Putney Public Library

Screening of the Documentary Film 13th
2017-02-23 01:30 - 15:30 (America/New_York)
Thursday, February 23rd at 6:30 pm—Screening of the Documentary Film 13th: Filmmaker Ava DuVernay explores the history of racial inequality in the United States, focusing on the fact that the nation’s prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans. Snacks will be served.

Library closed for Presidents' Day
2017-02-19 - 2017-02-20

Preschool Story Time with Susan Hessey
2017-02-16 06:00 - 07:00

Write Action ReadOUT!
2017-02-16 02:00 - 15:30
Thursday, February 16th at 7pm—Write Action ReadOUT! Write Action’s writers will read the work of African American poets including Langston Huhges, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, and more. Open discussion and reading after the presentation. Bring a favorite poem to share.

Knit Night!
2017-02-15 14:00 - 15:30
Come and knit, crochet, and craft the winter blues away! Beginners welcome! Bring your own project. 7pm.

Book Group: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
2017-02-12 14:00 - 15:30
Copies of this book will be available at the library’s desk.
From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.
With stunning historical detail, Wilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, who in 1937 left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi for Chicago, where she achieved quiet blue-collar success and, in old age, voted for Barack Obama when he ran for an Illinois Senate seat; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, where he endangered his job fighting for civil rights, saw his family fall, and finally found peace in God; and Robert Foster, who left Louisiana in 1953 to pursue a medical career, the personal physician to Ray Charles as part of a glitteringly successful medical career, which allowed him to purchase a grand home where he often threw exuberant parties.
Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous and exhausting cross-country trips by car and train and their new lives in colonies that grew into ghettos, as well as how they changed these cities with southern food, faith, and culture and improved them with discipline, drive, and hard work. Both a riveting microcosm and a major assessment, The Warmth of Other Suns is a bold, remarkable, and riveting work, a superb account of an “unrecognized immigration” within our own land. Through the breadth of its narrative, the beauty of the writing, the depth of its research, and the fullness of the people and lives portrayed herein, this book is destined to become a classic.

Social Justice Parenting Circle
2017-02-12 05:00 - 07:00

Daisy Turner’s Kin
2017-02-02 02:00 - 15:30
Vermont folklorist Jane Beck shares the story of the Turner family, a multi-generational saga spanning two centuries, played out across three continents. The saga was related to Jane Beck by Daisy Turner, a Grafton, VT resident born to freed slaves, who had listened to her father, Alec Turner, recount stories of the family past. Her captivating narrative covers the early 19th century British-African trade, shipwreck, birth of a biracial child, slave trading, enslavement, plantation life, escape, Civil War, moving north, battling racism, buying land and settling on a hilltop in Vermont that became a family center.
Daisy also shared her own life story, a powerful and rare account of the African American experience in New England from the 1880s forward.

Communication of the Heart Workshop
2017-01-18 13:30 - 15:30
Join board certified (BCC) Health/Wellness and Life Coach and Psychosynthesis Counselor Robin White for a communication workshop based on Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication, at the Putney Public Library on Wednesday, January 18th at 6:30pm.
Robin says of this workshop, “Communication of the Heart is a forum that is both educational and experiential, in a context that is fun and nourishing, where people walk away feeling more connected to themselves and to the people they love. During these two hours we will practice the concepts of “every action being an attempt to meet needs and that feelings point to needs being met or unmet.” Participants will experience the importance of being heard and listened to; while gathering concrete tools to continue the practice.”
In addition to her work as a wellness coach, Robin is an adjunct Psychosynthesis teacher for The Synthesis Center in Amherst, MA, as well as the owner of Refilling Your Well – Wellness Center LLC and Curves of Brattleboro, VT. Robin is also a 500 hour Yoga Alliance Teacher and offers workshops in Compassionate communication, Focusing & Psychosynthesis, incorporating these modalities in her Wellness and Yoga retreats. She has developed a software app that is based on the (NVC) Nonviolent Communication card system often used in her therapeutic situations—Time For You will walk individuals through their feelings, needs and next steps. TFY is available for sale at both the Apple and Google Play app stores. You may reach Robin: www.refillingyourwell.com, refillingyourwell@gmail.com, and 802-275-2682
Putney Library is located at 55 Main Street in Putney, VT. This program is free and open to the public.

Library Closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
2017-01-15 - 2017-01-16

Poet Daniel A. Heller Reads from Between the Shadows
2017-01-12 14:00 - 15:30
The Putney Public Library is delighted to host Brattleboro poet Daniel A. Heller for a reading from his recently published book, Between the Shadows, on Thursday, January 12th at 7pm.
In Heller’s words, “many of the poems in this book come from the dark corners of my heart. By giving verbal form to these ideas I hope to be able to at least look at them if not actually confront and diminish them. They reflect many of my regrets, sadness, disappointments (often in myself), and perceptions of the world in which I live. If any reader can identify with some of these ideas, then he or she will know that he or she is not alone. That in itself would make the poems purposeful. In my efforts to become a better human being, I have come across Buddhism. The Buddhist core values of compassion, equanimity, and kindness are exactly what I have needed. Readers will find reflections of my religious beliefs in a number of these works. Poems rattle around in my mind, sometimes for weeks, until I have no choice but to let them out. Many of these poems are organic. I am not clear on the form they will take until I actually sit down to write. Others are attempts to use form, meter, and rhyme, whatever feels right. These lyrics give voice to my inner demons, and allow me to share them with the world. So I send them out, hoping that they may bring someone insight or relief.”
Daniel A. Heller was a secondary educator for over thirty years. He holds a BA and an MA in English from Middlebury College, an MEd from Keene State College (NH), a CAGS in educational administration and planning from UVM, and an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from The College of St. Joseph (Rutland, VT). He has published six books on education. This is his first book of poetry, although he has written poetry since he was in his teens. He lives in Brattleboro, Vermont, and West Hartford, Connecticut, with his wife of over forty years, Nina.
Putney Library is located at 55 Main Street in Putney, VT. This program is free and open to the public.

Book group: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
2017-01-08 14:00 - 15:30
Copies of this book available at the library’s desk.
Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart–he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season’s first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone–but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.
This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

Library Closed for New Years Holiday
2016-12-30 - 2017-01-02

Library Closed for Christmas Holiday
2016-12-23 - 2016-12-26

Book Club--The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
2016-12-04 14:00 - 15:30

Social Justice Parenting Chats
2016-12-04 05:30 - 07:00, 2016-10-30 06:30 - 08:00, 2016-09-25 06:30 - 08:00
Do you need ideas for how to talk with your kids about social justice issues like racism, economic inequality, incarceration, homelessness, and gender?
Join Act For Social Justice founder Angela Berkfield for a useful series of discussions about bringing social justice issues into conversations with your children. These interactive chats will highlight books at the Putney Public Library and other helpful resources. Light refreshments and childcare provided. This series is made possible through a Small and Inspiring Grant from the Vermont Community Foundation. Please call or email Angela to RSVP for childcare: 802-254-3400 or angela@act4socialjustice.com

Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
2016-11-24 - 2016-11-25, 2016-11-23 - 2016-11-24

Lego Club
2016-11-17 06:00 - 07:00, 2016-10-17 07:00 - 08:00
All-ages Lego Club is starting at the Putney Library on Saturdays this Fall! Join us for building themes and challenges, either alone or in groups. Children 7 and under must be accompanied by an adult for this program. All Lego provided! Please keep your own Lego at home to avoid losing your personal stash.
Saturday, September 17th, 11 to Noon
Saturday October 15th, 11-Noon
Saturday November 19th, 11-Noon

Gordon Hayward presents “Greek Epic” at Putney Library
2016-11-16 14:00 - 16:00
On Wednesday November 16th at 7pm, join Gordon Hayward at Putney Library for a presentation and reading of “Greek Epic: The Latchis Family and the New England Theater Empire They Built,” a fascinating and lively book that combines local history and personal stories with sweeping themes in the news today – immigration, the American Dream, and the importance of family, community and culture.

LIBRARY CLOSED FOR VETERANS DAY
2016-11-10 - 2016-11-11

The Letter--Movie Screening and Discussion
2016-10-27 14:30 - 16:30
A partnership with Lost River Social Justice. Snacks will be served!

Rescheduled--Library Board Meeting
2016-10-26 14:30 - 16:00

Putney Library Book Group--Little Paris Bookshop
2016-10-16 15:00 - 16:30

Talking With Your Kids About Healthy Relationships and Dating
2016-10-12 15:00 - 16:30
A partnership between the Women’s Freedom Center and Putney Library.

Talking with your kids about Consent and Healthy Boundaries
2016-09-28 15:00 - 16:30
The Women’s Freedom Center’s Youth Advocates go into local schools to work with kids on issues around gender, relationship violence, sexual harassment, social media, and consent. Students often share stories about their lives with the Advocates that they say they’ve never told an adult. The Women’s Freedom Center, in partnership with Putney Library, has designed a discussion series to help support parents around the most pressing issues that have come out of their many student workshops. Come connect with other parents and develop some tools for helping your kid navigate these difficult issues. Parents, caregivers, educators, and anyone else who have youth in their lives are welcome. These presentations will be relevant to all youth in the elementary and high school age ranges.
Wednesday, Sept 28th 7pm

Hunger Awareness Month Event
2016-09-27 14:30 - 16:30
