Welcome to the Stratford Library Adult Department.
May Adult Programs
FEATURED PROGRAMS
Library After Hours! THE ROOTS OF BLACK MUSIC IN AMERICA
Friday, May 3 | 7pm | Lovell Room
Producer, songwriter, teacher, and troubadour, Karlus Trapp presents his delightful, educational and entertaining presentation “The Roots of Black Music in America.” It is a 100 year journey back through time, and offers a fresh perspective through song, story, and history to learn about the music of America’s black musical giants.
Check out Karlus Trupp here: https://vimeo.com/473417345?share=copy
Talk: Adventures in Nepal
Sunday May 5 | 2pm | Lovell Room
Stratford resident Letitia Laberee will talk about her work with The Forgotten Sherpas of Nepal Trust which raises funds and builds medical clinics in remote areas. Letitia will share her stories and adventures while volunteering for the trust. Learn about life in Nepal, see beautiful photos, and hear inspiring stories.
Talk: THE BRITISH INVASION AND THE AMERICAN ANSWER – A MUSICAL JOURNEY
Tuesday, May 7 | 7pm | Lovell Room
Take a fun and nostalgic journey through the most iconic and greatest era of rock-and-roll history with author and pop culture historian Marty Gitlin. This presentation highlights performance videos of influential British Invasion superstars as well as American bands that provided a wonderful reply. The presentation will conclude with a question-and-answer period. This program is a lot of fun so join in!MUSICAL PERFORMANCE – FOUR FOR A SONG
Friday, May 10 | 3pm | Lovell Room
A really special show with a quartet of singers led by soprano Brett Kroeger singing a variety of Opera arias, operetta duets and classic Broadway showtunes.
Sunday Afternoon Talks: THE STRATFORD DEVIL!
Sunday, May 19 | 2pm | Lovell Room
Welcome back author Claude Clayton Smith to Stratford and the Library to celebrate the 3rd edition of THE STRATFORD DEVIL, the story of recently exonerated Goody Bassett. Smith is a Stratford native, Bunnell grad, and author of the historical novel THE STRATFORD DEVIL.Talks: THE FOOD NEUTRAL KITCHEN
Tuesday, May 21 | 6:30pm | Lovell Room
Join Food Explorers for a discussion about diet culture, food neutrality, and how to embrace a positive relationship with food. This discussion will prompt a deeper dive into your own relationship with food, how it formed and how much of an impact we can have on the future generation by using food neutral language.
CAREER & TECH HELP:
COMPUTER CLASSES AT YOUR OWN PACE
Tuesday, April 9 or Thursday, April 16 | 2pm | Board Room
Take one of our training sessions to learn how to use Northstar Online Learning to build your basic computer skills. Once you create an account you can pick what you learn at your own pace.
Register HERE for May 14
Register HERE for May 23
CAREER COACH: Learn Microsoft Word
Monday, May 13 | 10am & 1pm | Career Coach on Main St, near Library entrance
Learn what you need to successfully use Microsoft Word! There will be time to practice what you learned at the end of the session.
This help session is offered in the morning from 10am-12pm and again in the afternoon from 1-3pm.Sign up to reserve a space:
10am-12pm session
1-3pm session
BOOK DISCUSSIONS:Monday Morning Buzz
Monday, May 6 | 11am | Lovell Room
Stop in to hear what’s new, what’s hot, and what books are creating a buzz! Staff will lead an informal discussion of books, movies and more. Share what you’re reading and watching and hear from others!
Little Gems Book Discussion
Wednesday, May 8 | 11am | Lovell Room
MRS. SPRING FRAGRANCE by Sui Sin Far
This book is a rediscovered classic (originally published in 1912) and the author is considered to be among the first writers of Asian descent to publish fiction in the United States. In this “little gem” of short stories set in Seattle’s and San Francisco’s Chinatowns, ordinary people fall in love, experience tragedy, and grapple with the challenges of reconciling the old and the new in their lives.
Copies available at the Checkout Desk. Also downloadable through Hoopla.
Books Over Coffee
Wednesday, May 29 | noon | Lovell Room
NIGHT OF THE LIVING REZ by Morgan Talty
A Finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction, the Chautauqua Prize 2023, and Barnes & Noble Discover Book Prize
Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, NPR, Esquire, Oprah Daily, and more!
Set in a Native community in Maine, Night of the Living Rez is a riveting debut collection about what it means to be Penobscot in the twenty-first century and what it means to live, to survive, and to persevere after tragedy.
Copies available at the Check-Out Desk.
CREATE:Coloring & Coffee
Monday, May 6 | 6pm | Lovell Room
Don’t let stress get you down! Try coloring for adults! Coloring has many benefits including helping you to focus and de-stress. Stop in and give it a try. The Library will supply coloring pages, colored pencils and markers, plus coffee and tea. You are welcome to bring your own supplies too.
Knit Wits
Wednesday, May 8 & 22 | 6pm | Lovell Room
Join the library’s drop-in knitting program! Also crochet! Make new friends, get tips and share ideas while working on your own projects.
Held every other Wednesday evening 6:00-7:30pm.
MOVIES:
Continue reading →
Monday Matinees: THE HOLDOVERS
Monday, May 13 | 12pm | Lovell Room
From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, THE HOLDOVERS follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).
Rated R, 133 minutesApril Adult Programs
Celebrate National Poetry Month and Robert Frost (author of the poem “The Road Not Taken” the inspiration behind Two Roads’ name).
Two Roads Brewing will donate $1.00 to the Stratford Library for every pint poured on Tuesdays during the entire month of April!FEATURED PROGRAMS
COMMUNITY BOOK DISCUSSION, a Zoom Series
Co-sponsored by Stratford Library, First Congregational Church & CARE (Citizens Addressing Racial Equity)
Join us on Zoom for a community book discussion of When We Walk By: Forgotten Humanity, Broken Systems, and the Role We Can Each Play in Ending Homelessness in America led by co-author Donald Burnes.
The Zoom series began on Monday, March 18 and will continue on weekly Monday evenings through April 29 at 6:30pm.Email socialjusticeatfcc@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link.
When We Walk By provides a deeply humanizing look that radically changes ones understanding of neighbors, poverty, and homelessness. Believing we can make inroads in resolving homelessness and poverty in our community, the multipart discussion series welcomes all to attend, even if they have not yet read the book. Free copies of When We Walk By are currently available at the Stratford Library while supplies last.
Learn to Play the Ukulele!
Monday, April 15 | 6:30pm | Lovell Room
Want to try an instrument that is fun and easy to play? Join Julie Stepanek as she shows the fundamentals of ukulele playing. No experience necessary. Ukuleles provided.
Registration Required.
Red Sox vs Yankees: The Greatest Rivalry in Sports
Tuesday, April 16 | 7pm | Lovell Room
Welcome to the most intense rivalry in American sports – maybe the world. Sportswriter and baseball beat writer Marty Gitlin shares videos
and trivia questions on the biggest moments of the rivalry.
Creating a Bird-Friendly Yard
Tuesday, April 21 | 2pm | Lovell Room
Looking for ways to attract birds to your yard? You can help birds thrive right where you live by making your yard more bird-friendly. In this hands-on workshop, you will pick up expert tips from presenters Marca Leigh, a native gardener and co-creator of the Longbrook Park Pollinator Garden, and Meredith Barges, a bird-friendly building advocate and co-chair of Lights Out Connecticut.
Edible Wild Plants and Fungi of Spring
Thursday, April 25 | 6:30pm | Lovell Room
Meet the 3 Foragers and learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of spring, from invasive bamboo shoots to the lemony tang of fresh wood sorrel, including some of the early edible fungi of the season.
Registration Required.
Managing Money Matters – an It’$ My Money Workshop
Tuesday, April 30 | 6:30pm | Lovell Room
Are you looking to better manage your money? Take charge of your finances? In this It’$ My Money financial session you will receive tips and strategies to master managing cash flow and increasing your savings.
Registration Required
Stratford: THE STORIES WE TELL – HOMES WITH HISTORY
Monday, April 29| 6:30pm | Lovell Room
Town Historian David Wright holds this monthly lecture series, a detailed examination of the Stratford’s history.
In David’s presentations, Stratford: The Stories We Tell, he reveals the “hidden” and forgotten stories of Stratford that help us remember who we are and why we’re here.SUNDAY AFTERNOON TALKS:
MOHEGAN TRADITION, CULTURE & HISTORY
Sunday, April 14 | 2pm | Lovell Room
David Eichelberg, Outreach and Traditions Specialist for the Mohegan Tribe will share history as well as oral traditions, beliefs, music and sacred practices of the Tribe.POETRY & OPERA WITH STEFANO RUSSO
Sunday, April 21 | 2pm | Lovell Room
SPECIAL FOR “NATIONAL POETRY MONTH!
Italian poet and opera singer STEFANO RUSSO will perform opera and discuss his new collection of poems, “Beyond the Chains Of The Mind”
CAREER & TECH HELP:COMPUTER CLASSES AT YOUR OWN PACE
Tuesday, April 9 or Thursday, April 16 | 2pm | Board Room
Take one of our training sessions to learn how to use Northstar Online Learning to build your basic computer skills. Once you create an account you can pick what you learn at your own pace.
Register HERE for April 9
Register HERE for April 16
BOOK DISCUSSIONS:Monday Morning Buzz
Monday, April 1 | 11am | Lovell Room
Stop in to hear what’s new, what’s hot, and what books are creating a buzz! Staff will lead an informal discussion of books, movies and more. Share what you’re reading and watching and hear from others!
“Don’t Know Much About” Book Discussion
Tuesday, April 9 | 6:30pm | Lovell Room AND
Wednesday, April 10 | 11am | Lovell Room
PERESTROIKA IN PARIS by Jane Smiley
Locate the setting in Paris. Include charming main characters: a runaway horse, a resourceful dog on her own, an opinionated raven, and an inquisitive small boy. Employ the writing skills of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley. Voila! A tender tale of adventure, imagination, and friendship.
Two different dates! Attend the one you want!
Copies available at the Check-Out Desk.
Books Over Coffee
Wednesday, April 24 | noon | Lovell Room
WEST WITH GIRAFFES by Lynda Rutledge
An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America. Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late.
Copies available at the Check-Out Desk.
CREATE:Coloring & Coffee
Monday, April 1 | 6pm | Lovell Room
Don’t let stress get you down! Try coloring for adults! Coloring has many benefits including helping you to focus and de-stress. Stop in and give it a try. The Library will supply coloring pages, colored pencils and markers, plus coffee and tea. You are welcome to bring your own supplies too.Knit Wits
Wednesday, April 3 & 17 | 6pm | Lovell Room
Join the library’s drop-in knitting program! Also crochet! Make new friends, get tips and share ideas while working on your own projects.
Held every other Wednesday evening 6:00-7:30pm.
MOVIES:
Continue reading →
Monday Matinees: KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Monday, April 8 | 12pm | Lovell Room
Based on David Grann’s broadly lauded best-selling book, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro and Lilly Gladstone star.
Rated R. 206 minutes.
Learn More About the Great North American Eclipse 2024
On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun.
The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk.
These are the stages of a total solar eclipse. The duration of totality will be up to 4 minutes and 27 seconds, almost double that of The Great American Eclipse of August 21, 2017. The partial phases last about an hour and 20 minutes.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Total Solar Eclipse
Find out Where & When
The total solar eclipse will be visible along a narrow track stretching from Texas to Maine on April 8, 2024. A partial eclipse will be visible throughout all 48 contiguous U.S. states.
Check out NASA’s interactive map, the Eclipse Explorer, to learn what will be visible in different areas of the country.
Eclipse Cloud Cover Climatology for the afternoon of April 8, 2024 from the National Weather Service.
2024 Eclipse Information for cities in Connecticut
Although Connecticut will not be in the path of totality for the solar eclipse on April 8, our state will experience a deep partial eclipse, with the degree of magnitude increasing south to north.
Click HERE to learn more about the 2024 Eclipse with detailed information for cities in Connecticut.
How to View a Solar Eclipse Safely:- Eye-Safety
- Different ways to safely view a solar eclipse (video)
- Pinhole & Optical Projection
- How to Make a Box Pinhole Projector
What about animal & pet behavior during an eclipse?
Help NASA scientists better understand how wildlife is impacted by solar eclipses by contributing to the NASA’s Eclipse Soundscapes Project.
Citizen Science – Other ways to contribute to NASA Science!
Start planning for future eclipses!
Continue reading →
