Calendar

Check here for all of the upcoming events at UCPL. If you have questions about any of them, give us a call at 314-727-3150.

Dec
5
Tue
Online Author Event: Victoria Aveyard
Dec 5 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Join us online at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5 as New York Times bestselling author of the Red Queen and Realm Breaker series, Victoria Aveyard, chats with us about YA fantasy fiction, world-building, and her incredible body of work.

In the bestselling series Realm Breaker, a strange darkness grows in Allward even Corayne an-Amarat can feel it in her small town at the edge of the sea. The long lost heir to an ancient lineage, it’s not until Corayne meets a rag-tag group of companions that she learns how to wield the magic slumbering in her blood—and how together they might stop what’s coming.

As the realm descends into chaos, the choices are clear: Save the world…or end it. Together, they stand against a vicious opponent, invincible and determined to burn all kingdoms to ash and an army unlike anything the realm has ever witnessed.

Irresistibly action-packed and full of lethal surprises, this stunning fantasy series promises breakneck adventure and impossible thrills!

Register now!

Stories of Exile Book Discussion Group
Dec 5 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Join UCPL for our “Stories of Exile” book discussion group, sponsored by the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. This is the final event in a 4-part series of monthly discussions that center on immigrants in exile.

For this discussion, we will focus on immigrants in exile from a different culture and location of the globe and compare how these immigration stories compare to the previous books in our discussion series.

Using Yiddish literature as a portal, the program will feature works in translation that explore narratives which grapple with questions of homelands, journeys, identity, and belonging. Reading groups will compare these works written in Yiddish in the early and mid-20th century to works by contemporary writers from all across the globe.

Our final book is Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution, by Helen Zia. 

Books will be provided by UCPL. Contact us at reference@ucitylibrary.org for more info. This event is intended for teens and adults and is free to the public.

The Yiddish Book Center’s “Stories of Exile” Reading Groups for Public Libraries is a reading and discussion program to engage teens and adults in thinking about experiences of displacement, migration, and diaspora. In this program, librarians organize reading groups to discuss three books of Yiddish literature in translation, and one book related to the experience of a community served by their library.

The Yiddish Book Center’s “Stories of Exile” Reading Groups for Public Libraries is made possible by a gift from Sharon Karmazin.

 

 

Dec
6
Wed
Computer Class: Online Safety
Dec 6 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Ever wonder how to stay safe online? Join UCPL for a free computer class that highlights tips for better password creation, staying safe online, and recognizing online scams. This class will be held in the new Makerspace at University City Public Library (please be aware that the Makerspace is on the second level of the building and that our elevator is currently out-of-order). Spaces for this event are limited; email reference@ucitylibrary.org to reserve your spot. Chromebooks will be provided for the training. Adults only.

Dec
7
Thu
Yoga at the Library
Dec 7 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Join us Thursdays at 6 p.m. in the auditorium for a free one-hour yoga class. Taught by independent yoga instructor Paul Cunningham, the class is open to all levels of yoga practitioners. Cunningham will teach basic-level yoga postures, breathwork, and dynamic movements designed to increase range of mobility in our joints and muscles. Options will be offered for increased challenge for those who want to go deeper into poses, as well as variations to make poses more accessible as needed.

The yoga class is intended for adults and teens. Please bring your own yoga mat. To register, please call the reference desk at 314-727-3150 or email reference@ucitylibrary.org.

Dec
11
Mon
Orcs & Aliens Book Group
Dec 11 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Join us for a lively discussion of Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11 in the UCPL makerspace. For information, email Kara at kkrekeler@ucitylibrary.org.

Dec
12
Tue
Online Author Event: Stephanie Land
Dec 12 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Join us for a free online chat with New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Land as she talks to us about her new memoir, Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education.

When Stephanie Land set out to write her first book, a memoir titled Maid, she never could have imagined what was to come. Handpicked by President Barack Obama as one of the best books of 2019, it was later adapted into the hit Netflix series Maid, which was viewed by 67 million households and was Netflix’s fourth most-watched show in 2021, garnering three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Stephanie’s escape from poverty and abuse in search of a better life inspired millions. Maid was a story about a housecleaner, but it was also a story about a woman with a dream.

In Class, Land takes us with her as she finishes college and pursues her writing career. Facing barriers at every turn, including a byzantine loan system, not having enough money for food, and navigating the judgments of professors and fellow students who didn’t understand the demands of attending college while under the poverty line—Land finds a way to survive once again, finally graduating in her mid-thirties.

Class paints an intimate and heartbreaking portrait of motherhood as it converges and often conflicts with personal desire and professional ambition. In clear, candid, and moving prose, Class offers a searing indictment of America’s educational system and an inspiring testimony of a mother’s triumph against all odds.

Register now!

Dec
13
Wed
Computer Class: Email Basics
Dec 13 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Visit UCPL for a free computer class that highlights basic email functionality, including password creation, organizing files, and how to keep your account safe. This class will be held in the new Makerspace at University City Public Library (*please be aware that the Makerspace is on the second level of the building and that our elevator is currently out-of-order). Spaces for this event are limited; email reference@ucitylibrary.org to reserve your spot. Chromebooks will be provided for the training. Adults only.

Dec
14
Thu
Yoga at the Library
Dec 14 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Join us Thursdays at 6 p.m. in the auditorium for a free one-hour yoga class. Taught by independent yoga instructor Paul Cunningham, the class is open to all levels of yoga practitioners. Cunningham will teach basic-level yoga postures, breathwork, and dynamic movements designed to increase range of mobility in our joints and muscles. Options will be offered for increased challenge for those who want to go deeper into poses, as well as variations to make poses more accessible as needed.

The yoga class is intended for adults and teens. Please bring your own yoga mat. To register, please call the reference desk at 314-727-3150 or email reference@ucitylibrary.org.

Dec
20
Wed
UCity Book Group
Dec 20 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Join us for a lively discussion of The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 20 in the auditorium. For more information, email pjwall@ucitylibrary.org.

Dec
21
Thu
Yoga at the Library
Dec 21 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Join us Thursdays at 6 p.m. in the auditorium for a free one-hour yoga class. Taught by independent yoga instructor Paul Cunningham, the class is open to all levels of yoga practitioners. Cunningham will teach basic-level yoga postures, breathwork, and dynamic movements designed to increase range of mobility in our joints and muscles. Options will be offered for increased challenge for those who want to go deeper into poses, as well as variations to make poses more accessible as needed.

The yoga class is intended for adults and teens. Please bring your own yoga mat. To register, please call the reference desk at 314-727-3150 or email reference@ucitylibrary.org.