Ridgefield Library

Sunday, December 15th @ 2:00 pm:  Join acclaimed, award-winning photographer Joe McNally for an entertaining ARTalk about his lifelong adventures travelling the globe. McNally, a Ridgefield resident, is known worldwide as the quintessential “pro’s pro.” He is an extremely versatile and experienced assignment photographer whose jobs have taken him to over 70 countries and counting. Always curious and adapting to the conditions at hand, McNally has had to keep up with relentless advances in camera technology. He pairs his extraordinary camera know-how with a vivid imagination and an ongoing vibrant creativity for prestigious clients such as National Geographic, Sports Illustrated and ABC Television, among others. He will share a selection of his compelling photographs and also talk about his storied career.

This program is part of the Library’s 2024 Scholarly Series, The Curious Mind: Exploration and Discovery, made possible by the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.

Click here to learn more and register.

Wednesday, December 11th @ 6:00 pm:  Join us in a judgment-free environment at Ridgefield Library where participants, often strangers, can openly engage in discussion on the topic of death and dying. “Dying to Know” is a moderated discussion group created to explore and normalize conversations around death and dying. Mickey Nelson and Sue Broudy, certified End-of-Life Doulas, will guide open conversations around mortality, and all the things related to this sacred time. You are invited to attend, listen, and share in the conversation as you feel comfortable. All perspectives are welcomed and respected. “Dying to Know” is not a grief support group or counseling session, but a space for sharing conversations and questions about dying and deepening our awareness about death, a subject we all share.

Click here to learn more and to register.

Sunday, December 8th @ 2:00 pm:   The Lonetown Boys are an acoustic quartet featuring classic country, folk, blues and americana music. Their unique combination of upright bass (Pat Lavery), Dobro/Lapsteel (Chris Davis), Mandolin/percussion (Dan Bonis), violin and vocals (Dan Tressler) and acoustic guitar/vocals (JD Seem) evoke a traditional, pure and poignant melancholy sound sometimes called “that high lonesome sound”.

Thursday, December 5th @ 7:00 pm:  As the closing keynote talk of this fall’s scholarly series The Curious Mind: Exploration and Discovery, join us for a call to action from technology industry legend Nick Donofrio as he shares his insights on how human curiosity leads to innovation and to positive change.  Covering topics ranging from emerging technology to the importance of diversity and inclusion, Nick highlights opportunities to change our path for the better and for embracing change. As he highlighted in his 2022 autobiography, “If Nothing Changes, Nothing Changes”, Nick believes deeply in each individual’s ability to drive transformation in our lives and our society.

This program is part of the Library’s 2024 Scholarly Series, The Curious Mind: Exploration and Discovery, made possible by the generosity of the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.

Click here for more information and to register.

Presenter Nick Donofrio’s full bio is available here.

Tuesday, December 3rd @ 7:00 pm: How does knowledge about quantum theory and psychic phenomena affect our understanding of our world? Both are mysterious and both are topics of serious research. Both tell us that our world is much wilder than what we imagine. And, both have surprising connections to consciousness. This talk is an exploration into the microscopic world as well as the world of human experience and how they link together in surprising ways.

Peter Bancel holds a Ph.D. in experimental physics and is the author of numerous scientific papers and articles. He currently works at the Institut Métapsychique International in Paris, France, where he studies the interface between physics, consciousness and psychic phenomena. He is also an associate fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences in California.

This program is part of the Library’s 2024 Scholarly Series, The Curious Mind: Exploration and Discovery, made possible by the generosity of the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.

Click here to learn more and to register.

Tuesday, December 3rd:  Please support the Ridgefield Library with a donation to the Annual Appeal!  Every gift matters and helps the Library provide the resources, programs and services our community depends on. Thank you!

BIG NEWS:  First time donor gifts made between Friday December 29th and 11:59 pm on Giving Tuesday, December 3^rd, will be MATCHED up to a total matching gift of $2,500 – thanks to the Friends of the Ridgefield Library!

Donate here: https://ridgefieldlibrary.ejoinme.org/MyPages/AppealDonations/tabid/119243/Default.aspx

Friday, November 29th through Sunday, December 1st:  Remember to shop locally at Books on the Common over Thanksgiving weekend!   The first 25 shoppers who show their Ridgefield Library card at check-out will receive the wonderful Nutshell Library collection by Maurice Sendak.  If you know this beloved collection, you know what special gift it makes!

Books on the Common donates 15% of book purchases to the Ridgefield Library during Library Days, when you show your Ridgefield Library card at the register.

Thank you, Books on the Common!

Tuesday, November 19th @ 7:00 pm:   What we eat and how we produce food matters — for the health of our bodies and the health of the planet.  In her eco-friendly cookbook, Love the Foods That Love the Planet, Cathy Katin-Grazzini shares over 100 tantalizing low-carbon dishes for climate-conscious home cooks who don’t want to skimp on taste.

This year may exceed 2023 as the hottest year on record, and more than 30 percent of global greenhouse gases that are driving the warming climate come from growing and raising food sources. Favoring foods that carry a very light climate footprint is an impactful way to help stem the tide.

“Want to slash your individual climate footprint? It’s easy, it’s delicious, it’s super healthy, and it starts with your fork,” said Katin-Grazzini. “We all have the power to make choices that help cool the planet, and the time to act is now.”

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

Click here for more information and to register.

Sunday, November 17th @ 2:00 pm:   Ridgefield Independent Film Festival (RIFF) founder and director Joanne Hudson will discuss her experience collaborating with an entire town to create, build and sustain a community film festival that has become a leader in the CT Film Festival Circuit. Joanne will also launch the Ridgefield Independent Film Festival Film Society (RIFF FS), along with RIFF programming director and film society president Gary Giovannetti, and RIFF community curator and film society outreach coordinator Adele Annesi. Event attendees will have an opportunity to join the new society and learn how films are selected for RIFF, which celebrates its milestone 10th anniversary in spring 2025.

Joanne Hudson is a playwright and director whose plays have been commissioned, developed and produced nationally and internationally. As a Fulbright Scholar in creative writing, Hudson traveled to Iceland to write a play about a scientist who loses her ethics and finds her humanity. The play is titled “unbidden,” and is now included in the literature of the Westmann Islands. Hudson holds an MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University School of the Arts. She founded the Ridgefield Independent Film Festival in 2015 with the hope of making the world a more compassionate place by sharing stories through cinema.

The ARTalks series is presented in partnership with the Ridgefield Guild of Artists.

Click here to learn more and register.

Tuesday, November 12th @ 7:00 pm:  Ridgefield author Chris Belden will read from his latest novel The Vote, the story of a controversial referendum that tears apart a small lake community and serves as a microcosm of the divisiveness that plagues the entire country. Chris Belden is the author of several novels and story collections, including The Private Dick, Who Am I to Judge?, and Shriver, which was made into the film “A Little White Lie.”