Since 1973, the Friends has presented an annual program series to educate and enrich the public and to encourage meaningful civic dialogue. Our programs may include lectures, author readings, demonstrations, performances and recitals. In addition to producing events of interest to adults, we underwrite programs for children that are produced by the library staff.

Each year, a committee of volunteers selects and organizes the adult series, which typically begins in the fall and ends with our annual meeting in June. Many of our programs are videotaped by The Needham Channel and may be seen on the library’s YouTube channel or The Needham Channel’s YouTube channel.

Our programs are free and all are welcome. Most take place in the Library’s Community Room from 2-3:30 PM on Sunday afternoons.

Registration is required, but we are happy to seat drop-ins as space permits. Programs are listed below and on the library’s Events Calendar. You can also download a Printable PDF file of the complete schedule.

Click here for directions to the Library.

If you enter the Library through the main entrance from the Rosemary Street parking lot, the Community Room is just inside the doors and to the right.

If you enter the Library through the Highland Avenue entrance, the Community Room is on the lower level on the opposite side of the building.

We hope you’ll join us!

2026-2027 Programs

Tuesday, Novevember 17, 2026, 7:00 PM
Author Nathaniel Philbrick, “The Rush”
National Book Award winner Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea and Mayflower, discusses his new book revealing how California’s Gold Rush forged the modern United States—and lit the long fuse to the civil war. Mr. Philbrick will appear in conversation with filmmaker Randall MacLowry, whose work for the GBH/PBS American Experience series includes the documentary “The Gold Rush.” Location: Powers Hall, Needham Town Hall. Presented in collaboration with the Needham Free Public Library. Details and registration.

Sunday, November 22, 2026, 2:00–3:30 PM
Historian William Leeman, “John Paul Jones: Father of the American Navy”
Dr. Leeman, a Salve Regina University professor, discusses his book, The Long Road to Annapolis, telling the story of Jones, a Scottish émigré who became a daring sea captain of the Revolutionary War. A naval professional who advocated for better education and training for American naval officers, he was forgotten by the American people. In the early 20^th century, President Theodore Roosevelt gained public support for a large and powerful U.S. Navy by reclaiming Jones as “Father of the American Navy”. Details and registration

Sunday, January 10, 2027, 2:00–3:30 PM
Actors Stephen Collins and Jerry Bisantz, “Two Guys Walk into a Theater”
It’s a guy thing! In scene and song, stage veterans Stephen Collins and Jerry Bisantz present a theatrical journey examining the role of the American Male in the Great American Theater. What is it to be a man in today’s world?  What was it in the past? Comic to poignant, this fast-paced show will entertain you while bringing back memories and looking into the future of the American Male. It’s “man-splaining” at its most entertaining.

Sunday, February 7, 2027, 2:00–3:30 PM
Historian Kellie Carter Jackson, “We Refuse”
Dr. Jackson, a Wellesley College professor, discusses her recent book, We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance, in which she radically reframes the past and present of Black resistance to white supremacy. Drawing on American history and stories from her own family, she urges readers to move past the simple binary of violence vs. nonviolence. She illuminates the full breadth of Black responses to white oppression. 

Sunday, March 14, 2027, 2:00–3:30 PM
Boston Globe Food Editor Esther Mobley, “What We’re Eating Now” 
What are Americans – in particular, Bostonians – eating now? Boston Globe Food Editor Esther Mobley chews over changing tastes in food and eating habits. Whither red meat? Plant-based proteins? Cocktails and mocktails? Solo dining, vegan restaurant chains and home cooking? Plus: confessions of a former California wine critic.

Sunday, April 11, 2027, 2:00–3:30 PM
Wellesley College Professor Vernon Shetley, “Noir in Cinema Today”
In the 1940s and 50s film noir explored the dark side of American life: hard-boiled detectives, femme fatales, corruption in the gritty metropolis.  In the 1970s, the style was revived, and in the decades since it has remained a key element of America cinema.  This presentation by Dr. Shetley of Wellesley College will explore neo-noir filmmaking from the 1970s revival to the present day, focusing on its combination of glamor and squalor, beauty and violence, romance and despair.

Sunday, June 13, 2027, 2:00-3:30 PM
Historian/Librarian Karin Wulf, “Genealogy and the Power of Connection”
Dr. Wulf, Brown University professor and author of Lineage: The Power and Promise of Genealogy in Early America, reveals that back in the 18th century, long before Internet-aided research, Americans were already fixated on genealogy. Family histories were deeply meaningful for diverse early Americans, who baked it into the very structures of the society they created through law, politics, and religion. Learn about the role of genealogy then, and its impact now.

Here’s a look back at our past programs

Friends Programs 2025-2026:

• Sunday, September 21, 2025, 2:00–3:30 PM
  Author/Neuroscientist Susan Rogers, “Individuality and the Music-Listening Brain”
• Sunday, October 19, 2025, 2:00–3:30 PM
  Author/Activist Margaret Gullette, “American Eldercide and Ageism Today”
• Sunday, December 7, 2025, 2:00–3:30 PM
  Professor Tavi Raphael Gonzalez, “Dorothy Johnson and the Harlem Renaissance”
• Sunday, January 11, 2026, 2:00–3:30 PM
  Flavor Scientist/Author Ariel Johnson, “Flavorama”
• Sunday, February 8, 2026, 2:00–3:30 PM
  Public History Scholar Dr. Kyera Singleton, “Slavery in Massachusetts”
• Sunday, March 1, 2026, 2:00–3:30 PM
  NOVA Executive Producer Chris Schmidt, “Bringing Science to the Public”
• Sunday, April 26, 2026, 2:00-3:30 PM
  Author Emily Franklin, “Writing Fiction about Real Women”
• Sunday, June 7, 2026, 2:00-3:30 PM
  Trevor Smith, Landscape Designer and Educator, “Regenerative Gardening in Today’s World”

Friends Programs 2024-2025:

• Sunday, October 13, 2024, 2:00–3:30 PM
  Author Wayne R. Petersen, “The State of Massachusetts Birds”
• Sunday, November 3, 2024, 2:00–3:30 PM
  Author Mimi Baird, “He Wanted the Moon”
• Sunday, January 12, 2025, 2:00–3:30 PM
  Author/Critic Sebastian Smee, “Impressionism, War, Strife and Secret Romance”
• Sunday, February 9, 2025, 2:00–3:30 PM
  Educator Dr. Ted Landsmark, “Racism in Boston: How Far Have We Come?”
• Sunday, March 2, 2025, 2:00–3:30 PM
  Historian Dr. Paul Fischer, “Mysterious Doings in Boston: William, Alice and Henry James Meet Séance Spiritualism”
• Sunday, April 27, 2025, 2:00–3:30 PM
  GBH Executive Producer Susanne Simpson, “Inside MASTERPIECE: Behind the Scenes”
• Sunday, June 8, 2025, 2:00-3:30 PM
  Author/Musician Dr. Warren Zanes, “Putting Music to Words: A Biographer’s Story”

Friends Programs 2023-2024:

• Sunday, October 29, 2023, 2–3:30 PM – Paul Fisher, PhD, The Grand Affair: John Singer Sargent in His World
• Sunday, November 12, 2023, 2–3:30 PM – Peter O’Neil, Frederica Saylor Lalonde and Jeanne Hopkins, “News Flash: Needhamites Revive Local Journalism”
• Sunday, January 14, 2024, 2–3:30 PM – Maureen O’Connor, PsyD, “Successful Brain Aging: Understanding the Latest Science”
• Sunday, February 4, 2024, 2–3:30 PM – Imari Paris Jeffries, “Embrace Boston”
• Sunday, March 3, 2024, 2–3:30 PM – Author Stephen McCauley, “Public Libraries, Pseudonyms, and Valley of the Dolls: One Writer’s Journey”
• Sunday, April 7, 2024, 2–3:30 PMArtist Lisa Rosowsky, “Art as Storytelling”
• Thursday, June 6, 2024, 7:30–9 PM – Emily Norton, “The State of the Charles River”

Friends Programs 2022-2023:

• Sunday, October 23, 2022, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Film Producer/Director Eric Stange and Team, “Pony Boys”.
• Sunday, November 6, 2022, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Author Marjan Kamali, The Stationery Shop.
• Sunday, January 8, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Author Catherine Marenghi.
• Sunday, February 5, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Gilda Barabino, President of Olin College of Engineering, “Engineering for Everyone” (details and registration)
• Sunday, March 26, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Marsha Bemko, Producer, “The Antiques Roadshow Story” (details and registration)
• Sunday, June 11, 2:00-4:00 p.m. Annual meeting and program. Author Stephanie Schorow, The Coconut Grove and Other Great Fires of Boston.

Past Special Event: An Evening with Doris Kearns Goodwin

The Friends celebrated our 50th anniversary on April 26, 2023 by presenting a special fundraising event featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin with Jared Bowen of GBH. The event took place in Powers Hall at Needham Town Hall. We thank our 25 sponsors and more than 400 attendees for helping to make the program a resounding success! Read more about the event here