On Thursday, April 25, 2013, author David Benioff was our featured speaker. He wrote, "City of Thieves," our One Book One Community read for this year.

For more information, please visit the event page.

Michael Hainey, author of 'After Visiting Friends'

Tuesday, May 7, 3-4:30 p.m

Calling All Book Group Members…join us at Book Group Expo in the Darien Library Community Room. One lucky attendee will even go home with an iPad mini!

Explore the newest books, earmarked as good Book Group selections, with Jen Dayton, Collection Development Coordinator. Representatives from Harper Collins and Penguin Books will also be in attendance. Jen will present some “under the radar” books now available through the Library’s ‘Books in a Bag’ program and the publishers’ reps will cover new and forthcoming titles of interest to book groups.

Michael Hainey, author of After Visiting Friends will keynote the event. His memoir is a moving account of one man’s attempt to uncover his family’s long-buried secrets.

Our Book Group Staff will demonstrate how to navigate our Book Groups web page, where you can reserve titles, post current reads, and find book discussion guides. Meet the Library Book Group Team: Marianne, Asha, and Pat over refreshments. Network, share thoughts on book selections, and exchange tips on how to lead a successful book group discussion. And if you missed winning the recent Powerball, have heart, you may win one of the Expo door prizes!

Save the date. We look forward to seeing you!

image courtesy flickr user decaf

Tuesday, May 7 at 7 p.m.

Nowadays, there are seemingly limitless options for storage devices and containers. Which ones are really worth your money and which ones will just end up adding to the clutter? Which ones do the professionals use? Find out what the organizers of FOCUS recommend as they teach you how to shop successfully for organizational tools without putting a huge dent in your wallet.

Presented by Matt Baier of Matt Baier Organizing, LLC, Jen Burke of JKB Organizing, Cara Brook of S.O.S. LLC and Susan Lovallo, CPA, CPO of Clutter Solutions.

Also check out our "Get Organized" LibGuide.

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

We will screen A LATE QUARTET in our Community Room April 5

Friday, April 5 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – A Late Quartet (2012) Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, and Catherine Keener; Rated R; 107 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

On the eve of a world renowned string quartet’s 25th anniversary season, their beloved cellist, Peter Mitchell, is diagnosed with the early symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. When Peter announces he wishes to make the upcoming season his last, his three colleagues find themselves at a crossroad. Competing egos and uncontrollable passions threaten to derail years of friendship and collaboration.

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

Friday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – Hitchcock (2013) Starring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, and Scarlet Johansson; Rated PG-13; 98 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

This film lays bare the captivating and complex love story between Alfred Hitchcock and his steadfast wife and filmmaking collaborator, Alma Reville. It does so through the sly, shadowy lens of their most daring filmmaking adventure: the making of the spine-tingling 1960 thriller, Psycho, which would become the director’s most controversial and legendary film.

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

Friday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – Playing for Keeps (2012) Starring Gerard Butler and Jessica Biel; Rated PG-13; 105 minutes; Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

This romantic comedy follows a charming, down-on-his luck former soccer star who returns home to put his life back together. Looking for a way to rebuild his relationship with his son, he gets roped into coaching the boy’s soccer team. But his attempts to finally become an adult are met with hilarious challenges from the attractive soccer moms who pursue him at every turn.

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

Friday, April 26 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – The Impossible (2012) Starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts; Rated PG-13; 114 minutes; Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

Maria, Henry and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the center of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her. This film is the unforgettable account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time.

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

All films are free and open to the public.

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

Photo courtesy of Flickr user JustDerek

Darien Library and The Middlesex Genealogical Society Present

Blogging your Genealogy

Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 2 p.m.

Combining the power of technology and the primary sources from historical documents, Phil Hayes developed his own family history website using WordPress, a blogging platform that is both free and easy to use . His site has inspired many people to develop an interest in family history and has connected Phil to several undiscovered relatives and their family stories. Since 2010 Phil has been teaching amateur and professional genealogists how to document their family’s history on the internet using a blog. Phil will discuss specific strategies to get the most from your blogging efforts.

Phil Hayes is the CEO of Sirius Innovations, LLC. He is a member of numerous historical and genealogy societies, including the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Lynne Byrne photography

April 22nd through May 28th

Artist's Reception Friday, May 17th at 6:00 p.m.

Lynne Byrne’s unique photographic imagery offers a glimpse of the everyday miracles seen in our natural environment. The photographer uses natural light, and close up photography to explore the intricate textures, surfaces, reflections and variations in color that often go unnoticed until we take a longer, closer, more deliberate look at the world around us.

We will screen SAFE HAVEN Friday, May 17.

Friday, May 17 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. – Safe Haven (2012) Starring Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough; Rated PG-13; 120 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

When a mysterious young woman arrives in a small North Carolina town, her reluctance to join the tight knit community raises questions about her past. Slowly, she begins putting down roots, and gains the courage to start a relationship with Alex, a widowed store owner with two young children. But dark secrets intrude on her new life with such terror that she is forced to rediscover the meaning of sacrifice and rely on the power of love in this deeply moving romantic thriller.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer. Check out the rest of our Friday Night Features in May.

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

Dennis Watlington will visit the Library May 9

Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m.

Dennis Watlington, author of Chasing America, will be our featured speaker.

Chasing America is a rollercoaster ride through promise and poverty, affirmative action and addiction, and a powerful story that captures a life and an era that is seminally American. Born in Harlem in 1952, Dennis developed a heroin habit at the age of 14, kicked it, and received a scholarship to the Hotchkiss School where he was elected president of his class. He went on to NYU, became involved in film and theater, got addicted to crack, kicked that, and became an Emmy-winning television writer.

Chasing America shows us the best and worst that America offers to a Black man—from the Jim Crow South to boarding school life in New England to backstage at the Fillmore East to a holding cell in Bellevue Hospital.

About the Author

Dennis Watlington has been a junkie, a thief, a motivational speaker, a janitor for the circus, an occupational therapist, a journalist, a soap opera actor, and most recently a screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. His credits include The Untold Story of the Black West which won him an Emmy.

Books will be available for purchase at this event. Refreshments will be served.

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

Catherine Lindsey Workshop Auditions

The Catherine Lindsey Actors/Playwrights Workshop, now in its 21st year, will be holding acting auditions for roles in their public performances. The playwriting workshops began in February and will conclude with a public performance at the Library on Sunday, June 9.

Acting auditions will take place in the Library’s Conference Room at the following sessions:

Wednesday, May 8 at 7 p.m.

Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m.

Rehearsals will then take place in late May through the performance in June. Directors are looking specifically for the following, but auditions are open to all:

- 2 males in their 70s

- 2 males in their 40s

- 1 male in his 20s

- 1 female in her 40s

On Sunday, June 9   at 2 p.m., the Actors/Playwrights Workshop will present the public-staged reading of selections from the plays in the Library’s Community Room.

The plays selected for performance by the Darien Library Committee are:

442: Go for Broke by Louis DiGiusto

Lenny and Freddy by Kathleen A. Bernadette

Dear Eva by Paul Janensch and Catherine Ladnier

His Play by Michael Blevins

A Tasting Menu by Mary Ellen Murphy

The Actors/Playwrights Workshop welcomes Actors’ Equity actors and non-Equity actors to participate, brings together local and regional playwrights and actors, and encourages a collaborative effort to create new plays and present a public-staged reading. Co-founded by the late Catherine Lindsey and her husband Robert, the workshop introduces original plays in progress to be developed in a workshop environment with the goal of the public-staged readings. Catherine Lindsey was a beloved friend of the Library and director of Darien Library Theater for over 25 years. The memorial workshops offer actors and playwrights the opportunity to work together to create original theatrical works in a supportive and creative environment culminating in the staged readings of short scenes from full-length plays, one-act plays, musicals, and monologues.

The Actors/Playwrights Workshop welcomes all interested playwrights and actors (Equity and Non-Equity), with or without experience, to join. For more information, contact Robert Cusack at (203) 655-7699 or at robert.cusack1@att.net.

We will screen CHEERFUL WEATHER FOR THE WEDDING in our Community Room May 10.

Friday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – Cheerful Weather for the Wedding (2012) Starring Elizabeth McGovern, Felicity Jones, and Luke Treadaway; Not Rated; 92 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

A young woman frets upstairs in her family's country manor on her wedding day, fearful she's about to marry the wrong man. Downstairs, both her fiancé and her former lover grow increasingly anxious.

"Rice does a fine job of juggling so many characters and moving smoothly among flashbacks without losing sight of the main story." -- Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

For more information, please watch the film's trailer. Check out the rest of our Friday Night Features in May.

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