Books

First Wednesdays:Reinventing the Family Home
Wednesday, April 5th, 7:00 p.m. 

Join us for a Vermont Humanities Council First Wednesdays lecture at Brooks Memorial Library. On April 5 at 7 pm, Middlebury College professor Erin Sassin examines how American reformers and homeowners have, in pursuit of “the simple life,” attempted to reinvent the form and idea of the single-family home, from farmhouses and communal experiments to the current tiny house phenomenon.

The Brooks Memorial Library Main Reading Room and Mezzanine will be closed due to renovations March 19-25. The Children’s Room and Teen Room will remain open. We will be installing flooring in our first floor reading room. Materials may be requested via email and picked up in the Children’s Room when their arrival has been confirmed. Thanks for your patience as we build an even better Brooks Memorial Library.

Have you discovered the free resources available with your Brooks Memorial library card on your home computer or mobile device? Are you curious about Overdrive and OneClick and want to learn more? Did you try some of this and get frustrated? Matt and Jeanne are teaming up for two hands-on sessions to get you cruising forward into the digital library world.

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. – Abigail is the woman who comes to mind when we mention Mrs. Adams, but her daughter-in-law Louisa Catherine also holds a significant spot in history as both the wife of President John Quincy Adams and in her own right.

Dartmouth visiting assistant professor Suzanne Brown will look at novelist Jane Austen’s response to the events of her era in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on March 1 at 7:00 pm. Her talk, “Jane Austen in Her Time,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays lecture series and is free and open to the public.

Book Report: INFIDEL by Ayaan Hirsi Ali Hi! I just read this book, “Infidel” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, which was gruesome  in detail, so be prepared.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali

“The Brooks Memorial Library Board of Trustees Building and Strategic Planning meeting scheduled for Feb. 9, 2017, has been cancelled due to the weather and will be re-scheduled for a future date.”

Starr LaTronica, Library Director
Brooks Memorial Library
224 Main St.
Brattleboro,VT 05301
802-251-8195 ext. 101

Wikipedia is an ever changing source of information. Learning how to critically evaluate Wikipedia is a key skill. The annual #1lib1ref campaign () asks every librarian and information seeker to learn how to add a reference to Wikipedia, to help ensure that the facts on the website are backed by reliable research.

Brooks Memorial Library will be hosting a #1lib1ref session, for librarians and information seekers alike. RSVP to starr@brooklibraryvt.org. Learn how to add a reference to Wikipedia and discuss the role of Wikipedia in Research on Friday, February 3 from 2-3 pm. Everyone is welcome to join, bring a laptop if one is available, and let us know if you are coming! RSVP to starr@brooklibraryvt.org.  

Jefferson never knew the Monticello of today-in perfect condition, impeccably furnished. Join us Wednesday, February 1st at 7 pm as Dartmouth College senior lecturer Marlene Heck explains the lifelong project Jefferson called his “essay in architecture.” This program is sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council. Free and open to all.

First Wednesdays are supported in part by the National Life Group Foundation and the Institute of Museum & Library Services through the Vermont Department of Libraries.

Writing Thank-You Letters at Brooks Memorial Library. Start the New Year with Gratitude. Join us at Brooks Memorial Library on Thursday 19 January 2017, 3 pm – 5 pm and Monday 23 January 2017, 6 pm – 8 pm for writing thank you letters. More info at Brooks Library events calendar http://brookslibraryvt.org/upcoming-events/icalrepeat.detail/2017/01/19/2896/-/start-the-new-year-with-gratitude

Join us at Brooks Memorial Library on Thursday 19 January 2017, 3 pm – 5 pm and Monday 23 January 2017, 6 pm – 8 pm for writing thank you letters. At this time of year we think that it’s important to find and express the things that we’re grateful for. To that end we’re setting up some tables with paper, pencils, pens, envelopes, and stamps and we’re writing letters. Thank-you letters. We’re writing letters to thank the sun for coming up, to thank a friend for their love, to thank our bodies for carrying us through life.

Dartmouth professor Peter Travis will discuss the genius, comic wisdom, and enduring humanity of Geoffrey Chaucer, the fourteenth-century “Father of English Poetry,” in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., in Brattleboro on January 4 at 7:00 pm.

His talk, “Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales: Still Funny After All These Years,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays lecture series and is free and open to the public.

Interested in joining others in a lively game of Scrabble? Weekly drop-in Scrabble at Brooks Memorial Library begins on Wednesday 14 December 2016 at 6 pm. Drop-in Scrabble will continue weekly on Wednesdays at 6 pm in the Local History Room, except on First Wednesdays. 

Brooks Memorial Library
224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301
Contact us at info@brookslibraryvt.org or 802-254-5290

Don’t miss the 11th Annual Friends of Brooks Memorial Library Like-New Holiday Book Sale! It will be held Thursday and Friday, December 1st & 2nd, from 10am-6pm, and Saturday, December 3rd from 10 am-2 pm. What better place to find a gift for the holidays?

Greetings Former Neighbors! – 

More than excited to announce that my first book will be released Spring 2017 and Brattleboro features quite a bit heavily in the text. I most definitely think you all are going to enjoy it. We set up a website to collect e-mail addresses to notify folks when the book is ready for order and IT WOULD MEAN THE WORLD TO ME if you would sign up! –

More to come!,
Ken Schneck

The Dummerston Community Center will host Archer Mayor’s appearance and discussion on his most recently published book ” Presumption of Guilt” on Monday, November 14th at 7 pm. Joe Gunther investigates a very cold “missing person” case after the discovery of a 40 year old skeleton at the decommissioned Vermont Yankee plant.

The Community Center is located in the West Dummerston Village, off Route 30. The event is free.

Books will be available for purchasing and for Archer’s autograph.
For more information , call 254-2415 or 254-9212, or go to http://archermayor.com/

     Kenneth Gloss, proprietor of the internationally known Brattle Book Shop in Boston’s Downtown Crossing section, will give a free and open talk, and will give free verbal appraisals of books, on Wednesday, November 16 at 6:30 pm at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT. Ken will discuss the value of old and rare books. 

Ken, who is also a frequent guest appraiser on PBS’ Antiques Roadshow, will talk in part about the history of his historic bookshop (www.brattlebookshop.com), which goes back to around 1825.

Please forgive the dust and occasional noise in the library in the next couple of months. We’re building an even better Brooks Memorial Library!

If you missed the email about the library survey… Don’t worry; there’s a link right here. What do you love? What do you wish for? Please tell us what you think! They survey takes about 7-10 minutes, or longer if you want to share details. It’s your choice. Thanks for being part of the conversation! 

On Thursday, September 8 at 7PM there will be a presentation about Brattleboro’s Stephen Daye Press to be held in the Brattleboro History Center at 196 Main Street in Brattleboro. This event is open to the public and admission is free.

Founded in 1932 by John S. and Marion R. Hooper, the Stephen Daye Press (SDP) published books about New England. It is now considered the first in the field of regional publishers in the United States. Children of the SDP founders, John, Mary Ann and Steve Hooper, all formerly of Brattleboro will give the presentation about the Stephen Daye Press. In addition, there will be a display of SDP books, photos, tools of the trade, original promotional materials and other items.