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!

Learn more and register here.

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.

Learn more and register here.

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.

Thursday, September 28th @ 6:30pm: Eminent bioethicist Dr. Arthur Caplan explores the implications of artificial intelligence in the health care field. Dr. Caplan is currently the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor, and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics, at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City.

Learn more and register to attend this program.

This lecture is part of the Library’s Scholarly Series, AI: Ready or Not, which is made possible by the generosity of the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.  Download the series brochure here.

Tuesday, September 26th @ 1:00pm:  Representatives from the CT Department of Social Services will explain what programs are available to help support caregivers and help their loved ones age in place and receive needed care. Presented in partnership with the Town of Ridgefield’s Social Services Department. Learn more & register.

Thursday, September 21st @ 7:00pm:  Bestselling author Rich Cohen discusses his new book, When The Game Was War: The NBA’s Greatest Season, the gritty, no-holds-barred account of the 1987 NBA season, a thrilling year of fierce battles and off-the-court drama between Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan. Publisher’s Weekly said “this love letter to the NBA’s golden age is an instant classic.”  Books on the Common will have copies for sale and signing.

Learn more and register here.

Out of an abundance of concern for the safety of people entering the Library, speed bumps are being installed (weather permitting) on the morning of Monday, September 11, 2023 in the parking lot on either side of the Library’s Main Entrance. Please be aware that access to the parking lot may be affected during the work.

Sunday, September 10th @ 2:00pm:  The Library’s Ridgefield Folk Concert Series returns with Washboard Slim & the Bluelights, whose music comes from the roots of traditional American popular music. The Bluelights draw on a variety of musical forms and they’ve created a new musical style that equally respects the past and the present – a typical Bluelights performance might include original tunes, early jazz, blues, swing, standards, jug band, early string band, gospel, pop music from the turn of the century and roots-y rock’n’roll. Started in 1986, they continue to perform at festivals, concerts and clubs around the country. In 2008 they won the Connecticut Blues Challenge and entry into the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee.

Learn more and register here.

The Ridgefield Folk Concerts Series is made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Ridgefield Library.

Tuesday, September 5th @ 7:00pm:  Join us for a very special program with Kevin R. C. Gutzman, author of The Jeffersonians: The Visionary Presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe.  Before the consecutive two-term administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, there had only been one other trio of its type: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe.  Gutzman’s The Jeffersonians is a complete chronicle of the men, known as The Virginia Dynasty, who served as president from 1801 to 1825 and implemented the foreign policy, domestic and constitutional agenda of the radical wing of the American Revolution, setting guideposts for later American liberals to follow.

The three close political allies were tightly related: Jefferson and Madison were the closest of friends, and Monroe was Jefferson’s former law student. Their achievements were many, including the founding of the opposition Republican Party in the 1790s; the Louisiana Purchase; and the call upon Congress in 1806 to use its constitutional power to ban slave imports beginning on January 1, 1808.  Of course, not everything the Virginia Dynasty undertook was a success: Its chief failure might have been the ineptly planned and led War of 1812. In general, however, when Monroe rode off into the sunset in 1825, his passing and the end of The Virginia Dynasty were much lamented. Gutzman’s book details a time in America when three Presidents worked toward common goals to strengthen our Republic in a way we rarely see in American politics today.

Kevin R.C. Gutzman is Professor of History at Western Connecticut State University and a faculty member at LibertyClassroom.com. He has his law degree from the University of Texas Law School and his Ph.D. in American history from the University of Virginia. His books include Thomas Jefferson – Revolutionary; James Madison and the Making of America; Virginia’s American Revolution; and, with Thomas Woods, Who Killed the Constitution?

Learn more and register here.

(Photo credit: Lifetouch Portrait Studios Inc)

This program is part of the ongoing First Principles Series co-sponsored by the Ridgefield Library, the Ridgefield Historical Society, the League of Women Voters of Ridgefield, Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center and the Cannon Ridge Chapter of the DAR.

Saturday, September 30th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm:  Families with children of all ages, join us in the Lower Level Program Rooms for a fun-filled afternoon!