Programs for Adults at The Bloomfield Libraries:
(Unless otherwise noted, programs are held at Prosser Public Library)
May 6, 2008
(Tues) 7:00 P.M.
Literature for a Lifetime
Join Jack Chatfield,
Associate Professor of History at Trinity
College for this third session
of a 4-part
discussion at Prosser Public Library
entitled Original Intentions: The
Founders.
How did the founders view the
character of democracy? By exploring the
Founders and their
times through the
eyes of three distinguished historians,
we will seek to remove the veil of
legend and see the founders as they
were. The books to be discussed are:
April 3 - Benjamin Franklin by
Edmund S. Morgan
April 24 - Founding Father:
Rediscovering George Washington
by Richard Brookhiser
May 6 - Alexander Hamilton, American
by Richard Brookhiser
May 29 - Founding Brothers, the
Revolutionary Generation
by Joseph J. Ellis
Please watch for the flyers describing the
details of this exciting series. Please
register. |
May 8, 2008
(Thurs) 6:30 P.M. (Held at the Wintonbury Branch)
Wintonbury Branch Book Discussion
The Wintonbury Branch Book
Discussion Group meets monthly on
Thursday evenings at
6:30 P.M.,
September through June. Copies of each
book selection will be available to
borrow from the Wintonbury Branch at
least a month before each meeting.
Anyone wishing
to join the group is
welcome. For more information, please
call 242-0041.
Tonight's selection: The Zookeeper's
Wife by Diane Ackerman |
May 12, 2008
(Mon) 7:00 P.M.
Bird's Eye View
Plan to spend an informative hour
learning about the birds that make
Connecicut their home.
Robert Tougias
will share his knowledge of our birds,
their natural history, biology,
conservation, and will include tips on
some good places to bird. Mr. Tougias is
the author of
Birding in Western
Massachusetts and writes columns
about birding in several publications.
Please register. |
Spring Book Sale!
May 15 (Thurs), 10-7:30 P.M.
May 16 (Fri), 10-5:30 P.M.
May 17 (Sat), 10-2:00 P.M.
Held at Prosser Public Library and
sponsored by the Friends of the
Bloomfield Libraries, the
Spring Book
Sale supports unbudgeted needs of both
Prosser and the Wintonbury Branch.
|
May 15, 2008
(Thurs) 4-5:00 P.M.
Chill Out & Knit
All ages and abilities are
encouraged to attend this intergenerational
program. Knitting is a
hobby and a creative,
stress reducing activity that can be done
alone or with others. This
January, a new
knitters group will begin meeting at the
Prosser Public Library. Avid and
experienced
knitters Lori and Linnea Simcik
will be on hand to guide and inspire
members. |
May 15 & 22, 2008
(Thurs) 6:30-8:00 P.M. (Held at the Wintonbury Branch)
Entryways into
Writing Poetry
Here's a chance to
study poetry with a master poet and
to sharpen your own writing skills.
Join us for two poetry workshops led
by David Cappella, a widely
published poet and teacher
of literature at Central Connecticut
State University and recent popular
feature in our
Wintonbury Branch Poetry Series.
Mr. Cappella will lead participants
in analyzing master
poems from such favorite poets as
Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost as
an entryway into the
creative process.
In these workshops,
you can expect to analyze poetic
devices, do writing assignments, and
obtain feedback on your own
writing. Mr. Cappella has
co-authored two books on the
teaching of poetry, Teaching the
Art of Poetry: The Moves
(Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
2000) and A Surge of Language: Teaching Poetry Day to Day (Heinemann,
2004.) He
travels through the country giving
workshops to teachers and students.
He has had poems
published in such journals as
The Bryant Literary Review,
The
Connecticut Review, and
The Bradford Review. Registration
is required. Call
242-0041. Arrive early for
best seating.
|
May 19, 2008
(Thurs) 7:00 P.M.
Reader's Theater
Prosser Public Library is offering a
new series of Monday evening play
reading by the
Reader's Theater, featuring area actors.
Under the directorship of Myron Gubitz,
the initial
season's offereings will be
three works by modern American
playwrights. Please register.
Tonight's reading:
Critic's Choice, a light but
trenchant comedy by the late Ira Levin.
|
May 21, 2008
(Wed) 7:00 P.M.
Talking About Books
This evening's selection:
Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides (2002)
Readers are invited to lively and
thoughtful book discussions at Prosser
Public Library.
Please pick up a copy of
the book at Prosser about one month
prior to the discussion
date. All
readers welcome! Please register. |
May 22, 2008
(Thurs) 6:30-8:00 P.M. (Held at the Wintonbury Branch)
Entryways into
Writing Poetry - Part 2
Here's a chance to
study poetry with a master poet and
to sharpen your own writing skills.
Join us for two poetry workshops led
by David Cappella, a widely
published poet and teacher
of literature at Central Connecticut
State University and recent popular
feature in our
Wintonbury Branch Poetry Series.
Mr. Cappella will lead participants
in analyzing master
poems from such favorite poets as
Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost as
an entryway into the
creative process.
In these workshops,
you can expect to analyze poetic
devices, do writing assignments, and
obtain feedback on your own
writing. Mr. Cappella has
co-authored two books on the
teaching of poetry, Teaching the
Art of Poetry: The Moves
(Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
2000) and A Surge of Language: Teaching Poetry Day to Day (Heinemann,
2004.) He
travels through the country giving
workshops to teachers and students.
He has had poems
published in such journals as
The Bryant Literary Review,
The
Connecticut Review, and
The Bradford Review. Registration
is required. Call
242-0041. Arrive early for
best seating.
|
May 29, 2008
(Thurs) 4-5:00 P.M.
Chill Out & Knit
All ages and abilities are
encouraged to attend this intergenerational
program. Knitting is a
hobby and a creative,
stress reducing activity that can be done
alone or with others. This
January, a new
knitters group will begin meeting at the
Prosser Public Library. Avid and
experienced
knitters Lori and Linnea Simcik
will be on hand to guide and inspire
members. |
May 29, 2008
(Thurs) 7:00 P.M.
Literature for a Lifetime
Join Jack Chatfield,
Associate Professor of History at Trinity
College for this last session of
a 4-part
discussion at Prosser Public Library
entitled Original Intentions: The
Founders.
How did the founders view the
character of democracy? By exploring the
Founders and their
times through the
eyes of three distinguished historians,
we will seek to remove the veil of
legend and see the founders as they
were. The books to be discussed are:
April 3 - Benjamin Franklin by
Edmund S. Morgan
April 24 - Founding Father:
Rediscovering George Washington
by Richard Brookhiser
May 8 - Alexander Hamilton, American
by Richard Brookhiser
May 29 - Founding Brothers, the
Revolutionary Generation
by Joseph J. Ellis
Please watch for the flyers describing the
details of this exciting series. Please
register. |
May 30 (Fri) 1:30 P.M.
International Films for Adults
Enjoy award-winning independent films from
around the world. These are films not likely
to be
shown in area theaters. Popcorn will
be served, and all are invited to stay for
casual
conversation after the film.
Today's film: The Violin
(Mexico, 98 minutes, in Spanish with English
subtitles)
Don Plutarco, his son
Genaro and his grandson Lucio live a double
life: on one hand they
are musicians and humble farmers, on the
other they support the campesina peasant
guerilla
movement's armed efforts against an
oppressive government. When the military
seizes the
village, the rebels flee to the sierra
hills, forced to leave behind their stock of
ammunition.
While the guerillas organize a
counter-attack, Plutarco executes his own
plan. He plays up his appearance as a
harmless violin player, in order to get into
the village and recover the
ammunition hidden his corn field. His violin
playing charms the army captain, who orders
Plutarco to come back daily. Arms and music
play a tenuous game of cat-and-mouse which
ultimately results in painful betrayal.
|
June 4 (Wed) 7:00 P.M.
Memoir Writing Workshop with Alexis
Maislen
Learn to weave the fabric of your own
story and how to shape the texture of
your own
language. Librarian Alexis Maislen
will lead this hands-on workshop in
June. Participants
will learn to find their writer's voice,
identify their story, and how to
establish a narrative arc.
A short in-class writing assignment will
be given. Alexis Maislen has an MA in
Writing from
DePaul University and an MLIS from
Dominican University. She has studied
creative
nonfiction extensively at the Brown
University Writers' Symposium. No
previous experience is
required to attend. Please register at
the adult reference desk or by calling
243-9721. |
June 10 (Tues) 7:00 P.M.
Poet Lisa Taylor
Lisa Taylor will read poems from her
new collection Talking to Trees,
as well as from other
works. Come for an evening of poetry
reading, with time for questions and
discussion.
Talking to Trees has been
nominated for the LL Winship PEN New
England Award and the
Connecticut Book Award. Ms. Taylor grew
up in the greater Hartford area and is
in the
process of writing a novel. She
conducts writing workshops for all
ages. Please register in
advance by calling 243-9721. |
June 12, 2008
(Thurs) 4-5:00 P.M.
Chill Out & Knit
All ages and abilities are
encouraged to attend this intergenerational
program. Knitting is a
hobby and a creative,
stress reducing activity that can be done
alone or with others. This
January, a new
knitters group will begin meeting at the
Prosser Public Library. Avid and
experienced
knitters Lori and Linnea Simcik
will be on hand to guide and inspire
members. |
June 12, 2008
(Thurs) 6:30 P.M. (Held at the Wintonbury Branch)
Wintonbury Branch Book Discussion
The Wintonbury Branch Book
Discussion Group meets monthly on
Thursday evenings at
6:30 P.M.,
September through June. Copies of each
book selection will be available to
borrow from the Wintonbury Branch at
least a month before each meeting.
Anyone wishing
to join the group is
welcome. For more information, please
call 242-0041.
Tonight's selection: Crow Lake by
Mary Lawson |
June 18, 2008
(Wed) 7:00 P.M.
Talking About Books
This evening's selection:
Three Junes,
by Julia Glass (2002)
Readers are invited to lively and
thoughtful book discussions at Prosser
Public Library.
Please pick up a copy of
the book at Prosser about one month
prior to the discussion
date. All
readers welcome! Please register. |
June 19, 2008
(Thurs) 6:00 P.M. (Held at the Wintonbury Branch)
Juneteenth & the Truth Project with Ruth
Flemming
Learn about the Truth Project,
a non-profit organization which has as
its mission the use of visual arts and
photography to document and exhibit
contemporary, historically significant
events, depicting the African-American
and Native American experiences.
Juneteenth is celebrated in
remembrance of the event of June 19,
1865 when enslaved African Americans in
Texas belatedly learned that the
Emancipation Proclamation of January 1,
1863 had declared them free. Juneteenth
is now celebrated in more than 200
cities throughout the U.S.
Ruth Flemming, Executive Director of the
Truth Project, will speak about
Juneteenth and the Truth Project and
present a 29-minutes movie titles "Open
the Door." |
June 23, 2008
(Mon) 7:00 P.M.
Reader's Theater
Prosser Public Library is offering a
new series of Monday evening play
reading by the
Reader's Theater, featuring area actors.
Under the directorship of Myron Gubitz,
the initial
season's offerings will be
three works by modern American
playwrights. Please register.
Tonight's reading:
Dinner with Friends, a touching yet
humorous treatment of friendship,
marriage and changing relationships by
Donald Margulies. |
June 25, 2008
(Wed) 6:30 P.M.
Musical Evenings with Jeffrey Engel
Cellist, music teacher and lecturer,
Jeffrey Engel returns to Prosser this
summer with two
new music history
topics. Tonight's program Precocious
Composers, will explore the lives
of
a selection of composers who produced
very fine music before the age of 20.
The second
lecture, Musical Madness, on
Tuesday, July 29 will explore the
eccentric, odd and downright
crazy behavior of celebrated composers
from several centuries. Please register at the
Adult Reference
Desk at Prosser Public Library, 243-9721. |
June 26, 2008
(Thurs) 4-5:00 P.M.
Chill Out & Knit
All ages and abilities are
encouraged to attend this intergenerational
program. Knitting is a
hobby and a creative,
stress reducing activity that can be done
alone or with others. This
January, a new
knitters group will begin meeting at the
Prosser Public Library. Avid and
experienced
knitters Lori and Linnea Simcik
will be on hand to guide and inspire
members. |
June 27 (Fri) 1:30 P.M.
International Films for Adults
Enjoy award-winning independent films from
around the world. These are films not likely
to be
shown in area theaters. Popcorn will
be served, and all are invited to stay for
casual
conversation after the film.
Today's film: August
the First (United States, 81
minutes, in English)
It is the morning of Tunde's graduation
party and things have already begun to
unravel. Tunde
has managed to alienate his sister, Simisola.
His older brother, Ade, persistently plagues
him
with criticism, and their mother has started
drinking again. Unbeknownst to most, Tunde
has
orchestrated the return of his long
estranged father, resurrecting unresolved
family anguish
against the backdrop of Tunde's celebration.
As the day turns to night, old wounds are
re-opened and bad habits are revived. Layer
by layer, deception and half-truths are
peeled
away as secrets are uncovered in what will
become an unforgettable day. |
July 1, 2008
(Tues) 7:00 P.M.
The Civilian Conservation Corps
Marty
Podskoch,
author of two books will give a
presentation on the
History, Lore & Legacy of the Civilian
Conservation Corps. The presentation
will include pictures he has gathered
from the CT Department of
Environmental Protection and former CCC
members and their families.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
began on March 31, 1933 under President
Roosevelt’s “New Deal” to relieve the
poverty and unemployment of the
Depression. The US
Army supervised the camps which had from
200-250 men each. The first year 13
camps
were set up in these Connecticut towns &
state parks & forests: West Cornwall,
Housatonic
Meadows; Niantic, Military Reservation;
Hampton, Natchaug; Haddam, Cockaponset;
Stafford
Springs, Nipmuck; Danbury, Squantz Pond;
Cobalt, Meshomasic; Voluntown, Pachaug;
Thomaston, Black Rock; East Hartland,
Tunxis; Clinton, Cockaponset; West
Goshen,
Mohawk; and Torrington, Paugnut. The
Army Government Dock in New London was
the
supply depot for all the CT camps.
In the following years these eight camps
were added: Riverton, American Legion
State
Forest; East Hampton, Salmon River;
Danbury, Wooster Mountain; Somers,
Shenipsit;
Portland, Meshomasic; Poquonock,
Experiment Station Land; Kent, Macedonia
Brook and
Madison, Cockaponset. Men 18 - 25 (with
fathers on relief) enrolled for 6
months, worked a
40-hour week for $30/mo. They had to
send $25 a month home. They got good
food,
uniforms, and medical care. At first
they lived in tents; later they built
wooden buildings.
Workers built trails, roads, campsites,
& dams, stocked fish, built & maintained
fire tower
observer’s cabins & telephone lines,
fought fires, & planted millions of
trees. The CCC
disbanded in 1942 due to the need for
men in WW II.
Marty Podskoch
will have all of his books available
after the presentation for sale and
signing.
Please register for this program at the
adult reference desk or by calling
243-9721. |
July 10, 2008
(Thurs) 4-5:00 P.M.
Chill Out & Knit
All ages and abilities are
encouraged to attend this intergenerational
program. Knitting is a
hobby and a creative,
stress reducing activity that can be done
alone or with others. This
January, a new
knitters group will begin meeting at the
Prosser Public Library. Avid and
experienced
knitters Lori and Linnea Simcik
will be on hand to guide and inspire
members. |
July 16, 2008
(Wed) 7:00 P.M.
Talking About Books
This evening's selection:
Breakfast at Tiffany's,
by Truman Capote (1958)
Readers are invited to lively and
thoughtful book discussions at Prosser
Public Library.
Please pick up a copy of
the book at Prosser about one month
prior to the discussion
date. All
readers welcome! Please register. |
July 21, 2008
(Mon) 7:00 P.M.
Reader's Theater
Prosser Public Library is offering a
new series of Monday evening play
reading by the
Reader's Theater, featuring area actors.
Under the directorship of Myron Gubitz,
the initial
season's offerings will be
three works by modern American
playwrights. Please register.
Tonight's reading:
The Price, Arthur Miller's haunting
play about possessions, inheritance
and the emotional ties between brothers.
|
July 24, 2008
(Thurs) 4-5:00 P.M.
Chill Out & Knit
All ages and abilities are
encouraged to attend this intergenerational
program. Knitting is a
hobby and a creative,
stress reducing activity that can be done
alone or with others. This
January, a new
knitters group will begin meeting at the
Prosser Public Library. Avid and
experienced
knitters Lori and Linnea Simcik
will be on hand to guide and inspire
members. |
July 25 (Fri) 1:30 P.M.
International Films for Adults
Enjoy award-winning independent films from
around the world. These are films not likely
to be
shown in area theaters. Popcorn will
be served, and all are invited to stay for
casual
conversation after the film.
Today's film: TBA |
July 29, 2008
(Tues) 6:30 P.M.
Musical Evenings with Jeffrey Engel
Cellist, music teacher and lecturer,
Jeffrey Engel returns to Prosser this
summer with two
new music history
topics. Tonight's program Musical
Madness, will explore the eccentric,
odd and downright crazy behavior of
celebrated composers from several
centuries.
Please register at the Adult Reference
Desk at Prosser Public Library, 243-9721. |
August 6 & 27, 2008
(Wed) 7:00 P.M.
See America with Sam
Birder Sam Fried presents two slide
shows with stories. Please register for
these two
lectures at the adult reference desk or
by calling 243-9721.
August 6:
Kansas? Unbelievable!
Half the shorebirds passing through
North America on
their way to their breeding grounds make
a “refueling” stop at the various
marshes of central
Kansas, making this improbable interior
state the premier shore birding spot in
the USA for
a week or two in early May each year.
About 30 shorebird species are recorded,
along with
countless waterfowl, wading birds, passerines, and the raptors that follow
them north,
through Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira
National Wildlife Refuge. See the
Southwest
corner of Kansas to witness the
courtship displays of the Lesser
Prairie-chicken and other
prairie birds and migrants that can be
found along the old Santa Fe Trail.
August 27: The
Okanogan Valley of Washington State
Perhaps the most bird rich area
in the Pacific northwest, the Okanogan
Valley of north-central Washington is
scenically
spectacular as well. With habitats
varying from desert valleys near the
Columbia River
ranging up to Ponderosa Pine forests at
8,000feet in the Cascade Mountians, over
200
species of birds breed here among
snow-capped peaks, mountain meadows,
sagebrush
covered hillsides, lowland riparian
zones along the Okanogan River and more. |
August 20, 2008
(Wed) 7:00 P.M.
Talking About Books
This evening's selection:
The Painted Veil,
by Somerset Maugham (1925)
Readers are invited to lively and
thoughtful book discussions at Prosser
Public Library.
Please pick up a copy of
the book at Prosser about one month
prior to the discussion
date. All
readers welcome! Please register. |
August 22 (Fri) 1:30 P.M.
International Films for Adults
Enjoy award-winning independent films from
around the world. These are films not likely
to be
shown in area theaters. Popcorn will
be served, and all are invited to stay for
casual
conversation after the film.
Today's film: TBA |
August 27, 2008
(Wed) 7:00 P.M.
See America with Sam
Birder Sam Fried presents two slide
shows with stories. Please register for
this lecture at the adult reference desk
or by calling 243-9721.
The Okanogan
Valley of Washington State:
Perhaps the most bird rich area
in the Pacific northwest, the Okanogan
Valley of north-central Washington is
scenically
spectacular as well. With habitats
varying from desert valleys near the
Columbia River
ranging up to Ponderosa Pine forests at
8,000feet in the Cascade Mountians, over
200
species of birds breed here among
snow-capped peaks, mountain meadows,
sagebrush
covered hillsides, lowland riparian
zones along the Okanogan River and more. |
September 15 (Mon) 7:00 P.M. (Held at the Wintonbury Branch)
Let's Talk About It: Jewish Literature
Tonight's book: Exodus, the Second
Book of Moses
Save the dates! The Wintonbury Branch
Library has won a second grant from the
American
Library Association and Nextbook to host
another 5-part discussion from the ALA's
popular
Let's Talks About It: Jewish Literature.
This fall the theme will be Between
Two Worlds:
Stories of Estrangement & Homecoming.
In the featured readings, writers from
Egypt,
Brazil, Poland and the United States
take up the central theme of Exodus,
exploring questions
of home and away and what it means to
belong. Our guest scholar will be
Cheryl Greenberg,
the Paul E. Raether Distinguished
Professor of History at Trinity College.
Please register at
the Wintonbury Branch Library, 242-0041.
Dates Coming Up:
Oct. 20: Lost in Translation by
Eva Hoffman
Nov. 17: The Centaur in the Garden
by Moacyr Scliar
Dec. 15: Kaaterskill Falls by
Allegra Goodman
Jan. 12: Out of Egypt by André
Aciman |
|