Just a few weeks after the moon landing, about half a million young people landed on an upstate New York farm for "An Aquarian Exposition"...now known as one of the most important cultural events of the late 1960s: Woodstock.

The story behind the festival is told in Bob Spitz's Barefoot in Babylon, and it's a nearly-unbelievable sequence of events that makes you wonder how four guys actually pulled the whole thing together. The gates opened on Friday, August 15, and the original 200,000 ticket holders were eventually joined by so many others that the concerts were declared free and the New York State Thruway had to be shut down because of incoming traffic.

All weekend, attendees were treated to unforgettable performances by, among others, Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Santana, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Who, The Band, and Jimi Hendrix. They endured rain, mud, medical emergencies, a scarcity of food and drinks, and lost cars...and came away with a lifetime of memories.

This weekend, we're presenting the Academy Award-winning documentary Woodstock, Saturday evening at 7. Barefoot in Babylon author Bob Spitz will join us to introduce the film! We also have a discussion of Woodstock Revisited, a new oral history of the event, on Sunday afternoon at 2. Join us for two very special events to commemorate 40 years of peace and music!

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

Darien Library is Ranked One of the Top 100 Libraries in the United States

Thursday, July 23 at 11 a.m.  Just drop-in!

Ages 3 and up and caregiver

Join us in welcoming the Darien Nature Center and some of their animal friends to the Darien Library.

picutres by flickr users peppergrasss and susteph

Last week, we hosted the first-ever One Page Poetry Circle at Darien Library, under the leadership of teacher and author Madge McKeithen. Poems by Walt Whitman, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Hart Crane, Robert Frost, and many others were read and discussed, and we hope to repeat our success at the next circle, on Wednesday, August 5!

The Good Old Summertime is the name of our Adult Summer Reading program and we're reminding our readers of the simple pleasures of life, like poetry. One of the discoveries last week was that reading a poem aloud can bring new meaning to light...and all of us went away inspired with each other's poetry choices.

To join us in August, please choose a one page poem that reflects the theme "Poetry & Rhyme." We're displaying some suggestions on Main Street and welcome your ideas and enthusiasm. See you at 7 PM on Wednesday, August 5 for another evening of poetry, cookies, coffee, and community!

Photo from Flickr user bwanderson.

It's official....our Summer Film Series is a hit! We opened the series tonight with a great audience and rave reviews. In case you missed the news, we are back with Friday night films throughout July and August! Same time (7:30). Same place (Community Room) Same team (pictured, right - me, Jane, Drew, and Stephanie). And (drumroll, please) Jane's cookies!

Our next film, on Friday, July 10th, will be Taken. 

While life slows down for many during the summer, we're busy planning and providing suggestions and experiences for your precious down-time. (Also, I'll bet you didn't know that we're also busy planning your fall!*)

Adult Summer Reading continues in July with (right off the bat) a One Page Poetry Circle (tonight, July 1st at 7 p.m.), Meet Us on Main Street, a weekly staff-recommends, Short Stories for Long Days, a short story dicussion group, a special Meet-the-Author event featuring Jayanti Tamm, author of Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult, Classics 2.0, a fun and fresh look at the classics, and a Woodstock Weekend which will feature a screening of Woodstock with an introduction by Bob Spitz, the author of "Barefoot in Babylon: The Creation of the Woodstock Music Festival - 1969."

Monday at Seven will also continue throughout the month (and beyond). The next meeting will be on Monday, July 6th, when the speaker will be Wayne Pasternack of Bloomberg. He will demonstrate the feature of the Bloomberg terminal that will be installed here at the Library on July 1st (major news!).

We also begin our Summer Film Series this Friday, July 3rd at 7:30 p.m. with Confessions of a Shopaholic. Next Friday, July 10th, be here for Taken. The series will run for eight consecutive weeks -every Friday at 7:30. For a the full summer movie lineup, click here.

And as long as we're talking coolness factors, in case you haven't been by the Library in the past week or so, we have refreshing news...the courtyard fountain is now operational (and beautiful)!

*...here are a few events that are confirmed for the fall. Ready? I'll wait while you get your calendar/Blackberry/organizer....On Sunday, October 4th at 5:30 p.m., A.J. Jacobs will be here to talk about his new (side-splittingly hilarious) book The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment. And, on Thursday, November 5th at 7 p.m., the week following the release of his newest book "True Blue," David Baldacci will be here. Looks like it won't only be a great summer...the fall is looking spectacular, too!

Classics 2.0!

Thursday, July 23 at 11 AM
The good old summertime is the perfect time to kick back with an old favorite. Why not consider a literary classic? I just picked up A Tale of Two Cities for one of my summer reads. I read somewhere recently, "When you re-read a classic, you do not see in the book more than you did before. You see more in  you than you saw  before." (Actually, I think you see both...but I like the quote anyway...)

We have an entire room filled with brand new copies of these timeless goodies, and we'll show you how they are remarkably relevant to today's world.

Learn about what constitutes a classic, the meaning of this special collection to Darien, and how your favorite modern-day bestsellers in print, music, and film have deep roots planted in the past.

Refreshments will be served.

Classics 2.0 is an Adult Summer Reading event.

(Photo courtesy of flickr user truds09)

 On Thursday, July 16th at 7 p.m., Jayanti Tamm, author of Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult, will be here to talk about her unforgettable life story.

Born and raised in the cult of Sri Chinmoy and declared "The Chosen One," for over 25 years Jayanti lived within the guru's inner circle. Sri Chinmoy assigned Jayanti to court celebrities, infiltrate the United Nations, and find elephants for him to weight-lift, all in an effort to transform the world. At the age of 25, after multiple attempts to leave, she was permanently exiled from the group.

Cartwheels in a Sari is her personal story of growing up "cult" and her eventual freedom and new life.

"...her effort is worthy of applause." -- People (four-star review)

"With a succinct and earnest writing style, Tamm delivers a coming-of-age story overflowing with heartbreaking and hilarious moments." -- Forbes.com

A book signing will follow the presentation and refreshments will be served. Books will be available for purchase.

This Meet the Author program is an Adult Summer Reading event.

This summer marks the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, the most famous music concert in modern history. Join us for a screening of the Academy Award-winning film!

Saturday, July 25 at 7 PM
A screening of  Woodstock.
Live introduction by Bob Spitz (pictured, right), author of Barefoot in Babylon: The Creation of the Woodstock Music Festival, 1969.

(Bob Spitz is also the author of Dylan: A Biography, The Beatles: The Biography, and The Saucier's Apprentice: One Long Strange Trip Through the Great Cooking Schools of Europe.)

Please check our website for updates on other events that will take place this weekend.

Woodstock Weekend is an Adult Summer Reading event.

One Page Poetry Circle (An Adult Summer Reading event)

Wednesday, July 1 at 7 p.m.

The theme will be “Poetry & the Past.”

The One Page Poetry Circle encourages reading, appreciation, and discussion of poetry. Bring a single page of poetry by an established poet plus your enthusiasm, thoughts, questions, and curiosity about the poems that others bring. The discussion will be led by Madge McKeithen (pictured, left), author of Blue Peninsula: Essential Words for a Life of Loss and Change and a faculty member of The Writing Program at The New School. Refreshments will be served.