Directors College Event: The Business of Blooms - Garden Tourism

On Wednesday, April 24, Dr. Richard Benfield, Professor of Geography at Central Connecticut State University, will speak at the Farmington Libraries on garden tourism. His talk, “The Business of Blooms,” will take place at 7:00 p.m. at the Farmington Main Library at 6 Monteith Drive.

Gardening is the preeminent outdoor activity in America today and visitation to gardens amongst the most popular tourist activities in the world. Thus flowers and gardens are the dominant characteristic of contemporary society. In a wide-ranging, lively and visually spectacular presentation of Gardens and Floriculture, Dr. Richard Benfield will explore the worlds of floriculture, gardens in art, garden visitation, garden festivals and the weird and wonderful world of gardens. Author of the upcoming book Garden Tourism and a speaker much in demand by garden clubs, national flower conventions and International Horticultural congresses, Dr. Benfield has studied gardens, flowers and festivals around the world for fifteen years and throughout 119 countries and is considered by many to be the number one authority on visitation to gardens.

 

The Director’s College is an ongoing series at the Farmington Libraries, the aim of which is to present interesting and intellectual programs for our community. These events strive to cover a wide range of areas including, but not limited to, professorial lectures, performing arts events, travelogues, and music series.

Advance registration is required for this program. Please call 860-673-6791 for details or register through the library’s web site at http://www.farmingtonlibraries.org. The event will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the main library at 6 Monteith Drive.

The Farmington Library is part of the Farmington Village Green and Library Association.  If you have special needs to attend library programs, contact the library in advance.

Director's College: Former Congressman Bob Steele to Discuss His New Novel at the Farmington Libraries

Former U.S. Congressman Bob Steele will discuss and sign his new novel, The Curse: Big-Time Gambling’s Seduction Of A Small New England Town, at the Farmington main library on Wednesday, March 20, at 10:30 am.

Steele’s novel, which has generated wide interest across the state, comes at a time when Connecticut’s casinos face the prospect of heavy new competition from New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, and there is growing political pressure to legalize Internet gambling. The novel is set against the casino gambling explosion that hit southeastern Connecticut during the 1990s.   WNPR/Connecticut Public Radio’s John Dankosky calls the novel “fascinating” and Connecticut author Martin Shapiro has described it as “compelling and timely….an epic story of history, money and politics that will make you wonder where America is headed.”

The book is available in softcover from Levellers Press, Amherst, MA (www.levellerspress.com) and Amazon.com, and as an ebook from both Amazon and Barnes&Noble .  Books will also be available at the library the morning of Mr. Steele’s appearance. For more information, please consult his web site at http://rhsteele.com/.

This event is free and open to the public and will take place at the Farmington main library at 6 Monteith Drive. Space is limited; advance registration is required for this program. Please call 860-673-6791 for details or register through the library’s web site at http://www.farmingtonlibraries.org. 

The Farmington Library is part of the Farmington Village Green and Library Association.  If you have special needs to attend library programs, contact the library in advance.

Director’s College -- Dancing on a Sunny Plain: the Life of Annie Burr Auchincloss Lewis

On Wednesday, February 27, the Lewis Walpole Library will host a special showing of its current exhibition, Dancing on a Sunny Plain: the Life of Annie Burr Auchincloss Lewis, complete with a talk about Mrs. Lewis’s extraordinary life from exhibition curator, Susan Walker. This event is co-sponsored by the Farmington Libraries and the Lewis WalpoleLibrary, Yale University, and will take place at the Lewis Walpole Library at 154 Main Street, Farmington, at 7:00 p.m.

Mrs. Lewis’s legacy extends beyond her well-known role as W.S. Lewis’s wife and partner. A gifted photographer and cataloger, she dedicated herself to family and friends, philanthropy and service. On display are rarely seen items from the Library’s archives that highlight Mrs. Lewis’s active engagement, including her many contributions to Farmington. This exhibition will be on view in Farmington through early 2013, but this will be the only chance for a private showing hosted by the exhibition’s curator.

The Director’s College is an ongoing series at the Farmington Libraries, the aim of which is to present interesting and intellectual programs for our community. These events strive to cover a wide range of areas including, but not limited to, professorial lectures, performing arts events, travelogues, and music series.

Space is limited to twenty-five participants; advance registration is required for this program. Please call 860-673-6791 for details or register through the Farmington library’s web site at http://www.farmingtonlibraries.org.

The Farmington Library is part of the Farmington Village Green and Library Association.  If you have special needs to attend library programs, contact the library in advance.

Farmington Director Jay Johnston Appointed to State Library Board

Farmington Library Director Jay Johnston has been appointed to the Connecticut State Library Board by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

Board Chairman John N. Barry commented that he is very pleased with Johnston’s selection.
“Based on Jay Johnston’s career and knowledge of libraries and museums, the governor made an excellent choice for this important position," Barry said.

Johnston has served as director of five different libraries in his four-decade career, and is known as an innovator and leader in library and museum work. He lives in Enfield.

“I am very excited to have this opportunity to influence the future of libraries and museums in our state during these times of change for our public institutions,” Johnston said.

The Farmington Library is part of the Farmington Village Green and Library Association. 

Farmington Goes to Rome!

FARMINGTON LIBRARIES AND FARMINGTON COMMUNITY SERVICES
Director’s Jay Johnston and Nancy Parent Present A Roman Holiday:

Seven Days, five nights,  November 19th – 25th 2013

Included Air, Hotel, breakfast each day then on your own!

Airport Transfers

Five nights at the Alexandra or similar hotel

All for $ 1,550

Select special tours of your choice available not included in the price.

Call the library for Details: Bernie @ 860. 673. 6791  X 219

Ciao, Jay & Nancy

Smart Shopping and Grass Roots Activism Encouraged at GMO Free Director's College Event

We had a fantastic turnout for the showing of last night's documentary film, Genetic Roulette. As many of our audience members attested, people generally do not know what the harmful effects of GMOs are nor how much they infiltrate our food supply -- as stated in the movie, these organisms are in upwards of 70% of what we eat, leading to an alleged increase in widespread illness and food allergies in our country and abroad.

GMO stands for "genetically modified organism" and is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal. According to the Institute for Responsible Technology, "Genetically modified foods have been linked to toxic and allergic reactions, sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ studied in lab animals. The effects on humans of consuming these new combinations of proteins produced in GMOs are unknown and have not been studied." But there is enough emerging evidence to concern scientists and to make the information in Genetic Roulette very powerful, eye-opening, and disturbing.

There are a number of organizations around the country working to educate the public and organize a movement to institute measures to protect the consumer, including the proposal of a labeling law that has so far been defeated in the nineteen states that have proposed it. (Connecticut's own attempt was defeated in Spring 2012, but organizations such as GMO Free CT, and GMO Free Hartford are still working with legislators on education and awareness.)

In attendance last night were state rep Brian Becker and state rep-elect Mike Demicco, both of whom encouraged members of the audience to contact their legislators with their concerns on this issue as well as to spread the word amongst their friends, neighbors, and colleagues on the importance of it and the information shared in the film. 

Members from GMO Free CT were also in attendance, offering information on how consumers can protect themselves from GMO-infused foods by choosing organic options or brands whose products are GMO-free.  For a list of these companies and products, follow this link.

The following links also offer information on this important topic as well as ways you can get involved:

Institute for Responsible Technology
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/

Non-GMO Shopping Guide
http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/

Non-GMO Project
http://www.nongmoproject.org/

GMO Free CT on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/GmoFreeCt

GMO Free Hartford on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/GMOfreeHartford

GMO Free USA on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/GMOFreeUSA/?fref=ts

Trim-A-Tree Party

Lots of fun and musical, The Farmington Choral Group sang Christmas carols and then there was a visit from Santa.  It was a great party with treats for the tummy and decorations to make and music to hear.