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Art Display
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Watercolor Art Exhibit at NPL April 14 - May 18
Spring into Art and Nature with Local Artist Noreen Normand
Noreen Normand's interest in the arts developed while she was a student at Bay Path College, but it wasn't until she retired that she was able to devote time and energy to the art of watercolor. She began by studying with Bedla Szabo, and took drawing classes with Frank Post at Norwalk Community College. She also studied under Barbara Lawless and Eddie Nino at the Westport Center for Senior Activities, and Richard Rauh, and continued to develop her skills under several local artists. Her love of gardening and flower arranging led her to painting botanicals and floras before expanding to landscapes and seascapes.
Normand is a member of the Black Rock Art Guild (BRAG) and the Fairfield County Arts Association (FCAA). Her works have been exhibited at The Mayors Gallery - Norwalk City Hall, Independence Hall, Fairfield, Westport Center for Senior Activities, Weston Senior Center, Harborview Art Show - Saugatuck, Norwalk Public Library, Atria of Darien, SoNo and The Seaport Association, Fairfield University Book Store.
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April Programs & Events
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American Job Center Career Coach
Free Job Search Assistance
Monday, April 1
10:00 - 12:00
1:00 - 3:00
Curb in front of library
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Norwalk Public Library Creates Opportunities for
Indie-Published Authors
The Norwalk Public Library is pleased to join in the announcement of a local author contest that will accept submissions of adult and young adult (YA) fiction, to be recognized as the top independently-published eBooks in Connecticut.
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Caffe' e Conversazione with members of Vini, Vitti, Dici! -- an Italian community salon dedicated to promoting Italian language and culture in an informal setting will meet on two
Saturdays in April: April 6th and 27th at 10am in the Carnegie Room.
President & Founder.
May 23, 2019 Event:
Libro & Aperitivo Spring Book selection, Love that Moves the Sun by Linda Cardillo
The author has very graciously agreed to lead the discussion on her book on
Thursday, May 23, from 6:30 to 8:15 pm. I have reserved the auditorium in anticipation of a larger crowd. Also, the National Organization of Italian American Women will be co-sponsors.
We will gather at 6:00 pm to enjoy our aperitivi from the region of the book and then hear from Linda. She will also be signing and sellilng copies of the book that evening.
RSVP to PatTinto1@gmail.com with your attendance and aperitivo that you will be bringing.
We must wind up the evening by 8:15 since the library closes at 8:30 pm.
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'Hidden Stories' - Norwalk Writing Workshop (Six Sessions)
Led by Kim Kovach
Mondays, April 1 & April 8
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Carnegie Room
Register
The Norwalk Writers' Guild is pleased to present
Hidden Stories, a writing program for adults led by Kim Kovach.
Participants will be encouraged to tap into personal experiences, family stories, famous works of art and imagination for writing inspiration. These workshops are perfect for new, as well as experienced writers of creative nonfiction, memoir and fiction. Author and writing teacher, Kim Kovach, will help you discover your writer's voice in this six-week program.
Kim Kovach teaches fiction writing and creative nonfiction writing for adults. The author of six fiction books, Kim writes a weekly column for Halston Media newspapers, as well as lifestyle articles for Westchester Wellness and Westchester Senior Voice. As a writing coach, Kim provides guidance for adults starting a novel or memoir and moving the manuscript forward. For more information, visit her website at
www.kimkovachwrites.com
Registration is required for this program.
Register online or contact Cynde Bloom Lahey, Director of Library Information Services, at (203) 899-2780 ext. 15133, or
clahey@norwalkpl.org. .
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Free VITA/IRS Tax Assistance Help
Tax Preparation & e-Filing
Main Library
Thursdays, January 31 - April 11
1:00 - 8:00 pm
Monday, April 15 from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
South Norwalk Library
Saturdays, February 2 - April 13
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
The Norwalk Public Library System is pleased to announce the no-cost, full service VITA/IRS Volunteer Tax Assistance Program. This program provides free state and federal income tax preparation and e-filing, with special attention to seniors and low to moderate income households. Our aim is to make tax filing more convenient and available to Norwalk residents.
Appointments are NOT needed. If you are married, both spouses should be present. Click for the list of forms and personal/financial documents that are required to process your tax information, so please bring them with you:
For further information, or for a list of other Norwalk locations for free tax preparation and filing, please call NPL's Information Desk at (203) 899-2780 ext. 15109, or visit our
tax page.
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AuthorSpeak
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Killing Journalism:
How Greed, Laziness, (and Donald Trump) are Destroying News and How We Can Save It
Joe Strupp
Saturday, April 13
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Main Library Auditorium
AuthorSpeak at Norwalk Public Library welcomes award-winning journalist Joe Strupp in a discussion of his book
Killing Journalism: How Greed, Laziness, (and Donald Trump) are Destroying News and How We Can Save It.
A light lunch will be provided courtesy of the library.
Veteran journalist Joe Strupp has compiled thirty years of experience into a must-read overview of the real problems and challenges of the news media, and what must be done to counter them.
Published to wide acclaim,
Killing Journalism has been praised as, "a book for anyone who cares about the past, present and future of a free press in our democratic society." (Jim Lehrer, PBS NewsHour)
Copies of
Killing Journalism will be available for purchase and signing.
Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years' experience spanning newspapers, magazines, radio, television, cable and the web. He has spent the past 18 years covering media and news issues for
Editor & Publisher magazine and
Media Matters for America. He has appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, National Public Radio, The O'Reilly Factor, and Air America Radio among numerous others, and SiriusXM Radio to discuss media-related topics.
Joe's work has also appeared in
Salon.com,
San Francisco magazine, MediaWeek and New Jersey Monthly. He has received honors from the New Jersey Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists, and other professional organizations.
He is currently a freelance writer and adjunct professor in media at Fairleigh Dickinson University and Rutgers University. His previous book,
The City and County, is set to be re-published in paperback in the coming months.
Cynde Bloom Lahey, Director of Library Information Services, at (203) 899-2780 ext. 15133, or clahey@norwalkpl.org.
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Free Performance of 'The Secrets of a Mockingbird'
Actress Prudence Wright Holmes in
One-Woman Show
Wednesday, April 24
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Main Library Auditorium
Norwalk Public Library is pleased to announce the return of Prudence Wright Holmes in a solo performance of "The Secrets of a Mockingbird". A light lunch will be provided courtesy of the library.
Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, was one of America's most beloved, but reclusive authors. In this one-woman show, we learn of her close relationships with her father and her childhood friend, Truman Capote, until they both broke her heart. She never wrote another book - until she did.
Prudence Wright Holmes has appeared in the films: Sister Act I and II, with Whoopi Goldberg; Kingpin, with Woody Harrelson; Dreams, with Annette Bening; My Own Love Song, with Renee Zellweger; After Life, with Liam Neeson; and God's Pocket, with Philip Seymour Hoffman. On Broadway, she appeared in Happy End, with Meryl Streep; Lettice and Lovage, with Maggie Smith; Inherit the Wind, with George C. Scott; and The Light in the Piazza. She wrote and performed her critically-acclaimed solo show Bexley, OH! at New York Theatre Workshop. She is currently touring her solo show, Call Me William, the Life and Loves of Willa Cather, as well as her interactive murder mystery, Agatha is Missing.
Cynde Bloom Lahey, Director of Library Information Services, at (203) 899-2780 ext. 15133, or
clahey@norwalkpl.org.
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Business Workshops
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A free SCORE Small Business Workshop co-sponsored by The Norwalk Public Library
Win-Win Problem Solving
Wednesday, April 3
6:00 - 8:00 pm (check in starts at 5:30)
Main Library Auditorium
This seminar will help you develop several skills; fully appreciate the view point of others, constructively deal with differences of opinion. Reach agreements that meet the interests of all parties. Learn to use the Win Win skills with employees, customers, suppliers, and all other constituencies.
- Upbeat and highly interactive engaging
- It's not a PowerPoint lecture.
- Non-stop series of exercises, role plays, drills, case studies
- Work on current and real disagreements
- Participants will be able to use the workshop skills immediately
Presenter: Steven S. Gardiner
Steven S. Gardiner is President of Gardiner Associates.. The firm specializes in leadership development, conflict resolution, team performance improvement, change management and "rapid coaching". Steve spent thirteen years at a $2 billion pharmaceutical company,
He has conflict resolution credentials from Harvard, Cornell and Eckerd College and an M.A. in Conflict Resolution from Union Institute and University,
He earned his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Vermont.
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A free
SCORE Small Business Workshop
co-sponsored by
The Norwalk Public Library &
Pitney Bowes
How to Plan
Thursday, April 18
6:00 - 8:00 pm (check in starts at 5:30)
Main Library Auditorium
Register
Whether you are starting a new business and need to develop a business plan, you don't know where to begin, or you are overwhelmed with an existing project, this workshop will help you tackle what may feel like insurmountable tasks with actionable project management tactics. Real-life tools and steps that can help you plan anything!
- Key questions to ask yourself before starting any task
- Simple (and free) tools for project planning and tracking
- Process for developing a realistic plan
- Applying your plans toward your business plan
- Key project management methods
Presenter:
Marcelina Nowosadzki
Marcelina Nowosadzki is a Program Manager at Nelnet, Inc. She currently manages strategic, complex projects for research universities and colleges. She developed unique project management methodologies, training programs, is a frequent speaker and a workshop coach. Marcelina is PMP, CSM, and Prosci certified and holds an MS in Business and Information Technology.
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Book Discussion
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Readers' Choice Book Group
Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History
Keith O'Brien
2:00 pm
Norwalk Senior Center
11 Allen Rd. Norwalk, Ct
Norwalk Library's Director of Library Information Services, Cynde Bloom Lahey, will lead a discussion of Fly Girls by Keith O'Brien.
A New York Times Bestseller * An Amazon Best Book of the Year * A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * A Time Best Book for Summer
Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. While male pilots were lauded as heroes, the few women who dared to fly were more often ridiculed-until a cadre of women pilots banded together to break through the entrenched prejudice.
Fly Girls weaves together the stories of five remarkable women: Florence Klingensmith, a high school dropout from Fargo, North Dakota; Ruth Elder, an Alabama divorcée; Amelia Earhart, the most famous, but not necessarily the most skilled; Ruth Nichols, who chafed at her blue blood family's expectations; and Louise Thaden, the young mother of two who got her start selling coal in Wichita. Together, they fought for the chance to fly and race airplanes-and in 1936, one of them would triumph, beating the men in the toughest air race of them all.
Norwalk Library's Director of Library Information Services,
Cynde Bloom Lahey, Director of Library Information Services, at (203) 899-2780 ext. 15133, or
clahey@norwalkpl.org.
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An American Marriage
Tayari Jones
Thursday, April 25
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Carnegie Room
Bring your lunch and join Reference Librarian Susannah Violino for a lively discussion of
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.
Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy's time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy's conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together.
This stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward--with hope and pain--into the future.
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Weekly Programs
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Zumba with Karen
Children & Parents - Mondays
5:00 - 5:45 pm
Adults & Teens - Mondays
6:00 - 7:00 pm
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Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance
Tuesdays
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Auditorium
Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance is an evidence-based fall prevention program that transforms traditional martial arts movements into a therapeutic regimen aimed at improving postural stability, awareness and mindful control of body positioning in space, functional walking, movement symmetry and coordination, range of motion around the ankle and hip joints, and lower-extremity muscle strength
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Low Impact Aerobics with Linda
Tuesdays & Thursdays
1:30 - 2:30 pm
Teen Room
Linda Lombardo is known to local residents for her work as a Silver Sneakers instructor, Linda has been a Business Education teacher with the New Canaan, Norwalk, Fairfield, Greenwich and Stamford Public School Systems for over 20 years. She is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a health fitness instructor, personal trainer and nutrition counselor. Stop by on Tuesday or Thursday to welcome Linda and try out a new version of Low Impact Aerobics.
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QiGong by Bill Wrenn
Wednesdays
5:30 - 6:00 pm
Main Floor Reference Area
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For additional information, please contact Cynde Bloom Lahey, Director of Library Information Services, at (203) 899-2780 ext 15133 or clahey@norwalkpl.org
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Norwalk History Room
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A Spotlight on Norwalk's Historical Boundaries
Let's take a walk though time... but be careful where you step!
Written by Candi Sterling,
Library/Research Assistant
As the weather warms up and Connecticut residents prepare to spend more time outside, walking through various parts of Norwalk means strolling through land with a long history of ownership and claim. Today, the Norwalk we know is clearly defined on any modern map. However,a close look at the city's history of boundary agreements and disputes illuminates how this was not always the case.
Since its founding in the1600s, the boundaries of Norwalk have been challenged and changed several times. In fact, the city's history is directly linked to the creation of several neighboring towns in Fairfield County. In 1801, New Canaan was founded from lands that were previously part of Norwalk. Wilton's 1802 founding, and Westport's 1835 founding also both involved Norwalk lands. In addition, Connecticut itself was impacted and shaped by land disputes with neighboring states including New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Original land claims trace back to the English, Dutch and early Native American purchase agreements also hold much insight into how Norwalk's earliest boundaries were originally created and set. In the 1800s, much of Norwalk existed in various divisions that included South Norwalk and other neighborhoods. Fast forward to 1913, these divisions were consolidated into the city we recognize now.
The History Room can help you learn about Norwalk's boundary changes throughout history. To discover more about Norwalk's amazing evolution to the city we know today, read:
The Romance of Norwalk, / by Elsie Nicholas Danenberg. Chapter seven of this book details three specific boundary disputes involving New York state, Fairfield and Stamford. It's worth noting that the dispute with New York continued for more than two centuries!
The Boundary Disputes of Connecticut / by Clarence Winthrop Bowen. In this detailed resource, Bowen reveals how boundary disputes have spanned generations, and show how the state's boundaries have been in "perpetual motion."
Names and Places of Old Norwalk, With Portions of Wilton, Westport and New Cannan/ by Malcolm Hunt. Published in 1976 by Friends of Lockwood House, this book captures includes a map that details the boundaries of Old Norwalk!
Connecticut, A Fully Illustrated History from the 17th c. to the Present / Written by Albert E. Van Dusen, former Connecticut State Historian from 1952-1985, chapter six is dedicated to boundary disputes and inter-colonial war history.This resource helps paint a historical picture of the boundary challenges Connecticut faced on a state-level.
Norwalk After 250 Years/ by Norwalk Historical and Memorial Library Association.This provides and in-depth and historical rich overview of Norwalk as it developed over time.
If you wish to find out more about the Norwalk History Room, please go to our webpage on the NPL website: http://www.norwalkpl.org/162/Norwalk-History-Room
Come and visit! Learn more about your home town!
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Norwalk History Room Online Database
Our first online records are
postcards of Norwalk scenes, most dating from the beginning of the 20th century. We will follow these with regular additions from our collection of thousands of documents and photographs. Search by keyword or use the advanced search feature.
The postcards can also be viewed randomly.
The Norwalk History Room and archive combines the library's former Local History Collection with the archival collections of the former Norwalk Museum. The lower level of the main library building at 1 Belden Avenue houses this large array of published and unpublished books and papers, photographs and maps, and more, covering over 300 years of Norwalk history.
The mission of the Norwalk Public Library History Room is to preserve the archival materials, including manuscripts, photographs, maps, newspapers, and books, which illustrate the history of Norwalk, Connecticut. This History Room online database will further our goal of promoting knowledge and appreciation of the long history and rich cultural heritage of the Town of Norwalk.
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Help is needed with setting up & working at the Friends of NPL May Book Sale.
if you would like to volunteer.
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Burbio.com - Norwalk Calendars
We are excited to announce a great new service that will allow you to easily keep track of everything going on at the library and all over Norwalk. Introducing Burbio.com a free website and app that puts ALL Norwalk schools, library and many other community calendars and events in one place. With Burbio, you can select calendars to follow, create a personalized event feed, sync local events to your Google or iPhone calendars instantly and get notified when things change!
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NPL has partnered with
drivers-test.org to bring you the current CT DMV driver's practice tests for free! Included are car, motorcycle, CDL practice test, and the driver's manuals for each test. Also included are accessibility tools
that let users hear selections read aloud, make them into MP3s, translate pages into other languages, magnify text, and mask portions of the screen for greater visibility on the practice tests.
This driver education program contains the following CT-specific information:
- 11 car practice tests
- 9 motorcycle practice tests
- 12 CDL (commercial driver's license) practice tests
- 3 online driver's manuals (car, motorcycle, CDL)
- A FAQ section with detailed answers to over 100 DMV-related questions
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The Social Security Administration offers their Video Service Delivery program at the Norwalk Public Library.
This service is available every Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon in a small study room on the first floor of the Main Library.
People needing to speak with a Social Security employee will be able to do so. Video conferencing equipment has been set up so people can speak face to face with the Social Security employee. No appointment is necessary. This service was made available as a result of the closing of the Social Security office in Norwalk a few years ago.
For more information call the reference desk at 203-899-2780 ext. 15109
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Norwalk Public Library | 203.899.2780 | 1 Belden Ave. Norwalk , CT
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