Take a Trip to Ireland without Leaving the Ridgefield Library

Wish you could travel to the Emerald Isle for St. Patrick’s Day but not able to get away?  A trip to the Ridgefield Library can be the next best thing.

Irish writers are renowned for their storytelling, and we have a wide selection of novels, memoirs and poetry, from the contemporary coziness of Maeve Binchy to the innovation of James Joyce. Many of these classics and popular favorites are also available as audiobooks with entrancing narrators like Donal Donnelly, Marcella Riordan and the late, great Frank McCourt reading his own memoirs.

If you find yourself inspired by those lilting brogues, you can learn to speak like a leprechaun yourself with Mango Languages, the Library’s online language learning program, found on our website.  Try out their special short course called “St. Patrick’s Day Irish” which gives an introduction to the names of people, places, food and drink.

Those of Irish heritage can explore their family history with Ancestry Library Edition or Heritage Quest, useful tools for genealogy research. You can browse our music CDs for favorites from the Celtic repertoire. And, of course, you can admire the lush pictures in scores of travel books or serve up delectable Irish soda bread from recipes found in our cookbook section.

Céad míle fáilte to the Ridgefield Library!

Banned Books Week

Throughout the country, teachers are sending out their lists of required readings, and parents are beginning to gather books. In some cases, classics like "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "The Catcher in the Rye," and "To Kill a Mocking Bird," may not be included in curriculum or available in the school library due to challenges made against them.

Since 1990, the American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom has recorded more than 10,000 book challenges. A challenge is a formal, written complaint requesting a book be removed from library shelves or school curriculum. The most challenged and/or restricted reading materials have been books for children.  Challenges are not simply an expression of a point of view, they are an attempt to remove materials from public use, thereby restricting the access of others. For children, decisions about what books to read should be made by the people who know them best—their parents!

In support of the right to choose books freely for ourselves, the ALA and the Ridgefield Library are recognizing Banned Books Week this week. It is an annual celebration of our right to access books without censorship. Why not take part? Read an old favorite or a new banned book this week. Stop by the Ridgefield Library to learn more and check out a banned book!

Contributed by Teen Services Librarian Geri Diorio

Get “Outside the Lines” with the Ridgefield Library

“Outside the Lines” is a national initiative taking place September 14-20 to get people thinking – and talking - about libraries in a whole new way.  In recent years, libraries have changed into dynamic centers for engagement to accommodate the growing needs of their local communities.  Nowhere is this more true than here in Ridgefield.

To start with, we have our marvelous new building.  But that is only the beginning.  Throughout the week we will be highlighting on site and online the many ways the Ridgefield Library contributes to creativity, culture and curiosity in Ridgefield.

We’ll go “outside the lines” of traditional print with International eBook Day and Teen Tech Thursdays.  We’ll explore the creative arts with a Ridgefield Folk concert and an opening reception for the new watercolor exhibit in The Gallery. We’ll go around the world with Fulbright scholar Eva Lee’s account of her research in Tibet and travel in time as author Todd Brewster talks about his new book on Abraham Lincoln. We’ll create common ground locally with Project Resilience, the Ridgefield Playhouse, RVNA and other partners.

Stop by or tune in on social media to go “outside the lines” with us, this week and throughout the year.

A Gathering of Librarians

As January drew to a close, over 12,000 librarians, library staff, administrators and professionals from all walks of life gathered in the Pennsylvania Convention Center for the 2014 American Library Association Midwinter Meeting.  I was fortunate to be among those in attendance at the four day meeting.  Attendees braved frigid temperatures and snow squalls as they made their way to the Convention Center, which covers four city blocks in the heart of Philadelphia.  The networking, professional development, lectures, author panels, camaraderie and free books made the atmosphere inside the Convention Center warm and energized. 

Never was this more apparent than on Monday morning as attendees gathered for the American Library Association’s version of the Oscars, the annual Youth Media Awards, honoring “books, videos and other outstanding materials for children and teens.”  The Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature went to Flora & Ulysses: the illuminated adventures by Kate DiCamillo and the Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished picture book for children went to Locomotive by Brian Floca.  The Michael L. Printz award for excellence in literature for young adults went to Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick.  All these titles are available at the Ridgefield Library.  Come check them out!

Contributed by Children's Librarian Mary Beth Rassulo

New Series for Writers

As part of the Library’s mission to help both experienced and novice writers hone their craft, we are presenting a brand new series of workshops and talks aimed at writers of all levels.  The series, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, is called Write It! and will continue throughout the year.  

Starting on January 16 Phyllis Ross will return to the Library to present a three part workshop aimed at the beginning writer.  This is strictly for those budding writers who have no prior workshop experience. On February 9 author and editor Adele Annesi will present a program called Life Lines, which will focus on the art of non-fiction writing and then on April 6 she will present a program called The Art of the Essay.  This program will be of special interest to high school students trying to put together that perfect college essay.  Professor Michael White, from Fairfield University, will discuss From Idea to Book on March 6. More workshops are scheduled for the fall, with a workshop on writing for a teen audience and a program on screenwriting in the works.  Also in the fall we are very excited that the New Ridgefield Library will be hosting the second annual Ridgefield Writers Conference. 

Contributed by Adult Program Director Lesley Lambton.

What Should I Read this Summer?

Headed to the beach or on vacation and need some reading recommendations?  Here are a couple of ways the Ridgefield Library can help. You can find these and more on the Reader’s Resources section at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org. 

• Subscribe to our “Reading on our Radar” blog for regular news of the hot new titles, plus some less well-known “sleepers” that are worth a look.
• Check out the Staff Picks list on the “Finding a Good Book” page on the website, where you will also find information on new releases, bestsellers, award winners and dozens of thematic reading lists, including the perennial favorite “Beach Books with Brains and Bite.”
• Sign up to receive periodic BookLetters email newsletters that feature new and recommended books in various genres.  Register on our website.
• Attend the monthly Books & Breakfast gathering (2^nd Monday of each month at 10:30 AM, currently at Keeler Tavern Museum), where staff and library patrons share what they have been reading – along with coffee and snacks. 
• Follow us on Twitter @ridgefieldlib and watch for our Friday postings of what our staff is reading.

And, of course, we are always happy to make suggestions in person – just ask!

Connecticut’s Own Book Awards

Children have been stopping in at the Ridgefield Library for a couple of months now, asking “When can I vote for my favorite Nutmeg book?” and we can finally answer:  “Now!”  The Nutmeg Book Awards are Connecticut’s homegrown book awards for children. Each year, committees of librarians, teachers, and students choose lists of ten novels that become Nutmeg nominees. There are award levels for students in grades 4 to 6 (the Intermediate nominees), and students in grades 7 to 9 (the Teen nominees).  Students can read as many nominees as they are able to, then vote for their favorite. Many students vote at their school libraries, but the Ridgefield Library offers a designated voting spot in our juvenile fiction section, so if our younger patrons don’t get a chance to vote at school, they can cast their ballot here at the Library. The winners will be announced on May 15, and a few weeks ahead of that, on May 1, the 2014 batch of nominees will be announced. Voting in April with announcements happening in May is new for the Nutmegs. The schedule has been changed to better align with the school calendar. So if your child has read some Nutmeg nominees, please bring them in to vote before the end of the month!

Contributed by Geri Diorio, Teen Services Librarian and head of Children's Services

Extreme Draw On! at the Library

Spring is the time for the annual community drawing festival organized by The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. Expanded in time and scope this year, Extreme Draw On! will run from March 24^th through May 4^th, with exhibits and programs in scores of locations around the state and the country. This year’s program features a special tribute to Ridgefield’s own late great author and illustrator Maurice Sendak.

The Library is pleased to partner with the Aldrich again this spring, as we have since the program’s inception in 2006. We will be hosting a "drawing horse" near the entrance to our 21 Governor Street facility, so come by and make a drawing inspired by the work of our beloved Mr. Sendak and we will post it in our front windows for all to admire. We’ll have all the supplies you need. Draw the "wild thing" in you, or pay homage to another favorite Sendak character with your own interpretation.  As Mr. Sendak so ably demonstrated, creativity has no age limits and imagination has no boundaries. Adults and children of all ages welcome!