On Wednesday, March 27, 2013, we held a coffee workshop in the Conference Room. The presentation was done by Rachel Haughey, owner of Espresso NEAT and barista, Kyle Tush.

For more information about the presentation, visit the event page.

Image courtesy of flickr user cathredfern

Bookplate sales for the 2013 Spring Gala will kick off on Saturday, March 30th at Darien Library.

"Dedicate a Book to Someone You Love" by purchasing bookplates. Each purchase of a bookplate helps the Library buy books, and they will be placed in our collection with your bookplate dedication. 

Bookplate sales are part of the fundraising for the Library's 5th Annual Spring Gala, which will take place on Saturday, April 27th at 6:30 p.m. Purchase your ticket now for the Gala.

Bookplate Sales at the Library

• Saturday, March 30th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 3rd from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 10th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Saturday, April 13th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 24th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Other Bookplate Sale locations

• Darien Sports Shop: Saturday, April 13th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Espresso Neat: Saturday, April 6th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Espresso Neat: Sunday, April 14th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Palmer's: Friday, April 5th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Palmer's: Friday, April 12th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On Tuesday, April 9, 2013, Susan Lovallo, CPA, CPO of Clutter Solutions and Jen Burke of JKB Organizing, both members of the organizing group F.O.C.U.S. presented on organizing your home.

For more information, please visit the original post.

Saturday, April 27th at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets: $130

Purchase tickets or make a donation online

Funds raised from the event will be dedicated to expanding library resources, including purchasing new books and supporting programs and guest speakers.

Gala attendees will enjoy live music by the Doug Allen Band, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres by Simply Creative Catering, a silent auction and a live auction. The Spring Gala will take place at the Darien Library located on 1441 Post Road.

A list of auction items will be posted online soon.

• In-Library
• Online
• At the Gala

We will screen SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK in our Community Room May 3.

Friday, May 3 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. – Silver Linings Playbook (2012) Starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert DeNiro; Rated R; 122 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

Life doesn't always go according to plan. Pat Solatano has lost everything - his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother and father after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife. When Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives.

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

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.

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

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.

Friday, May 24 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) Starring Bill Murray, Laura Linney, and Olivia Colman; Rated R; 94 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

In June 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor host the King and Queen of England for a weekend at the Roosevelt home at Hyde Park on Hudson, in upstate New York – the first-ever visit of a reigning English monarch to America. With Britain facing imminent war with Germany, the Royals are desperately looking to FDR for support. But international affairs must be juggled with the complexities of FDR’s domestic establishment, as wife, mother, and mistresses all conspire to make the royal weekend an unforgettable one.

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

Friday, May 31 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – Promised Land (2012) Starring Matt Damon, John Krasinski, and Frances McDormand; Rated R; 106 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

Steve Butler has been dispatched to the rural town of McKinley with his sales partner, Sue Thomason. The town has been hit hard by the economic decline of recent years, and the two consummate sales executives see McKinley's citizens as likely to accept their company's offer – for drilling rights to their properties – as much-needed relief. What seems like an easy job and a short stay for the duo becomes complicated – professionally by calls for community-wide consideration of the offer by respected schoolteacher Frank Yates and personally by Steve's encounter with Alice. When Dustin Noble, a slick environmental activist, arrives, suddenly the stakes, both personal and professional, rise to the boiling point.

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).

Shakespeare on the Sound

Thursday, June 13 at 7 p.m.

Join Shakespeare on the Sound and Yale Professor Mark Schenker for a lively discussion of their 2013 production of William Shakespeare's pastoral comedy, "As You Like It"!

Read from the text and discuss the many elements in the play that make Shakespeare one of the greatest writers of all time!

Bring your copy of the play or we will provide one for you!

Mark J. Schenker has been at Yale College since 1990. He is currently an associate dean of the College and dean of academic affairs. Born and raised in New York City, he received his Ph.D. in English Literature from Columbia University and has taught at Columbia, New York University, and Trinity College (Hartford). He has led book discussion series in public libraries in Connecticut for over twenty years through programs sponsored by the Connecticut Humanities Council and lectures frequently on literary topics for public audiences. He was the recipient of the 2001 Wilbur Cross Award for Outstanding Humanities Scholar, presented by the Connecticut Humanities Council.

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

Taking place Tuesday, June 11 at 7 p.m.

Tuesday, June 18 at 7 p.m.

In this panel presentation, we'll hear from current college students and recent high school graduates about what college is really like.

The panel will be moderated by Donald Kjelleren, Director of Middlebury College’s Career Services Office and Lisa Nelson of Dunbar Educational Consultants in New Canaan, CT.

Don Kjelleren oversees the employer recruiting program, the Senior Program for development of job preparation skills and career counseling. Prior to joining Middlebury, Don worked in the consumer food, advertising and retail industries. He earned a BA from Dickinson College and an MBA from the Katz School of Management at the University of Pittsburgh.

Lisa Nelson has been with Dunbar since 2004 and works with families of students seeking college admission.

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

The Catherine Lindsey staged readings will take place June 9.

Staged Reading of Selections from the Catherine Lindsey Memorial Actors/Playwrights Workshop Series at Darien Library         

On Sunday, June 9 at 2 p.m., the Catherine Lindsey Memorial Actors/Playwrights Workshop will present selections from the Workshop plays in the Library’s Community Room.

Now in its 21st year, the Actors/Playwrights Workshop offers local and regional playwrights and actors the opportunity to work together to produce original theatrical works in a supportive and creative environment. Co-founded by the late Catherine Lindsey and her husband Robert, the goal of the workshops is to encourage collaborative efforts in developing new plays, culminating in staged readings of scenes from full-length, one-act plays, musicals, and monologues before an audience. Catherine Lindsey was a beloved friend of Darien Library and director of the Darien Library Theater for over 25 years.   

Under the direction of Robert Cusack, the public-staged readings mark the conclusion of the 2013 Workshop series, which began in February.

The plays to be featured are:

442: Go for Broke by Louis DiGiusto

Lenny and Freddy by Kathleen A. Bernadette

Dear Eva by Paul Janensch and Catherine Ladnier 

A Tasting Menu by Mary Ellen Murphy

January Scared by Nicholas Troilo

Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. A reception will follow the performance. 

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

We will screen PROMISED LAND Friday, May 31.

Friday, May 31 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – Promised Land (2012) Starring Matt Damon, John Krasinski, and Frances McDormand; Rated R; 106 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

Steve Butler has been dispatched to the rural town of McKinley with his sales partner, Sue Thomason. The town has been hit hard by the economic decline of recent years, and the two consummate sales executives see McKinley's citizens as likely to accept their company's offer – for drilling rights to their properties – as much-needed relief. What seems like an easy job and a short stay for the duo becomes complicated – professionally by calls for community-wide consideration of the offer by respected schoolteacher Frank Yates and personally by Steve's encounter with Alice. When Dustin Noble, a slick environmental activist, arrives, suddenly the stakes, both personal and professional, rise to the boiling point.

"Damon's performance as corporate salesman Steve Butler is one of his best." -- Claudia Puig, USA Today

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

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

image courtesy Flickr user steve_lodefink

Friday, May 31 at 7 p.m.

Starting later this Spring, we will kick off a series of inter-generational workshops in which we build a fleet of quadcopters (well, four). In this Science Café, we'll talk about the impending drone "explosion" and what it means for the world at large. We'll touch on some of the misconceptions about UAVs, and try to get people to understand why they should not be feared, rather, that this is an opportunity and a sector where a great deal of innovation is taking place. We'll show some footage taken from a quad flying around the library itself then give a demonstration of the quad.

Registration for this workshop is now full. Please email eshea@darienlibrary.org to be added to the waitlist. Registration is limited to Darien residents, those who work in Darien full-time, and Friends who have donated $300 or more.

This kick-off event will be followed by several hands-on workshops where attendees are invited to work together to build their own quadcopters. The workshops will take place on the following days and participants will be able to register for these at the Science Café.

Tuesday, June 4, 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Thursday, June 6, 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 11, 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Thursday, June 13, 3:30-4:30 p.m.

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