Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Coming in the New Year

What’s new for the New Year at the Ridgefield Library? Here’s a preview of what is coming soon. Watch for details of these and other exciting developments.

• “Enjoying Joyce” multi-session, multi-media exploration of the life and works of James Joyce, starting with an introductory lecture by Yale College professor Mark Schenker in January and culminating with a Bloomsday celebration in June.
• Text-a-Librarian service, which will allow you to ask our librarians a reference question from your mobile phone.
• Online registration for selected programs. First up will be a 4-part poetry workshop in January. Check the January 8th opening session on our event calendar at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org to sign up.
• New after-school activities for young people, including Junior Writers, crochet workshops and chess classes.
• New selections for the AM Book Group, Critics’ Circle, Murder by the Book and Tuesday Evening Nonfictioneers book discussion groups.
• New museum passes offering free or discounted admission to the Connecticut Science Museum, the Danbury Railway Museum and the Old State House. Reservations for these and all our museum passes will soon be done online.
• A completely re-designed library website. Stay tuned for the grand opening of our new virtual branch in January!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Highlights of 2009

What did you do at the Ridgefield Library this year? Here are a few of our favorite moments of 2009 – we hope you enjoyed them, too.

• A veritable tent city rising in the parking lot for the Friends of the Library’s spring and fall used book sales

• Heidi Hammel, Dava Sobel and others leading us on a virtual voyage to the stars for the International Year of Astronomy

• The installation of a self-service check-out station in Children’s Services

• The annual Camp Snooze 4th grade sleepover – so popular we had to do it twice this fall!

• Our first ever Murder Mystery Dinner Theater fundraiser, featuring a musical production, great food and wine, and fun with friends

• Expansion of the popular Mother Goose program for infants and caregivers to year-round, offering social interaction and pre-literacy skills development every week

• The debut of the new Murder by the Book mystery discussion group

• Over 13,000 people – nearly twice our normal daily headcount of 1170 – rushing to the Library for the first week of Summer Reading in June

• The chance to meet talented and engaging Nutmeg Book Award-nominated authors throughout the year, thanks to HSBC Bank

Friday, December 11, 2009

Library Holiday Closings

Mark these dates on your calendar as you plan your schedule for the holidays. The Library will be closed on Thursday, December 24th and Friday, December 25th. We will, however, be open for business as usual on Saturday the 26th (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM) and Sunday the 27th (1:00 to 5:00 PM).

The next week, we will close at 3:00 PM on New Year’s Eve (Thursday) and will remain closed on January 1st. Regular hours resume on Saturday the 2nd.

Our program schedule will be lighter than usual over the holidays, but some activities will continue, including Saturday morning Drop-in Storytime on December 26th and January 2nd. And, of course, we have plenty of DVDs for family viewing, good reads to enliven vacation hours, audiobooks for long car trips, cookbooks for last-minute entertaining tips and quiet study space and online reference tools for the college student trying to keep up with class assignments over the break.

If your life gets hectic in the next few weeks, don’t forget you can reserve or renew items online or by phone. Check www.ridgefieldlibrary.org for other helpful resources you can access any time without leaving home.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Hunting for Hidden Treasures at the Ridgefield Library

Have you ever sought in vain at the Ridgefield Library for something you just knew had to be here somewhere? Here is a selective key to help with your next treasure hunt.

• Young adult literature: we have a dedicated collection for teens but no separate room for them, so these books fill two walls along the perimeter of Children’s Services.

• Language learning materials: books, videos, audio programs and even CD-ROMs are all housed together – in the Reference Room on the first floor.

• Reference books: most of these are now actually shelved alongside circulating materials on the same topic, in both adult and children’s non-fiction stacks. Exceptions are large encyclopedia sets and some special collections devoted to specific topics, such as business (these remain in the Reference Room).

• Large print books: we have an extensive collection of new fiction, old favorites and even non-fiction and biography in large print – all together in the Fiction Room on the second floor.

• Music CDs: Material targeted at young children is in Children’s Services. Recordings of more general interest, from classical to pop, are in the Fiction Room.

Of course, you can always ask any of the staff for assistance – we love to share our treasures!