Make STEAM @ Home

Looking for fun and educational activities when the family is stuck inside during the winter weather? Now you can Make STEAM @ Home with the Ridgefield Library’s new STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Kits for children ages 4-11. The Library is developing a series of fun, interactive, thematic learning kits about a variety of topics and skills that relate to STEAM and literacy.

Make science at home with Snap Circuits or Osmo. Learn coding with Bee-Bots or Dash & Dot. Engineer with K’Nex or dominos. Make art with a Spirograph or Cursive kits; make math with the Money Kit or the Telling-Time Kit. Drama, knitting and Ozobot kits will be coming in February.

Stop into the Lodewick Children’s Library to see the available kits and bring one home for seven days with the use of your Ridgefield Library Card. STEAM kits are only available for check out from the children’s information desk (and must be returned there) and cannot be reserved. One per family, please; late fees $2.00 per day, up to a maximum of $20. STEAM kits at the Ridgefield Library are made possible by the McGovern Family.

Contributed by Kristina Lareau, Head of Children's Services

Paccadolmi Honorees Announced

The Ridgefield Library is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s Paccadolmi Awards for volunteer service, which were given out at a festive reception on December 3^rd.

Former Library Board member Lisbeth Kelly was honored for her service on the Board from 2009-2015, as well as her continuing dedication, as she has lent her significant skills to our ongoing work, notably as co-chair of the Search Committee tasked with hiring a new Library Director.  Still willing to contribute, she once again answered our call and has joined our Strategic Planning Committee which is currently developing long-range goals and priorities for the Library.

Also honored were the individuals who collectively have provided the backbone of our Homebound Delivery Service since its inception in 2008: Andrea Heap, Julia Bruce, Hannah Barber, Michele Brooks, Melissa Brady, Lynn Dinisi, Valerie Cosgrove and Tori Dinkel.  These dedicated individuals have delivered thousands of books, DVDs and other library materials to dozens of people who are housebound due to long-term or short-term illness or disability.  They truly provide a vital connection to the outside world for those unable to get to the Library on their own.

You can learn more about the Paccadolmi Awards and about the Homebound Delivery Service at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org.

Library Helps Address Community Concerns

For many, a library is a place to come for peace and quiet, or to lose oneself in another time and place through a good book.  But contemporary libraries also serve as venues for discussion of serious and timely issues affecting their communities. The Ridgefield Library partners regularly with nonprofit groups, government agencies and other concerned citizens to inform, educate and encourage dialogue on several important topics.

With the League of Women Voters, we organized a panel discussion on Civility in Politics following the election. Working with the school district, we will be offering a presentation in June on how to acquire the information and media literacy necessary to navigate the fake news epidemic. 

The ongoing Parenting the Selfie Generation series brings together a wide range of partners to provide parents, teachers and community leaders with expert data and strategies for dealing with the many aspects of raising a resilient child in today’s world, from sexting and other social media trends to teen sleeping and eating habits.  

With the Ridgefield Community Coalition Against Substance Abuse, Ridgefield Prevention Council and others, we have hosted numerous programs touching on issues related to drugs, alcohol and safe and healthy use of technology, including the Council’s Parent Circle discussions for parents of children at key transitional ages.

Upcoming programs will focus on teen mental health and drug and alcohol use. Check our website at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org for the latest schedule of events.

Tax Help Is Here!

The income tax filing season is upon us, and the Ridgefield Library can help!  We now have copies of the most common IRS and Connecticut state forms and instruction booklets available on the Upper Level near the Adult Services Desk.  If you are looking for less common forms or ones for other states, we can help you find and print out what you need.  The Government and Legal Reference page on our website also includes links to many useful resources.

On Thursday mornings through April 13, IRS trained and certified volunteers from the AARP Foundation’s Tax-Aide program will be available in the Library’s Dayton Program Room to offer free, individualized help to low and moderate income taxpayers, especially those 60 and older.  Income tax assistance is available by appointment only; call 203-438-4288 for an appointment and a list of all the documents you will need to bring with you.

Don’t forget to make a copy of your completed return for your files – we have copiers on the Upper Level and in the Commons on the Main Level, with the very modest charge of 20 cents per page. And if you experience “sticker shock” once you have finished your return, check out one of our many books that outline tax strategies for the self-employed, those planning for retirement and more!

One-Stop Shopping @ the Library

Of course, we have books and DVDs and audiobooks and comfy reading chairs and study areas and computers and programs for young and old.  But did you know about these less traditional services we also offer for your convenience?

Photocopiers - Our copy machines can collate, duplex and copy up to size 11 x 17. Sorry, black and white only. Twenty cents per page.

Fax machine and color scanner - Outgoing fax service only. Easy to use - only $1.00 per page for faxing; no charge for scanning to file or email.

Passport issuance – Give us a call for new applications, children’s passports and renewals of long expired documents. By appointment only at 203-438-2282 x11022.  Comfortable and convenient, especially if have children in tow, and you can stop by the travel reference shelves while you are here!

Blood pressure screening – Drop in the second Wednesday of each month from 11:00 AM to noon, and let staff from the Ridgefield VNA help you monitor this important health indicator.

The Library Store – Check out our selection of blank journals, booklights, tote bags, greeting cards and more, many with Ridgefield Library branding you can show off with pride.

To Your Health @ the Ridgefield Library

Free blood pressure screenings by the Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association (RVNA) are the latest health and wellness service being offered by your Library.  From July 13^th through the end of December, RVNA volunteers and nurses will be on hand on the 2^nd Wednesday of each month from 11:00 AM to 12 noon.  Look for the sign-in table in our Main Lobby; no appointments are required, and the service is provided free of charge.

This new service is a perfect fit with several other initiatives currently underway, including our two-year partnership with Lyme Connection and Smart Revenue to build a model community response to end Lyme Disease. In addition to continued Lyme awareness and prevention education, our Summer Reading Program theme of exercising your mind and your body will include several meditation and healing workshops for adults and entertaining and educational encounters with bugs for children.

Also on tap is a series called Summer of Running, supported by our Noreen L. Papa: Mothers Live your Life Fund and featuring a wealth of activities related to running in Ridgefield and around the world. Watch also for announcement of a date for this year’s RVNA flu shot clinic at the Library in the fall.

HeartStart Defibrillator at the Library!

There is a lot of discussion in town this winter about making Ridgefield a “heart-safe” community.  We are pleased to announce that, through the generous donation of David and Maria Victor Smith, a HeartStart Defibrillator (AED) has been acquired for the Ridgefield Library.  It is a small lightweight, battery-powered defibrillator to treat the most common causes of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) including ventricular fibrillation (VF). The only effective treatment for VF is defibrillation. SCA can occur to anyone – infant, child, adult, male or female – anywhere at any time. Many victims of SCA do not have warning signs or symptoms. A person in SCA does not respond when shaken and is not breathing normally. Many of the Library’s staff members have been trained on the equipment by the Ridgefield VNA staff.  A voice-activated system walks the user through the process to administer hands-only help to the patient. The AED cabinet is outfitted with supplies for both adults and children and is conveniently located in the Main Lobby for easy access to all levels of the building.  What a life saver to have in a building with so many patrons!

Contributed by Facilities Manager Leslie Vuilleumier

Improving Access for Readers

We are always looking for ways to make the many facets of our collections more visible and accessible.  Here are a few of the latest improvements we have made.

• ·  Our extensive collection of opera recordings on CD has moved up to the Ruggles Fine Arts Reading Room on the Upper Level, convenient to books on the performing arts.
• ·         New large print books are now on display at the beginning of the large print shelves in the Bossidy Commons.  If you’re partial to this format, start your browsing there to see the latest acquisitions.
• ·         In the Ellis Family Teen Center, biographies have been separated from non-fiction materials and are highlighted in a more visible location near the new teen books.
• ·         Newly and recently returned DVDs are stored on a small cart near the Circulation Desk for easy browsing of the latest and most popular items.  Also look for the nearby list of our newest DVD acquisitions.  We are happy to put you on the waiting list for a particular favorite.
• ·         In addition to thematic book displays around the building, look for featured items showcased at the ends of the aisles in the adult fiction and nonfiction stacks on the Upper Level to tempt you!

Wi-Fi Printing @ Ridgefield Library

For those who bring laptops, tablets, and smartphones to use in the Library, we are pleased to announce that we are now offering wireless printing.

Files supported by Wi-Fi printing include Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint slides, PDFs (Portable Document Format) and picture files. Send these print jobs from your browser by going to www.printeron.net/ridgefield/main and completing the brief online form. You will be asked to enter your email address, which will be used to identify your print job. Printing from your email is accomplished by simply forwarding an email to one of the library printer addresses for either color or black & white copies.

Once a wireless print job is submitted, you may release your documents at any one of our three print release stations located in Adult Services on the Upper Level, the Bossidy Commons near the Circulation Desk, and the Lodewick Children’s Library.

Full details, including step-by-step instructions, are found on our website www.ridgefieldlibrary.org 
as well as on printed bookmarks located at service desks throughout the Library. Of course, staff members are available to answer any questions you may have. Please try out the convenience of Wi-Fi printing the next time you are in the Library!

Contributed by Adult Services Librarian Christie Mitchell

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.

Technology Highlight – Library Document Station

Over the coming months, we will be updating our readers on some of the new technologies that are now available at the Ridgefield Library. One of the newest and most useful is our Library Document Station.  This multi-function system utilizes a touch-screen monitor connected to a flat-bed scanner.  It allows our patrons to scan/copy/fax documents or pictures to various destinations.  Scanning destinations include:

E-mail – Scan and send documents to your email.
USB – Scan directly to a USB flash drive.
Fax – Scan and fax direct.  Faxes are $1/page.
B/W Printer – Scan and print to our print management system.  This function acts like a regular copy machine.  B/W prints are $0.20/page.
Color Printer – Scan and print to our print management system.  This function allows color copying which is not available on our regular copy machines.  Color prints are $0.50/page.  Google Drive – Log into your Google Drive account and scan documents direct.

Unlike with regular copiers you may place a document in any position and the scanner will auto-align so it scans in straight.  After scanning each page you are given options for cropping, rotating and other fine tuning.

Please come in and visit our Adult Services Desk for assistance!

Contributed by Network Administrator Anthony Cacciola

What’s New for the New Year @ Your Library

We are always on the lookout for fresh ideas to keep your library experience exciting and relevant.  Here are just a few of the new things you can look forward to at the Ridgefield Library in 2015.

• ·         Acceptance of passport applications, starting later in the winter – don’t forget to pick up a travel guide while you are here doing the paperwork!
• ·         The Library will serve as a meet-up site for a new MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on art history – a follow-up to our very successful experiment with the Fiction of Relationship course last year.
• ·         New classes on CAD programming and 3D printing, plus availability for patrons to bring their own designs and projects to the Library for 3D printing.
• ·         A three-part series called Law through Film that uses award-winning films and expert moderators to stimulate conversation about important social and legal issues
• ·         Wireless printing capability from laptops and other devices
• ·         More drop-in programs for youngsters.  Look for Nature Explorers for ages 3-5 and Music & Movement for ages 2-5 on Wednesdays starting in January.
• ·         New reading lists for many of our monthly book discussion groups.

Have a Happy New Year, and stay tuned for details of these projects as the seasons unfold.

Museum Pass Updates

Did you know that you can get free or discounted admission to 20 area cultural attractions through the Library’s Museum Pass Program? Whether you are interested in science or art, animals or history, our Museum Passes make it convenient and affordable to enjoy venues such as the Beardsley Zoo, the Wadsworth Atheneum and the Connecticut Science Center.

Participating institutions are as close as The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum right on Ridgefield’s Main Street and as far away as the American Museum of National History in New York City. This fall we are adding two wonderful new locations that bring American history to life – Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts and our own Keeler Tavern Museum.

Please note that we are discontinuing temporarily the Peabody Museum while it is under renovation and its popular dinosaurs are not available for viewing.

Offers vary among the participating museums, so go to www.ridgefieldlibrary.org or pick up a brochure for more information, including pass borrowing rules.  Hours and exhibits change seasonally at many of the institutions, so always check their website before making your plans.

Thanks as always to the Friends of the Ridgefield Library, who have been the sponsors of this program since its inception. 

Have a great trip!

Destination Ridgefield – and the Ridgefield Library

Have you ever found yourself in a strange city and headed for the nearest public library for information, access to computers or the Internet or even just refuge for planning the next phase of your travels?  With our inclusion on the new Destination Ridgefield tourism website, the Ridgefield Library hopes that visitors to Ridgefield will be encouraged to stop by when they are in town.  While our main constituency is Ridgefield residents, we are pleased to be able to help make out-of-towners’ visits enjoyable for them and, ultimately, profitable for local businesses. Among the services that can be enjoyed by guests as well as locals are access to computers to check email, wireless access to the Internet, magazines and newspapers to peruse, assistance with geneaology and local history inquiries, and even drop-in storytimes and other programs (subject to space availability). We are happy to do what we can to help visitors leave with a positive impression of our town – and plans to return to sample further its many attractions.

P.S.   Look for the Library’s entry in the Chamber’s Chairish Ridgefield auction during Summerfest on July 20^th, with proceeds to support Destination Ridgefield.  See if you can find and identify our book-themed creation!