Not Just Library (J.C. Architecture, 2020)
Taipei, Taiwan

Libraries can be found in all sorts of buildings that once served other functions. As models of adaptive reuse, they bring these structures back to life. Last week we featured a library in Rumia, Poland, that was formerly a deteriorating train station. This week's library is in a building in Taipei that was once a bathhouse. The 85-year-old bathhouse was for female employers at a tobacco factory, where they washed off the tobacco sticking to their bodies. The vintage tiles on the wall, mottled with the years, retain traces of past life. The preserved arc bath and the modern book pool present an effective  combination of the new and the old.

Brené Brown Podcast Discussion Group with Kelly Kandra Hughes
Mondays, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m., via Zoom

Join us for our personal growth series on Monday afternoons. In this seven-week discussion group, we'll use the 7 Best Episodes of Unlocking Us with Brené Brown to guide our discussions. Each week, we'll listen on our own to a previously selected "Unlocking Us" podcast (see schedule here) and then join together via Zoom on Monday afternoons to share our insights and opinions. You are welcome, at your convenience, to attend one session, all seven, or pick and choose based on the podcast episode. You only need to register once for this series to receive a Zoom link for all seven weeks.

Register HERE.

March 13: David Kessler and Brené Brown on Grief and Finding Meaning. Listen here: https://brenebrown.com/podcast/david-kessler-and-brene-on-grief-and-finding-meaning/

Corner Club: Marionette Manipulation Workshop
Wednesday, March 15, 3:45 - 4:45 p.m.

Find out how to make a marionette move! In conjunction with their performance of Dragon King at Botelle School and in recogntion of World Puppet Day (March 21), Tanglewood Marionettes is offering a workshop at the Library for children ages 8 and up. The master puppeteers will discuss some of the construction and stringing techniques used when building marionettes, and then demonstrate the basics of marionette manipulation. Participants will be provided with marionettes for the duration of the workshop. Limited to 25 children. Please register here for this free workshop.  Children will need a note to get off the school bus at the Library.

Contemporary German Film Series with film director Diego Ongaro
Thursdays, March 16, 23 & 30

In this series, film director Diego Ongaro will introduce us to three powerful films that recently sprouted from the Berlin School: Toni Erdman (2016), Western (2017), and Great Freedom (2021). The Berlin School is a German film movement that started in the mid 1990's and created radically new images of German society. With directors coming from different horizons, their films can be seen as documents of a society in transition with lives having to be redefined after the fall of the Wall. The more restrained approach to characters, places, and moods alone made these films stand out from staidly conventional German films. They reflect an unconscious insecurity, and the feeling that history is going down a different road, one in which people do not know what role they are going to play.

Thursday, March 16, 6:30 - 9:15 p.m.: Toni Erdman (2016, 160 min.)
In Maren Ade’s globally-acclaimed tragicomedy, an aging hippy-father slips into an embarrassing disguise to provoke his career-woman daughter in the hope of reconnecting with her. An immensely rich, deeply-felt exploration of human relationships and a thrilling act of defiance against the toxicity of doing what is expected, on film, at work and out in the world.
Mature audience
Visit here to register.

Books & Boots: Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy
Saturday, March 18, 11:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m.

Read Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy, then join us for your choice of discussion groups! You can either join us at the Norfolk Library at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 18, for an in-person discussion or you can lace up your boots as we hike the Tait Trail at 1:00 p.m. in Norfolk to discuss.

Bringing Nature Home is available as a book, e-book, and streaming audiobook from the Norfolk Library. Additional print copies may be requested via inter-library loan. Contact Front Desk Circulation at 860-542-5075, ext. 2 or [email protected] to request a print copy.

All hiking abilities welcome. In the event of rain or snow, the hike will be rescheduled. This program is in partnership with the Norfolk Land Trust.

For the hike: Meet at the Tait Trail off Grantville Road in Norfolk. Park in front of the gate and off the road. The trailhead is approximately 0.4 miles from Winchester Road.

To find out more and to register, please visit here.

St. Patrick's Day Celebration: Téada
Sunday, March 19, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

This concert is at capacity.

Terry Walters, NOURISH: Plant-based Recipes to Feed Body Mind and Soul
Mondy, March 20, 6:00 p.m.

March is National Nutrition Month, and best-selling cookbook author Terry Walters will be here to introduce her cookbook NOURISH: Plant-based Recipes to Feed Body Mind and Soul. NOURISH features 200 vegan and gluten-free seasonal recipes, abundant information on healthy cooking techniques, tools, and tips. There is photography throughout, original artwork, and Terry’s own poetry. Readers will love how the book lays flat with no pages flipping while you’re cooking. NOURISH is the cookbook you’ve been waiting for, full of delicious inspiration to empower healthy home cooking. To find out more and to register, please visit here.

All CT Reads Book Discussion: When Women Were Dragons
Sunday, March 26, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Please join us for our All CT Reads book discussion of When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill. Set in the 1950s, this speculative fiction alternative history of the United States provides an interesting and thought-provoking twist on female choice, especially as we celebrate National Women's History Month in March. Multiple copies of the book are available at the Library. Visit here to find out more and to reserve your copy of the book. Tea and cookies will be served.

A program of the Connecticut State Library, All CT Reads is a year-long initiative to promote conversations and connection across the state to talk about inclusivity, cultures, and acceptance. One main book title and three shortlist book titles are chosen each calendar year for three age groups: kids (ages 8-12), teens (ages 13-18), and adults.

Norfolk Library Book Group with Mark Scarbrough
Hoda Barakat, Voices of the Lost (2017)
Thursday, March 30
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. or 7:30 - 9:00 p.m.

Voices of the Lost, awarded the 2019 International prize for Arabic fiction, is the latest novel from the celebrated Lebanese writer Hoda Barakat. Translated by Marilyn Booth, the novel is constructed primarily of letters written by five migrants or asylum seekers from the Arab world, all of whom have departed or fled their unnamed countries. The five letters form a chain as each letter falls, by chance, into the hands of another migrant; one letter is salvaged from a trash can, another from the seat of an airplane. The finder is then moved to write their own letter, and thereby make sense of their present isolation.
 

If you are new to the Book Group and would like to participate, please email Mark at [email protected], and he will email you a formal invitation link to the online discussion group.

Mindfulness with Miranda Lee
Fridays in March, 9:15 - 10:15 a.m. via Zoom

Mindfulness can be defined as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” In this series, mindfulness practitioner Miranda Lee will teach participants how to live a more mindful life and equip them with the tools they need to help build resilience against the challenges of day-to-day life. Miranda's theme for March is "stress reduction." Visit here to register for the Zoom link. Anyone can join at any time.

March Madness: Battle of the Books

The results of Round 1 in our annual March Madness Battle of the Books are in! Let us know which books you think should win in each matchup of Round 2. Feel free to judge a book by its cover! Round 2 voting takes place through Wednesday, March 15. Winning titles will progress to Round 3, and they will be announced in the Friday March 17 Night Owl, as well as through social media. The winning title in our Battle of the Books tournament will be announced March 31. All voting participants will be entered to win a gift certificate to Oblong Books. Click here to play!

Click Here for more information.