Join Darien Library for our fourth annual One Book, One Community reading experience. The book selected for the town-wide read is 97 Orchard by Jane Ziegelman. The book selected for young readers is The Inquisitor’s Apprentice by Chris Moriarty. Each book is set around the turn of the twentieth century in New York City and centers on the immigrant experience in a unique place and time in history.

About the Book: 97 Orchard

In 97 Orchard, Jane Ziegelman explores the culinary life that was the heart and soul of New York's Lower East Side around the turn of the twentieth century—a city within a city, where Germans, Irish, Italians, and Eastern European Jews attempted to forge a new life. Through the experiences of five families, all of them residents of 97 Orchard Street, she takes readers on a vivid and unforgettable tour, from impossibly cramped tenement apartments down dimly lit stairwells where children played and neighbors socialized, beyond the front stoops where immigrant housewives found respite and company, and out into the hubbub of the dirty, teeming streets.

About the Author: Jane Ziegelman

Jane Ziegelman is the director of the Tenement Museum’s culinary center and the founder and director of Kids Cook!, a multi-ethnic cooking program for children. Her writing on food has appeared in numerous publications, and she is the coauthor of Foie Gras: A Passion. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Meet Jane Ziegelman on Thursday, April 5th as she visits Darien Library for two special programs!

About the Youth Book Selection: The Inquisitor's Apprentice

In early twentieth century New York, Sacha Kessler’s ability to see witches earns him an apprenticeship to the police department’s star Inquisitor, Maximillian Wolf, to help stop magical crime. With fellow apprentice Lily Astral, Sacha investigates who is trying to kill Thomas Edison, whose mechanical witch detector could unleash the worst witch-hunt in American history.

Visit us now to check out your copy of 97 Orchard or The Inquisitor's Apprentice. Then, join us in March and April as we host a slew of discussions, workshops, lectures, film screenings, and events that support the books’ themes. There will be programs for adults, teens, and children. Help build a better community!

Showing this Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, February 24 at 7:30 p.m. -- CONTAGION (2011) Starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, and Gwyneth Paltrow; Rated PG-13; 105 minutes.

Contagion follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.

Click here for a complete list of Friday Night Features in February.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).

Tuesday, February 28 at 7 p.m.

You’ve thought of everything – except for how to protect your assets should you need long-term care. Did you know that just one year in a Connecticut nursing home can cost more than $127,000? And Medicare and health insurance may only cover a fraction of these costs. Now there's a way to protect your life savings. If you’re 40 or older, long-term care insurance approved by the State’s Connecticut Partnership for Long-Term Care should be part of your retirement plan. These policies assure you of the highest quality standards. They’re affordable and provide asset protection, protect against inflation, and – most importantly – give you peace of mind through your retirement years. Come learn about how the State’s Partnership for Long-Term Care can help you plan ahead for your future needs.

Presented by Aldo Pantano, a representative from the CT Partnership for Long-Term Care, with the State Office of Policy and Management.

This program is part of the Library’s Health & Wellness Series, “Winter Wellness,” an extensive series of lectures, expert panels, workshops, film screenings, and fitness activities designed to help you achieve an even better version of you. For more information, please click here.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs available on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

Wednesdays at 11 a.m. - Meet Us On Main Street

Every Wednesday at 11 a.m. on Main Street

What is Meet Us On Main Street?

It's a fun, informative, and popular program that meets every Wednesday at 11 a.m. (Think of it as Staff Recommends Goes LIVE!). Find us just inside the main entrance.

You've heard our Readers' Advisory team talk about it...you've seen it on the staff favorites shelf...your mom's brother's college roommate's daughter won't stop recommending it...now let's chat about new and upcoming titles that are on our radar.

Come share what you're reading and watching too. Is there a juicy book you absolutely can't put down? A snoozer of a movie that you had to walk out of? Pull up a chair. Let's dish.

Meet Us On Main Street. Wednesdays at 11.

Friday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. -- HUGO (2011) Starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Kingsley, and Asa Butterfield; Rated PG; 127 minutes.

An orphaned boy secretly lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station and looks after the clocks. He gets caught up in a mystery adventure when he attempts to repair a mechanical man.

“A Masterpiece” - Richard Corliss, TIME

"Hugo will take your breath away. It truly is the stuff that dreams are made of. A spectacular adventure for film lovers of all ages." - Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director (Martin Scorsese).

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.

List of Friday Night Features in March

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).

"Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson will be the first discussion book in our Spring Book Discussion Series.

In Search of Perfection - 2012 Spring Book Discussion Series

Tuesday, March 6 at 7 p.m.

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

The Washington Post "Best of 2011, The Top 10 Books" Pick

Financial Times "Nonfiction Favourites of 2011" Pick

The discussion on Steve Jobs is the first of three carefully selected, critically-acclaimed, discussion-worthy books.Our Spring Book Discussion Series will continue with The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides on Tuesday, April 3 at 7 p.m., and The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach on Tuesday, May 1 at 7 p.m.

Library staff members will lead the discussions.

We have copies of the books available for patrons to borrow, but prior reading of the books is not necessary to attend the discussions.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behing Nielsen's).

Kris D'Agostino, Author of "The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac"

Drum roll please...

We are so very pleased to announce a Spring Author Series that really runs the gamut. From family ties to culinary pursuits to strolls through Paris -- we hope this Spring will leave you speechless.

KRIS D'AGOSTINO

Author of The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac

Wednesday, March 21 at 7 PM

In the spirit of Nick Hornby and Tom Perrotta comes a smart, funny debut from novelist Kris D’Agostino about a disillusioned young man whose fledgling leap from post-adolescence to adulthood lands him back in an already overburdened family nest. In The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac, D’Agostino introduces his readers to Calvin, a twenty-four year-old film school dropout living at home again and working at a preschool for autistic kids. Being a teaching assistant certainly isn’t his dream job. And life at home isn’t peachy either: his insufferable go-getter older brother is also living there, as is his seventeen year old sister, who has just confided to Cal that she’s pregnant—and plans to keep the baby.

Meanwhile, Calvin’s father, a career pilot, is temporarily grounded due to cancer and is now obsessed with his mortality. As if that weren’t enough family drama to give someone an ulcer, Calvin’s ever-stalwart mother is crumbling under the pressure of mounting bills and the imminent loss of their Sleepy Hollow, NY home.

Advance Praise for The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac

“Wickedly funny and as often beautiful as it is meandering, this debut novel reads much like Calvin’s life: bursts of activity followed by long periods of idleness and deep thought.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"D’Agostino’s tragicomic first novel is an insatiably readable tale of a family held together with duct tape and string...A memorable debut by a writer who bears watching."—Booklist

Advance Notice of Upcoming Spring Author Series Events:

Thursday, April 5 at 7 p.m. -- Jane Ziegelman, author of 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement

Thursday, May 3 at 7 p.m. -- Eloisa James, author of Paris in Love

Thursday, May 17 at 7 p.m. -- Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of Anne Morrow Lindbergh who will discuss her mother's final volume of selected letters and diary entries Against Wind and Tide: Letters and Journals, 1947-1986

Wednesday, May 23 at 7 p.m. -- James Gleick, author of The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

All Author Series Programs will feature a book signing and refreshments. Books will be available for purchase at each event.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs available on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

Thursday, March 8 at 7 p.m.

A real concern for investors approaching retirement is losing assets in volatile or down market periods, and as a result, having to either work longer or reduce lifestyles. Managing Retirement Wealth will help you anticipate market-moving events, graduate from random buying and selling, and construct a goal-directed personal portfolio customized to serve you and your family for a lifetime.

Julie Jason directs the personal portfolio management practice of Jackson, Grant Investment Advisers of Stamford, CT. A proponent of financial literacy, Jason is also the author of the award-winning AARP Retirement Survival Guide, a Booklist Top Ten Business Book and recipient of the Axiom Business Book Gold Medal for Retirement Planning. Her award-winning investor education column appears every Sunday in the business sections of the Stamford Advocate, Greenwich Time, Danbury News Times, and Connecticut Post.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).

Elmo and Kevin Clash in BEING ELMO, a Submarine Deluxe release Photo courtesy of Scott McDermott

Whether you're a Jim Henson fan or you're just a fan of films that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, we have a very special documentary screening of Being Elmo planned for you. But that's not all! Constance Marks (Director, Producer) and Corinne LaPook (Producer) will join us to introduce the film and engage in a Q & A session afterward. We can't wait!

Friday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. -- BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER'S JOURNEY (2011) Documentary feature starring Kevin Clash, Whoopi Goldberg, and Frank Oz; Rated PG; 80 minutes.

Beloved by children of all ages around the world, Elmo is an international icon. Few people know his creator, Kevin Clash, who dreamed of working with his idol, master puppeteer Jim Henson. Displaying his creativity and talent at a young age, Kevin ultimately found a home on Sesame Street. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, this documentary includes rare archival footage, interviews with Frank Oz, Rosie O’Donnell, Cheryl Henson, Joan Ganz Cooney and others and offers a behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson Workshop.

“THUMBS UP!” - Roger Ebert, Ebert Presents At the Movies

“CRITICS' PICK! A winning tale of the persistence and creativity behind one of the most famous and fuzziest faces in the world.” - Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.

List of Friday Night Features in March

Seating is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis; reservations cannot be accomodated. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. sharp. This performance is free and open to the public.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).

Showing Monday at 1:30 p.m.

Monday, March 12 at 1:30 p.m.

TRICKS OF THE TRADE: OUTSMARTING INVESTMENT FRAUD; 2011; Not Rated; 57 minutes.

This documentary is about preventing investment fraud. Utilizing compelling stories of victims and perpetrators, the movie uncovers the persuasion tactics that con artists use to defraud their victims and the basic tools investors can use to defend against fraud. The program is segmented into three primary areas: risk, persuasion and prevention. This video was developed by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, in partnership with AARP.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.