Librarian’s Note, February 2015

The Reading Public Library will be showing Freedom & Unity: The Vermont Movie, the first-ever documentary series about the state. The six-part film is a collaboration of over four dozen VT filmmakers. Sponsors include the VT Arts Council, VT Humanities Council, and the VT Country Store. Advisors include historians, educators, artists, and authors. The film is thematic, not chronological, exploring themes in the state’s history that recur and circle back, from 1777 to the present. Each part is approximately 80 minutes long. They will be shown on the following Fridays at 7 p.m.

February 6 – Part 1: “A Very New Idea” (exploring the Native and Colonial roots from which VT grew).

February 20 – Part 2: “Under the Surface” (exploring labor wars, eugenics, the McCarthy era, and progressive Republicanism).

March 6 – Part 3: “Refuge, Reinvention and Revolution” (exploring innovation, interstates, and counter-culture).

March 20 – Part 4: “Doers and Shapers” (exploring progressivism in education and state law, from Act 250 to civil unions).

April 3 – Part 5: “Ceres’ Children” (exploring participatory democracy and ethics in conservation and farming).

April 24 – Part 6: “People’s Power” (exploring contemporary tensions over energy, independence, climate, and the state’s future).

The popcorn and the program are free.

This winter’s book-discussion series will feature Remembrance of Things Past, the multi-volume novel by Marcel Proust. We will be discussing the first volume, Swann’s Way, on Tuesday, February 17, at 7 p.m. For those who have a Kindle or an iPad with a Kindle app, you can purchase the entire novel for $2.99 at Amazon. Or you can read it online at openculture.com. I also have one copy of the novel at home; and the library has a Kindle with a copy of the novel on it. I will probably be able to get one copy via interlibrary loan, as well.

 

Cordially,

Tony

 

Librarian’s Note, January 2015

The collecting of anecdotes for the library project “Books Have Legs” wraps up on Saturday, January 10th. We’re looking for your thoughts about a book that has been meaningful to you in some way—a book that made a lasting impression, a book you remember with fondness. Perhaps you read it (or it was read to you) as a child, or as a teen, or late in life. Whatever the case, we’d like to hear about it. Please include your name, the title and author of the book, when you read it, and 3 – 10 sentences capturing the importance of the book in your life. You can mail your entry to the Reading Public Library, P.O. Box 7, Reading, VT 05062; email it to [email protected]; or drop off a copy. We welcome the participation of adults and children alike and hope to highlight some of the vignettes in the coming year. Continue reading “Librarian’s Note, January 2015”

Librarian’s Note, December 2014

The fall programs take a lot of coordinating but always provide some of our favorite moments. We painted and carved pumpkins with the preschoolers and elementary kids, then lit up the carved pumpkins on the library stoop for Halloween. We also had a lovely little program with the Kindergartners, who created sachets with lavender harvested from the library’s fledgling herb garden. And we had a full house for the showing of the film Olafur Eliasson: Space Is Process. This is the second time we have partnered with the Hall Art Foundation to show a film about an artist and then see his work at the foundation galleries. Last year’s program was successful; this year’s was more so. We hope to make this an annual event. Continue reading “Librarian’s Note, December 2014”

Meeting Agenda, 11-25-14

Board of Trustees Meeting

AGENDA

(November 25, 2014)

  1. Call to order
  2. Approve minutes from last meeting
  3. Visitor Paul Brosseau, Vermont Offender Work Program, on interior library work
  4. Secretary’s Report
  5. Treasurer’s Report
  6. Librarian’s Report
  7. Unfinished Business
    1. Fifth trustee
    2. Maintenance
  8. New Business
    1. Budget proposal
    2. Expanding volunteer base
  9. Summary of decisions
  10.  Adjourn