Jersey City Free Public Library

Happy Pride Month from JCFPL! 🌈

At JCFPL, we are committed to providing a welcoming, respectful, and inclusive space where everyone feels seen, valued, and supported. Libraries play an important role in bringing communities together, fostering understanding, and ensuring access to information and resources for people of all backgrounds and identities. 📚

Pride Month is a time to celebrate the history, achievements, resilience, and contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals and communities. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the importance of inclusion, equity, and respect for all. At JCFPL, we believe that everyone deserves a place where they can learn, connect, and be themselves.✨

This Pride Month, we invite you to explore our LGBTQ+ resources, programs and join the Pride 365 Reading Challenge!🏳️‍🌈📖🏳️‍⚧️

Discover book recommendations and activities that highlight diverse voices, experiences, and perspectives while celebrating the uniqueness of every individual. Log your reading and completed activities to earn badges along the way. 🏅

Together, we can help create a community where everyone feels welcome, represented, and empowered to share their stories. We look forward to celebrating Pride with you this month and throughout the year! 📚✨🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Our Cunningham Branch Library celebrated AAPI Heritage Month with a K-Pop Demon Hunters dance class where patrons learned new moves, had fun, and let their talents shine. 💃✨🕺🏽

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month is a time to recognize and celebrate the rich histories, cultures, contributions, and achievements of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders who have helped shape our communities and country.

A special thank you to and everyone who joined us to celebrate, dance, learn, and build community together. We loved seeing so much energy and joy on the dance floor! 🫶🎶

Juneteenth Jubilation: An Evening with Jason Reynolds ✨📚

Join Jersey City Free Public Library for a special Juneteenth celebration featuring #1 New York Times bestselling author and MacArthur Fellow Jason Reynolds. ✍️

Known for acclaimed works including Long Way Down, Stamped, Look Both Ways, and the Track series, Reynolds has received numerous honors including the Newbery, Printz, Coretta Scott King, and NAACP Image Awards.
This powerful evening will be moderated by educator, cultural commentator, and youth advocate Janine Brown of Brown Brilliance. 🗣️

This is a free event, but it is made possible through the support of our community.💙

Every author visit, every youth program, every cultural experience at the library exists because people believe in this work.💛

Your donation helps us:

• Bring nationally recognized authors to Jersey City
• Expand youth and teen programming across all 12 library locations
• Provide free, high-quality experiences for all residents

Link in bio to donate to the Jersey City Free Public Library Foundation and reserve your free ticket to the main event.

📍 Main Event Details
📅 Thursday, June 18
⏰ 6:30 PM
📍 Saint Peter’s University – Dinneen Hall, McIntyre Room
2641 John F. Kennedy Blvd, Jersey City, NJ 07306

Join us for an inspiring evening of conversation, culture, and community as we honor Juneteenth through literature, reflection, and joy. ❤️🖤💚

The JCFPL Curious Pint is back, and this one is going to be unforgettable. ✨

We’re beyond proud to partner with Liberty Science Center’s LSC After Dark for an extraordinary evening under the stars. 🌌

FOR A LIMITED TIME: Tickets are BOGO - buy one, get one FREE! Bring a friend, date, coworker, or fellow book lover and experience the magic together. 🎟️

Join us for a night out at one of Jersey City’s crown jewels: a world-class museum featuring the largest planetarium in the country. The perspective alone will take your breath away. 🪐

This June, experience an evening of literature, music, and magic with the incredible Dr. Melanie R. Hill — scholar, author, and violinist. Dr. Hill will be signing copies of her new book, Colored Women Sittin’ on High: Womanist Sermonic Practice in Literature and Music, leading a powerful book talk, and performing live on violin. From Zora Neale Hurston to Aretha Franklin, from Toni Morrison to Ms. Lauryn Hill, this evening celebrates Black women as the virtuosic alchemists of our time. ✍️📖🎻

And of course, it’s The Curious Pint, so drinks & refreshments will be available for purchase all night long. 🍹

🔞 This is a 21+ event, please have your ID ready!

🚌 The JCFPL Bookmobile will also be making an appearance.

🎟️ JCFPL library card holders who attend will unlock discounts for future LSC After Dark events.

💛 Every ticket purchased supports both JCFPL and Liberty Science Center and their missions.

This is more than a night out. It’s community, culture, and curiosity all in one place. Don’t miss it. Let us know who you’re bringing in the comments! 🌟

🔗 Grab your tickets now — link in bio!

Join us for a special book release and discussion celebrating author and photographer Kurt Boone’s latest photobook, George Floyd Square. Boone will be joined by activist, community leader, and brother of George Floyd, Terrence Floyd. Floyd is the founder of the organization dedicated to preserving George Floyd’s memory through outreach focused on mental health and social justice. Together, they will explore the deeper meaning behind the work and reflect on the ongoing movement it represents. The conversation will be moderated by arts and culture writer Jamara Wakefield, founder of IntheWakeMedia.tv. 📖🗣️

Come be part of this powerful dialogue at the intersection of art, activism, and community.💙💛

Link in bio to register. 📚

Apply to be the first Youth Poet Laureate of Jersey City! 📝

In collaboration with Urban Word NYC (home of the National Youth Poet Laureate), the Jersey City Free Public Library is launching the city’s first-ever Youth Poet Laureate program. We’re inviting all creative writers ages 13–18 who live in Jersey City to apply and share their work! 📖

After the application closes, a panel of judges will select 12 finalists to participate in a five-week poetry performance workshop series. The workshops will build toward a live, onstage final round of judging where each finalist will perform a poem, and one poet will be named the first Jersey City Youth Poet Laureate. All finalists will be honored for their creativity and dedication to our community. ✍️

The Youth Poet Laureate will receive a $500 award and opportunities to perform their work around Jersey City. They will also receive the optional opportunity to compete for the National Youth Poet Laureate title. The inaugural poet of the national program was Amanda Gorman in 2017. 🥇

The Jersey City Youth Poet Laureate will serve the city for one year. ✨

Apply now! (Link in bio). 🔗
Application closes June 30,2026.