Richards Free Library

Engage, Enrich, Entertain

Children's Programs

RFL October Calendar

To download the calendar, scroll to the bottom of this post!

10/1 Needle Felting (Kids age 6-11) Drop-in between 1 and 4.
Learn how to needle felt or practice your skills! Make an acorn decoration out of wool or try your own project!

10/6 – 10/8 Leaf Pictures (Kids age 6-11) Drop in during typical library hours. 
Stop by the children’s room to make your own picture with a leaf-rubbing using real fall leaves.

10/7 Temporary Tattoo Creation (Grades 6-12) 3pm.
Come use our stencils and skin safe markers or make your own designs.

10/8 LEGO Day (Kids age 6-11) Drop-in 2-4pm. 
Let your imagination loose to build anything at all with the library’s LEGOs.

10/8 TAB Meeting (Teens and tweens ages 11-18) 3pm. 
We encourage those interested to join the Teen Advisory Board to help plan programs and events at the library.

10/10 Newport Rec Building Play Group story time (kids) 10-11am.
We’ll be hanging out and reading stories at the Rec’s play group! Stop in and play and listen.

10/14 Kid’s crafts with popsicle sticks (kids) 3:30-4:30.
Come up to the dePaola Children’s Program Room to experiment with popsicle stick crafts like Pom Pom Catapults and picture frames.

10/16 The Scam Landscape: Staying Safe! (adults) 5:30PM.
Presented by AARP NH Speakers Bureau and the Newport Police Departmen
AARP will be here for a scam presentation that talks about fraud trends, key warning signs, ways to protect ourselves. The program is open to everyone, not just people 50+!

10/16 Adult Craft: Create Your Own Book Jacket (adults) 6:00PM.
Celebrating National Book Month
Everyone has their favorite book, the one that you reread over and over.  Now’s your chance to design your very own book jacket!  Your artistic creations will cover the books and be put on display in the library for everyone to appreciate.

10/16 Sunshine Knitting Club (adults) 6:00PM.
Meets monthly on the 3rd Thursday of the month
Free to join for everyone! Bring your needles or hook and some yarn!

10/20 LEGO Day (Kids age 6-11) Drop in 2-4pm. 
Let your imagination loose to build anything at all with the library’s LEGOs.

10/21 Board Games (Grades 6-12) 3pm. 
play board games from our collection with your friends!

10/22 Notebook Decorating (kids and teens) 2:30-4pm.
Decorate a notebook with stickers, paper, coloring supplies, and more.

10/23 Spooky Movie Night: “The Witch” (2015) (adults) 5:30PM.
Celebrate Halloween with a screening of Robert Egger’s “The Witch” (2015).  A tale of one Puritan family’s experiences in the woods of colonial New England, this film is perfect to wrap up “Spooky Season” 2025!
Please note that viewer discretion is advised.

10/23 Poetry Group (adults) 7:00PM.
Meets monthly on the 4th Thursday of the month
Whether you write, read or simply enjoy listening to poetry come join us for a relaxed evening as we share poetry together. 

10/24 Keep Sarah Warm Kick off and Yarn Swap (all welcome) Drop-in 2-4pm.
We begin to accept scarf pieces (and it’s Sarah’s Birthday). Pick up and drop off yarn as crafters begin to bring in pieces for the community knit scarf!

10/27 Stitch-for-a-bit 2pm.
This is a craft meet-up group, where you can bring your work and socialize.

10/28 Historic (Haunted) Library Tour (families, small groups, and the general public) 4:30. 
Join Mo for a tour of the building featuring the history of the house, the family, and the ghosts.

10/29 Mini Pumpkin Painting (For kids and teens) 2:30-4pm. 
Decorate a tiny pumpkin to take home for Spooky week!

10/30 Ghosts of Mount Washington (adults) 6:00PM.
Presented by Marianne O’Connor
Author Marianne O’Connor will be presenting the memorials of Mount Washington, some of which are said to be haunted by supernatural beings.  Marianne will share stories related to “The Presence.”  Some believe it to be a spiritual being related to the many deaths on the infamous mountain!

10/31 Trick-or-Treat for books all day, 10-6pm. Stop by in your Halloween costume to trick or treat for children’s books.

10/31 Historic (Haunted) Library Tour (families, small groups, and the general public) 4:30. 
Join Mo for a tour of the building featuring the history of the house, the family, and the ghosts.

10/31 Scarf Put-together! 2:00.
Assembly sessions each Friday leading up to the Keep Sarah Warm wrap up, where crafters can help assemble the pieces of the scarf together and add to our “contributors” list! This will be repeated weekly until the end of this project, November 21st.

Wednesdays Family Storytime! 11am.
Everyone is welcome at this traditional Storytime with singing and stories! Babies and children up to age 5 will find something to enjoy.

Some Thursdays Teen Hang Out (Teens grades 6-12) 2:30-4pm. Teens grades 6-12 are welcome to join a librarian in the Elaine Frank room on the third floor to hang out, draw, write, color, read, or just chat.

October 2025 Official (4)Download

Project R.A.B.B.I.T. Read Aloud Night!

On May 29th at 5:00pm, join the library and the Richards School PTO for an evening of family fun, celebrating reading and literacy! Discover the old Newport tradition called Project RABBIT– which stands for Read A Book Because It’s Terrific. Special guests from the community like Fire Chief Yannuzzi will join us to read aloud some picture books, and the Richards PTO will bring snacks!

Bring a book or two to trade at our gently used Book Swap– it’s a great way to trade books your child has outgrown for something at their new level to keep challenging them to keep reading! Invite your kid’s friends’ families to meet you here, so the kids can be surrounded by friends as we all celebrate how important books, reading, and literacy are to us!

Author Visit with Marek Bennett, graphic novel author/illustrator

LOCATION CHANGE
Due to forecasted rain, we’ll hold this event at the Newport Rec gym at 65 Belknap Ave, just down the side-street from the library.
The whole family is invited to meet graphic novel author/illustrator Marek Bennett! The Children’s Literacy Foundation, (CLiF) is sponsoring this visit for the Richards Free Library and Library Arts Center, as well as providing 2 free books to children who attend. Join us at the gym for the perfect rainy-day activity!

How to Do Summer Reading 2024

Our Summer Reading Program, “Adventure Begins at Your Library” begins on June 27th at 10:30 am with a free family concert on the library side lawn, and ends on August 8th with our Ice Cream and Tie-Dye party at 3pm.

Our goal during the 6 weeks of summer reading is to get as many people as possible to read all summer long. Children who read regularly during the summer are much less likely to suffer from Summer Learning Loss, and go into the next school year ready to learn! We want to show Newport kids how many people are reading with them this summer, so we’re using animal stickers!

We’ll see how many animal friends we can get to join our quest on the big bulletin board in the Children’s Room. For every day that someone spends time reading, they’ll add a critter sticker to this week’s Quest Board section. At the end of each week, we’ll add the section to the Quest Board, and see how much closer our big group of animal buddies has gotten to the end of the Quest! By the end of the summer, we should have a TON of animal friends along for the ride. How many can you add?

We want kids to be extra motivated to read, so kids get a brag-tag necklace when they register for summer reading, and every day they read earns a bead to add to the necklace! 5 days of reading will earn the chance to pick out a special fancy bead as well as a prize book from our cart, and 10 days of reading earn a fancy bead and a McDonald’s Icecream coupon. People who read every day during the 6 weeks of our summer program will earn our wild admiration, as well as an individual little s’mores kit to make a summer adventure a little bit sweeter!

Come to the library often to show us your reading progress and earn your prizes! You’ll love our busy calendar of events for youth of all ages, as well as some for adults!