Introducing the College Corner

The Ridgefield Library has a new College Corner to help parents and students with college decisions and the application process. We have the latest resources covering college listings, admissions and applications, the college essay, campus visits, test prep including the new SAT and PSAT, scholarships, paying for college, college living, and academic success.

The College Corner is located near the Teen Center on the upper level in the Library. One of the helpful features of the College Corner is that we have reference copies of many of the best college books, creating a comprehensive core collection, which stays in the Library. These “always available” books will be ready for you to refer to in the Library and for photocopying or free scanning to your email or USB drive. Of course, there are plenty of copies of these and many other college books available for checkout.

While visiting the College Corner, also ask about online resources such as LearningExpress Library for test prep and a schedule of upcoming lectures and workshops related to this complex process. You can also learn about our new exam proctoring service.

Let the Ridgefield Library and the new College Corner help you on your road to higher education! 

Contributed by Reference Librarian Christie Mitchell

It's a Wrap for Summer Reading

Super readers were frequent visitors at the Ridgefield Library this summer.  In Children’s Services, 1309 children signed up for the Summer Reading Program.  They logged a total of 38,867 books read over the summer with many children exceeding the 50 book goal. 

The Library hosted special events for children and their parents that included a magician, a Frisbee demonstration and musical performers. Children had the chance to code like a superhero.  Others had the chance to create fascinating art projects.  Children shined when they displayed their own talents at the library’s talent show.  Those who read 30 books were thrilled to have their picture taken like a superhero. 

The Library would like to thank those who sponsored the reading program.  We could not provide the wonderful programs and incentives without their support.  The Friends of the Library sponsored our special event programs and prizes. Deborah Anne’s Sweet Shoppe donated ice cream cones and The Toy Chest donated $5 gift certificates.  Their support allows us to offer incentives to our young readers.  We would also like to thank the parents who helped their children log the books, bring them to the library, and who spent hours reading with and listening to their children read.  

Contributed by Gayle Pulley, Head of Children's Services

Get Outside the Lines @ your Library

September 13-19 is the week when libraries around the country are showcasing how they help their patrons get “outside the lines” – and the walls – of the traditional library building.  In Ridgefield we are using this as an occasion to launch our latest digital collection.  hoopla digital is an online service, available anywhere with your Ridgefield Library card for login, which offers music albums, movies and television shows to stream or download, as well as audiobooks, eBooks and even comics.  It is easy to use and works with both Apple and android apps as well as on most PC browsers.  You can get all the details on our website at ridgefieldlibrary.org.

To cap off the week, Friday the 18^th is International Read an eBook Day.  All you have to do is download one of the thousands of eBooks available to Ridgefield Library patrons through the OverDrive service. Then post about it on social media with the hashtag #eBookLove, and our library will be automatically entered into a drawing for $2,500 of credit towards additional eBooks for you to enjoy.

September is also Library Card Sign-up Month – what a great time to make sure you can take advantage of everything in the Library – and outside the lines!

Changing Seasons at the Library

The Library will be closed on Sunday and Monday, September 6 and 7, for Labor Day, but we will be open our regular hours 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM on Saturday the 5^th for your convenience.

Registration for children’s fall programs is underway through September 20^th, with most sessions beginning the last week of September.  Many activities are offered on a drop-in basis, but others do require registration online. We have a number of changes to the line-up this fall, so check out the details on our website or pick up a calendar in Children’s Services.

Sunday hours 1:00 – 5:00 PM resume on September 13^th.  We will be celebrating the occasion with the first Ridgefield Folk concert of the season (the young singer/songwriter phenomenon Hayley Reardon) and the Grand Opening of our new Store @ the Ridgefield Library.  Stop by to check out our new line of library-branded items for gift-giving or personal use, from magnetic bookmarks to blank journal books.

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month, and we have some exciting new products and services we will be introducing that add even more value to your card.  Stay tuned for details, and stop by the Circulation Desk soon to make sure every member of your family has an up-to-date card.

Announcing Alice

It has been 150 years since the publication of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll (aka Charles Dodgson), and we can’t resist!  Our staff is smiling like the Chesire Cat as we put together a roster of Alice-related activities this fall for all ages.  We will start with a field trip on October 7^th to the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City, where we will tour their special exhibit “Alice: 150 Years of Wonderland, ” guided by exhibit curator Carolyn Vega. The culmination of our adventures will be a presentation on November 22^nd by author Gregory Maguire called “Green Witches, White Rabbits and Wild Things,” in which the author will talk about his own novel “Wicked,” his new book “After Alice” and his friend Maurice Sendak.

In between you can enjoy scholarly lectures, a book-to-film comparison, a Mad Hatter tea party, book discussions for children and for adults, and much more, in a series we are calling “Curiouser and Curiouser.”  If you are curious about Alice or the man who created her, please join us for our journey down the rabbit hole, sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Watch our website for full details, coming soon.

Opportunities for Lifelong Learners

Ridgefield students head back to school soon, but youngsters are not the only ones who can expand their horizons with new academic challenges.  In addition to our myriad scheduled programs, we invite adult Ridgefield Library card holders to explore two self-paced options for lifelong learning.

Thanks to the Friends of the Library, we continue to add to our collection of “Great Courses” audio CDs, featuring popular and highly respected teachers from the best colleges and universities in the country.  Each set consists of a complete series of course lectures, along with printed study guides.  Recent additions include 1066, After the New Testament, Art of War and Skepticism 101.

The Library has also served as a “meet-up” site for several Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs.  This summer several dozen people, from preteens to senior citizens, gathered each week to view and discuss excerpts from a course entitled “The Rise of Superheroes and their Impact on Popular Culture.”  Those who missed taking the full course online will have another chance, when it is repeated starting August 12^th.  Stay tuned for announcement of future opportunities to join with fellow scholars to take part in MOOCs on literature, art history or other topics.

Test Taking @ the Library

Due to the huge growth in distance learning all around the world, many more students of all ages are earning degrees and certificates without ever setting foot on campus.  But they often do still need a secured and supervised setting for taking exams.  That’s where the Ridgefield Library comes in.

We have long done proctoring for exams on an ad hoc basis, but the increase in demand has prompted us to establish a formal policy, and also a modest fee for this service. We are pleased to be able to support our patrons’ educational aspirations, but we want to make sure that the test taking environment we provide conforms to the requirements of the institutions of higher learning involved.

A $25 charge will now be assessed for each request for exam proctoring.  The Library will supply a room in which to take the exam, and a computer if required. Proctoring is available only during regular Library hours Monday through Saturday and subject to staff availability.  Reservations must be made at least 5 days in advance.

The full proctoring policy can be found on the Policies page at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org.  For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact the Adult Services department at 203-438-2282 x12004.