New members welcome!
Photo Cafe – 1st Tuesday, February 5, 6:30 p.m.
Writer’s Workshop – 4th Monday, February 25, 7 p.m.
Socrates Cafe – Last Monday, February 25, 7 p.m.
Cookbook Club – 2nd Tuesday, February 12, 12:45 p.m.
Each month the group chooses a different culinary theme to whip up and share as well as culinary tips and talk. The group even schedules outings.
Book Discussions
Feb.14: 12:30 p.m. Thursday Readers: Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jean Philip-Sendker
Feb. 21: 7 p.m. World Book Group: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Feb. 26: 1:30 p.m. Books in the Parlor: Catherine Beecher: A Study in American Domesticity by Kathryn Sklar and The American Woman’s Home by Catharine Beecher
Feb. 28: 2 p.m. Suffield by the River, The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg
For more information or to register for programs, stop by the library, call 860-668-3896, check suffield–library.org or follow us on Facebook. All of our programs are free! Most of our programs are funded by The Friends of the Kent Memorial Library.
Become a member!
Please register for programs
Adult Winter Reading Challenge
Escape Winter! That’s the winter reading adult program and, with help from the Friends of the Library, we’re talking real get–away prizes. Even if you don’t win one of the big prizes, you can still relax with our Saturday Hot Cocoa Bar (yes, every Saturday in February), or Tuesday morning coloring for adults. Learn about our favorite antioxidants with Alissa Monteleone – chocolate being at the top of that list – and enjoy a little bit of pampering at the final wrap-up party. The program will run February 1 – 28, and everybody is a winner. Just read anything you enjoy, and stop in once each week for a raffle ticket and a little something to thank you for coming. Check our website or Facebook page for details, and escape the same “old” winter!
Book Collection for The Friends Used Book Sale, Saturday, February 2, from 10 – 12 at 61 Ffyler Place
Great Decisions started on January 14, but you can still join!
We meet every Monday from 3–4:30 p.m. at the Suffield Senior until March 18 (skipping Presidents’ Day). Contact Jackie Hemond at jhemond@suffield-library.org or by phone at 860-668-3896. Great Decisions is America’s largest discussion program on world affairs designed by the American Foreign Policy Association. Individuals who register for the program will receive a Briefing Book, paid for by The Friends of Kent Memorial Library. Participants will read about the issue in the Briefing Book before the discussion. Topics which will be discussed this year are:
• Nuclear Negotiations: Back to the Future?
• The Rise of Populism in Europe
• Decoding U.S.-China Trade
• Cyber Conflicts and Geopolitics
• The United States and Mexico: Partnership Tested
• State of the State Department and Diplomacy
Chess For Kids
The Kent Memorial Library and the East Granby Public Library are teaming up to provide eight weeks of Chess for Kids.
The first four sessions will be held at the Suffield Senior Center, 145 Bridge Street on Mondays, January 28, February 4, 11 and 25. The remaining four session will be held at the East Granby Public Library, 24 Center Street on March 4, 11, 18, and 25. Both sessions will run from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Students in grades K – 12 are invited to play and learn about the game of chess with Coach Alexander Lumelsky. Participants are expected to attend all of the sessions. At least 16 children must sign up before the session starts. The Suffield lessons are funded by The Friends of the Library.
American Creed
The library received a grant from the American Library Association to show the documentary, American Creed on Saturday, February 16 at 2 p.m. at the Suffield Senior Center. After the showing, Lucy Nalpathanchil will facilitate a conversation centered on the film theme which is what America’s ideals and identity ought to be. Ms. Nalpathanchil is a public radio journalist at WNPR, Connecticut’s public radio station. She is the host of the station’s popular talk show, “Where We Live”.
Seeds of the American Creed
Unraveling the Old World Origins of a New Nation’s Creed, Tuesday, February 19 at 7 p.m. at the Suffield Senior Centuries in the making, our celebrated American creed has become so thoroughly woven into the fabric of our national identity as to obscure its Old World threads. Come join Jonathan M. Beagle, an Associate Professor of History at Western New England University as he reveals the ancient strands and examines how the Revolutionary generation tied them together into a singular knot that binds Americans to each other and to the world in unbounded aspiration.
Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story with Jeffrey Engel, music historian. Saturday, February 23 at 2 p.m. at the Suffield Senior Center
Leonard Bernstein is best remembered by classical music lovers as the music director of the New York Philharmonic, the presenter of his extremely popular ‘Young People’s Concerts’ and as the composer of operas, ballets, symphonies and virtually every other form of music. However, not to be forgotten is that Bernstein also wrote the music for five Broadway musicals including “West Side Story,” a truly great one. Mr. Engel will talk about the background of this musical and show selections from the film.
Grand Opening & The Human Chain
It looks like the library will be back at our beloved 50 North Main Street soon! Maybe April?
The library staff, Friends of the Library, the Library Commission and the Library Foundation are planning Grand Opening activities, so stayed tuned!
One thing the library staff would like to do is to create a human chain from the temporary library at Ffyler Place to the “Big House” at 50 North Main Street to move some books. It would only be a symbolic gesture as most of the books will be moved by trucks and not humans, but it would make a great photo opportunity.
If you would like to be part of the Kent Memorial Library Human Chain please contact Jackie Hemond at jhemond@suffield-library.org or by phone 860-668-3896.