Vermont Community Reads Book Discussion - We Contain Multitudes
2022-03-16 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York)

“Trees for Good”
2022-03-16 15:00 - 16:30, 2022-03-30 15:00 - 16:30
To register, email plevasseurputney@gmail.com.

Read To A Dog
2022-04-19 11:30 - 12:30, 2022-04-26 11:30 - 12:30, 2022-05-03 11:30 - 12:30, 2022-05-10 11:30 - 12:30, 2022-07-12 07:00 - 08:00
Keeper is a two-year-old Labrador Retriever certified therapy dog. He is an excellent listener and companion for anyone practicing their reading skills or just needing a friend.
Email julia@putneylibrary.org to reserve a 15 minute time slot to read with Keeper. All ages and reading abilities welcome!

Robert Goodby presents A Deep Presence: 13,000 Years of Native American History Tuesday, April 26th 7pm
2022-04-26 15:00 - 16:30
Zoom Lecture–please email Emily for the link to this event: emily@putneylibrary.org
Almost 13,000 years ago, small groups of Paleoindians endured frigid winters on the edge of a river in what would become Keene, New Hampshire. This begins the remarkable story of Native Americans in the Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire, part of the traditional homeland of the Abenaki people.
Typically neglected or denied by conventional history, the long presence of Native people in southwestern New Hampshire is revealed by archaeological evidence for their deep, enduring connections to the land and the complex social worlds they inhabited. From the Tenant Swamp Site in Keene, with the remains of the oldest known dwellings in New England, to the 4,000-year-old Swanzey Fish Dam still visible in the Ashuelot River, A Deep Presence tells their story in a narrative fashion, drawing on the author’s thirty years of fieldwork and presenting compelling evidence from archaeology, written history, and the living traditions of today’s Abenaki people. Join author and archeologist Robert Goodby for an evening presentation about his research and newest book! The book can be found at Putney Public Library and for sale at: https://harriscenter.org/about-us/merchandise/a-deep-presence
About Robert
Robert Goodby is Professor of Anthropology at Franklin Pierce University. He earned his PhD in anthropology from Brown University and has over thirty years of experience excavating Native American archaeological sites in New England. He is a past president of the New Hampshire Archeological Society, a former Trustee of the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum, and served on the New Hampshire Commission on Native American Affairs. He has directed over three hundred archaeological studies authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act and his work has appeared in anthropological journals and in anthologies published by the Smithsonian Institution Press and University Press of New England. He has presented more than one hundred talks on his archaeological research for the New Hampshire Humanities “Humanities to Go” program, and every fall speaks to students at the Keene Middle School about the Paleoindian Tenant Swamp Site.
Please email Emily for the link to this event: emily@putneylibrary.org

Remember and Resist: The Dutch Example Wednesday, May 4th 7pm
2022-05-04 15:00 - 16:30
Zoom lecture–Please email Emily for the link to this lecture: emily@putneylibrary.org
Contrary to the image that most Dutch people resisted the Nazis, only a small percentage actively participated – many of them women delivering messages or smuggling children to safety. What would they say if they could speak to us now? How are their decisions and struggles relevant today? Writer Mary Fillmore will explore how people decided to resist, what they actually did, and what the results were. We’ll discuss how their courage can inspire people with a broad range of views. A Vermont Humanities Council event hosted by Putney Public Library.
May 4 is the Dutch National Day of Remembrance for all who died in the war, which in the case of the Netherlands was almost entirely people who were victims of the Holocaust.
Please email Emily for the link to this lecture: emily@putneylibrary.org

Book Launch of Nellie’s Diary, 1863-1865: Her Life at Sea - The Diary of Ellen M. Starrett compiled by Elizabeth S. Mills. Wednesday, May 11th at 7pm At Putney Public Library--in person, masks required.
2022-05-11 15:00 - 16:30
Book Launch of Nellie’s Diary, 1863-1865: Her Life at Sea – The Diary of Ellen M. Starrett associated works compiled by her great granddaughter Elizabeth S. Mills.
Wednesday, May 11th at 7pm
At Putney Public Library–in person, masks required.

Poetry Reading Curated by Karen Kelsay of Kelsay Books May 12th, 2022, 6:30pm
2022-05-12 14:30 - 16:00
Poetry Reading Curated by Karen Kelsay of Kelsay Books
May 12th, 2022, 6:30pm at Putney Public Library
In person, masks required.

7pm--Film Screening: Dawnland
2022-05-24 15:00 - 16:30
Film Screening: Dawnland
Tuesday, May 24th at 7pm
Join us for an in-person screening of this Emmy Award winning documentary at the Putney Public Library. Masks are required for this event.
“My foster mother told me … she would save me from being Penobscot.”
For most of the 20th century, government agents systematically forced Native American children from their homes and placed them with white families. As recently as the 1970’s, one in four Native children nationwide were living in non-Native foster care, adoptive homes, or boarding schools. Many children experienced devastating emotional and physical harm by adults who mistreated them and tried to erase their cultural identity.
Now, for the first time, they are being asked to share their stories.
In Maine, a historic investigation—the first government-sanctioned truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) in the United States—begins a bold journey. For over two years, Native and non-Native commissioners travel across Maine. They gather testimony and bear witness to the devastating impact of the state’s child welfare practices on families in Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribal communities. Collectively, these tribes make up the Wabanaki people
The feature-length documentary DAWNLAND follows the TRC to contemporary Wabanaki communities to witness intimate, sacred moments of truth-telling and healing. With exclusive access to this groundbreaking process and never-before-seen footage, the film reveals the untold narrative of Indigenous child removal in the United States.
The TRC discovers that state power continues to be used to break up Wabanaki families, threatening the very existence of the Wabanaki people. Can they right this wrong and turn around a broken child welfare system? DAWNLAND foregrounds the immense challenges that this commission faces as they work toward truth, reconciliation, and the survival of all Indigenous peoples.
Living at the easternmost edge of Turtle Island, the Wabanaki people are the first to see the new day’s light. If harmony and justice begin in the east, as some prophesize, surely the TRC is a sign of this beginning.

Library Closed for Memorial Day
2022-05-29 20:00

Unicorn & Dragon Party
2022-06-04 07:00 - 08:00
You’re Invited to a Magical Unicorn & Dragon party!
June 4th 11 am (light rain or shine)
We will be hosting a party to celebrate all things Unicorns and Dragons. Join us under the big tent, behind the library, to share stories, games, crafts, snacks and a little bit of magic! Come dressed in your best unicorn or dragon finery as we will have props for photo booth style pictures.

Library Closed
2022-06-23 - 2022-06-24
The library will be closed for tree removal.

Constitution + Comics Camp
2022-06-27 06:00 - 2022-07-01 09:00
Constitution + Comics Camp
The Putney Public Library is offering a free camp open to all area teens. Join us for Constitution + Comics Camp where we will read and debate excerpts from the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Vermont Constitution, Supreme Court decisions, as well as graphic novels with historical and constitutional themes. We will then draw our own constitution comics and debate the issues in the context of 21st century schooling. Some of the topics we will dig into: What privacy rights do students have inside of school? Should schools be able to search student lockers? What about backpacks?
By the end of the week, you’ll be able to cite Supreme Court cases, explore counter-arguments, and illustrate your basic rights through comics. Do you know what your privacy rights look like? Draw them and you won’t forget them.
Constitution camp is led by Meg Mott PhD, a former professor and constitutional scholar who successfully led our Free Speech for Teens Camp in the summer of 2021.
Marek Bennett is a comics artist and a 2021 New Hampshire Governor’s Award for Arts in Education recipient. His work includes the graphic novel series, The Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby, as well as drawing, translating, & editing for The Most Costly Journey (2021) with the bilingual El Viaje Project.
Constitution + Comics Camp is hosted by the Putney Public Library at 55 Main St, Putney, VT. Camp will run June 27- July 1, 10am -1 pm. Registration is now open but spaces are limited. https://putneylibrary.org/constitution-and-comics-camp/
For additional information please contact the library at julia@putneylibrary.org or 802-387-4407

Library Closed for July 4th Holiday
2022-07-03 20:00

Modern Times Theater
2022-07-06 07:00 - 08:00
Celebrate the start of Summer Reading with Rose and Justin of Modern Times Theater for a new puppet production. Pick up your Summer Reading starter kit.

Summer Reading Story Time
2022-07-11 07:00 - 08:00, 2022-07-18 07:00 - 08:00, 2022-07-25 07:00 - 08:00
Join story time reader, Susan Hessey for read aloud stories and activities.

THE GRAND RE-OPENING 2022: Reconnect with yourself, your meditation practice and the world
2022-07-11 14:00 - 15:30, 2022-07-18 14:00 - 15:30, 2022-07-25 14:00 - 15:30
Once again, we’ve weathered a long winter of frost and Covid. After all the shutting down and closing off, it’s time to open up and reconnect with ourselves and the plentiful world around us, so we can get back to making and imagining. Join us for a 4-session workshop and discussion group to explore the use of Mindfulness Meditation and various practices that enhance inspiration and presence. We’ll meet four times, three Monday evenings in July, beginning Monday, July 11, from 6:00-7:30 at the library–and the first Monday of August. If weather is good, we’ll meet out back on the patio. If not, we’ll meet inside the library or on Zoom, depending on Covid numbers.
Michelle Blake is a writer and poet who has published three novels with Putnam Penguin; poems and essays in the NY Times, Tin House, Ploughshares and many others; and a collaboration with visual artist Fran Forman. Together with Emily Zervas, she developed the Writer in Residence program at the library (on Covid hold). Currently, she is working in the Mindfulness Meditation Training Program to explore the relationship between meditation, inspiration and creativity.
Please register for this event by emailing Michelle at: michelleblake09@gmail.com

Summer Reading - Watershed Wildlife
2022-07-13 07:00 - 08:00
The Southern Vermont Natural History Museum will introduce us to live animals found in and around our own backyards and teach us how each one shares an important connection to the watershed from Vermont to the ocean.

Dungeons & Dragons
2022-07-13 14:30 - 17:00, 2022-07-20 14:30 - 17:00
Dungeons & Dragons, Ghosts of Salty Marsh – Wednesday July 13th – September 14th, 6:30 – 9 pm
Explore the waves above and the fathoms below in these watery adventures for the world’s greatest roleplaying game. Limited to 6 players, ages 12-16, registration required. Email Julia@putneylibrary.org to register.

POSTPONED--Post-Roe deliberation with Meg Mott: Are the People up the Task?
2022-07-19 15:00 - 16:30

Summer Reading - Pirate Ship Building
2022-07-20 07:00 - 08:00
Build a pirate ship from recycled materials and sail it across the sea (kiddie pools) at the library. Prepare to get wet!
