Challenging Reading

What books are in your Top Ten?  If your list includes “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” or Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” or John Green’s “Looking for Alaska,” you may be surprised to learn that these titles are also on the list of books challenged, restricted, removed or banned in schools and libraries in 2015-2016, according to the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom.  You will find these and many others this week in our display in observance of Banned Books Week 2016.  Each year, along with the ALA, the Association of American Publishers, American Booksellers for Free Expression, the National Council of Teachers of English and other organizations, we use this occasion to celebrate the right to explore ideas and to express ourselves freely without censorship.

Since the first Banned Books Week event in 1982, many thousands of titles have been challenged, including those by 21 Nobel laureates and winners of nearly every literary prize.  They include children’s picture books and beginning readers; young adult titles; classic as well as contemporary adult fiction; science, memoir and other non-fiction; graphic novels and poetry. Stop by this week, pick up a displayed book and stand up for your right to read.

Welcoming our New Teen Services Librarian

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Erica Gauquier as the Library’s new Teen Services Librarian. She replaces Geri Diorio, who has moved on to become Assistant Director of her hometown Stratford Library.

During her undergrad schooling, Erica studied Psychology and Social Work, preparing her for what she knew would be a career in providing services to children and young adults. Realizing she wanted to become a librarian, she received her Master’s degree in Information and Library Science from Pratt Institute in 2010. Erica has been passionately engaged in young adult librarianship ever since.

Erica began her career at Darien (CT) Library, bringing teens in the community new and innovative programs while establishing lasting relationships with many of them.

It is now her great pleasure to become immersed in the Ridgefield community, bringing that same love and passion for youth services to her own town. She is full of exciting ideas and also looks forward to hearing from 6^th through 12^th graders in town about what they would like to see at the Library. You can find her in the Ellis Family Teen Center of the Ridgefield Library or contact her by email at ELGauquier@ridgefieldlibrary.org. She looks forward to meeting you!  

New Access to an Old Favorite

Consumers Union has checked out some 155,000 products in their test labs since 1936. These include the highfalutin’ and the ho-hum. Sports cars and sneakers. Computers and corn poppers. Cognacs and colas. CU's engineers and technicians eyeball, heft, measure, weigh, taste, use, and abuse those products. They take them apart, leave them out to weather, drop them, crash them, and put them through accelerated-wear tests to assess their durability. All this to determine the best, and sometimes worst, products for all of us to use.

For many years, the Ridgefield Library has offered Consumer Reports monthly magazine and annual index. This heavily used resource has been a boon to redecorators, those with ailing appliances, those needing new cars or suggestions for good used cars and a multitude of things from computers to insect repellent.

Now we are very happy to be able to provide online both Library and home access to this great service. You will find the trusted articles, ratings and even more on the Library website ridgefieldlibrary.org.   Click the Catalog and Collections button and choose Magazines and Newspapers. Keep your Ridgefield Library card handy as the barcode is needed to log in, and read your way to great products and services in the comfort of your home!

Contributed by Adult Services Librarians Victoria Carlquist and Christie Mitchell

Falling into Fall @ the Library

Sunday hours are back!  Beginning September 11 and running through the school year, the Library will be open on Sundays from 1:00 to 5:00 PM. 

Registration is now open for fall preschool storytimes and after-school activities, including book discussions, Maker groups, crafts, music programs, and even yoga for youngsters.  Most regular programs begin the last week of September. Sign-up may be done online at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org/children/programs/index.shtml.  Stay tuned also for information about “specials” on school holidays and other occasions. And, of course, drop-in favorites like Mother Goose and storytime on Saturday morning continue most weeks.

Seasonal series like the Ridgefield Folk concerts and ARTalk lectures pick up again in the fall.  Check our event calendar at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org so you don’t miss these very popular offerings. Many of these are sponsored by the Friends of the Library, whose fall used book sales are on tap for mid-October.

The Library and Ridgefield High School are looking forward to the 3^rd year of their joint Books Building Bridges intergenerational reading program.  This year’s title is “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey.  Grab your copy, and start reading, or re-reading, this classic and watch for details of book chats, scholarly lectures and more.

Introducing Remaining New Library Board Members

As promised, here are profiles of two more talented individuals who have joined the Library Board this summer.

Alison Greeley moved to Ridgefield with her husband and two sons in 2005. She spent 14 years at Morgan Stanley, beginning in a brokerage office in Aspen, CO and later joining the Investment Management Division in New York City. She managed teams and projects in sales and marketing developing marketing campaigns, including new product launches, and building new departments. Since leaving Morgan Stanley in 2008, she has served as the Chair and Treasurer of the Ridgefield Arts Council, and is a co-founder of the Ridgefield 9/11 Memorial.

Stephen DeMatteo has lived in Ridgefield since 2003 with his wife Anissa and their three children, James, Charles and Audrey.  As a shareholder of York International Agency, Steve leads the firm’s Commercial Insurance Practice.  Prior to joining York in 2005, Steve held a similar role with Marsh & McLennan.  Steve is a 1989 graduate of Fairfield University. Around town Steve has spent the past decade on the sidelines of his children’s youth sports teams.  He was a 10-year member of the Town of Ridgefield Insurance & Risk Management Committee where he was an advisor to the Board of Selectmen on property/casualty insurance matters.