Sunday, December 17th @ 2:00 pm: Jeff Snow’s seasonal program will combine songs, tunes, history and stories from England, Ireland and Scotland with the music of Christmas. Familiar (and some not-so-familiar) songs will have you singing, laughing and wishing for more when it’s all over!
Jeff Snow is a multi-instrumentalist who shares the music, and the stories behind the music, of Scotland, Ireland and England. Growing up in a home where old Scottish folk songs were the everyday sounds, Snow developed an early love for Celtic music. Much of the history of these lands was preserved in song.
Snow’s music has been described as “quiet and relaxing,” and while much of it is, he’ll periodically let loose and foot stomping will begin. He plays the guitar, autoharp and bouzouki. He can also find his way around a drum set and most of the percussion family.
The Ridgefield Folk Concert Series is made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.
November 24 – 26: We’re celebrating the 19th annual Library Days at Books on the Common! Stop by Ridgefield’s outstanding independent bookstore November 24, 25 or 26 and show your physical or digital Ridgefield Library card — Books on the Common will donate 15% of the proceeds to the Library. Shop locally and support the Library!
Learn more here about how to get a Library card.
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
Thursday, November 16th @ 7:00pm: Join local experts for this in-person program as we discuss:
*Grief and mourning. What’s normal. What’s not.
*Traumatic loss and sudden death.
*Things to watch for: Signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety, suicidality.
Sponsored by Project Resilience, the Ridgefield Library, Ridgefield Public Schools, Ridgefield PTAs, Ridgefield Youth Council and Books on the Common.
Thursday, November 9th @ 7:00pm: Look inside the private world of Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, one of America’s most iconic couples, in this extraordinary and deeply personal collection of intimate photographs affectionately curated by their daughter Melissa Newman. Their love story is the stuff of Hollywood legend. Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman became not only movie stars and stage actors, but also artistic collaborators, political activists and philanthropists whose legacies are expansive and enduringly modern.
This visually immersive oversize book chronicles their romance through the photographs of an impressive list of contributors. These striking images—many rare and some never before published—are accompanied by snapshots, letters, handwritten notes and family treasures. Together they beautifully illuminate the connection between two complex, passionate artists who opened their hearts and minds to each other for over half a century. Head Over Heels: A Love Affair in Words and Pictures is an homage to the possibility and power of love.
Melissa Newman is an artist, teacher, singer and occasional writer, based in Westport Connecticut.
Books on the Common will have copies for sale and signing.
Click here for more information and to register.
Saturday, November 4th @ 2:00pm: Join us for a fascinating afternoon with author and UFO expert Ralph Blumenthal. Blumenthal co-authored the explosive story in the New York Times that created a new enthusiasm for UFOs worldwide: “Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program.” He was an award-winning staff reporter for the Times for 45 years and continues to write for the newspaper.
In June 2023, he was the coauthor of the article “Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Craft of Non-Human Origin,” which led to a bipartisan Congressional hearing on Capitol Hill in July. These inquiries remain active and further Congressional hearings are being scheduled.
Blumenthal is the author of the book The Believer: Alien Encounters, Hard Science, and the Passion of John Mack and co-author with his wife, the children’s book writer Deborah Blumenthal, of UFOHS! Mysteries in the Sky.
Books on the Common will have copies of both books for sale and signing.
Thursday, October 12th @ 7:00pm: Ever wondered if the fox in your backyard is dangerous? Is it a coyote or a wolf? What about the loud animal screaming you heard at night? We are here to answer your questions! Woodcock Nature Center‘s Animal Curator Jennifer Bradshaw and Officer Zulkeski of Ridgefield Animal Control team up to educate on how to coexist with wildlife, how to properly handle injured wildlife situations and provide proper contact info for all wildlife and animal related scenarios. Topics will also include wildlife rehab, common animals in Connecticut, who/when to call for help, domestic animal awareness and contact between families and wildlife. There will also be animal mounts, furs and LIVE animals!
Sunday, October 8th @ 2:00pm: The Catoonah Street Jazz and Blues Society will bring the sound of New Orleans-style jazz to the Library as part of the ongoing Ridgefield Folk Concert Series. They have been performing for more than 20 years, spreading happiness and joy through their music. The Ridgefield Folk Concert Series is made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.
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.
Mark your calendar for the Friends of the Ridgefield Library’s Big Book Sales in October! Sales are held on the Lower Level of the Library.
Children’s Book Sale:
Friday, October 13th from 10:00am to 6:00pm (10:00am to 12:00pm is $10 entry; FREE to members of the Friends)
Saturday, October 14th from 9:00am to 5:00pm
General Book Sale:
Friday, October 20th from 10:00am to 6:00pm (10:00am to 12:00pm is $10 entry; FREE to members of the Friends)
Saturday, October 21st from 9:00am to 6:00pm
Sunday, October 22nd from 12:00pm to 5:00pm
Monday, October 23rd from 8:00am to 6:00pm (Bring Your Own Grocery Bag, $5 per bag!)