Ridgefield Library

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.”

November 4-9: Mascot Bubbles is bowing out of this year’s mascot elections for a slew of brand new candidates! Fox, Owl, and Snake are all eager to represent your reading interests! All humans aged 18 minutes or older are invited to vote in-person in the Lodewick Children’s Library starting Monday, November 4 until Saturday, November 9 at 5:00 pm. If you are unable to visit the Library during that time–do not fear! You can cast an absentee ballot during voting week: 2024 Mascot Election Absentee Ballot. Library cards are not required, but we do ask that only one vote per person is submitted. For updates on the candidates’ platforms, visit: https://libguides.ridgefieldlibrary.org/Lodewickchildrenslibrary/home where recommended reading, campaign speeches and resources will be posted as we near the voting week.

Sunday, November 3rd @ 2:00 pm:  The Four Horseman are acclaimed individual singer-songwriters who have banded together to create lively shows known for their joyful spontaneity and well-crafted songs ranging from hilarious to heartbreaking.  The Ridgefield Folk Concert Series is made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.

Click here to learn more and register.

Thursday, October 24 @ 7:00 pm:  The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched on Christmas Day 2021 and began gathering data in July 2022. In this very special presentation, Dr. Heidi B. Hammel, one of NASA’s six Interdisciplinary Scientists for JWST, will describe the telescope and what it was designed to do. She will highlight some of the most exciting scientific results from JWST’s first two years, ranging from discoveries about our nearest neighbors in the Solar System to the spectacular deep space images of the most distant galaxies, and everything in between. Dr. Hammel will finish with a look ahead not only for JWST, but for the future of astronomy.

This program is part of the Library’s Fall 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.

Saturday, October 19: Celebrate Fall in Love with Ridgefield on the Front Lawn of the Ridgefield Library! From a pistachio-colored egg, to a beautiful rooster, Pistachio is now all grown up and a 1st Place winner at the Cannon Grange Agricultural Fair in Wilton! From 11:30 am-12:30 pm families with children of all ages are invited to meet our favorite Library chick, take a picture with Pistachio, learn more about how to care for backyard chickens from the Garguilo family, and even make some art “signed” by Pistachio at this outdoor event. No registration but art materials are as supplies last. Click here to see this event on our event calendar.