Alameda Free Library Event Alert - November 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 November book is We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. 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.  

Alameda Library Writers Group: Come prepared for a short intro, including: your name, why you write, what you write (genre(s)), what you're working on now or most recently. And then let's get to it! 

I will provide 5 short prompts for your choosing for those of you that like warming up or prefer to start with some inspiration for writing short stories and such. 

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.  

BFI Tech Tuesdays: Join us on the third Tuesday of the month at the Bay Farm Island Library at 1pm for small-group instruction on computers, tablets, smartphones and more! Registration required – register online or call the Bay Farm Island Library for registration assistance. 

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 November theme is Food. 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! 

A Novel Idea:  A Novel Idea is a book club for adults featuring novels from diverse genres and authors.  The November selection is Fire Exit by Morgan Talty. Join us for a lively discussion and deepen your engagement with your reading! 

Mystery Book Clubs: Join the Alameda Free Library’s Mystery Book Club for a fun and engaging literary discussion!  We are offering this popular book club in two different locations, the Main Library and the Bay Farm Island Library. The November selection is Double Indemnity by James M. Cain. 

Event Descriptions – Special Adult/Teen Events:  F 

Air Dry Clay Workshop: We'll be making an air-dry clay dish in the shape of a leaf-- a seasonal craft to keep or gift! Registration required, limited to 10 adults. Air-dry clay and molding tools will be provided. Limited instruction available.  

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

Native American History Month – Joseph Lee: You’re invited to learn from journalist and author Joseph Lee as he chats online with us about his stirring memoir, Nothing More of This Land: Community, Power, and the Search for Indigenous Identity.   

Amanda Peters: Join us in an online conversation with acclaimed writer Amanda Peters as we discuss her instant bestselling novel, The Berry Pickers, as well as her tender short fiction collection, Waiting for the Long Night Moon: Stories.   

Charles Duhigg: Charles Duhigg, author of the bestselling books The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better, presents the ultimate guide on how to communicate and connect with anyone at work, home, and in life in his latest work, Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection.   

Alameda Free Library Blood Drive: Please give blood if you can! To sign up please visit redcrossblood.org and enter sponsor code ALAMEDALIBRARY 

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:   

Anime Art Workshop: Learn how to sketch anime characters and explore different art styles in this 2-Day Workshop Series. This series is for children ages 9-12. We will be meeting on Saturday, November 1st and Saturday, November 15 from 3:30-4:30pm. Registration and attendance at both sessions is required. 

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! Join our November meeting and learn to sew your own stuffy! 

Family Movie Matinee: Enjoy Toy Story (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. 

Native American Heritage Month – An Afternoon with Cafe Ohlone: Join us on to learn about the past and present history of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and learn how to play the Ohlone Staves Game! We’ll also have a free serving of acorn brownies and a free book while supplies last. 

Puppet Art Theater – Peter and the Wolf Puppet Show: Come join us for a fun and funny Puppet Show, The Boy Who Cried Wolf: Holiday Edition. Puppet Art Theater has adapted this classic fable to be all-inclusive. 

Native American Heritage Month – Ohlone Star Stories: Join us to hear Ohlone stories of the stars shared in partnership with Mak-'amham/Cafe Ohlone and learn a song in Chochenyo, the language of the East Bay Ohlone people. Free tea and acorn brownies while supplies last! Open to ages 5 and up.   

NorCal Bats: Come learn about bats. Join us after for fun bat themed crafts!