Wednesday, November 15th @ 6:30pm: To celebrate the launch of the Ridgefield LGBTQ Oral History Project at the Ridgefield Historical Society, historian Susan Ferentinos will offer an overview of LGBTQ history, with particular emphasis on the experiences of LGBTQ people in Connecticut. From some of the earliest evidence of same-sex desire in the English colonies to the LGBTQ civil rights struggles of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Connecticut has been a part of the national story of gender and sexual diversity. By using local stories to illustrate national trends, Dr. Ferentinos will demonstrate the importance of individual LGBTQ lives and communities to our understandings of the past.

Susan Ferentinos, PhD, is a public history researcher, writer and consultant helping cultural organizations share untold stories about women and LGBTQ people. She will be assisting with the Ridgefield LGBTQ Oral History Project and has recently worked with the Palmer-Warner House in East Haddam, Connecticut, and the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site in Hyde Park, New York. She is the author of the award-winning book Interpreting LGBT History at Museums and Historic Sites and has contributed her expertise to the National Park Service initiative “Telling All Americans’ Stories.”

The Ridgefield LGBTQ Oral History Project is a newly launched initiative of Ridgefield CT Pride, the Ridgefield Historical Society and the Ridgefield High School Gay-Straight Alliance.

To register, visit the Ridgefield Historical Society website HERE

Monday, October 2nd @ 7:00pm — The Library is excited to offer a special lecture three-part online lecture series, A.I. in Literature presented by Dr. Mark Schenker. The first program will examine Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me, followed by A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers on October 16th and Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro on October 30th. Dr. Schenker recently retired as Dean of Academic Affairs at Yale College.

Please register for each talk separately. You will receive the Zoom link upon registration, and in a reminder the day before. More information is available here.

These programs are part of the Library’s Scholarly Series, AI: Ready or Not, which is made possible by the generous support of the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.

Thursday, September 28th @ 6:30pm: Eminent bioethicist Dr. Arthur Caplan explores the implications of artificial intelligence in the health care field. Dr. Caplan is currently the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor, and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics, at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City.

Learn more and register to attend this program.

This lecture is part of the Library’s Scholarly Series, AI: Ready or Not, which is made possible by the generosity of the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.  Download the series brochure here.

Tuesday, September 26th @ 1:00pm:  Representatives from the CT Department of Social Services will explain what programs are available to help support caregivers and help their loved ones age in place and receive needed care. Presented in partnership with the Town of Ridgefield’s Social Services Department. Learn more & register.

Out of an abundance of concern for the safety of people entering the Library, speed bumps are being installed (weather permitting) on the morning of Monday, September 11, 2023 in the parking lot on either side of the Library’s Main Entrance. Please be aware that access to the parking lot may be affected during the work.

Saturday, September 30th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm:  Families with children of all ages, join us in the Lower Level Program Rooms for a fun-filled afternoon!