Join us for a special Movies on the Plaza on Friday, July 10 at 6:30 p.m. At the Main Library at

Goodwood. We will be showing  Hoppers (2026, PG). You are welcome to bring snacks, blankets, and chairs. Set-up and activities will begin around 5 p.m. Screening starts at 6:30 p.m. Popcorn and food trucks frequently make an appearance! Stay until the end for our after-movie dance party. 

Named in honor of the first recorded library cardholder in East Baton Rouge Parish, the Barrower

Challenge invites readers to take on a year-long literary journey that’s simple in concept yet rewarding in practice. Participants are challenged to read 26 books within a year—roughly one every two weeks—and submit a brief 5–7 sentence summary for each title. Completed summaries should be emailed to [email protected] for review. Those who successfully finish the challenge will be recognized with a personalized Barrower perk card, a unique badge of honor for dedicated readers.

Join us at the Main Library at Goodwood on Tuesday, July 21 at 6 p.m. for a program that will provide education and guidance on researching family history using historical records, immigration archives, census data, birth and marriage certificates, military documents, and other genealogical resources. Learn how to identify and document ancestral connections to Canada, build accurate family trees, and better understand how lineage may relate to Canadian citizenship eligibility by descent. The program is designed for individuals and families interested in preserving their heritage, reconnecting with their roots, and uncovering cross-border family history between Canada and Louisiana communities, including French-Canadian, Acadian, and Cajun ancestry.

Adults can get moving and have fun at Jump In The Line!, a lively dance series at the Main Library at Goodwood on Sundays, July 12 and July 26. On July 12 at 5 p.m., participants will learn the I Like It, I Love It and Bar Song line dances. On June 28, instructor Esther Yao will teach Chinese Dance while sharing insights into Chinese culture through movement. These energetic classes offer a fun way to exercise and stay active, so be sure to wear comfortable shoes! Registration is recommended but not required. Learn more at ebrpl.co/events.

Come to the Main Library at Goodwood on Friday, July 24 at 11 p.m. to reconnect with your inner light through joy, play, and presence. This unique meditation experience begins with laughter yoga, gentle movement, and playful elements like bubbles. We invite you to release tension, awaken your spirit, and tap into childlike wonder. From this space of openness, we’ll gradually transition into stillness with a guided meditation designed to center the mind, calm the body, and deepen your sense of inner peace. In partnership with the East Baton Rouge Public Library, this offering creates space for both expression and reflection reminding us that joy can be a powerful gateway to mindfulness. Come as you are, ready to laugh, breathe, and be.

We invite the public to the Main Library at Goodwood on Sunday, July 12, at 2:15 p.m. for an author talk with Bryan J. McCann, professor and author of The Bundy Archive: Genealogies of White Masculinity. Blending cultural criticism, true crime, and memoir, McCann examines the enduring public fascination with serial killer Ted Bundy, arguing that Bundy’s prominence stems not from his exceptional depravity but from his unsettling familiarity within American culture. Through an exploration of media, rhetoric, and popular texts that comprise what he calls “the Bundy archive,” McCann reveals how public narratives surrounding Bundy reflect broader anxieties about white masculinity, gendered violence, race, and power.

This thought-provoking discussion will offer insight into the ways popular culture grapples with violence and its lasting social implications.

The Library continues its Virtual Author Talk Series with three new authors in July! Each live, virtual event features a different bestselling author, along with an interactive Q&A session where participants can ask questions directly to the author. See July selections and dates/times below. Visit libraryc.org/ebrpl to register for these virtual events, learn about other upcoming conversations with bestselling authors, and view previous author talk recordings. For more information about these and other virtual events, visit ebrpl.co/virtual.

• Tuesday, July 14 at 6 p.m. – Join us for a thrilling evening with acclaimed author Karin

Slaughter as we chat about her North Falls series, consisting of We Are All Guilty Here, in which

two teenage girls vanish in rural Georgia, and her upcoming sequel, The Secrets We Hide.

In The Secrets We Hide, Slaughter welcomes readers back to North Falls. A small town with big

secrets...1601 Iris Drive looks like any other house on the quiet, residential street. But rumors are

rampant about the Vickery family, and what goes on behind closed doors. When gunshots ring

out, Sheriff Emmy Clifton and her sister, ex-federal agent Jude Archer, discover a devastating

crime scene. Allison Vickery has been murdered in her own kitchen, and her teenage daughter is

bleeding upstairs, left for dead. Everyone thinks they know what happened. But secrets are buried everywhere in this small town. And it’s up to Emmy Clifton to uncover the truth...

• Thursday, July 16 at 1 p.m. – In her ambitious new memoir, Migrant Heart: Essays About

Things I Can’t Forget, beloved bestselling author Reyna Grande illuminates the hidden cost of

the American Dream and the complex journey of healing that follows survival. What is the true

power of stories? Can they heal the jagged edges of a traumatic childhood? Is the cost of telling

the story worth the price of the cure? With her signature blend of sophistication and raw honesty, Grande interrogates how living between two nations, two languages, and two identities has shaped the woman, mother, and writer she has become. Moving from the legacy of violence in her hometown of Iguala, Mexico, to a bittersweet family vacation in Europe spent reconciling her own impoverished past with her children’s world of abundance, she uncovers startling truths

about the nature of survival.

• Tuesday, July 28 at 1 p.m. – Join us in virtual conversation with bestselling author Dr. Marisa

Franco, one of the world’s leading experts in human connection. Her book, Platonic: How the

Science of Attachment Can Help You Make–And Keep–Friends, explores the science of different

attachment styles and how they impact our relationships–often in ways we don’t realize!

How do we make and keep friends in an era of distraction, burnout, and chaos, especially in a

society that often prizes romantic love at the expense of other relationships? In Platonic, Dr.

Marisa G. Franco unpacks the latest, often counterintuitive findings about the bonds between

us—for example, why your friends aren’t texting you back (it’s not because they hate you!), and

the myth of “friendships happening organically” (making friends, like cultivating any

relationship, requires effort!). As Dr. Franco explains, to make and keep friends you must

understand your attachment style—secure, anxious, or avoidant: it is the key to unlocking what’s

working (and what’s failing) in your friendships.

The Baton Rouge Botanic Garden Foundation will host a FREE Garden Discoveries event at the Main Library at Goodwood on Saturday, July 11 at 10 a.m. Join Dr. Aaron Ashbrook, assistant professor of urban/peri-urban entomology at LSU, for an engaging talk Recognizing and Managing Common Garden Pests. Registration is available at ebrpl.co/events or call 231-3750 for registration assistance.

Looking for a low-maintenance plant that never needs watering? This craft might be for you. Join us at the Central Branch on Wednesday, July 8 at 3 p.m. as we create a miniature plant from beads. Registration is required.

Learn about America as you search for photos of historic artifacts and beautiful locations! If you find them all, you win a prize and a special button! Available all month.

On Monday, July 13 at 5:30 p.m., South Branch Library will host a screening of Literary Legends of

Louisiana, a 40 minute documentary from the PBS Books series American Stories: A Reading Road Trip. Help celebrate America’s 250th birthday by exploring Louisiana’s rich literary connections. Following the screening, local author P.M. LaRose will discuss his own contributions to Louisiana literature. Mr. LaRose is the author of nine books in the Beers Detective Agency series and one standalone novel, The Bum.

For more information or to see a complete listing of events, call (225) 231-3750 or visit us online at www.ebrpl.com.

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