Our Fall Foreign Film Series begins!

Friday Films are certainly not foreign to us or our members, but, just in case, here's a reminder that our Foreign Film Series begins today, October 23rd at 7:30 p.m.

Our first film in the series will be:

The Class

France (2009) Rated PG-13; In French with English subtitles; 130 minutes

Francois and his fellow teachers prepare for a new year at a high school in a tough neighborhood. Armed with the best intentions, they brace themselves to not let discouragement stop them from trying to give the best education to their students. Cultures and attitudes often clash in the classroom, a microcosm of contemporary France. Francois insists on an atmosphere of respect and diligence. Neither stuffy nor severe, his extravagant frankness often takes the students by surprise. But his classroom ethics are put to the test when his students begin to challenge his methods.

Click here to watch the trailer.

For more infomation about the upcoming films in the series, click here.

Refreshments will be served. Admission is free.

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

Lucinda Scala Quinn

Our Fall Author Series continues!

LUCINDA SCALA QUINN

Author of Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys 

Thursday, October 22nd at 7 p.m. 

NEWS FLASH! We baked!  Our refreshments will include treats made from recipes right out of the book! (My visiting taste-tester exclaimed, "Ohmygoodness. WOW!" when trying the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.) 

Click here for all the details.

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

 A Focus on Jane Austen

Classics 2.0 continues this afternoon with a discussion of Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility.

On Monday, we saw the movie...today, we'll discuss the book. Meet us at 3 p.m. in the Classics Room on the 2nd Floor for tea and scones, and a new slant on the classic.

For all the 2.0 details, click here. 

Stephen Abram

Friends of the Darien Library cordially invite you to the Annual Meeting

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009

5 p.m.

Please join us for our first Annual Meeting in the New Building!

We are delighted to announce that Stephen Abram, Vice President for Innovation at SirsiDynix Corporation, will be the featured speaker. Stephen is a well-known international librarian and a thoughtful and engaging speaker on the issues and trends that affect libraries and their communities. He's been listed by Library Journal as one of their first "Mover and Shakers," the 'key' people influencing the future of libraries and librarianship.

Preceding his presentation, election of officers and new trustee nominations for the year 2009/2010 will take place. Charles E. Barnett, Pamela VanHoven Clark, and Townsend C. Smith are nominated as new trustees.

Learn about the year's developments at Darien Library from Kim Huffard, President of the Board, and Louise Berry, Director of the Library.

Reception to follow.

Lucinda Scala Quinn

...and we do, too. Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys is a wonderful and worthwhile cookbook!

“Lucinda is mad…about family, about great food, about making sure that the men in her life are never mad hungry for long.” – Martha Stewart

“This is the food of love!” – Emeril Lagasse 

Our Fall Author Series continues! LUCINDA SCALA QUINN - Author of Mad Hungry: Feeding Men & Boys will be here at the Library on Thursday, October 22nd at 7 p.m.

Lucinda Scala Quinn, Vice President and Editorial Director of Food and Entertaining of Martha Stewart Omnimedia, has three sons and a husband who love to eat. Perhaps best known for her regular appearances on NBC's Today and Martha, as well as hosting her weekly radio show and co-hosting PBS's Everyday Food, this popular chef, cooking teacher, caterer, food writer and expert has created a cookbook that hopes to help "civilize the wild beasts in your life, one meal at a time." Mad Hungry is a practical cookbook that contains recipes for nutritious and homemade meals, provides cooking techniques and survival strategies, and offers advice for teaching men and boys to create meals for themselves.

The presentation will include a live demonstration of one of the recipes from Mad Hungry.

 A wine and cheese reception and book signing will follow the presentation. Books will be available for purchase.

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

In the Art Gallery

ART ON VIEW

Photography by David Hurwitt

October 13 - November 30

Artist's Reception on Friday, October 23, 6 - 8 p.m.

The Art Gallery is located on the Library's lower level.

Meet Us on Main Street!

This Wednesday, October 14th, at 11 a.m., we'll be Meeting on Main Street as usual to talk books, but this week will be a little different...we'll be talking COOKBOOKS. (Do I hear some of you sighing from how divine that sounds???) We love cookbooks. I know I can't help it, and I've barely turned on my oven in 2 years. But, still (sigh), I love cookbooks. (In my opinion, some cookbooks are so gorgeous, they deserve to be considered and displayed as coffee table books.)

But back to reality...and back to Main Street! Louise and Jen, two of our cookbook experts, are ready to recommend their favorites and they'll be armed with armloads of books and tons of kitchen experience. I would absolutely, positively trust them to tell me where to find the best recipes. So should you...so come by at 11. We'll be mixing it up.

Meet Us on Main Street! will continue to meet on Wednesday mornings at 11 throughout the month of October.

(image at right courtesy of flickr user jspatchwork)

On display in the Art Gallery!

ART ON VIEW!

Photography by David Hurwitt

October 13 through November 30

Artist's Reception on Friday, October 23, 6 - 8 p.m.

The show's going up today and will be in the Art Gallery through November 30th. Please be sure to come by and have a look at this wonderful display of photographs from near and far! For a brief glimpse of the exciting exhibit making its way to our walls, enjoy the video slideshow.

This Friday, October 9th, at 7:30 p.m., we'll be showing the classic film GASLIGHT. The announcement was made last week at the Darien Domestic Violence Task Force's annual proclamation - that October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. (The ceremony was held in the Library's Courtyard (pictured) last Thursday morning.)

The film, from 1944, stars Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, and Joseph Cotton. It's a psychological thriller - one which resulted in a Best Actress Oscar for Ingrid Bergman, a film classic, and a glimpse into the insidious world of psychological torture. From this film we also get the term "gaslighting," which means the ruthless manipulation of an individual into believing something other than the truth.

It's a great movie and we hope that you'll join us for this special screening.

Refreshments will be served.

Yesterday evening, we kicked off our Fall Author Series with a visit from A.J. Jacobs, the delightful and hilarious best-selling author of The Know-It-All, The Year of Living Biblically, and his most recent memoir, The Guinea Pig Diaries.

And what an evening it was!

There was certainly no shortage of laughter to be had as A.J. shared personal stories of the experiments he has put himself (and his wife) through over the past 15 years in a quest to explore his curiosities about life. Perhaps one might think that deciding to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z, or choosing to follow all (literally all) the tenants of the Bible for an entire year, or spending a month practicing radical honesty, or posing in the nude for a magazine all might be suitable as punishment for committing a major crime. However, thank goodness A.J. sees the potential in these difficult and crazy tasks to add meaning to his life - and through each of his books, a whole lot of laughter and amazement to ours.

(By the way, last night, the audience got to meet his wife, Julie, "the saint." It was a bit of a surreal moment. And yes, she is absolutely wonderful!)

Now, many of us here are still recovering from what Barbara T. has brilliantly coined - The A.J. Effect. You know you're experiencing it when you find yourself spontaneously combusting into laughter at the mere thought of George Washington...or Crest Toothpaste...or Kate Hudson movies. It's true - none of these things are inherently funny. But when you combine A.J. Jacobs and his observations, witty style of writing, and thought-provoking insights with just about any subject, the result is something so hilarious and unforgettable that you are compelled to tell everyone (seriously, everyone) about his books and insist that they read them, too. 

If you happened to miss our event last night, or if you just want to re-live all of the laugh-out-loud goodness, keep your eye on our website. In the coming days, we will have A.J.'s entire talk available to watch as a webcast.

And here is a bit more fantastic news that we learned yesterday. A.J. is currently in the midst of his next major quest - to become the healthiest person in the world. He has a board of advisors (that includes Dr. Oz!), has starting visiting the gym, and he even refrained from snacking on the cheese and crackers at our reception last night (not a healthy food, he admitted). He takes his experiments very seriously - and I seriously cannot wait to read his next book!