Join us in the lobby for a fun night with Deer Isle and the Blue Hill Peninsula’s family of local artists.

Are you interested in performing?

Sign up ahead of time for up to a 10-minute or 3-song slot.

Walk-ins also welcome, subject to availability.  

Join the Friend Memorial Public Library for the Groundbreaking of the expansion! This event is free and open to all, and will have light refreshment and activities for kids.

See more information here.

• Joseph Haydn
  String Quartet No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 76, “Sunrise”

• Billy Childs
  String Quartet No. 4

• Antonin Dvořák
  String Quartet No.13 in G major, Op. 106

Tickets available here.

Brooklin Food Corps workshop: Come celebrate the return of spring and the reopening of our Seed Library! A roundtable of gardeners will share their favorite seed varieties to help you get your garden going. This year’s seed-saving endeavor will be herbs, so we will teach folks how to grow herbs and save seeds from them -- and we’ll also make our own windowsill herb boxes to take home and enjoy. We’ll be on hand to walk you through the Seed Library’s features and offerings and, of course, we will have herb-infused snacks! Free and open to all.

Join us for No Kings in Castine. All ages welcome and for those who don’t want to march, there will be seating on the Common.

The march starts at Fort George (Battle Ave. & Wadsworth Cove Rd.) with singing resistance and ends at the Town Common (Court & School St.) where speakers, including Representative Nina Milliken, music and resilience take place. Parking on nearby streets and designated lots.

On this national day of resistance, come be with us as we stand out for democracy and the rule of law in historic Castine.

A Peaceful Protest

This event is part of a nationwide effort to gather in peace and solidarity as citizens of this country to assert that the power in the US belongs to the people. We'll provide you with encouraging and inspirational words and you will return home with specific actions to take to prevent this presidency from becoming a monarchy. Plus there'll be a SURPRISE to experience that will put a smile on your face! Join us!

Stonington Opera House presents a Welcome Spring Contra Dance!

Kick off your snow & mud boots and dance the night away with the band BAMU (former members of Bagaduce Northern New England Ensemble), playing traditional fiddle tunes (with a twist at times).

All levels welcome. No need for a partner.

Come join the fun!

www.operahouse.org. healthyislandproject@gmail.com

Rene Colson: 207-367-6332.

Homeownership is in your future! Whether a few months or years away, we can help you make the dream a reality. 

Interested in learning more ahead of the panel? Get in touch with the Island Connectivity Hub. Email info@islandconnectivityhub.org or call 207-200-1521.

Panelists can offer general homebuyer advice and answer questions specific to our area. 

Please RSVP: visit bit.ly/islebehome, email gupham@su76.org, or call 207-656-6262.

The Inquisitor by Angela Tucker 

Meet Barbara Jordan: a civil rights icon whose powerful voice masked a complex private life. 

Explore the life and legacy of Barbara Jordan in The Inquisitor. Jordan was a groundbreaking Texas congresswoman whose sharp intellect and moral clarity transformed U.S. politics. From Nixon’s impeachment to civil rights battles, her voice demanded accountability, while she privately faced struggles few ever knew of.

The screening will be followed by a talk facilitated by Emilia Toth (she/her). She is the youth programs manager for League of Women Voters of Maine and Maine Students Vote. 

(63’, Engl., Engl. captions, 2026, US)

FMI and registration, please visit the library's website:
https://ellsworth.libcal.com/calendar/EPL-Events/epl-presents-an-indie-lens-pop-up-screening-of-the-inquisitor

The Blue Hill Public Library is sponsoring a screening of the documentary film a Peace of Forest on Wednesday, March 18 at 7PM in the library's Pearson Room. A Peace of Forest is the first-ever feature length wildlife movie filmed and produced in Maine.

Created in Whitefield, Maine, a Peace of Forest is a grand 87 minute film, described by audience members as, “The most beautiful film I have ever seen, exhibiting our natural world,” and “This film is a gift; it is so rich.”  

Touted as a quiet film, a Peace of Forest is a one-of-a-kind cinematic adventure, allowing viewers to experience a wild, peaceful and mysterious world that is filled with complex relationships and ways of wonder. A Peace of Forest celebrates the beauty and intimacy of wildlife in Maine with surprising, tender, and exquisite interactions of wildlife during undisturbed moments in Maine’s natural world. The film makers and producers, Lee Ann and Thomas Szelog, will host a Q&A with the audience immediately following the movie.

The film has a runtime of 87 minutes, and is free and open to all as part of the Robert K. and Linda B. Slaven Events Series, which began in 2020 in recognition of gifts made to the Blue Hill Public Library’s Campaign for Endowment from the Anahata Foundation. The goal of the series is to bring diverse and previously inaccessible events on a variety of topics to the Blue Hill Peninsula. 

For more information, please contact the library at 374-5515 or email Assistant Director Kayleigh Thomas at kayleigh.thomas@bhpl.net. 

You’re invited! Join the Word community for camaraderie and conversation. No agenda, just talking writing, reading, and life. Order a drink or some nosh and settle in with like-minded friends, new and old.

Gather, a long-time Maine Writers and Publishers Association program, offers writers at all levels of experience six opportunities a year to get together and takes place simultaneously at various sites around the state on the third Wednesday of alternate months. Gather events are not open readings, manuscript exchanges or organized writing-prompt sessions, but offer opportunities for the literary-minded to meet and plan any of those things and more.

We’ll meet at 6 p.m., Wednesday March 18 at
Marlintini’s Bar and Grill, 83 Mines Road, Blue Hill
No reservations are necessary.

Splish Splash! Do you have what it takes to be a fish farmer? Come join Tess from the University of Maine 4-H to be the next future fish farmer!  On Wednesday, March 18th from 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm at the Blue Hill Public Library, youth will have a chance to test their fish-herding skills with a fin-tastic hands-on activity. We'll collect, test, and decipher if the water quality of mystery samples is good enough for our beloved pet fish. Youth will also walk away with some basic knowledge about fish health! What a way to spend an afternoon!

UMaine Cooperative Extension is your doorway to University of Maine expertise. For over 100 years, they've been putting university research to work in homes, businesses, farms, and communities — in every corner of Maine. Their educational efforts focus on the Maine Food System and Positive Youth Development through 4-H programs with a focus on the STEM disciplines. They are part of the nationwide Cooperative Extension System, which works through the land-grant universities in each U.S. state.

Coastal Kids Science Series with 4-H is a monthly program where youth can dive deep into the natural wonder of water.  From learning about amazing marine animal adaptations, to exploring the roles of Maine's working waterfront - we've got something for everyone!  This program is free and cosponsored by the library and the UMaine Cooperative Extension. For more information, contact Youth Services Librarian Claire at claire.malina@bhpl.net or call 374-5515.

Join your neighbors and meet new friends at the Surry Contra Dance!

6-7pm Community Dance: easy and fun family-friendly dances. Dance or join the Open Band! No charge, donations welcome.
7-10pm Contra Dance: all dances are instructed, no partner or experience is needed! $15-$25 suggested, under 18s pay 1/2 their age.

These dances are year-round, every 2nd Saturday of the month at the Surry School, 754 North Bend Rd. Chem-free event!

See performer schedule and get more info at surrycontra.org or follow on FB / IG

Brooklin Food Corps workshop: Molly DellaRoman and Tim Skillen from 5 Star Nursery and Orchard will demonstrate how to prune fruit trees for health and good fruit production. Bring tools if you have them, but we will have some to share. This is very hands on, so work gloves and safety glasses (or sunglasses) are recommended. Free and open to all. (Rain/snow date, March 15.)

Now in Blue Hill! This new Beginners Contra Dance series is a small, casual contra dance, suitable for newbies and experienced dancers alike! Dance or join in the open band with any instrument. $5 suggested. Chem-free event!

These dances are the 2nd & 4th Thursdays of the month at the Congo Church, 22 Tenney Hill, Blue Hill. See calendar at surrycontra.org or follow @SurryContraDance on FB / IG

This dance is part of the Surry Contra Dance series. Join us every 2nd Saturday of the month for the full contra experience!

Join us for this devotional practice of chanting the names of the divine and singing sacred songs.

Open to everyone. Bring instruments. Meet in the Sanctuary. Suggested donation: $3-$5 (for church rental)

The library is sponsoring a series of discussions with Denis Sweet, a former teacher at Bates College, investigating our current moment by making use of contemporary and classic writings in literature, social criticism, biology, and philosophy.  This session of meetings will take place on Tuesday mornings at 10AM in the library's Howard Room from February 3 to April 28.  

Kairos – a time of impending danger and instability balanced on a knife’s edge that can tip into disaster or into a new resolution. Kairos is a time that demands clarity of mind - our time. To gird ourselves, we study foundational classic and contemporary writings in philosophy, literature, social criticism, and ecology.

Radical Romanticism
Radical Romantic writers and artists in Germany from around 1790-1820 expanded the sense of what it means to be human.  They introduced the unconscious and the uncanny, and discovered profound meaning in nature. We will discuss writings by Novalis, Wackenroder, Friedrich Schlegel, Tieck, Kleist and E.T.A. Hoffmann, and paintings by Caspar David Friedrich, with the films Pan's Labyrinth and Andrei Rublev. 

To facilitate discussion, the number of participants is limited to twelve. Registration can be done through the library's online calendar. For more information, please email Assistant Director Kayleigh Thomas at kayleigh.thomas@bhpl.net or call 374-5515.

The Blue Hill Public Library is sponsoring a film and hands-on arts series with local artist and gallery-owner Margret Baldwin. Margret will host an art history film screening followed by a hands-on art project the week after. The series for 2026 will focus on abstract painters and their distinct styles. 

Georges Braque is the subject for March, and everyone is welcome to join us for a showing of Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies, with a runtime of 62 minutes on Thursday, March 12 at 6PM. This film explores the relationship between fine art and early cinema, especially as seen in the works of cubist artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

Margret is a certified art instructor with 25 years in the public school system and private teaching experience. She expanded her exposure to art and artists through her curatorial experience during eight years of employment at the Blue Hill Public Library. She has exhibited widely, and in the summer runs her neighborhood “Little Gallery” in Surry.

This program series is generously sponsored by the Friends of the Library, and is free and open to all. For more information, please contact Kayleigh at kayleigh.thomas@bhpl.net or by calling the library at 374-5515.