Wishing all of our library patrons a Merry Christmas and a Joyous Kwanzaa this week and hoping everyone who celebrated had a Happy Hanukkah and a Happy Solstice earlier this month. We are light on programs as the year winds down, but we hope you will join us for our One Book One Wallingford title reveal on Dec 27th and enjoy a look back at some our seasonal happenings from this December!

You can find our recurring programs (including our new Ukulele Clubs for Adults) after the photos.

One Book One Wallingford 2024
Reveal Party!
Wednesday, Dec 27th | 3pm

The goal of One Book One Wallingford is to bring the community together in reading and discussing the same book.

Join us for the big reveal of our 2024 One Book One Wallingford title! We'll be posting clues as to the book and its author every Monday and Wednesday on Facebook and Instagram and in the library. Anyone who guesses the correct book title before the reveal will be put in a drawing to win a copy of the book!

One-on-One Career Counseling
Sign up today to schedule your virtual appointment
with our career specialist Sarah Eiseman!

Get personalized help with crafting a resume or cover letter or preparing for your big interview.
Visit to get started or contact Sarah Eiseman at [email protected].  You will be contacted shortly to schedule your Zoom appointment.

Register
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Spanish Conversation Group
Thursdays| 4:30-5:30pm

Improve your Spanish in a friendly and non-judgmental space! Some knowledge of Spanish recommended. Just drop-in!

French Conversation Group
Mondays | 4:30-5:30pm

Improve your French in a friendly and non-judgmental space! Some knowledge of French recommended. Just drop-in!

Beginners Ukulele Club
Second Monday of each month
10-11am|Collins Room | Drop-in

Join our new Beginners’ Ukulele Club which will meet the second Monday of the month at the Wallingford Public Library! Adult patrons who have not played before or who are just starting out are welcome to attend. Local Ukulelist Steven Lazarus will lead and facilitate the club. Please bring your own instruments.

Intermediate Ukulele Club
Second Wednesday of each month
7-8pm|Collins Room | Drop-in

Join our new Intermediate Ukulele Club which will meet the second Wednesday of the month at the Wallingford Public Library! Adult patrons with previous experience playing a ukulele are welcome to attend. Local Ukulelist Steven Lazarus will lead and facilitate the club. Please bring your own instruments.

Knit @ WPL
First and Third Monday of Each Month
Monday, Jan 8th
6-7:30pm
Board Room

No registration required
Knit @ WPL is a place where knitters and crocheters can practice their work in the company of others. Newcomers are welcome to join, but knitting experience is required.

WPL Play Readers
First Wednesday of Each Month
Wednesday, Jan 3rd
6:30-8:30pm
Collins Room

No registration required

The Wallingford Public Library Play Readers bring and share poetry, prose, famous speeches and documents, monologues, as well as original material! Come check us out. All are welcome to read and/or listen.

Open Sew
First Tuesday of Each Month
Tuesday, Jan 2nd
6:00-8:30pm
Adults & Teens in Grades 9+
Drop-in
Collaboratory

Do you like to sew? Join people who enjoy quilting and sewing at a casual “drop in” program. Bring your unfinished projects, either hand sewing or machine. There are 4 portable sewing machines (or bring your own) and lots of sewing supplies and tools provided by the library for your use. Due to the one-on-one nature of this program, masks will be required for all participants.

Saturday Mornings with Poetry
Second and Fourth Saturday of Each Month
Saturday, Jan 13th
9:45am-12noon
Collins Room

No registration required

A meeting of people who love reading and writing poetry. SMwP provides poetic opportunities for anyone to share their poetry, discuss the literary works of poets known and unknown, and expand skills in writing and editing poems in the shared camaraderie of comfortable, supportive members.

A Haunting in Venice [PG-13]
Friday, Dec 29th | 6pm

In post-World War II Venice, retired detective Hercule Poirot reluctantly attends a seance. When one of the guests is murdered, it is up to him to uncover the culprit.

Hibernation Book Club with Cindy Haiken and Fitzwilliam returns for its second year beginning on Tuesday, January 9th. This winter we will be reading Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. The group will meet every other Tuesday in January, February, and March at 5:30pm to tackle the book in six installments, working together to read and understand this great classic work. For extra credit, read Emily Wilson’s brand new translation of Homer’s The Iliad, which takes place before The Odyssey and sets the stage for what’s to come.

Thursday Night Book Club: Straight Man
by Richard Russo

Thursday, Jan 18th
6:30-8pm
Collins Room & Zoom

Contact Cindy Haiken to participate: [email protected]

Writing teacher Hank Devereaux Jr. is chair of the English department at a second-rate college in Pennsylvania. His daughter is having husband trouble. The state legislature is threatening to wipe out his department’s budget. His crushes on several women complicate his devotion to his no-nonsense wife. He might have prostate cancer and he’s suspected (with good reason) of murdering a goose. Russo’s hilarious send-up of academia’s infighting and petty intrigue is the basis for the AMC TV series Lucky Hank.

Hibernation Book Club: Homer's The Odyssey
translated by Emily Wilson

Tuesdays,
Jan 9th & 23rd,
Feb 6th & 20th,
Mar 5th & 19th
5:30-7pm
Collins Room and Zoom

Contact Cindy Haiken to participate: [email protected]

If you have always wanted to read some great big classic books but have been daunted by their length and supposed complexity, we have a book club just for you! In the Hibernation Book Club, we will read one long classic novel every winter, dividing it up into shorter sections and meeting six times over the course of three months to work our way through it. Our title for the winter of 2024 is Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey.

The epic poem The Odyssey is told in 24 books and shares the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who spends a long ten years trying to get home after the end of the Trojan War. Odysseus’ journey takes him via Africa and southern Europe as he battles mystical creatures and faces the wrath of the gods. Meanwhile, his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus stave off the suitors who are vying for Penelope’s hand and Ithaca’s throne and continue to hope for Odysseus’ return.

Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation of the oldest great adventure story in the Western canon is the first by a woman. In this six-part program, we will read The Odyssey in installments of four books each and meet every other week to talk about the poem and the story.

Truth Be Told:  Nonfiction Book Club
Being Mortal
by Atul Gawande
Thursday, Jan 25th
7-8:30pm
Collins Room & Zoom

Contact Cindy Haiken to participate: [email protected]

Modern medicine can perform miracles, but it is also mainly concerned with preserving life rather than grappling with end-of-life issues. Drawing on his experiences working with terminally ill patients, Gawande offers a timely, hopeful account of how modern Americans face the realities and challenges of declining health and mortality.

Classics Book Club
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
by D.H. Lawrence

Thursday, Feb 1st
6:30-8pm
Collins Room & Zoom

Contact Cindy Haiken to participate: [email protected]

Constance (Connie) Chatterley is married to a wealthy landowner who is paralyzed from the waist down and is absorbed in his books and his estate. After a disappointing affair with a playwright, Connie turns to the estate’s gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors, who awakens her passions. D.H. Lawrence’s last novel, which was the subject of a landmark obscenity trial in London, reflects his belief that men and women must overcome the restrictions of industrialized society and follow their natural instincts towards love.