30+ Free Programs for Adults in October: See What You Can Do!
Posted on September 16, 2025 at 6:00 am
October brings a bounty of free programs for adults including author talks, informative and useful sessions, crafts and hobbies, financial, career, and business workshops, as well as programs focusing on health, wellness, and support.
See what you can do this fall!
Author Talks
SCLD Online Authors Series brings four author talks to your screen in October. Find out more and sign up today:
You can sign up to watch the live, online author talk on business and professional development topics with bestselling leadership thinker and author Michael Bungay Stanier (The Advice Trap and The Coaching Habit).
Award-winning author Tananarive Due reads from a section of her work and takes questions from the audience during two Spokane Is Reading author talks that are free and open to the public.
Informative & Useful Sessions
All ages are invited to Fire Prevention Week: Touch a Fire Truck & Fire Safety House at Airway Heights Library and City Hall. Get safety information, stickers, and more. Learn about firefighting gear. Walk through the Fire Safety House, explore a fire truck, participate in a scavenger hunt, and make a firefighting craft.
While presidential elections dominate national headlines, it’s local officials who oversee tax dollars, shape policies, and influence everything from infrastructure to public safety. See How to Make Your Vote Count in Local Elections during an insightful discussion with Spokane County Elections staff and the League of Women Voters.
During the Racial Restrictive Property Covenants Workshop, interested homeowners and homebuyers can learn how to file a Racial Covenant Amendment form with their county auditor’s office.
Help share the legacy of our veterans—one story at a time. The Veterans History Project: Interview Training for Volunteers is for adults and teens age 15+. During this training, you’ll get step-by-step guidance on how to carry out interviews that honor and capture the voices of our veterans.
Attend expert talks on fascinating topics at two Humanities Washington events, both offered in person and online: Wonderful, Weird & Worrisome Objects in Washington State Museums and Bad People & Good Ol’ Boys: The Criminalization of Rural Disadvantage. Registration is required to view these discussions online.
Crafts & Hobbies
October is a great month to try some new hobbies and crafts. From hands-on programs to more cerebral pursuits, we have creative options for you.
If cooking is an interest or if you just want to try new recipes, sign up for the online program World Cooking: South Indian Food with Chef Kavita. You can explore basic quilting techniques during our Introduction to Quilting programs with local experts. During Long-Stitch Bookbinding, learn about the art of this traditional binding technique and practice sewing page signatures together using a variety of decorative stitch patterns to craft a sturdy journal or sketchbook.
Dive into creative technology with 3D Printing: Monster Toothpaste Pushers (adults and teens). Capture special moments and stories during Ideas for Preserving Photo Memories with straightforward ideas on how to organize, digitize, and preserve your photo treasures so they can be shared with others.
For avid family history explorers and those who are a little curious, the Genealogy Drop-In Session is for you. Discover the library’s genealogy resources and work with experienced genealogy enthusiasts to learn how to fill out your family tree and explore various genealogy websites and charts.
Get help with your gardening ideas and issues during the WSU Extension Master Gardeners Plant Clinic at Cheney Library. Share any extra produce from your garden (fresh only) with others during our Produce Swaps at Cheney, Deer Park, or Moran Prairie Library all month long.
Financial, Business & Career Topics
Expert career coaches can help you refine your resume, enhance your job-search strategies, or explore new career opportunities during WorkSource Drop-In Help, available every Friday starting in October.
Discuss how using AI can revolutionize your social media efforts and take your marketing to the next level during the online workshop ChatGPT for Your Small Business, led by a SCORE Spokane mentor.
Financial educators from BECU share expertise in two informational sessions: Manage Your Money: A Practical Guide to Handling Your Finances and Fraud Detection & Prevention.
Explore all the major aspects of the home-buying process in an unbiased format with SNAP Spokane instructors at a Homebuyer Education Seminar. At the end of the seminar, attendees will be issued a certification of completion, which can be used to apply for down-payment assistance.
Health, Wellness & Support
Bring your clean clothing items or other textile goods (quilts, pillowcases, etc.) that need mending and have them repaired for free at a Mend-It Café. Volunteer menders can fix your torn jeans, fallen hems, ripped seams, simple tears, and more.
Drop by the WSU Health Education Fair at Cheney Library to get information about physical and mental health services and to pick up some free swag, including first aid kits, water bottles, T-shirts, thermometers, and blood pressure cuffs, while supplies last.
The series A Matter of Balance: Preventing Falls is designed for older adults who want to learn the strategies needed to set realistic goals for increasing activity and identify environmental adjustments to reduce risk factors for falls.
Find a supportive atmosphere with activities for those experiencing memory loss and their caregivers during Memory Café. The Empowered Caregiver Workshop Series is presented by educators from the Alzheimer’s Association and teaches caregivers how to navigate the responsibilities of caring for someone with dementia, while taking care of their own well-being. The Dementia Friends Information Session also offers information about dementia, what it’s like to live with dementia, and actions you can take to support people living with dementia in your community.
Our Medicare Open Enrollment programs can help you learn more about your options and the changes you can make for next year and can even help with the enrollment process.
Tags: adults, author talks, business, career, crafts, finances, health, hobbies, job, parents, support, wellness
