Putney Public Library

The Art of the Essay with Elayne Clift
2017-09-06 15:00 - 16:30 (America/Halifax)
THE ART OF THE ESSAY: A WRITING WORKSHOP WITH ELAYNE CLIFT AT PUTNEY
LIBRARY
Join author Elayne Clift for a writing workshop on Wednesday, September
6th at 7pm at Putney Public Library.
This workshop explores what an essay is and why we write them. It
includes the necessary elements of writing good creative non-fiction
pieces that can range from political commentary to humorous 1st Person
accounts – and anything else that is based on truth or opinion. We will
explore tone and “voice,” style, structure, point of view, use of
dialogue, researching facts, and more. And we’ll be hands-on, doing a
practice piece to share and discuss (voluntarily) in the spirit of
mutual learning. Come prepared to ruminate, rant, and reflect!
This workshop is presented in partnership with The Commons through their
Media Mentoring Project.
Putney Public Library is located at 55 Main St in Putney, VT. This event
is free and open to the public.

Library Closed for Labor Day
2017-09-03 - 2017-09-04

Debating Our Rights, Part III: The Pressures on Citizenship in a Constitutional Democracy with Meg Mott
2017-08-30 15:00 - 16:30
In the last of our series on The Bill of Rights, we will be discussing the Fourth Amendment, “the right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects.”

Summer Reading: Wrap Up Party
2017-08-02 10:00 - 11:30
Wrap Up Party—Wednesday, August 2nd at 2pm Come wrap up the Summer Reading Program with a fun ice cream social.
Pick up your summer reading certificate, claim the last raffle prizes, and enjoy a make-your-own sundae party!
This event is co-sponsored by the Putney Food Co-op with ice cream from Strafford Organic Creamery. The rain location for this event is under the large tent across from the Putney Food Co-op.

Summer Reading Program Special Event!! At Putney Central School Gym Fri, July 28 at 2pm! Storyteller Marv Klassen-Landis
2017-07-28 10:00 - 11:00
Special Event!! At Putney Central School Gym Fri, July 28 at 2pm! Storyteller Marv Klassen-Landis will be joining us for an amazing children’s program courtesy of the Children’s Literacy Foundation’s Summer Readers Grant. Every child who participates chooses two books to keep from a wide selection of brand-new children’s books. Putney Central School is located at 182 Westminster Rd, Putney, VT. Free and open to the public!

Debating Our Rights, Part II: The Pressures on Citizenship in a Constitutional Democracy with Meg Mott
2017-07-26 15:00 - 16:30
At the Putney Public Library, ordinary citizens are deliberating matters normally relegated to the Supreme Court justices. In June, they tackled the monumental issue of free speech, considering the pluses and minuses of criminalizing hate speech and whether Charles Murray should have been invited to speak at Middlebury College. While the issues themselves were not settled, attendees found the experience of deliberation invigorating.
On Wednesday, July 26th at 7 PM the focus will be on the Second Amendment, an Amendment without much Supreme Court jurisprudence. As with the discussion on free speech, the focus will be on practicing deliberation, not necessarily determining an outcome. Arguments in favor of strong protections to bear Arms will be considered (most notably from Machiavelli and the Black Panthers) as well as arguments to protect the population from gun violence, much of which is self-inflicted.
Meg Mott, who teaches politics at Marlboro College and is also Putney’s Town Moderator, was asked by Library Director Emily Zervas, and Library Trustee Janice Baldwin, to set up a series of talks on the Bill of Rights. Rather than bring in a series of experts, Mott wanted to give participants a chance to deliberate.
“It’s ironic,” Mott explained, “that in a constitutional democracy, citizens often relinquish the most important questions to the Supreme Court. Sure, the Supreme Court is helpful in framing the issues, but that doesn’t mean the public should be silent. Deliberation is to democracy what speech is to humanity. When a democracy doesn’t deliberate, it basically becomes a zombie.”
The Fourth Amendment, “the right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,” will be discussed on Wednesday August 30th at 7PM. All three of these “Last Wednesdays” series are free and open to the public.

Putney Library is located at 55 Main Street in Putney, VT. This program is free and open to the public.

Summer Reading Program: Building Pompom Launchers
2017-07-26 10:00 - 11:00
Wed, July 26th 2pm—Pompom Launcher You’ll get all the materials you need to build a contraption that can fire a pompom across the library!

Summer Reading Special Guest: Hannah Pick from the Putney Foodshelf
2017-07-21 10:00 - 11:00
Fri, July 21st at 2pm—Hannah Pick from the Putney Foodshelf will come by to help us BUILD AN AMAZING FRUIT SALAD, which we will then eat.

Summer Reading Program: Build a Reading Fort
2017-07-19 10:00 - 11:00
Wed, July 19th 2pm—Build a Reading Fort Get ready to build an amazing fort out of huge boxes to sit in for story time!

Summer Reading Program Special Guest: Comic book artist Marek Bennett
2017-07-14 10:00 - 13:00
Fri, July 14—Comic book artist Marek Bennett will run a workshop on BUILDING A WORLD with drawings and writing. This special workshop will be sign-up only and is for children ages 7-12. Please contact Emily to sign up: emily@putneylibrary.org or call 387-4407.

PETER GOULD TO READ FROM HORSE-DRAWN YOGURT
2017-07-13 15:00 - 16:30
PETER GOULD TO READ FROM HORSE-DRAWN YOGURT at Putney Public
Library
Peter Gould will read from his new non-fiction book about
the Vermont back-to-the-land movement, _Horse-Drawn Yogurt: Stories from
Total Loss Farm, _at Putney Public Library on Thursday, July 13th at
7pm. Marlboro musician Dan MacArthur will also be present at this very
special event to play some songs with Peter. Admission is free. There
will be a donation
basket, and baked goods by donation: for the benefit of Cynthia
Payne-Meyer, a beloved Putney resident and storyteller friend of
Peter’s, who sustained a very serious injury in April. Half of Peter’s
book sales for the evening will also go to Cynthia. Peter will also
auction a complete set of all his published books, from _Burnt Toast_ to
_Horse-Drawn Yogurt!_
Gould was a founding member of the 1970’s “Back-to-the-Land”
commune movement in Vermont, a story he has told in various ways in his
two nationally-known novels, _Burnt Toast _(Alfred A. Knopf, 1971) and
_Write Naked_ (Farrar Straus, 2008), which won the 2009 National Green
Earth Book Award.
_Horse-Drawn Yogurt, _from Green Writers Press, is his first
published non-fiction book. It’s a collection of true-life stories of a
young man’s life on a Vermont farm commune at the height of the utopian
movement.
In _Horse-Drawn Yogurt,_ you’ll learn how locals and
newcomers helped each other out in a pivotal moment of U.S. history, and
how young people, new to the land, learned to cut wood, clear fields,
tend organic gardens, and raise animals, while still belonging to a
national movement against the Vietnam war and for peace and justice
around the world.
“But, this book is _not_ a memoir,” Gould says. “It’s a
comforter. I didn’t throw all those old clothes away. I cut and pieced
them and sewed them together. Now they keep me warm.”
The Vermont Historical Society​ says, “​Peter Gould’s voice
and personality shine through all the stories with wit and incisive
insight.​ His perspective on life in Vermont’s 1970s counterculture is
an invaluable one…incredibly helpful, ​personal and emotional,”
Local timber-framer Dan MacArthur writes, “I read every last
word of every last page, and now I sit here dewy-eyed at your honesty,
insight, and superb use of the language of story. You got me!”
Vermont author and National Book Award Finalist Howard
Norman says, “Gould is the dramaturge of our wordly problems and sense
of wondrous possibility–he is a national treasure.”
The Putney performance is free, accessible, and open to the
public. Gould will read from the book, and will have copies for sale.
They are also available at Everyone’s Books, and at bookstores
throughout the country.
Across Vermont, Gould is known for more than his writing.
Peter received the 2016 Arts Education Award from the Vermont Arts
Council. In the 1970’s he was one of five growers who started the
Brattleboro Farmers Market, now a centerpiece of our community. He
founded and still runs the “Get Thee to the Funnery” youth Shakespeare
camp in the Northeast Kingdom, directs at the New England Youth Theatre,
and he will always be the smaller half of the legendary physical comedy
team of Gould & Stearns.
Putney Library is located at 55 Main Street in Putney, VT. This program
is free and open to the public.

Summer Reading Program: Build a Better Bridge
2017-07-12 10:00 - 11:00
Wed, July 12th 2pm—Build a Better Bridge Can you build a bridge that is the longest, holds the most weight, or is the most beautiful? Come and find out!

Summer Reading Program Special Guest: Town of Putney Road Crew
2017-07-07 10:00 - 11:00
Fri, July 7 2pm—One of Putney’s very own ROAD CREW will visit with a HUGE TRUCK and tell us all about building the roads we use every day! Story time will follow!

Summer Reading Program: Building Gnome Homes and Fairy Houses
2017-07-05 10:00 - 11:30
Wed, July 5 2pm—Gnome Homes and Fairy Houses If you put a birdhouse in your yard, birds will move in. What will happen if you build fairy house or gnome home?? Tiny boxes, moss, and bark will be our construction materials for this fabulous building activity!

Library Closed for Independence Day
2017-07-03 - 2017-07-04

Debating Our Rights: The Pressures on Citizenship in a Constitutional Democracy with Meg Mott
2017-06-28 15:00 - 16:30
Debating Our Rights: The Pressures on Citizenship in a Constitutional Democracy with Meg Mott at Putney Library
Democracies thrive on disagreement. By weighing and considering a variety of possibilities, the people will make better informed decisions. In the United States, most of our political debates invoke constitutional language, with each side claiming to represent the more lawful approach to the problem. The way these constitutional debates are framed tell us something important about our underlying political values and where we disagree. Join Meg Mott, Professor of Politics at Marlboro College, for an exciting discussion series about civil liberties in today’s political climate at Putney Public Library.
This series will look at three civil rights debates in order to better understand the character of contemporary American democracy. How do the various sides frame the issue? What underlying political philosophy is being invoked? What does a democracy lose when these important questions are no longer matters of debate?
Our first event will be Wednesday, June 28 at 7pm: Should harmful speech be silenced? Campus protesters at Middlebury College claim that the First Amendment only serves the powerful at the expense of the powerless. Republican undergraduates say protestors are violating their rights. What does this debate tell us about the future of substantive disagreement in American politics? Marlboro students Fiona Craig and Zoe deHart will join Meg Mott, Putney’s Town Meeting Moderator and Professor of Politics at Marlboro College for this first event.
Putney Public Library is located at 55 Main St in Putney, VT. This event is free and open to the public.

Summer Reading--Kick Off Party!
2017-06-28 07:00 - 08:30
Wednesday, June 28th at 11am! Join Shoshana Bass of Sandglass Theater for an incredible presentation of Fritzi’s Flea Circus !! Sign up for the Summer Reading Program and enjoy snacks afterwards on the Library’s back patio.

The Brain—is wider than the Sky— : And Exploration of the Poetry of Emily Dickinson, Pt. 2
2017-06-08 15:00 - 16:30
Poet, writer and teacher Michelle Blake will offer a two-session class on the brilliance and challenges of the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Feel free to come to either session or both.

Thursday, June 8
7 PM
In the second class, all are invited to bring a favorite Dickinson poem, and we’ll read and discuss them together in light of the information and discoveries made in the first class. You could also memorize one of your long-time favorites and recite it—good for the brain, good for the soul, good for the community.

The Brain—is wider than the Sky— : And Exploration of the Poetry of Emily Dickinson, Pt. 1
2017-06-01 15:00 - 16:30
Poet, writer and teacher Michelle Blake will offer a two-session class on the brilliance and challenges of the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Feel free to come to either session or both.

Thursday, June 1
7 PM
The first session will be an informal lecture and discussion, exploring the poet’s life and work, though the main focus will be on the poems themselves. Come ready to listen, read and share your insights.

Library Closed for Memorial Day
2017-05-28 - 2017-05-29

Library Closed
2017-05-26 - 2017-05-27
For carpet cleaning!

CANCELLED: Celebrating Black Identities: Beyond the Binary and Stereotypes
2017-05-22 15:30 - 17:00
Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled by the presenter.

Library Book Sale!
2017-05-21 07:00 - 11:00, 2017-05-20 05:00 - 10:00
Putney Public Library will hold its annual Book Sale on Saturday, May 20th from 9am-2pm and Sunday, May 21st, from 11am-3pm. Come browse an eclectic assemblage of pre-loved books. All funds raised will benefit the library’s programs. The library will not be open for regular library functions during this special event.
Volunteers for helping the day of the sale and donations of books are still being sought! Please bring book donations during open hours (Mon-Fri 10:30-6 and Sat 10-1).
Putney Public Library is located at 55 Main St in Putney, VT.

Mending Bee
2017-05-18 14:00 - 17:00
Do you have a pile of nice wool socks with holes, favorite jeans that would be perfect if not for a rip in the knee, or sweaters with moth holes?
Bring your ailing fabric items to the Putney Public Library on Thursday, May 18th, 6pm-9pm to get assistance (or just company) in reviving them! Sewing machines, darning tools, knitting needles and other repair and patching materials will be available. Skilled seamstresses will be present to offer advice and assistance. Tea will be served. Other menders are also welcome to join in.
Putney Library is located at 55 Main Street in Putney, VT. This program is free and open to the public.

Preschool Story Time with Susan Hessey
2017-04-27 07:00 - 08:00, 2017-04-20 07:00 - 08:00, 2017-04-13 07:00 - 08:00

Knit Night!
2017-04-12 15:00
Join an informal and relaxed group for knitting, crocheting, or other handwork this winter at the Putney Public Library. Bring your own project or get help with something you’ve just started. Beginners are welcome!

Book Group: Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
2017-04-09 15:00 - 16:30
Copies of this book will be available at the library’s desk.

“An illuminating debut memoir of a woman in science; a moving portrait of a longtime friendship; and a stunningly fresh look at plants that will forever change how you see the natural world
Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which she’s studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. Her first book is a revelatory treatise on plant life—but it is also so much more.

Lab Girl is a book about work, love, and the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahren’s remarkable stories: about her childhood in rural Minnesota with an uncompromising mother and a father who encouraged hours of play in his classroom’s labs; about how she found a sanctuary in science, and learned to perform lab work done “with both the heart and the hands”; and about the inevitable disappointments, but also the triumphs and exhilarating discoveries, of scientific work.
Yet at the core of this book is the story of a relationship Jahren forged with a brilliant, wounded man named Bill, who becomes her lab partner and best friend. Their sometimes rogue adventures in science take them from the Midwest across the United States and back again, over the Atlantic to the ever-light skies of the North Pole and to tropical Hawaii, where she and her lab currently make their home.
Jahren’s probing look at plants, her astonishing tenacity of spirit, and her acute insights on nature enliven every page of this extraordinary book. Lab Girl opens your eyes to the beautiful, sophisticated mechanisms within every leaf, blade of grass, and flower petal. Here is an eloquent demonstration of what can happen when you find the stamina, passion, and sense of sacrifice needed to make a life out of what you truly love, as you discover along the way the person you were meant to be.” –Amazon
