Exploring the Sacred

A couple of years ago the Montpelier Interfaith group held a series of programs at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library called Under Abraham's Tent. It was an interesting series and was well attended. This group is now offering a five week series of lectures and conversations Exploring Death and Its Spiritual Dimensions on Wednesdays beginning April 2 through April 30th at 7pm. The lectures will be held at the Stone Science Building on the Vermont College Campus located directly behind the Wood Art Gallery. Other sponsoring organizations include Central Vermont Ethics Committee and Vermont College of the Union Institute and University.
Presenters include Dr. Walter Brenneman, Professor William Paden, John Turner, Betty Blouin, Ellen Fein, Virginia Fry, and local clergy. This series is free and open to the public. If you have any questions Regis Cummings is the person to call at 223-6043.

This Week at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library

THE POWER OF NOW, by Eckhart Tolle, a Celebration with Justine and Robert O’Keefe,
This is the last program of a three-part series
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 7:30-9:00pm
“The Pain Body” Recognizing our cumulative pain and how it is triggered by and feeds on our thought patterns.
Books are available on loan at the library or bring your own copy.

CCV Lecture Series
Computer Information Security for the Everyday User
Thursday, March 27th, 7:00pm.
Cyber security breaches resulting in identity theft and stolen credit card information have brought the world of information security home to the everyday person. Recognizing the need for information security has become front page news and is increasingly salient in the public consciousness. This lecture will focus on how computer users, from the casual user to the more sophisticated user, can protect themselves as well as their company from information loss or corruption. The risks from hackers, dumpster diving and password sharing will be examined. Topics covered will also include password protection, the ethical use of computers and home security such as firewall applications. also include password protection, the ethical use of computers and home security.

Pruning Trees
Saturday, March 29, 2008 10am-12noon. With Dave Wilcox, VT Urban & Community Forestry. This hands-on workshop is a perennial favorite. Dress appropriately for the weather. Meet in the East Montpelier room. If you plan to attend the lilac pruning workshop in May, you must have pruning experience. Registration required! Call 223-3338. A Washington/Orange County Master Gardeners Program.

StoryWalk & Language Lunches at the Library

In today's edition of The Times Argus is an article about StoryWalk. Check it out by clicking here!

Last week the library was featured on the front page! Read about Language Lunches here

EVERYONE'S IRISH!

Hey! Spring fever at the Library! Join us on Monday March 17 for a gala o' green and our Everybody's Irish St. Patrick's Day party in the Hayes Room. With great music by Hilari Farrington (our esteemed library director) and Benedict Koehler, step dancing by Meagan Kane, and an ol' yarn by Ben O'Matchstick. Blimey! Tis a jolly lot o' fun for one great green hour at the library. Begins at 7pm. Wear your greenest attire and snacks for sharing. Want to volunteer for the decoration committee? Come speak to Ben at the Children's Library desk.

Planning for summer hikes

When the snow is three feet deep and the sidewalks are icy it’s hard to think about a time when we want to get outside and go for a long walk or even longer hike. But, of course, now is the time to plan and dream about those long summer treks. Two recent additions to the library could help with that planning.

If your goal is to hike Vermont’s Long Trail (or wonder what it would be like) Jan Leitschuh wrote a day-by-day humorous account called, The Ordinary Adventurer, Hiking Vermont’s Long Trail: a Primer for Baby Adventurers, and Other Musings on the Nature of the Journey.

She and her partner started the month long hike quite out of shape but finished the trip through the wilderness stronger, wiser, more thoughtful, and ready to try the Appalachian Trail.

If a month long end-to-end adventure isn’t exactly what you had in mind, maybe having a smaller area to explore is a better plan. If so, you may be interested in the Guide to the Wildlife Management Areas of Vermont, published by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.

This spiral-bound book compiles 81 areas in Vermont that are managed by the state from Averill Mountain located on the border with Canada to Roaring Brook in the south-east corner. Each management area is identified in the book with a full page map, several paragraphs on the fish and wildlife that one can see there, and what the habitat features are including tree species, streams, ponds and/or vernal pools. There is also a short history of the area plus a general description of its location and size in acres. These wildlife management areas are open to regulated hunting, trapping, hiking and wildlife viewing.

Be sure to include a camera and a notebook in your plan. It’s a great way to remember what Vermont looks like when the snow keeps us closer to home.

Town meeting day success!

All towns passed the full appropriation for the library, raising $390,000 (see the preceding post for town-by-town amounts). Worcester, Calais, and Middlesex voted in favor during town meeting. Australian ballot results in the other towns:

Berlin: 393 - 362 (Does not include write-ins. Town clerk does not expect outcome to change.)

East Montpelier: 724 - 327

Montpelier: 2,323 - 872

Our success is based, in my opinion, on the fact that Kellogg-Hubbard is an exceptional library that has had a real impact on the quality of life for people living in central Vermont.

Thank you!

Town meeting day

I hope you will support the Kellogg-Hubbard Library on Town Meeting Day, March 4, 2008. We are asking voters in six towns for taxpayer support:

The Town of Berlin, which did not support us in 2007, was taken out of the Library's service area, meaning that Berlin patrons must pay for a library card. We petitioned Berlin voters to get on the ballot again this year, and hope for success!

More information on our town meeting day request is available on our web site here and here (the latter link is to a pdf file).

Thank you to all our patrons and friends who have supported Kellogg-Hubbard Library over the years!

Howard Norman and ghosts

Howard Norman called today to let me know what the topic of his presentation will be in May, which is Why I Love Ghosts in Northern Japan. Norman is one of the local authors who is sharing his passions in a library series called, Why I Love What I Love. David Dobbs, the creator of this series, has organized a fascinating group of writers talking about a wide range of topics from entropy to slate to ghosts. Howard was previously booked to appear on Wednesday, May 14 but that has been changed to Wednesday, May 21 at 7pm. The next presentation in the series is Wednesday, March 12 at 7pm, Why I Love My Niddy-Noddy: Weaving, Hobbies, and the "Flow State" by Mary Hays. On April 9th Tom Slayton will talk about why he loves Thoreau. Join us in the Hayes Room at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library!

Spend school vacation at the Library

There's more than great books to check out at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library this spring break!

Crafternoons - Origami Olympics
Saturday, February 23 at 1pm
The Cardboard Teck Instantute will host the first ever Origami Olympics. Fold a frog and try it out on the long jump and the high jump. Learn how to build bangers, shooters, biters, and trickster origami toys.

Cooking and Booking - Localvore Mac & Cheese
Monday, February 25 at 3:30pm
Think mac and cheese comes from a cardboard box? Cook up the real thing with local students from New England Culinary Institute, with a side order from the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.

Dark Knight Comics Club
Tuesday, February 26 3:00-4:30pm
Have you heard about the DK Comics Club? It's a weekly jam session of drawing and writing stories for comics. Join up and attack your comics with a club!

Leap Year Day Checkers Tournament
Friday, February 29 at 1pm
It only comes once every four years, so we're celebrating with an in-house checkers tournament. Are you the next champ of checkers? Participate and get a frog. Win and get a frog trophy!

Games, Games, Games!
Every Friday starting February 22 from 3:00-4:30pm
We have new games at the library including Apples to Apples, Scrabble, Backgammon and more. Ben T. Matchstick will be showing and playing in his own favorite games - some fun board games that you've never heard of!
Get your game on at the library!

Library closed on Monday

The Kellogg-Hubbard Library will be closed on Monday, February 18th for the President's Day holiday. We are open tomorrow, Saturday, from 10am to 5:30pm. Stock up tomorrow for the long weekend.