The Library will be closed:
Friday, April 18
Saturday, April 19
Sunday, April 20
The Library will re-open on Monday, April 21 at 10 am. You can visit the digital library anytime to place holds, check out downloadable materials, and do research. More information here.
2024 Performer of the Year, New England Music Awards!
Anna is a Boston-based country-pop singer-songwriter known for her alluring vocals and empassioned lyrics. In 2023, she released her debut album, "Go My Own Way," and is currently working on a second album.
Free, all welcome. Registration not necessary.
by registration only
Sean Kernan is a photographer, writer, and teacher who came to photography from theater.
He is the author of two monographs, The Secret Books (with Jorge Luis Borges) and
Among Trees (with Anthony Doerr), a book on creativity called Looking Into the Light (http://www.lookingintothelight.com), and Darrell Petit In Stone, a book on the work of the sculptor.
He has exhibited at galleries and museums in France, Egypt, Mexico, South Korea, and Italy,
as well as in theUS, and has created media for performance pieces with Alison Chase at MASS MoCA, Guggenheim Projects in New York, and Portland Performing Arts Festival, most recently a theater/dance/multimedia piece, The Drowned Man.
His photos have been published in the New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian, New York, Harpers, Bloomberg, Communication Arts, Graphis, Polyrama (Switzerland), Photo World (China), as well as magazines in Iran, Greece, Italy, and Switzerland, and has done a wide range of advertising work for clients such as AT&T, Amex, GE, Pratt & Whitney, Dow Jones, Harvard, and Knoll.
He has produced and directed several award-winning documentaries: The Kampala Boxing Club, about boxing in Africa; Crow Stories, about the Crow Tribe of Montana; A Mind of Winter, about the feeling of cold; and The Visitor, filmed in his great-grandfather’s house in upstate
New York.
He has taught and lectured at the New School/Parsons, Art Center (Pasadena), Yale Medical School, International Center for Photography, University of Texas, Wesleyan University, and has won numerous awards, most recently from the Center in Santa Fe for teaching, as well as a an honorary doctorate from Art Center in Pasadena. He writes and lectures about creativity, the arts and commerce, with articles in Communication Arts, Graphis, and Lenswork, among others.
Local author Sara Levine will join us to kick off National Library Week (April 6-12) along with her latest book, Hello Dog/Hello Human. (It's a guide for humans in dealing with dogs and for dogs in dealing with humans!) Sara will read from that book, plus her award-winning picture book Bone by Bone. Afterwards, kids will be invited to participate in an activity involving animals and their skeletons. Books will be available Sara's books for sale and signing!
Please register so we know to expect you! This event is free, for all ages, and all are welcome. For more details and to register, contact the library: 203-488-8702
While serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial, a family man finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma, one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict or free the wrong killer.
114 minutes | Rated PG-13 | Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
All welcome—doors open at 6:50 pm. Light refreshments provided by the Friends of WWML.
“[Cather’s] descriptions of the Indian mesa towns on the rock are as beautiful, as unjudging, as lucid, as her descriptions of the Bishop’s cathedral. It is an art of ‘making,’ of clear depiction—of separate objects, whose whole effect works slowly and mysteriously in the reader, and cannot be summed up.... Cather’s composed acceptance of mystery is a major, and rare, artistic achievement.” —A. S. Byatt
Much of her writing was conceived in something of an attitude of placid reminiscence. This was notably true of such early novels as "My Antonia" and "O Pioneers!" in which she told with minute detail of homestead life on the slowly conquered prairies.
Perhaps her most famous book was "A Lost Lady," published in 1923. In it Miss Cather's talents were said to have reached their full maturity. It is the story of the Middle West in the age of railway-building, of the charming wife of Captain Forrester, a retired contractor, and her hospitable and open-handed household as seen through the eyes of an adoring boy. The climax of the book, with the disintegration of the Forrester household and the slow coarsening of his wife, is considered a masterpiece of vivid, haunting prose.
Won Pulitzer Prize in 1922
Another of her famous books is "Death Comes for the Archbishop," 1927, in which she tells in the form of a chronicle a simple story of two saints of the Southwest. Her novel, "One of Ours," won the Pulitzer Prize in 1922.
In 1944, Miss Cather received the gold medal of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the institute's highest award and designed not to honor a specific work, but the sustained output of a writer or artist.
Although generally thought of as a Western writer, Miss Cather was born on a farm near Winchester, Va., on Dec. 7, 1876. Her ancestors, on both sides, had been Virginia farmers for three or four generations. They came originally from England, Ireland and Alsace.
When she was 8 years old, her father took his family to Nebraska and bought a ranch near Red Cloud. The little girl did not go to school at first but spent many hours reading the English classics with her two grandmothers. Later, when her family moved into Red Cloud proper, she attended high school and then the University off Nebraska, from which she was graduated in 1895.
She spent a few years in Pittsburgh teaching and doing newspaper work, choosing that city rather than New York because she had many friends there. Each summer she visited in Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming. Meanwhile, she had started writing, and her first published book was a volume of verse. "April Twilights," reissued in 1923 as "April Twilights and Later Verse."
Editor on McClure's Magazine
Miss Cather's first volume of stories was "The Troll Garden," published in 1905 by McClure-Phillips. Two years later she became an associate editor in New York of McClure's Magazine. She then was managing editor of the publication for four years.
During this period she wrote very little but traveled a great deal in Europe and the American Southwest, Arizona and New Mexico. In 1912 she gave up editorial work to write her first novel, "Alexander's Bridge." This was followed by "O Pioneers!" "The Song of the Lark" and "My Antonia."
In "The Professor's House," 1925, she began experiments with a new technique of story- telling, constructing her tale of an intellectual's soul development according to the familiar methods of music.
The next year she wrote "My Mortal 'Enemy," which was compared by many with "A Lost Lady" but, for the most part, suffered by the comparison. A reviewer in The New York Times said of the book that while it was inferior to the former work it did impress as a "later" book.
In 1931 Miss Cather wrote "Shadows on the Rock," which was considered the most popular novel in America during that year in the annual Baker & Taylor survey, and won for her the Prix Femina Americaine.
Miss Cather, who in 1931 was ranked by J.B. Priestley, the English author, as this country's greatest novelist, received the honorary degree of Litt.D. in 1924 from the University of Michigan. Columbia University conferred the same distinction on her in 1928. Yale followed suit in 1929 and Princeton two years later.
Among her other novels were "Lucy Gayheart" and, her last, "Sapphira and the Slave Girl," published in 1940. She also wrote two books of short stories, "Obscure Destinies" and "Youth and the Bright Medusa," and a collection of essays under the title, "Not Under Forty." For many years her publishers have been Alfred A. Knopf.”
Original debut: 1977.
Roy Neary, an Indiana electric lineman, finds his quiet and ordinary daily life turned upside down after a close encounter with a UFO, spurring him to an obsessed cross-country quest for answers as a momentous event approaches.
2 hours 18 minutes | Rated PG | Drama, Sci-Fi
All welcome—doors open at 6:50 pm. Light refreshments provided by the Friends of WWML.
If you’re interested in joining the group or need more information, please contact Rabia.
rali@wwml.org / 203.483.8702
TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 7 PM
Harming our health and damaging the environment
NOISE
Loud noise is more than just annoying, it has a direct impact on human health. A typical Gas-Powered Leaf Blower (GLB) emits around 80-85 decibels (dBA). Noise above 70 dBA over extended periods can damage your hearing. Hearing loss is linked to cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s and dementia, cognitive impairment, diabetes, and depression. TOXIC EMISSIONS Typical GLB 2-stroke engines are inefficient and dirty. The combination of unburned fuel and the products of combustion comprise carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides. These emissions attack our cardiovascular, nervous, and respiratory systems. PARTICULATE MATTER (dust!) The air blasted by GLBs disturbs carcinogenic chemicals in pesticides and herbicides, heavy metals, animal feces, pollen, mold, and funghi. These particulates create significant health risks that linger for hours and are inhaled by landscape workers, children, adults, and pets. continued…
POLLUTION
The nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and other particulates that are emitted and disturbed by GLBs contribute to ozone and nutrient depletion, acid rain, smog, impaired visibility, and the long-term acidifying of groundwater, streams, lakes, and oceans. BIODIVERSITY DAMAGE GLBs destroy the natural leaf litter cover that is essential for the protection and support of plants and wildlife, including insects and pollinators. Many insect species that are critical for the future of our biodiverse eco system are now endangered. GLBs also desiccate and harden the topsoil increasing storm water runoff and risk of flooding.
WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE?
Initiatives such as “Leave the Leaves” and “No Mow May” help inform and mitigate the general problem with leaf blowers. Consider landscaping that reduces lawn and increase the use of native groundcovers that do not require vigorous seasonal clean-up. Battery-powered leaf blowers and other electric landscaping equipment now offer viable alternatives to gas powered versions. The newer commercial models are capable of generating 80% of the power of a standard GLB and are quieter, cleaner, create no toxic emission, and require less maintenance.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT . . .
Over 200 municipalities around the country have introduced some level of control over the use of GLBs. California and Washington DC prohibit their use entirely. Branford’s neighbors Westport, Stamford and Greenwich have restricted how, when, and where GLBs may be used.
If you’d like to support or know more: Clarice Begemann: claricehb8@gmail.com Adrian Corry: acorry@me.com
[Some of the content may not be suitable for young children.]
“The film follows one Connecticut journalist's cross-country journey during the first summer of the conflict. Shot in a guerrilla style, he offers a personal portrait of the war and an exploration of its most insidious weapon: dehumanization. The story is a collage of original footage from visiting various animal shelters and battle sites, news coverage, and related media. Much like the war itself, "War Dog" is rough, gritty, and makes the most of what its budget allows.
Zozimos is a Connecticut artist, author, filmmaker, and activist. He has traveled to nearly forty countries, several of which were as a conflict journalist in active war zones. He hopes to do his part in ending the war.”
The true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live.
109 minutes | Rated R | Biography, Comedy, Drama
All welcome—doors open at 6:50 pm. Light refreshments provided by the Friends of WWML.
Snow date: Sunday, March 9, 2025
Laura Barr‘s work is distinguished by rich color, simplified form and light made material.
Barr works in series, primarily in oil on canvas.
She studied at Tufts University’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In addition to her BFA, she also holds a BA in Art History from Tufts University and studied at the Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy.
Her work has been exhibited at Gallery Naga, Boston, MA, Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY, and other galleries in the northeast, including Kehler Liddell Gallery and the Ely Center of Contemporary Art in New Haven, CT, the Alexey von Schlippe Gallery, University of Connecticut at Avery Point, CT, and The Paul Mellon Art Center, Wallingford, CT. She is affiliated with 3 Walls Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, is an Associate Artist Member, Lyme Art Association, is a member of the New Haven Paint and Clay Club, and is an Elected Member, Connecticut Women Artists.
Awards include Second Honorable Mention, New England Landscape, Lyme Art Association, 2023, New Haven Paint and Clay Club Active Member Memorial Award Honoring Emily Bett, 2023 and the Gantner Gallery Award, Essex Art Association, 2019. Her work is in many collections including Yale-New Haven Health Services, New Haven, CT, and The Shapiro Center for Writing, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT.
Longtime friends Martha (Shirley MacLaine) and Karen (Audrey Hepburn) run a boarding school for girls. When an unruly child, Mary (Karen Balkin), is punished for lying, she concocts a story that Karen and Martha are involved in a relationship. When the story spreads, parents withdraw their children from the school. The women's lawsuit for libel hits many snags when they lack witnesses to speak for them. All the stress adversely affects Karen's engagement to Joe Cardin (James Garner).
Drama, 1961.
1 hour, 48 minutes.
BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A novel that follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present.
A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning achievement in Julian Barnes’s oeuvre.
REVIEWS
“Evelyn Waugh did it in Brideshead Revisited, as did Philip Larkin in Jill [and] Kazuo Ishiguro in The Remains of the Day. Now, with his powerfully compact new novel, Julian Barnes takes his place among the subtly assertive practitioners of this quiet art.” —The New York Times Book Review
“[A] jewel of conciseness and precision. . . . The Sense of an Ending packs into so few pages so much that the reader finishes it with a sense of satisfaction more often derived from novels several times its length.” —The Los Angeles Times
“Exquisitely crafted, sophisticated, suspenseful, and achingly painful, The Sense of an Ending is a meditation on history, memory, and individual responsibility.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer
“At 163 pages, The Sense of an Ending is the longest book I have ever read, so prepare yourself for rereading. You won’t regret it.” —The San Francisco Chronicle
“Brief, beautiful. . . . That fundamentally chilling question—Am I the person I think I am?—turns out to be a surprisingly suspenseful one. . . . As Barnes so elegantly and poignantly reveals, we are all unreliable narrators, redeemed not by the accuracy of our memories but by our willingness to question them.” —The Boston Globe.
“Quietly mesmerizing. . . . A slow burn, measured but suspenseful, this compact novel makes every slyly crafted sentence count.” —The Independent (London)
ABOUT JULIAN BARNES
JULIAN BARNES is the author of twenty-four previous books, for which he has received the Man Booker Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Prix Médicis and Prix Femina in France, and the Jerusalem Prize. In 2017 he was awarded the Légion d’honneur. His work has been translated into more than forty languages. He lives in London.
Jazz and decolonization are entwined in this historical rollercoaster that rewrites the Cold War episode that led musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the UN Security Council in protest against the murder of Patrice Lumumba. (IMDB)
Documentary, 2024.
2 hours, 30 minutes.
SNOW DATE: Sunday, February 9, 2024, 4 to 6 pm
JAY BRIGHT, Night & Day + HEATHER RENZ, Flourish & Flow
January 31-February 24, 2025
Join us for a Take Your Child to the Library Day celebration at WWML!
Come visit us any time on February 1, pick up your special Take Your Child to the Library Day passport and have it stamped. Spend time in the library making a Valentine or two and check out some books. Get your library card if you haven't had a chance yet. Afterwards, head "uptown" to James Blackstone Memorial Library to see what they are doing and have your passport stamped there. Hand in your passport--passports stamped by BOTH libraries will be entered to win prizes!
No registration required. Free, all welcome.
Heather Renz, piece from “Flourish & Flow” exhibit
Jay Bright, piece from “Night & Day” exhibit
