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From The Desk of the Executive Director
"The March Hare will be much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is May it won't be raving mad – at least not so mad as it was in March."
This certainly explains my entry into March. Combining March with the Chinese Year of the
Rabbit, it seems we are off to a hopping start. The Library continues to thrive, while I have been
out with knee replacement surgery. Needless to say, I long for an elevator. In the interim, Eva
and crew are doing an incredible job, keeping everything up and running.
I’m most excited about our new Gallery Upstairs opening on March 11 th from 4-6pm. Please
make it a point to join us for Sound & Vision: For the Record, an exciting imagining of music
through album art.
And our Caravan Theatre’s Winter Play Reading series begins on March 7 th 7-9pm. More
information below.
I’m planning to make it up the stairs for these terrific programs, and I hope to see you there.
All the best,
Jan
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Programs and Events In March | |
Caravan Theater Company: New Plays
Original works by Connecticut playwrights,
in staged readings live at the Institute Library.
We're so pleased to have Caravan back in the building after a long hiatus, and hope you'll come attend all three performances of three different works this month!
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NEWS FROM THE GALLERY UPSTAIRS: | |
Local Legend Barbara Lamb talks about Local Legend Donald G. Mitchell
Wednesday, March 29th, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Even if you think you don't know anything about Donald Grant Mitchell, if you live in New Haven you do: he was an author, editor, practical farmer, statesman, lecturer, and most significantly to locals, he designed both East Rock and Edgewood Parks.
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Learn more about Mitchell’s long life and his numerous contributions to our city, as well as the year-long celebration and future plans to memorialize him as New Haven’s own. This bestselling author and Yale grad, for whom the Westville Library branch is named, was a true Renaissance man and scholar, living on his 200 acre farm, "Edgewood," from 1855 until his death in 1906. One of the people who made New Haven what it is today, literally, you'll want to come to this event to understand New Haven.
Join Barbara Lamb, coordinator for the year-long
Donald Grant Mitchell Bicentennial Celebration,
on Wednesday, March 29,
as Mitchell’s 101st birthday approaches
and his Bicentennial year comes to a close.
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DOWNTOWN BRIDGE:
The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Bridge Game at
847 Chapel Street
Determined members have been rallying and sitting down at tables up here to play bridge. If you'd like to be added to the email list of players (because sometimes the schedule has to change), please reach out to
Eva Geertz: Eva@InstituteLibrary.org
The secret population of closet bridge players and aspiring bridge players in our midst now meet
once a month, Second Wednesdays, from 6:30-8:00.
Folks who haven't played in years, folks who are just starting to learn to play, and expert old hands --
all are welcome!
Hoping to see you here - we are organizing now for:
March 8th
April 12th
(subject to change)
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The evenings will start at 6:30 and end around 8:00. We've got a couple of tables available, and decks of cards. | |
Sew Sew Social: The Sewing Bee at the Institute Library
We meet on the first and third Wednesdays of the month,
from 5:30 – 7:30 PM.
March 1st and 15th
April 5th and 19th
Just ring the doorbell and we will let you in.
Bring your latest project, or revive one you let get away from you!
Absolutely free & open to all
No registration necessary. Light refreshments served.
So what, come sew!
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Friday Happy Hour Jazz | Fridays in March | 5:30-7:00 p.m.
- Friday, March 3 -- New Acquisitions
- Friday, March 10 -- 3 women pianist/composers: Mary Lou Williams, Toshiko Akiyoshi & Joanne Brackeen
- Friday, March 17 -- Duke Ellington w/ female vocalists Ivie Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald and maybe Alice Babs and Teresa Brewer.
- Friday, March 24 & 31 -- Charles Mingus before the “Epitaph."
Join a congenial little group up on the third floor of the Institute Library to listen to recordings you forgot about or never knew about and stick around a bit to discuss the music! BYOB beverage and treat
Friday Happy Hour Jazz is presented in concert with and support from Jazz Haven.
Please consider making a $5 donation when you come to Friday Happy Hour Jazz.
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Story Sharing at the Institute Library -- March 9, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
The Story Sharing Group meets in-person on the 2nd Thursday of the month. Though Story Sharing has been a Zoom/In-Person hybrid for some time, March 2023 will be the last month for that arrangement. Starting in April, there will be an in person event on April 13th, but also: a separate schedule for Zoom-only Story Sharing meetings will be announced.
Anyone may join at any time. People share stories at any stage of development; from maybe-this-is-a-story first tries to polished pieces. The stories may be about personal experiences, folk tales, or any other genre. Those who wish it get feedback from the group. People may also come just to listen. The meetings are very informal, friendly, and fun. See you here? https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82984857044 is where to go!
Questions? Contact Arnie Pritchard (apritchard01@snet.net).
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Back at the circulation desk...
We have received, in recent days, a number of new titles, and older-but-still desirable titles that we've been trying to get on the shelves for a while but which just proved a little tricky to get our hands on.
Among them: this significant collaboration from Reginald Dwayne Betts and Titus Kaphar, Redaction. More on that ---->>>
Recent Acquisitions, Soon to be Available for Readers:
There's only one novel this month:
Bardugo, Leigh. Hell-Bent. The sequel to Ninth House, a fantasy-thriller set in New Haven among the Yalies, with a few jaunts off-campus. And a quick name-check of the Institute Library, by the by.
...but several Non-Fiction titles, of many different stripes:
Armstrong, Karen. Second Nature.
Cooke, Lucy. Bitch: On the Female of the Species
Fischer, David Hackett. African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals
Gage, Beverly. G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century
Lowe, Allen. Turn Me Loose, White Man: Or: Appropriating Culture: How to Listen to American Music, 1900-1960 (with accompanying CDs)
Newman, Paul. The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir
Radke, Heather. Butts: A Backstory
Salomon, Xavier. Cocktails with a Curator.
We are particularly pleased to have the work of Allen Lowe finally; after reading the rave review of it in the Wall Street Journal in 2021, we wanted to get our hands on this thing. It took a while, but we finally did it (many thanks to Mr. Lowe for personally delivering the set to us). For those of you who spend time in the Music Suite, this set is likely to be a real pleasure to peruse.
Now: keep reading, and mark calendars appropriately!
Warmly,
Eva Geertz
Operations Mgr.
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One of the recent arrivals is the much anticipated collaboration of Reginald Dwayne Betts and Titus Kaphar, Redaction.
This volume turns out to be somewhat more delicate, as an object, than we anticipated when we ordered it. Because of this, and for the sake of our Social Justice Reader Program students who may want to work with the book here, for the time being we're asking our members absorb this complicated and important work while seated here at the Library. Everyone is more than welcome to take it to a table, sit down, and read it at their own pace(s). I know some will be disappointed that the book can't go home with them, but I hope that you'll understand our decision to keep the book in-house right now.
| If you have any questions, about membership, programs, or the collection, please drop a line (Eva@InstituteLibrary.org) or phone us (203-562-4045). Also, do remember that in the event of inclement weather, Library closures will be posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and these can be seen by the general public: you don't need an account to see us there, but if you do have an account, you might find it worthwhile to follow us. | |
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Hours of Operation
Closed Sunday & Monday | Tuesday-Friday: 11:00-5:00 | Saturday: 12:00-2:00
Location
The Institute Library, 847 Chapel St, New Haven, CT 06510
(203) 562-4045
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