October 10-13:  Don’t miss the Friends of the Ridgefield Library‘s multi-day Big Book Sale!  Great choices for readers of all ages and interests.

FRIDAY October 10:  10AM – 6PM

SATURDAY October 11:  9AM – 5PM

SUNDAY October 12:   1PM – 5PM

MONDAY October 13:   8AM – 6PM

 

Wednesday, October 1 @ 7:00 pm: Why do it? How can you do it? Come and learn all about native seeds and their life cycle from Ridgefield Conservation Commissioner Jean Linville. You will also learn how you can be an active participant in the efforts being made to restore our local ecosystems. The Yard to Yard Native Plant Seed Swap will be discussed as well as seed collection, stratification methods, germination and plant placement. Resources for native-plant identification and care will also be shared.

Jean is a visual artist, educator, writer and native plant farmer at The Hickories Organic Farm in Ridgefield, CT. In all of her endeavors, she aims to raise awareness and appreciation of local ecosystems and thereby encourage participation in ecological restoration projects. Jean is also a member of the Caudatowa Garden Club.

The Caudatowa Garden Club will have a pop-up seed swap table set up outside this event, so bring your harvested seeds and take some away! Envelopes are available in the Library Lobby.

Click here to learn more and to register.

Tuesday, September 30 @ 1:00 pm: This Senior Voices presentation will focus on the upcoming Medicare Open Enrollment and choices related to Medicare that every participant needs to know.

Hosted at the Ridgefield Library, this informative session will be presented by Karen Gaudian, Ridgefield’s Municipal Agent for the Elderly. Ms. Gaudian will review any changes coming in 2026 for Medicare and speak about the Medicare counseling sessions that will again be available at the Library during Open Enrollment by certified CHOICES counselors. These sessions are offered to provide Medicare recipients with an unbiased review of current coverage to ensure it is the best and most cost-effective choice for them in the coming year. The focus will be on traditional Medicare gap/supplement coverage and prescription drug plans. CHOICES volunteers were able to help Medicare Plan D participants save almost $250,000 in 2024 on prescription drugs alone.

Senior Voices is a free event and a hybrid program offered in partnership with the Library and the Ridgefield Town Commission on Aging. Individuals may attend in person and online. Light refreshments will be served. If you have any questions, please contact the Commission on Aging at [email protected]

Click here to learn more and to register.

Tuesday, September 23 @ 6:00 pm: Level up your adulting skills! Don’t stress about job interviews. In this program, you will learn the importance of first impressions, how to perfect your handshake, body language tips, and how to prepare for phone and in-person interviews. There will be time for questions after the presentation.

Adults and teens are both welcome.  Click here for more information and to register.

Thursday, September 25 @ 7:00 pm:  Dan Garcia’s program features compositions from the Americas and Spain, as he soulfully presents works by Villa-Lobos, Agustín Barrios, Jose Luis Merlín, Antonio Ruiz-Pipó, Albéniz, Tárrega and Brower, and more.

Steeped in tradition and the sounds of old Segovia records, Dan Garcia’s love of Spanish guitar began right at home in his birthplace of Madrid, Spain.  From the romantic compositions of Francisco Tárrega to the memorable melodies of Agustín Barrios, Dan’s program of Spanish and South American  songs is an authentic offering of personal heritage.

Please click here to register. This music program is made possible by the generosity of the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.

Wednesday, September 24 @ 7:00 pm: Sons of Survivors is a powerful dual memoir by lifelong friends who grew up in a close-knit community of Holocaust survivors. Though they didn’t experience the trauma of their parents, they inherited its lasting imprint. In fast-paced, alternating chapters, they recount their colorful youth, their belated reckoning with their families’ pasts, and the discoveries that shaped their journey. Join co-author Aron Hirt-Manheimer as he reveals the uncovering of long-hidden family secrets, reclaiming memory and transforming inherited trauma into a legacy of love.

Aron Hirt-Manheimer has been described by Nobel  Laureate Elie Wiesel as “a writer possessed of a rare blend of integrity, persuasiveness, and good literary sense.” Aron co-authored Jagendorf’s Foundry: A Memoir of the Romanian Holocaust (HarperCollins 1991) and Jews: The Essence and Character of a People (HarperCollins 1998), published in ten languages. He served as editor of  Reform Judaism, the world’s largest circulated Jewish magazine for nearly forty years. He lives in Ridgefield with his wife, Judy, founder of the Enchanted Garden. 

Rabbi David Reiner of Congregation Shir Shalom will moderate.

Our partner, Books on the Common, will have copies for purchase and signing.

Click here to learn more and to register.

Ridgefielders agree – it’s easy to LOVE the Library!  While the Library receives funding from the town, we also depend on broad support from the Ridgefield community to fund our exceptional collections, programs and services. 

Thank you for helping us meet our annual fundraising goals– your donation to the Annual Appeal matters and makes a difference in the Library’s ability to serve our entire community!

Please click here to donate!

View our 2024-2025 Annual Report here.

Thursday, September 18 @ 6:30 pm: In this lecture, ArtScapades will look at paintings that depict America as it fought to break from British Rule and create an independent country. We will see how artists depicted the events that led up to the Revolution, the battles that raged during the conflict, the creation and signing of a new Declaration of Independence and images that reflect the early days of a new country.

Featured will be works by John Trumbull, Charles Willson Peale, Gilbert Stuart, John Singleton Copley, Emmanuel Leutze, Grant Wood, Jacob Lawrence and others (pictured, Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence).

Wine and cheese will be available. Click here to learn more and to register.

Support for this special A250 Scholarly Series program is provided by The Friends of the Ridgefield Library. Additional promotional support provided by Ridgefield Commemorates America at 250.

Tuesday, September 16 @ 7:00 pm:  This exciting talk will cover a basic introduction to AI, generative AI and ChatGPT.  We will then focus on the potential impact of AI on the US economy and jobs. The presentation will consist of examples of relevant historical data, discussion of related policy initiatives, and live demos showing how ChatGPT can provide insight on these complex topics. We will conclude with a discussion of how the US can retain its competitive advantage in AI over China.

Presenter Rick Lawrence’s career has evolved from nuclear science to machine learning to quantitative finance, and most recently, to COVID data science. From 2016 to 2019, Lawrence was President of PCIX, Inc, a New York City Venture-Capital-funded quant finance startup that used machine learning to understand market behavior. Starting in 2020, Lawrence volunteered his data science expertise to the Ridgefield COVID-19 Task Force, where he published daily COVID data updates to the Town website for over two years.

Lawrence received his B.S. from Stanford University in Chemical Engineering and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Nuclear Engineering.

Click here to learn more and to register.

Sunday, September 21 @ 3:30 pm:  Join us for the Opening Keynote presentation of our special A250: A Deep Dive into the Declaration of Independence program series offered in collaboration with Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center.

We welcome Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law & Political Science at Yale University Law School, and author, journalist and Ridgefield resident Todd Brewster for a lively and engaging discussion of Professor Amar’s latest book.  Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840-1920, traces the legacy of the Declaration’s “all men are created equal” proposition from Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin through John Quincy Adams, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln and their allies—and eventually through the Civil War and Woman Suffrage Amendments. Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing.

Support for A250: A Deep Dive into the Declaration of Independence is provided by CT Humanities.  Additional promotional support provided by Ridgefield Commemorates America at 250.

Click here to learn more and to register to attend.