Community Calendar

WonderLab will be open on Martin Luther King Day with half-priced admission. While visiting, WonderLab will be having a Diaper Drive and Sock drive. Give back by donating diapers sizes 3-6, wipes and socks. Donation boxes for both drives will be available to the front desk from December 2, 2025 to January 19, 2026, during WonderLab’s open hours. Play, explore, and give back—let’s make a difference together! WonderLab will be open Monday, January 19, 2026, from 9am to 5pm.

Join the City of Bloomington for the 2026 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration event on Monday, January 19, 2026 at the Buskirk Chumley Theater. This year’s theme "Soul, Spirit, and Sacrifice: Honoring the Legacy of Coretta Scott King and the Women Who Faced America to Save U.S.," will feature community leaders, a performance by world-renown mezzo-soprano Marietta Simpson, and an inspiring keynote speech from Dr. Traci Parker.

This free, un-ticketed event will begin at 6:00 P.M. with doors opening at 5:30 P.M. For more information, please visit bton.in/mlk2026.

This event will also include the presentation of the 2026 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award. The award recognizes individuals, businesses, or organizations whose work reflects the values exemplified by Dr. King.

For more information, please contact Aubrey Seader, Staff Liaison, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration Commission at mlk@bloomington.in.gov or call 812-349-3433.

Baby Brilliance is a weekly program for infants / pre-walkers and their caregivers. Each week participants will explore themes related to infant development. Inspired by the book, “Experimenting with Babies,” by Shaun Gallagher.

Recommended Ages Infants / pre-walkers and their caregivers - walkers should attend Discovery Time for more appropriate content. Older siblings are always welcome.

Dates
Weekly on Tuesdays

Times
10 - 10:30am

Event Price Free for Members / Free with Museum Admission

Baby Brilliance is a weekly program for infants / pre-walkers and their caregivers. Each week participants will explore themes related to infant development. Inspired by the book, “Experimenting with Babies,” by Shaun Gallagher.

Recommended Ages Infants / pre-walkers and their caregivers - walkers should attend Discovery Time for more appropriate content. Older siblings are always welcome.

Dates
Weekly on Tuesdays

Times
10 - 10:30am

Event Price Free for Members / Free with Museum Admission

Join us for an evening with poet, dramatist, and biographer Daniel Mark Epstein in celebration of his latest book, Constellations: The Collected Poems of Daniel Mark Epstein.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Daniel Mark Epstein’s poetry has been in the public eye for nearly sixty years, since the magazine publication of the poems in his groundbreaking first book, No Vacancies in Hell (1973). Critics praise the erotic and spiritual lyricism of his poetry, as well as its power in capturing crucial moments of American history in dramatic monologues, including prize-winning portraits of a yellow fever epidemic and Henry Adams’s tragic marriage.

Of The Traveler’s Calendar (2002), Booklist commented, “Biographies of Nat King Cole and Edna St. Vincent Millay have won Epstein greater renown, but his best writing is his mythically and historically haunted poetry.” The critic Adam Kirsch called Dawn to Twilight (2015), a selection of Epstein’s lyric poems, “a testament to the achievement of a major American poet.”

Constellations collects, for the first time, the nine books of poems published by a modern master of lyric, dramatic, and narrative poetry. A stirring selection of new work includes the sonnet sequence “Cruel April: Poems from the Pandemic,” which inspired a 2020 short film featuring Tyne Daly.

The monthly meeting of the Morgenstern Books Weird Fiction Book Club is hosted by teacher and fiction expert, Harrison! The read for January is You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue.

The Spencer Pride Banned Book Club is a program of Spencer Pride, an LGBTQ+ center located in Spencer, Indiana. We meet monthly to discuss books that have been challenged or banned. Our meetings occur on the fourth Thursday of every month (modified for holidays) at 5:30pm at Morgenstern Books and online. If you would like more information, contact Julie@spencerpride.org.

The read for January is The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Description: Discovery Time activities are designed by early childhood specialists specifically to nurture and challenge the rapid development of preschool-aged children in a fun, safe, and collaborative learning environment. Activities vary monthly.

Recommended Ages: Children ages 2 - 6 and their caregivers

Dates: Weekly on Fridays (beginning January 9)

Times :11 - 11:30am

Event Price: Free for Members / Free with Museum Admission

Admission Prices:
-Member: FREE
-Non-member: $14.50
-Access pass: $5

Mother Hubbard's Cupboard will host over 20 chefs from throughout our local community. Sample each chili; vote for the chili you think should earn the People's Choice Award; see our panel of judges deliberate and determine who has the best overall, best vegetarian, and most creative chilis. ​Try the unique Hoosier pairing of chili and cinnamon rolls with rolls from Two Sticks Bakery. Cool down your palate between chilis with ice cream from Chocolate Moose. Purchase beverages from Upland's bar. Tickets at the door or online.

Join the Wylie House Museum for a free, family-friendly, all-ages activity in the Morton C Bradley education center!
Cold temperatures are very important for some of our native plant species! They need something called "cold stratification" to root and bloom in the spring. Join us to make native seed paper you can plant now (or give to a friend!) to prep for spring and summer flowers.

https://events.iu.edu/libraries/all/tags/Crafternoons