Have you ever considered having lunch at the Library? No, we haven’t opened a café or invited Chez Lenard to set up shop on the lawn. And normally we do not allow food and drink to be brought into the Library. But this summer we are offering several lunchtime programs that combine two favorite activities – eating and reading!

Nutmeg Nibblers is a long-standing summer offering for children going into grades 4 through 6. From now through July 31st, voracious young readers can satisfy their cravings for good food and good books, as they meet each Tuesday from 1:00 to 2:00 PM to discuss books nominated for the 2008 Nutmeg Intermediate Book Awards. Bring a lunch and any other books you want to share, and join us in the Children’s Program Room for chat, crafts and chow! Nutmeg Nibblers is a great way to get a jump start on reading all 10 of the Nutmeg-nominated titles, which will be voted on in January. Stop by Children’s Services to register and to pick up a copy of the selected book for the week.

For adults, we are pleased to welcome back Professor Joanne Dobson, who will be reprising last summer’s popular Mystery Lovers’ Brown Bag Lunch gatherings. With this year’s theme of “Adults Read around the World,” the focus will be on contemporary international mystery writers. The first discussion on July 13th will focus on Northern authors, and the second on July 27th will concentrate on authors from Southern climes. There is no need to register or to read anything before the discussions; just come along and share some of your own favorite international mystery authors. Sessions run from noon to 2:00 PM in the Dayton Program Room. Bring your lunch, and the Library will provide lemonade and cookies!

School’s out, and where are you going to go? The Library, of course, but beyond that we recommend the great institutions included in our museum pass program, sponsored by the Friends of the Ridgefield Library. Excited by the recent movie “Night at the Museum,” youngsters are looking at these educational institutions with different eyes. We can’t get you in after hours, but with the Library’s museum pass program, your family can take advantage of free or discounted admission to many destinations in Connecticut that promise a terrific experience for all ages. Particularly popular with kids are the Beardsley Zoo, the Discovery Museum, the Institute for American Indian Studies, the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, the Children’s Museum in West Hartford, Norwalk’s Maritime Aquarium, the Mystic Aquarium, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Roaring Brook Nature Center and Stepping Stones Museum for Children. The newest offering is made available as part of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection’s “No Child Left Inside” initiative and is good for free admission to any state park or forest and to any museums located in a state park.

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Attractions at these institutions include dinosaurs, dolphins, archeological sites, nature trails, planetarium shows and scores of cool interactive exhibits and activities. Pick up a Museum Pass brochure at the Library for more details and web addresses that will get you to listings of current special exhibitions and events. <>

Passes for all of these locales can be found in Children’s Services, may be borrowed for three days and can even be reserved up to 7 days in advance. Ask at the Information Desk for passes to the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford and Ridgefield’s own Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art. Pass privileges vary, and some seasonal restrictions and other limitations apply, so be sure to read the small print before loading everyone in the car.

Cell phones – they are ubiquitous, they are obnoxious and, for some people, they are indispensable. What is a “quiet” place like the Library to do in the face of this explosion of constant communication?

Realizing that many people do need to be reachable for work or family purposes, we have designated two locations in the Library, one on each floor, where cell phone use will be permitted. These are the lobby on the second floor at the top of the stairs (between Children’s Services and the Fiction Room) and the lobby of the Dayton Program Room (when it is not being used for a program). And, of course, there is always the great outdoors, at least in good weather!

We ask that all cell phone users turn their phones off or to silent mode prior to entering the Library. This will avoid an unexpected ring tone disturbing those who are trying to concentrate. If you do receive a call, or need to make one, please restrict your conversation to the designated areas. Not only will this spare those around you from having to listen to the details of your personal life, it will protect your privacy as well.

With so much activity crammed every which way into our building, it is very difficult to separate loud and quiet activities. Seventy percent of respondents to our recent “Library Listens” survey agreed that better “zoning” for noise control would improve the library experience. This is just one of the issues the Library staff and Board are hoping to address as we continue work on the design of our proposed building expansion. In the meantime, please help us by following the new cell phone guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation!

The following comes from the Library's Adult Services Librarian, Dorothy Pawlowski.

June marks the annual celebration of Audiobook Month at the Ridgefield Library, a way to acknowledge the added dimension listening to books brings to our busy lives.

<>The world of audiobook listening continues to evolve. Sadly for some, books on cassette are being phased out, so that we can no longer purchase many new selections in this format. Books on CD are now the primary way that audiobooks are offered by vendors. Since at any time over 70% of the books on CD owned by the library are checked out, we will continue to focus on growing this collection. For popular new audiobooks, we suggest placing a reserve, since many of these titles are checked out within hours of when they reach the library shelves. Our staff will be happy to assist in placing a hold, or you can do so by accessing our catalog online. <>
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<>Any audiobook aficionado knows the narrator can make or break the listening experience. Pick up a copy of our list of “Golden Voices,” narrators who have been chosen for their achievements in spoken-word recordings, and please let us know if you’ve particularly enjoyed an audiobook performance so we can share recommendations.

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Consider trying a downloadable audiobook, the newest format for listening. Over 1,600 titles are always available to Ridgefield Library cardholders to download from our website. Intimidated by trying another new format or frustrated by an initial attempt to use this service? We’d like to get you hooked on this exciting new way to listen to audiobooks. Adult Services Librarian Dorothy Pawlowski would be happy to set-up a one-on-one tutorial, or arrange for the loan of an MP3 player pre-loaded with an audiobook of your choice.

<>During the month, the Ridgefield Library will be featuring a display of the various formats for audiobook listening. Stop by, we’d love to hear from you.

Summer is coming, and so are summer hours at the Ridgefield Library. June 10th will be the final Sunday we are open until Labor Day. Our schedule will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 AM to 6 PM, Tuesday and Thursday from 10 AM to 9 PM and Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM. And, of course, our “virtual library” remains open 24/7 for your convenience at www.ridgefieldlibrary.org. Check your account, ask a reference question at InfoAnytime, reserve a book or research almost any topic – any time of day or night, all year long.

What else will summer bring to the Library? First and foremost will be our Summer Reading Programs for children, teens and adults, which all begin on June 25th and run through August 4th. This year’s theme is “Read around the World,” and there are many special programs with a multicultural flavor planned for all ages. There are plenty of fun incentives for the youngest participants and great raffle prizes for teens and adults, so you’ll want to stock up on good books (or audiobooks or magazines) and start reading right away. Stop by the Library or visit our website for all the details.

To help you get your reading journey off to a fast start, the Friends of the Library will be holding a special Summer Reading Book Sale during the first week of the program. Visit them under the tent on the Library lawn June 28th through 30th for your pick from thousands of children’s books and “pocket” paperbacks – perfect for the beach or to tuck into a suitcase.

Many of our other popular ongoing programs will continue through the season, in air-conditioned comfort. Join us for monthly book discussions, matinee and evening movie screenings, drop-in Saturday story times, and much more.

Are you just wild about Harry (Potter, that is)? Then you not alone! Advance orders for the 7th and final volume in J.K. Rowling’s series have already reached 1.5 million copies on Amazon alone. Locally, Books on the Common has 300 books on order and has scheduled a special late night party leading up to the official release at 12:00 AM on July 21st, and the Library has purchased a record 40 copies.

The final outcome of the saga of Harry, Ron, Hermione and company is being kept a closely-guarded secret. Libraries and booksellers have to sign a confidentiality agreement before we can even order copies. But you can get out your quill pen or fire up your computer and tell the world what you think will happen by entering the Library’s Harry Potter Creative Writing Contest. In one to three pages, write what you think the final scene will be and turn it in, with a completed entry form, to the Library by 6 PM on June 18th. Our distinguished panel of judges includes Children’s and Teen Services Librarian Geri Diorio, Ellen Burns from Books on the Common, Celia Frost from the Ridgefield High School English department, Claire Carlson (a former Library staffer and aspiring children’s book author) and Beth Duff (a free-lance writer who also works at the Library). One winner will be picked based on creativity, grammar, style and originality in each of three levels: Elementary, Middle School and High School. Prizes are a free copy of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” from Books on the Common. Winners will be announced at the Library’s Farewell Harry Potter Party at 1 PM on June 28th, where we will also have trivia contests, magic tricks and much more fun for those in Grade 3 and up. Don’t miss all the fun as the clock ticks down to the “witching hour!”

May 17th was one of those days when the Ridgefield Library was truly a refuge from the storm for over 1,800 people who came here seeking all manner of assistance following the previous day’s severe weather. With nearly half the town still without power, the Library was packed to the rafters with folks using library computers, accessing our wireless network, doing homework and seeking entertainment. We helped people look up phone numbers they had stored only in inaccessible computer files, suggested books to read in the absence of television and videogames, and provided somewhere to work for scores of students whose classrooms were closed. Library staff held impromptu story times, made arrangements to expand computer access, rearranged the furniture, and did everything else they could to accommodate the overflow crowd. While it was sheer luck that the Library avoided many of the headaches others experienced (loss of electricity, blocked driveways, etc.), we are doubly glad that we were able to be here to help others in the community. If you were at the Library last Thursday, we’re glad we could be of service. If you weren’t, stop by soon to see what you are missing!