We often think of love as a mystery, or even a fairy tale, but there is science underlying our attractions! Listen to Dr. Pepper Schwartz, popular relationship expert and author of '50 Myths About Human Sexuality', discuss the science of love and how understanding it can help improve your love life. Dr. Schwartz touches on different theories of what makes people fall in love, different (and often conflicting) styles of showing love, and how love and intimacy (sexual and non-sexual) can be renewed in a relationship. -- Dr. Schwartz is the author and/or co-author of 25 books, including '50 Myths about Human Sexuality', 'American Couples: Money, Work and Sex', 'The Normal Bar: The Surprising Secrets of Happy Couples', 'Dating over 50 for Dummies', 'Places for Passion: The 75 Most Romantic Places in the World', and '40 Snap Strategies for a Great Relationship'. She is also the author of over 50 academic articles on intimate relationships, marriage, love, and sex. She is presently Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington, AARP Love, Sex and Relationship Ambassador, and one of the four experts on the hit AandE and FYI television show Married at First Sight.

Join Martha Rosler, Alison Eisinger Executive Director of the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, and invited guests, for a community talk examining housing as a human right. -- Martha Rosler works across a range of media, including photography, video, writing, performance, sculpture, and installation, often addressing matters of the public sphere and everyday life, especially as they affect women. Rosler has for many years produced works on war and the "national security climate,” connecting everyday experiences at home with the conduct of war abroad — most famously in 'House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home', originally made as a response to the war in Vietnam in the late 1960s and reprised in 2004-2008 as a new series on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. -- Rosler has had numerous solo exhibitions at museums and galleries internationally and has published over 15 books of art and cultural criticism, most recently 'Culture Class' (2012), on artists and gentrification. In 2012 she presented her performance installation 'Meta-Monumental Garage Sale' at MoMA, New York. Her ground-breaking 3-exhibition cycle, 'If You Lived Here…', on homelessness, housing, and the built environment, which she organized at the Dia Art Foundation in New York in 1989, is regarded as a touchstone exhibition on these themes. Versions of this exhibition cycle have circulated in various forms over the past 25 years in the US and abroad, most recently at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin and at the Museum Moderner Kunst in Vienna in 2015. It is the basis for programming at The New Foundation Seattle in 2016.

Join us in celebrating the grand re-opening of the Rainier Beach Branch with brief remarks by City Librarian Marcellus Turner and Mayor Ed Murray as well as a poetry reading by the African American Writers' Alliance.

The "Page to Screen" series explores the adaptation of short stories to film. This program presents "Freaks," Tod Browning, director (1932); based on "Spurs," by Tod Robbins (1923). -- She despised him as a freak, but married him for his money. Who then is the real monster? Robbins' macabre circus tale becomes Browning's infamous cult classic, a horror film showcasing actual sideshow performers. -- Listen to a reading of 'Spurs'.

How do we change our habits? Bestselling author Gretchen Rubin turns her attention to this crucial question. Join us for a reading and QandA to help start your 2016 off on the right track! Gretchen Rubin (“The Happiness Project”) brings a provocative yet practical perspective to habits in her New York Times Bestseller “Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits – to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life.” With her signature mix of rigorous research, easy humor and personal experimentation, Rubin identifies and illustrates the core principles of habit change. -- The New York Times Book Review said: “’The Happiness Project’ lays out life’s essential goals … Her [Rubin’s] new book, ‘Better Than Before,’ serves as a kind of detailed instruction manual on how to achieve them.”

Facilitator Sweetwater Nannauck will guide participants through a brief history of colonization, the effects of historical trauma, and techniques for addressing historical trauma and oppression. Topics discussed include understanding how colonization affects indigenous people. This workshop shares easy-to-use tools to begin addressing historical trauma and healing at a community and personal level. -- This workshop uses self-reflection, group participation, role play, small group discussions, group meditation, and finally positive actions each individual can take. By acknowledging our collective past and focusing on healing traumas (rather than simply describing them), participants can explore ways to break down historical barriers in a safe and comfortable environment.

Join writer, activist, and co-founder of BK Nation Kevin Powell for a real and interactive community dialogue at the Central Library. Kevin will share his critically acclaimed new book, "The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy’s Journey into Manhood," and lead a conversation with event attendees and guests.

World AIDS Day is a moment to pause. It’s a moment to stop and remember those we have loved and lost to AIDS, to remember their faces, to speak their names, and to renew our resolve to never forget. World AIDS Day is also a day to be reminded that HIV is not over. Join us for a conversation this World AIDS Day with Phill Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Black AIDS Institute, about his experiences navigating the intersections between the black community, the LGBTQ community, and HIV.

Listen to history come alive as Clay Jenkinson presents his portrayal of John Wesley Powell, one-armed veteran of the Civil War and explorer of the West. Major John Wesley Powell was 35 years old when he led his first expedition through the Grand Canyon. He was the principal force in expanding geologic studies and topographic mapping throughout the country and in stimulating investigations of soil, ground water, rivers, flood control, and irrigation. Powell was a veteran of the Civil War who lost his right arm in the Battle of Shiloh, a teacher, and a geologist. Powell also had a great interest in the Indian people of the west and learned six Indian languages throughout this lifetime of exploring and charting the new Southwestern territory and is considered to be the most famous explorer of the West since Lewis and Clark. -- Clay Jenkinson has dedicated the better part of his life to researching the historical characters he portrays and to defining the “living theatre” of Chautauqua. Best known for his award-winning historical impersonation of Thomas Jefferson, he host the weekly radio Thomas Jefferson Hour. Jenkinson also portrays the characters of Meriwether Lewis, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Theodore Roosevelt and John Steinbeck. Jenkinson is president of Dakota Sky Education, Inc., and is the founder and chief consultant for the Theodore Roosevelt Center through Dickinson State University. He has served as a humanities commentator for Ken Burns documentaries including “The Roosvelts” and “The National Parks.”

Launching a successful business requires building a proper plan that helps to guide you toward generating sales and a positive cash flow. Proper planning is also a strong tool for presenting to potential investors and lenders. Learn the basics, including using marketing and financial data to generate a strong plan.