please email the facilitator, Lynda, at llyndaw@gmail.com for more information.

No Feeling Is Final – Poetry Book Club and Community of Practice: We encourage adults 18 and up to come build community through poetry in this monthly part-book club, part-workshop gathering. Read poetry, write to prompts, and welcome local poets to share their works-in-progress. All levels of experience reading and writing poetry are welcomed!

The Reset: Join us for the last installment of our workforce development community of practice. New job, new you. Your next chapter starts right here in Alameda. Let us support you in taking that first step toward your future. You bring the hustle, we’ll bring the tools. From resumes to interviews, networking to job boards, we’ve got what you need to get hired. Because every great journey starts with a roadmap—come get yours. Any and all career stages welcome.

A Novel Idea:  A Novel Idea is a book club for adults featuring novels from diverse genres and authors.  There is no selection for our December meeting. Instead, we will do a book potluck--bring a book you want to talk about and share with the rest of the book club! We will also do a retrospective discussion of 2025 and look over the selections for the new year. December's meeting will only be for one hour.

Mystery Book Clubs: Join the Alameda Free Library’s Bay Farm Island Mystery Book Club for fun and engaging literary discussions! In December we join with the Main Library Mystery Book Club for an end of the year winter celebration. Join us in the Stafford Room of the Main Library to vote on favorite and least favorite reads of 2025, receive the list of 2026 selections, and play a few festive games.

Event Descriptions – Special Adult/Teen Events:  

Online Author Talks - Register and add questions for the author, then tune in live or watch the event recording:

Sue Hincenbergs: Buckle up for a wild ride and join us as we sit down for an online chat with debut author Sue Hincenbergs to discuss her novel The Retirement Plan, in which murder is the name of the game. When the only thing standing between three best friends and a sunny beachfront retirement condo are their husbands, what ensues is a diabolical plan to collect on their spouses’ life insurance policies.  

Paula J. Johnson: Join us for a conversation that’s sure to warm your heart (and make your stomach rumble), as we delve into the legacy of cooking icon Julia Child with Smithsonian curator and public historian Paula J. Johnson, author of Julia Child’s Kitchen: The Design, Tools, Stories, and Legacy of an Iconic Space. The book includes interviews with chefs who knew Julia well, commentary on her favorite culinary tools and kitchen gadgets, and a stunning array of photos.

Tech Petting Zoo: Learn the basics of 3D modeling and printing in this hands-on workshop. Ages 7 and up. Limit 10 learners. Registration is required. Submit your questions for the presenter ahead of time along with your registration - no question is too large or too small!

Study Hall @ AFL: Teens, are you hunting for a great spot to study or work on final projects? The library has got your back! During Study Hall, we've got open seating, snacks to keep you fueled up, and even coloring pages to help you take a break and unwind. This is open to 7^th through 12^th graders.

Entwined Liberations -An Evening of Poetry and Film: Please join us on Saturday from 2-4:30pm to welcome local poet Noor Al-Samarrai as we pair her works with a screening of the film 'Spaces of Exception' by Matt Peterson and Malek Rasamny. Enjoy refreshments and community. Please register so we know how much popcorn to provide. See you there!

Event Descriptions – Ongoing Weekly Children's Events: 

Mother Goose on the Loose - This fast-paced lap-sit program for little ones and their caregivers includes songs, nursery rhymes, knee-bounces, and movement to help develop important pre-literacy skills. This class is appropriate for infants through 2 years old. This program starts promptly at 10:30am. Latecomers may not be admitted.

Baby and Me: This lap-sit program for little ones and their caregivers includes songs, nursery rhymes, knee-bounces, and movement to help develop important pre-literacy skills. This class is appropriate for infants through 2 years old.

Toddler - A 20-30 minute program that uses stories, songs, fingerplays, and movement to help young children ages 1-3 years old develop word and sound recognition, gain background knowledge of how the world works, and encourages families to build social connections with other parents and children.

Toddler Plus - Toddler Plus Storytime is a 20-30 minute program using stories, songs, fingerplays, and movement to help young children ages 2-3 years old develop word and sound recognition, gain background knowledge of how the world works, and encourage families to build social connections with other parents and children. Toddler Plus Storytime is a bit longer and more complex than what is typically presented during Toddler Storytime and is perfect for children about to enter preschool.

Family Storytime - Geared for a mix of ages, we invite families to participate as we read stories, sing songs, do fingerplays and more.

New Book Storytime:  A 20-30 minute storytime for children in Kindergarten through third grade featuring picture books new to our collection.  

Build with LEGO - We will provide the LEGO building blocks.  Use your imagination and creativity to create with them!  

Event Descriptions – Special Children’s and Family Events: 

Youth Art Club: NEW! 4th though 8th graders, meet at the Bay Farm Island Library on the first Thursday of every month to create works of art! Participants in our December meeting will create art with Shrinky Dinks. Space is limited and registration is required. Please register online or call the Bay Farm Island Library at (510) 747-7767.

Fratello Marionettes: This winter extravaganza, “The North Pole Review,” is the perfect way to get into the holiday spirit. This music-based production showcases the graceful ice skater Crystal Chandelier, the high-kicking antics of the Russian Trepak Dancers, and a trio of dazzling acrobatic penguins.  

Family Movie Matinee: Enjoy How the Grinch Stole Christmas (PG) ! During movie showings we aim to create a sensory-friendly environment by keeping half the room lights on, lowering the volume, turning on movie captions, offering fidget toys to use during the movie, and leaving open seating with wobble cushions so kids have room to move around. Audience participants are welcome to bring in food, blankets, and pillows! We provide light refreshments and snacks during the movie screening.

Winter Crafternoon: Enjoy making crafts to celebrate the Winter Season at the West End Library. We will have crafting stations with various activities for the whole family.  

Holiday Storytime: Join us for a very special story time! It's an hour jam packed with holiday themed stories, songs and crafts. Families welcome!