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.

Celebrating Volunteers

April 23-29 is National Volunteer Week, and we have a lot of talented and generous people to thank for their volunteer service to the Ridgefield Library.  Their involvement ranges from one-time help with a special event like Love your Library Day to a multi-year commitment as a member of our Board of Directors. They come to us as individuals, families, students and groups like National Charity League, Boy and Girl Scouts, Lionsheart and the Boys and Girls Club.  They are young people, retirees and people of all ages doing community service.

One very special group of volunteers is the Friends of the Ridgefield Library, who organize popular used book sales, the proceeds of which support many favorite Library services and collections.  Their spring sale is coming up May 5-7 (children’s books only) and May 12-15.  Don’t miss it!

Teens going into grades 6-12 in the fall are invited to apply before June 5th to volunteer with the Summer Reading Program, assisting younger children with logging their reading and claiming their prizes.  Pick up an application in the Ellis Family Teen Center or print one from our website. 

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped us during the past year!

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!

Paccadolmi Honors Awarded

The 2016 Paccadolmi Awards were given out on December 4th during a special holiday gathering of Library supporters and friends. The awards are named in honor of Phyllis Paccadolmi, Miss P to the generations of Ridgefielders she knew during more than 5 decades with the Ridgefield Library. This year’s honorees are Ellen Burns and Darwin Ellis, owners of Books on the Common, and Theresa Miller and Julie Yaun.

Ellen and Darwin support our many author talks with book sales, promotion, and a true love of contemporary books and authors.  They have donated an untold number of gift certificates and Grand Prize Shopping Sprees for our Summer Reading Programs for all ages and have been active participants in several community-wide reading initiatives.  Since 2005 they have hosted Library Days at Books on the Common during Thanksgiving weekend, engaging local shoppers and library users in a campaign to earn donations from the store for the Ridgefield Library. 

For the 3 years since our first Great Expectations gala, Julie and Theresa have been the backbone of this major fundraising effort, gracefully yet firmly organizing a multitude of logistics, from table lay-out to valet parking. Thanks to Theresa and Julie and their committee, these events are uniquely entertaining, smooth running and financially successful.  

Kids Coding for a Cause Comes to Ridgefield

The Library is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a program called Random Hacks of Kindness, Jr (www.RHoKJr.org) on December 5th.  RHoKJr is the project of a nonprofit organization that provides elementary and middle school students the opportunity to come together as problem solvers and innovators to make the world a better place.  Here at the Ridgefield Library we are enthusiastic about this approach because it helps provide a real world context for computer programming skills with the goal of igniting a passion to learn more.

The event will offer Ridgefield elementary and middle school students in fourth through eighth grades the opportunity to explore the power of computing by developing technical solutions to practical problems.  The goal of the event is to show students how important technology is through participating in a one-day hackathon which will enable them to create technical solutions for local non-profit organizations.  The students will work in groups of four (with a mentor and an adult facilitator) to create prototype smartphone apps for the participating non-profits.

Stay tuned for a report on the progress of this project over the next few weeks.

What We Learned @ the Library

For five weeks this spring we worked at the Ridgefield Library as part of the Ridgefield High School senior internship program. During our time there we have discovered a multitude of things about the Library, the most surprising of which was the extensive amount of programs offered at the Library. Currently the Library provides over 300 different programs for the public; so there is truly a program for everyone. Furthermore, while we often take the opportunities offered at the Library for granted, the sheer amount of effort that goes into running a library is outstanding. Each book is individually cared for and placed on the shelf; each program necessitates the time and attention of several different people in order to make it a success.  Moreover, the Library makes a significant effort to reach out to the public and provide Ridgefielders with experiences that enrich and enhance their understanding of the arts as well as literature. To illustrate, we were surprised to learn that the Library provides a forum for musicians and artists to showcase their work for free. The Library stands as an institution for the community to gather and delve into the arts and sciences. 

Contributed by Isabel Stoddard and Sophia Davis are 2015 graduates of Ridgefield High School and recent interns at the Ridgefield Library.

Congratulations and Thanks to Paccadolmi Award Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the 2014 Paccadolmi Awards, given out at the Library’s dedication ceremony on May 9^th.  For generations of Ridgefielders, Phyllis Paccadolmi personified the Ridgefield Library, and this award honors those whose commitment to the Library exemplifies her spirit and dedication.  This year’s honorees are Philip & Christine Lodewick for leadership and the Friends of the Ridgefield Library for volunteer service.

Philip Lodewick, aided by his wife Christine, served as Chair of the Campaign for the New Ridgefield Library. He coined the slogan Do It Once, Do it Right, Do It Now, and then made it happen just that way.  It is due to his leadership that the Library was able to raise over $15 million privately and to secure bond funding of $5 million from the town at referendum.

The Friends of the Ridgefield Library's commitment of $100,000 in 2006 was virtually the first pledge received for the project, and their further commitment in 2013 was the gift that pushed us well along towards our fundraising goal.  Along the way, they helped out in every possible way.  With total giving of over $300,000 and countless hours of volunteer service, the Friends have been indispensable and inspirational.

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.

Looking Forward to Summer Reading

It’s only the first day of spring, but here at the Library we are already well into planning for Summer Reading.  Here are a few highlights you can look forward to.

In celebration of our new building, our Summer Reading theme will be “Discover...the Ridgefield Library.”  Local artist Paul Siegel is creating a special work of art for the poster, which will feature a “Where’s Waldo” style cut-away drawing of the new Children’s Library, and summer readers will be encouraged to go on a treasure hunt to find the many exciting things featured in the drawing.

For the first time, we will be offering a Summer Reading opportunity for youngsters aged two to five.  Parents will read with or to their pre-schoolers and fill out a game card to earn a prize.

To help children create accounts and track their books, hand out prizes and encourage more reading, the Library will be looking for approximately 50 middle and high school volunteers, each of whom can make a significant time commitment (16 to 20 hours between June 23 and August 9). For more information contact Geri Diorio at the Library or at gadiorio@ridgefieldlibrary.org. 

Young Adults vs. Teens

“Divergent” by Veronica Roth, “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer and “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins used to be in our YA (Young Adult) fiction collection. Now, to find one of those titles, you need to go to our Teen fiction collection. 

The Future Business Leaders of America from Ridgefield High School spent several hours in the Ridgefield Library on October 24, helping us re-label the entire YA Fiction collection. These cheerful teenagers spent their volunteer time sticking new labels that read “Teen” over old labels that read “YA”, then taping the labels down.  They handled several thousand books and helped us quickly make the transition to the collection’s new designation. 

Why did we make this change? Well, I am the Library’s Teen Services Librarian and work with our Teen Advisory Group. When the New Ridgefield Library opens in the spring, there will be a new Teen Room for my patrons. I serve people in middle school and high school; they are ages 12-18; they are teens, not young adults. “YA” is a jargon-y term that book publishers’ marketing departments use. It seems right to eliminate it from the Library, and to use a word that is clearer, more accurate, and reflects what my patrons call themselves: teens. 

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

Celebrating our Friends this Week

October 20-26 is National Friends of Libraries Week, and it couldn’t be a more fitting time to celebrate the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.

Friday through Monday October 25-28 marks the Friends annual fall used book sale at Yanity Gym, offering tens of thousands of titles in over 30 categories, all at great prices.  Get the full sale schedule at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org, where you can also find out more about the Friends and the many Library activities they support, including Ridgefield Folk concerts, monthly poetry discussions and Reading Is a Family Affair.  The Friends also make possible such innovations as downloadable ebooks and audiobooks, Great Courses audio and video lectures and Mango and Little Pim language learning programs.

When they are not busy with the book sale, the Friends have taken on the task this fall of assisting the Library staff with “RFID tagging” – placing a special radio frequency tag into each of our 120,000 books and other items in preparation for a state-of-the-art automated circulation system in the new Library.  Anyone interested in volunteering to help with this project should contact me as listed below.

Whether you see them at the sale or around the Library, take a moment this week to thank a Friend!