Sampling Spring @ the Ridgefield Library

Winter is finally over, and spring activities are busting out all over!  Don’t forget to stop at the Library for books and other resources to help you enjoy the many occasions and opportunities coming this month and next.  To make it easy for you to find what you need, our staff has put together a number of browsing displays located at numerous locations in the building.

April is National Poetry Month, and you can explore verse both classic and contemporary in the Lodewick Children’s Library and in the Goldstone and Ruggles special collection rooms on the Upper Level, where you will also find materials spotlighting National Jazz Appreciation Month. You can sample the Best Books of 2014 and this year’s crop of Nutmeg Award nominees.  Spring will be the subject in all departments, with a special focus on home and garden in the Bossidy Commons.  We’ll commemorate Autism Awareness Month and Earth Day in April and move on to Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and Older Americans Month in May.

We invite you to take advantage of these displays to sample the wide range of topics you can discover at the Library.  

April Celebrations - and Remembrances

April is the time for some of our favorite occasions – National Library Week, National Volunteer Week and National Poetry Month.  To celebrate all three at once, we offer the following poem, which was composed by Ann Jepson, Ridgefield Library friend and Friend extraordinaire who passed away last week.

Elegy on the Obsolescence of Libraries

This morning

I was reminded of that smartest

and most social of farm animals,

the pig --

how in the days of the family farm

a little before feeding time

they would line up at the trough

in anticipation of the feast to come,

boars, sows, piglets

all waiting for the gate to open

and the morsels to flow,

rinds, peels, breakfast’s wake-up grounds,

noon’s lunch, last night’s dinner,

a sleepless night’s snack, celebration’s sweets,

all the rewards of man’s abundant repasts.

So when I went to the library

ten minutes before opening time

and saw that smartest and most social of the primates,

the human --

man, woman, child

waiting in anticipation for the doors to open

to peruse or check out

cd’s, dvd’s biographies, memoirs, fiction,

nonfiction, poetry, newspapers, magazines,

travel books, computer programs,

all the rewards of the race’s reveries,

I thought - Naysayers,

we will be here,

waiting at the trough,

for some time to come.

Poetry Lives @ the Ridgefield Library

Poetry is alive and well at the Ridgefield Library, especially during National Poetry Month in April.  In addition to our monthly poetry discussion group, under the direction of poet and retired professor Dr. Alan Holder, we have several special events planned to delight all who appreciate a good verse.

On April 21st at 2:00 PM, the Ridgefield Folk concert series takes on a poetic twist, when Liz Queler and Seth Farber present “The Edna Project,” the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay set to music.  This is an eclectic, imaginative collection of 21 songs spanning folk, bluegrass, rock and jazz, enhanced by projected photos of the celebrated poet.  This concert will take place at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.

Also on the 21^st, from 6:00 – 8:00 PM, The Friends of the Ridgefield Library are sponsoring “Poetry Live and In Person,” a fundraiser for the Library which also honors years of service by poet and Friends’ president Ann Jepson.  Broadway actress Barbara Dana (“The Belle of Amherst”) will be on hand with some of her signature readings of Emily Dickinson, and attendees are encouraged to share their own favorite poetry if they wish. Ticket information is available at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org.