Saturday, February 3rd: On the first Saturday in February, thousands of libraries across the world celebrate Take Your Child to the Library Day by offering special activities for families. The Ridgefield Library is an ideal place for children to learn, play, discover, make friends and have fun. And Take Your Child to the Library Day is the perfect time to discover some library magic – we’ll have a Library Scavenger Hunt, Teddy Bear Yoga, Michele Urban in concert and Read to ROAR — the Ridgefield Library always offers something unique and delightful! And be sure to stop in again soon – because every day is a great day to take your child to the library.
Library Scavenger Hunt – All Ages — All Day
Teddy Bear Yoga – Grades K-2 – 10:30 am to 11:00 am
Read to ROAR – Grades 1-4 – 11:30 am to 12:30 pm
Michele Urban Music – All Ages – 2:00 pm to 2:45 pm
January 19th, 2024: Give the gift of Adventure! Students in Grades 3-5 are invited to an exclusive After Hours Adventure at the Ridgefield Library. Campers will arrive for this fundraising event after the Library closes to the public and join their fellow campers in a one-of-a-kind experience that includes flashlight tag, fishing, archery, s’more making, live night creatures, hot dogs from Chez Lenard and a host of camping goodies to take home at the 10:00 pm conclusion of the evening.
Spots are limited to 48 campers. This event is $135 per student and is a fundraiser for the Ridgefield Library in support of its annual operating budget.
This special fundraising event is sponsored by the Friends of the Ridgefield Library and Dr. Blaine Langberg Orthodontist.
Detailed information and registration links are available here: https://libguides.ridgefieldlibrary.org/familyfundraiser
Monday, January 29th @ 7:00pm: Join us for “Toxic Achievement Culture in School and What We Can Do About It : A Fireside Chat with Award-Winning Journalist Jennifer Wallace and Wooster Head of School Matt Byrnes.” This very special program will be held in the Library’s Main Program Room. Jennifer Wallace, author of Never Enough, and Head of School Matt Byrnes will discuss Wallace’s latest book, what parents can do and how schools like Wooster are at the forefront of creating a healthier vision for school and life.
Books on the Common will have copies of Never Enough for sale and signing.
Please register to attend HERE
The E. W. Morris Memorial Library Building that forms the historic front wing of the Ridgefield Library opened its doors for the first time on June 22, 1903. After 120 years, the Morris Building continues to welcome Ridgefield residents to the Library. Members of the community are invited to share their memories of the Library and its place in their lives through a new collaborative online platform, The Morris Building 120th Anniversary Community Collection. Create and share your materials for inclusion in the Collection — the submission process is free and easy! Submissions can include pictures, old Library cards, programs, flyers, maps, posters and other visual memorabilia. Submission of original written material is also encouraged. Contact the Adult Services Department for more information at [email protected]
Do you know the little boy in this historic photograph of the Morris Building? Please email the Library if you have any information!
See more beautiful historical images of the Ridgefield Library in our online gallery, The E.W. Morris Building Anniversary Collection.
Here in New England, we anticipate that at some point each winter season we will experience weather so severe that the Library will need to close (sometimes, as in the case of Superstorm Sandy, this situation isn’t even restricted to the winter months). Here is what you need to know about our cancellation and closing procedures:
The Library does not automatically follow the lead of the schools or town offices when deciding when or if to close due to severe weather. Our decisions are made based on our own estimations of the severity of the weather and of local travel conditions and are designed to ensure the safety of staff and patrons coming to or departing our premises during our scheduled open hours.
Programs for Children and Teens:
When the school district cancels classes outright because of weather, all scheduled in-person children’s and teen programs for the day are cancelled automatically, regardless of the overall Library closing status.
If the schools announce an early dismissal, afternoon children’s and teen in-person programs are cancelled automatically, regardless of the overall Library closing status.
If the schools announce a late opening, morning children’s in-person programs are cancelled automatically, regardless of the overall Library closing status.
Programs for Adults:
Adult in-person program cancellations are made at the discretion of Library staff on a case-by-case basis.
All virtual programs will continue as scheduled, be postponed or cancelled on a case- by-case basis at the discretion of Library staff.
More information about cancellations and closings is available here.
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.
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.