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:
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Setting up and using email
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Navigating websites for job applications
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Accessing online government services
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Scheduling online appointments
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Basic troubleshooting for personal devices
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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.
On Exhibition: As It Is by Celia Kahn
May 31 – June 30
The Roeliff Jansen Community Library is delighted to present new work by local artist Celia Kahn. This collage exhibition will be on display at the Library through the end of June.
“For me the medium of collage brings together disparate images to form a new reality based on color, shape, texture and whatever is happening inside my mind and the outside world. Torn paper, ink, paint, glue, and even dryer sheets become something unique and whole. These collages bring the desire to escape while standing still to appreciate what’s in front of us.”
Author Talk: Kirsten Wood
Wednesday, June 11
6:00 p.m.
As Americans surged westward and built their new republic in the early nineteenth century, entrepreneurial, improvement-minded men went to taverns to raise capital, promote innovative businesses, practice genteel sociability, and rally support for favored causes—often while drinking staggering amounts of alcohol. White men’s unrivaled freedom to use taverns in their pursuits of happiness helped flesh out the evolving meaning of citizenship in the young United States. Yet white men did not have taverns to themselves. White women and free Black men and women visited taverns as they traveled, socialized, and engaged in activism. Sharing tavern spaces with other Americans intensified white men’s struggles to define what, and for whom, taverns—and the nation–should be.
Historian Kirsten Wood explores this fascinating history in her most recent book, Accommodating the Republic: Taverns in the Early United States (UNC Press, 2023) and will discuss this history at the Roe Jan Library on June 11, at 6:00 p.m.
Kirsten E. Wood is a specialist in the social and political histories of the early United States. In addition to exploring taverns, she has written about Peggy Eaton and Andrew Jackson’s presidential sex scandal, enslaving widows’ social and economic power, the harmonic ideal in patriotic music, and the opportunities for joy and pleasure in the young nation’s public places. She is an associate professor of history at Florida International University and earned her PhD and MA from the University of Pennsylvania and her BA from Princeton University.
Film Screening: Food & Country with Ruth Reichl
Saturday, June 14
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Worried about the survival of small farmers, ranchers, and chefs hobbled by America’s policy of producing cheap food, trailblazing local food writer Ruth Reichl reaches across political and social divides to report on the country’s broken food system and the innovators risking everything to transform it in this timely documentary, Food and Country.
In Food and Country, Reichl reaches across political and social divides to discover innovators who are risking it all to survive on the front lines. As one person leads her to the next, she follows the unfolding stories of ranchers in Kansas and Georgia, farmers in Nebraska, Ohio, and the Bronx, a New England fisherman, and maverick chefs on both coasts. As she witnesses them navigate intractable circumstances, Reichl shares pieces of her own life, and in doing so, begins to take stock of the path she has traveled and the ideals she left behind. Through her eyes, we get to know the humanity and struggle behind the food we eat. As Reichl says: “How we grow and make our food shows us our values – as a nation and as human beings.”
Join us for a screening of the film, followed by a discussion with Ruth Reichl.
Cookbook Club
Saturday, June 21
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 with the exception of May’s meeting.
For June, the theme will be tapas!
Everyone is welcome—more members mean more delicious dishes! For more information, please contact Rita at rlj304@gmail.com.
Reading & Discussion Group: Sustainability
Wednesday, June 25
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.
In June, we are reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (2007). Remaining books are:
Alan Weisman, A Village to Reinvent the World
Wendell Berry, Another Turn of the Crank: Essays (1995)
A few spots are still available! 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.
Concert: Steve Hassmer Sings Broadway
Sunday, June 29
6:00 p.m.
Broadway comes to the Roe Jan Library!
Steve Hassmer has worked professionally as a performer in many genres. Early in his career he performed all over the country and the world in regional theatres, national tours, and on cruise ships with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise Lines. Since moving to the Berkshires with his family he has performed locally with various choirs, and at the Mac-Haydn Theatre in shows including South Pacific, Sweeney Todd, Mamma Mia, and others. He has also sung with the Berkshire Opera Festival and has performed cabaret and classical music in concert in central and south Berkshire County.
This program is a hodgepodge of Broadway-style songs that range from tried-and-true standards to songs you may never have heard before. There are many pieces that are favorites of his that he has never had the opportunity to perform until now! We hope you are entertained and uplifted… we could use more of that these days!
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.
