Program/Workshop ideas wanted: What types of programs would you like to see at the Library? For adults? For young people? Let’s get creative, have some fun, and maybe even learn something!
Coming Soon!
Book Release – An evening with Kai Carol Jud: Tuesday, June 25th at 7 pm: Join Kai, a Wendell resident and traveller in celebration of the release of her memoir, Life of Kai: A Memoir of Awakening. For this special evening, participants will have the opportunity to map one’s life through exercises and dialogue, to locate the threads of our lives, activating what brings joy, growth, expansion and more.
Poetry Reading by Elaine Reardon – Tuesday, July 2 @ 7 pm: The Library is pleased to host Warwick’s own “poet laureate,” Elaine Harootunian Reardon, as she reads from and discusses her newest poetry collection, entitled Stories Told in a Lost Tongue. The book will soon be published by Finishing Line Press, and pre-sales can be made at the reading. Refreshments will be served, probably paklava (the Armenian version of baklava).
Fall Cooking Event – Prepare a Recipe from the Original White House Cook Book (1887): The Library is in possession of an immaculate copy of this beloved item, with gilted pages! (Ok, it’s a 2003 reprint.) The Cookbook will be on view at the Library for the next few months for patrons to peruse and select a favorite—to be prepared and shared at a Fall event. Of course, we all know who was president in 1887: it was, umm—whatshisname!
Here’s the “Scrappel” recipe for inspiration: “Scrappel is a most palatable dish. Take the head, heart and any lean scraps of pork, and boil until the flesh slips easily from the bones. Remove the fat, gristle and bones, then chop fine. Set the liquor in which the meat was boiled aside until cold, take the cake of fat from the surface and return to the fire…. A cheap and delicious breakfast dish.” Folks really needed their fat back then! (Not sure about the “liquor.”)
Monthly Short Story Hour: 4th Thursdays @ 7:30
All welcome: Come to read or just to listen!
Best in Children’s Books: June 27th: This month we’ll read selections from a 1957 edition of Best Children’s Books. When’s the last time you read one of Grimm’s Fairy Tales? Did you ever wonder How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin by Rudyard Kipling? This program is open to all ages, subject to parental discretion.
David Sedaris: July 25th: This month we’ll read selections from Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, a 2013 collection of essays by David Sedaris (“the funniest writer in America” – O, the Oprah Magazine).
Ongoing Programs
Saturday Morning Socials…: Are back!! So popular in the years before Covid, they’re happening again at the Library, with fresh coffee and home-baked sweet treats (like these Lemon Tart Polygons) available free to one and all (donations are welcomed). So come visit, and stay a while–or just grab a coffee and go! (Library is closed Saturdays July thru August.)
Mondays at 10:30 am: Learn & Play Group – When schools are in session (starts again September 2024): Warwick Library is pleased to host this program for kids five and under and their families. Led by Debra Wood of Pioneer Valley RSD, the group offers stories, activities, free play and time to chat with other families. For details contact Debra Wood at woodd@pvrsdk12.org or 413-334-9583.
The Coordinated Family and Community Engagement (CFCE) network helps to promote and support parent education and family engagement, early literacy and child development, and more.
The Scrabble action continues on Tuesday nights. Who sez you can’t play with 5? Warwick – breakin’ the rules! All are welcome. Play starts at 6:30 pm.
Book Club reading group: Meets the second Wednesday of each month at 10 am to discuss a book read by all. Books are provided by the Library. All are welcome!
The Knitting Group meets most Thursday evenings at the Library from 6:30 – 8 pm. All are welcome.
Past happenings:
Tick Talk: A public health presentation – Thursday, June 13 at 6 pm: Tired of ticks? Join Carolyn Bouchard, a nurse with the North Quabbin Health Collaborative, for this informative presentation about ticks, tick-borne illnesses and tick bite prevention.
Stephen Millhauser – Thursday, May 30th (5th Thursday): This month we’ll read selections from Disruptions, the 2023 collection by Stephen Millhauser. “Millhauser revitalizes the small-town tale, evoking the magical, the mundane, and the extravagantly madcap . . . Millhauser is the great eccentric of American fiction . . . Much as Millhauser relishes the magical, he also has a soft spot for the humdrum: the sound of a lawn sprinkler, the sight of a basketball left on a driveway. His genius is to be able to evoke both so urgently.” —Charles McGrath, The New Yorker.”
Author Talk with AgathaO: Thursday, May 23rd @ 7 pm: The library is pleased to host Plainfield author and photographer AgathaO (alter ego of historian Pleun Bouricius). She will be reading selections from her newly-published collection of essays and photos, Northern Byways and Other Essays from the Road, a “windshield survey of the lay of the land across the thinly populated expanses that most of us Americans and Canadians profess to love.” She and her travel companion, the Carpenter, bring you along on a journey of discovery of how we have shaped our landscapes. The volume is also a commentary on the value of books, reading, and research in a world where facts are currency and seemingly malleable at the same time. There will be time for conversation and signing to follow the reading.
Beginner’s Backyard Herbalism Workshop: Tuesday, May 14 @ 7 pm: Join veteran herbalist Sue Paquet of Warwick for an introduction to some easy ways of utilizing common wild and cultivated plant allies. Many common weeds and culinary plants contain little-known medicinal properties that are great for use in homemade tinctures, liniments, infused oils, oxymels, compresses or simple teas. Medicinal plants can bring joy and enhance our lives with some awareness, informed caution and little bit of effort. Come and enjoy this informal discussion and demonstration with Sue, who has 20+ years of hands-on experience as a gardener/herbalist/forager and former off-grid homesteader.
Poetry Month Celebration – Tuesday, April 30th @ 7 pm: April is National Poetry Month, and we’ll get poetical and have some fun–all are welcome to sign up for a 5 minute or so slot to read and/or recite one’s own or someone else’s verse. Contact the Library in advance to sign up, first come, first served.
Short Story Hour: Lily King – Thursday, April 25th: We’ll read selections from Five Tuesdays in Winter (2023), the first-ever collection of short stories by the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers. Told in the intimate voices of unique and endearing characters of all ages, these tales explore desire and heartache, loss and discovery. Romantic, hopeful, brutally raw, and unsparingly honest, these stories are, above all, about King’s enduring subject–love.
Phenology with John O’Keefe – Thursday, April 18th @ 7 pm: John will introduce the science of phenology, the study of biological events that are controlled by climate, and discuss his, now 35-year ongoing study of the timing of spring leaf emergence and autumn leaf senescence and drop on a group of about 50 trees at Harvard Forest. John received his MS and PhD degrees in forest ecology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. From 1988 until his retirement in 2009, John was Coordinator of the Fisher Museum at Harvard Forest in Petersham, home of the renowned Harvard Forest Dioramas.
Blues Stories: Culture & History told through Song & Narrative -Thursday, April 11th @ 7 pm: Barrett Anderson, a professional blues musician based in western Mass., will present a vibrant performance combining live music and stories in a celebration of Blues music and musicians. Barrett shares the story of the Blues scene, full of oppression and empowerment & freedom via artistic expression in Jim Crow 20th century America. During the last 25 years, Barrett has toured nationally and internationally, and performed with some of the brightest stars in the blues scene.
Solar Glasses available for April 8th Solar Eclipse: This year’s solar eclipse on April 8th, a Monday afternoon starting at 2:30 pm and ending at 4:30 pm, will occur with 90+ percent “Totality” in our region. The next total solar eclipse to be seen from the contiguous United States will be on Aug. 23, 2044. Do not view the eclipse unaided: safety glasses are needed to avoid damage to the eyes. Visit the Library in advance to receive your own pair (or several)—or come hang with other eclipse fans at the library and get them then (refreshments will be served).
Amy Hempel – Thursday, March. 28th: We’ll read selections from Sing To It! (2019). These stories reveal Hempel at her most compassionate and spirited, as she introduces characters searching for connection. Quietly dazzling, these stories are replete with moments of revelation and transcendence and with Hempel’s singular, startling, inimitable sentences.
Warwick Story Hour with Sam Stone – Thursday, March 21st at 7 pm: Join Warwick’s Sam Stone for an hour of connective storytelling, or “sonderlust”. In this workshop, we will reflect on the most meaningful people in our lives and share their stories in small groups.
Learn about skin cancer from a dermatologist – Tuesday, March 19th at 7 pm: Warwick’s own Sandy Renna, a retired Dermatologist, will describe and show images of the most common skin cancers, emphasizing their early detection, when a cure is most likely!
Shiatsu With Friends – Saturday, March 9th from 1-3 pm: Feel vibrantwith wholistic practitioner Shell Hines. This interactive workshop provides opportunities to connect with our bodies, soothe our spirits and inspire our hearts. Explore and play with ancient Eastern healing techniques, including the gentle exercises of Qi Gong. Bring a friend, or make new friends! All abilities welcome. Appropriate for young adults and older.
Feb. 22nd – American Humor: We’ll read selections from A Subtreasury of American Humor, published in 1862–um, make that 1962. “The sole idea was to put together in one volume the funniest things that have ever been written in this country.” Come to read or just to listen, or just to snarl.
Local author’s reading w/ Doc Pruyne – Tuesday, Feb. 20th @ 7 pm: That’s right, kiddies, Warwick’s own living version of Mark Twain (who’s dead) has done it again (his third), with “a fast-paced, full throttle comic novel” (IndieReader) called Kawabunga Kitten! Will Splendid Swamp, home to the splendid flaming hoohah—a rare newt—be saved from the gas pipeline? Check out this ”over-the-top saga of feisty villagers fighting the man” (Kirkus) to find out! Light refreshments will be served.
Valentine Making Workshop – Saturday, Feb. 3rd, 1-3pm (Snow date – Feb. 4th): Just in time for that special someone you adore on Valentines Day! Come join resident artist Kerry Stone to make fun and one of a kind valentines! Kerry will provide the cards and envelopes, collage papers, paints and glue sticks. Please bring scissors and any of your own collection of recycled papers–red envelopes are great, as are paper doilies and anything else you would like to incorporate. Contact the Library to register — first come, first served. Space is limited to 15. A $5 materials fee needs to be paid in cash at the Library prior to the workshop day to hold your place. Ages 10 and up are welcome, younger kids require parental supervision.
January 25th – Anton Chekov: This month we’ll read selections from “Five Great Short Stories” by Anton Pavlovich Chekov. Checkov (1860-1904) was a Russian physician, short-story writer and playwright. While best known for plays such as “The Cherry Orchard” and “Uncle Vanya,” he wrote hundreds of stories that delved beneath the surface of Russian society, exposing the hidden motives of his characters and the ways in which prevailing social forces influenced their lives. Come to read or just to listen.
December 21st (3rd Thursday) – Sabrina Imbler: This month the short story group tries something new – non-fiction! We’ll read a selection from How Far the Light Reaches, Sabrina Imbler’s 2022 collection profiling ten of the ocean’s strangest creatures. Imbler is a widely-published writer and science journalist, and this book draws “astonishing connections between their lives and ours” while “illuminating wondrous models of survival, adaptation and identity” on our planet.
Thursday, December 7th at 7 pm – Local author’s talk with George Bennett: Join Warwick’s own George Bennett as he reads and tells stories from his new book Into the Distance: The Lost World of Long-haul Trucking, just published in the U.K. by Troubadour Press. Many of you know George as a respected and mild-mannered teacher. Into the Distance is his first-hand description of a world of truck driving that has long-since disappeared. Back in the 1970s and early 80s, in a world without mobile phones, truck driving required skill and resourcefulness, was exciting, sometimes hazardous and, ultimately, for George, very satisfying.
It begins with a breakdown in Saudi Arabia, on his first trip to the Middle East, and goes on to describe brushes with smugglers, his inadvertent role in resolving a strike of French lorry drivers, and much, much more! All are welcome, and light refreshments will be served.
November 30th – Tessa Hadley: We’ll read selections from After the Funeral, Hadley’s newest story collection(2023). Hadley is a British author who writes novels, short stories and nonfiction. Her most recent novel is Free Love (2022).