The Wallingford Library Blog

Visit Our New and Improved Web Site

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:20:00 +0000

Today, the Wallingford Library launched a new web site, featuring an integrated blog, an online event calendar with registration features, and a more intuitive interface. Because the web site is the now the home of the library blog, this blog will no longer be updated.

Please visit our new web site at http://wallingford.lioninc.org. There you can view and comment on our blog and sign up for the feed itself or e-mail delivery of its content. We'd love to hear your thoughts about the new site and blog!

New Music For Your Holiday Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:02:00 +0000

Brand spanking new to the library:

The Wham of Sam by Sammy Davis, Jr.
One of the Boys by Katy Perry
The Ultimate Rock and Roll Collection - The 50's by Various Artists
WOW Essentials by Various Artists
War by U2
The Very Best of Little Richard
Gypsy 2008 Broadway Cast
In the Heights Original Broadway Cast

New Music To Start Your Week

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:14:00 +0000

Just added to the collection:

Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult
Harps and Angels by Randy Newman
Moneyland by The Del McCoury Band
Trouble in Paradise by The Souther Hillman Furay Band
Boy by U2
A Little Bit Longer by The Jonas Brothers
Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin
Love on the Inside by Sugarland
Green Sparrow by Mike Gordon

Rear Entrance and Book Drops Closing at Main Library

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:06:00 +0000

The Wallingford Public Library rear parking lot entrance and book drops will be closed from August 23 through Labor Day, September 1 to permit replacement of concrete near the rear parking lot.

During this time, the Library will be open regular hours, and library users can access the building through the front door only. The book drop adjacent to the front of the building will remain open and available for after-hours returns.

The Book Seller used book store will be closed during the construction, and will reopen Wednesday, September 3 at 10 a.m.

Patrons may renew items online at www.wallingford.lioninc.org or by calling the Library at 265-6754. Fines will not be charged during this period.

Try Our Newest Databases

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:05:00 +0000

Just added to our electronic resources:

Auto Repair Reference Center contains repair procedures, service bulletins, wiring diagrams, and more for vehicles dating back to model year 1945.

Novelist Plus is an expanded version of our Novelist database, offering guidance in selecting your next fiction or non-fiction read.

Please stop by or call the Information Desk at (203)265-6754 if you have questions about using these or any other library databases.

Last-Minute Family Movie Change

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:44:00 +0000

Instead of 'National Treasure,' we will be screening the brand-new and quite wonderful 'Nim's Island' at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday 14th August. See you then!
( Rated PG for mild adventure action and brief language.)

A Library for All Seasons

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:38:00 +0000

One of the splendid things about working at the Wallingford Public Library is observing how well each generation is served here.

Take yesterday, for example. We kicked off with a bi-lingual program story program for younger children, which was as fabulously attended as all our Children's programs. Later, in the evening, we had 2 programs running, a book program for teens interested in vampire fiction, and a movie night aimed at our adult users (we showed the marvelous 'To Have and Have Not.') We had around 30 people in each program, and all seemed to have a lovely time. Truly, it feels like we are a library for all people and all seasons.

Take a look at our calendar and find a program that works for you.

New Music To Start Your Week

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:49:00 +0000

Just added to the collection:

Bubble & Scrape by Sebadoh
The College Dropout by Kanye West
The Slip by Nine Inch Nails
Life Death Love and Freedom by John Mellencamp
So Much More by Brett Dennen
1984 by Van Halen
Pure Religion & Bad Company by Reverend Gary Davis
Here Come the Warm Jets by Brian Eno
Funeral by Arcade Fire
Kooza by Cirque du Soleil
Sex and the City Original Soundtrack
Big Blue Ball
Breakout by Miley Cyrus
Britney by Britney Spears
From the Reach by Sonny Landreth
Thing of the Past by Vetiver
The Hard Way by James Hunter
Benefit by Jethro Tull
You Are Free by Cat Power
Undiscovered Few by Rodney Jones
Here We Stand by The Fratellis
Mamma Mia! Original Soundtrack
Fleet Foxes
Before and After Science by Brian Eno
Taking Tiger Mountain by Brian Eno
What's the Rumpus? by Gaelic Storm
Modern Guilt by Beck
With the Lights Out by Nirvana

New Computer Class

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:27:00 +0000

Learn the ins and outs of navigating the Internet at our August computer class. Topics covered include how to find information using search engines and how to evaluate the information once you have retrieved it. The class will be held on Tuesday, August 12 at 2:00 pm in the Board Room. Seating is limited to 6 students, so be sure to register early. Stop by the Information Desk or call (203)265-6754 to reserve your seat.

August BookPage is Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:38:00 +0000

The new BookPage is here (Trumpets!)

BookPage is a publication offered free by the Wallingford Public Library to our patrons. BookPage recommends the best books for readers of all types, whether you're interested in literary fiction or romance, history or science fiction, cookbooks or children's books. It focuses on new releases and tailors reviews for the general reader -- the true booklover always on the lookout for recommendations on what to read next. BookPage serves as a broad-based selection guide to the best new books published every month. The tone is upbeat and literate, focusing on bestsellers as well as new discoveries.

Pop in and pick up a copy today.

Your Library Needs You

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:30:00 +0000

Do you have some spare time during the day or evening? Have you considered volunteering to help out at the library? We have a team of wonderful volunteers assisting us with various tasks right now. If you'd like to consider joining them, pop in and talk to us sometime soon.

Cinema Paradiso

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:34:00 +0000

We've been cooking up an extra treat for Wallingford cinema fans. On Tuesday August 19th at 6:30 p.m., you are invited to join us for a special screening of Giuseppe Tornatore’s Academy Award winning Cinema Paradiso.

A true motion picture masterpiece, Cinema Paradiso won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and captured the hearts of moviegoers around the world. For those who have never seen it – and those who have never forgotten it – this extraordinary celebration of youth, friendship and the everlasting magic of movies is sure to captivate your heart and send your spirit soaring.

Cinema Paradiso is rated R and is presented in its original Italian, with English subtitles. Please join us for an evening of true cinema magic. Light refreshments will be served.

New Bookpage Quick Peek

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:18:00 +0000

We think 2008 is shaping up as a very good year for debut novels, and in the next issue of BookPage we'll bring you our recommendations of the best in the bunch. You've probably already heard the buzz about David Wroblewski's The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, whose amazing journey through Wisconsin's north woods is cracking the bestseller lists. Also on our list of top debuts is The Gargoyle by Canadian writer Andrew Davidson, who spent seven years writing the gripping tale of a car crash victim reunited with his soul mate in a hospital burn ward. In an interview, Davidson tells us how it feels to be the beneficiary of a seven-figure bidding war among publishers eager to win the rights to his work. You'll also find reviews of The Lace Reader, Brunonia Barry's riveting first novel about women in modern-day Salem, Massachusetts, who can see the future in a piece of lace; Rachel Kushner's Telex from Cuba, which blends reality (Fidel Castro, United Fruit Company) and fiction to capture a unique view of 1950s Cuba; Undiscovered Country, the haunting debut by Lin Enger, brother of Leif (Peace Like a River); and many more. If you want to keep track of the rising stars in the literary world, it's a must-read issue.

Here's more of what's coming up in the next BookPage:

AUGUST FEATURES

• Even though her best-selling thrillers are dark and sometimes grisly, writer Karin Slaughter is a real Georgia peach with a lighter side and a keen sense of humor. Case in point: her answers to the Meet the Author Q&A in our August issue. My personal favorite is her brief but thorough explication of the Southern expressions "y'all" and "fixin' to." Though she's best known for her Grant County thrillers, Slaughter's latest novel, Fractured, is a sequel to the 2006 stand-alone, Triptych, featuring GBI agent Will Trent.

• When you're driving down a highway and encounter a sign warning that a lane is closed a mile ahead, do you immediately pull out of the closing lane? Or do you wait until the last minute to merge, earning the wrath of the "early mergers" beside you? I'm an early merger myself, but my approach is all wrong, according to Tom Vanderbilt, author of the endlessly fascinating new book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us). In a Q&A, Vanderbilt shares advice and insight about our lives behind the wheel, a subject that's become even more important with the recent leap in gas prices.

• For Southern comic novelist Clyde Edgerton, inspiration came in the form of a Flannery O'Connor tribute. Asked to write a short story for an O'Connor anthology, Edgerton plucked two of her favorite characters: a bible salesman and a misfit. His story grew into a novel, The Bible Salesman, which puts Edgerton's own unique spin on the ageless tale of an innocent challenged to take a new, harder look at the world. In an interview, Edgerton explains how he managed to conjure up Scripture-quoting cats and a car thief who resembles Clark Gable.

The August issue also features new craft books, an interview with children's author Dan Gutman, and several picture books to soothe the fears of little ones starting school this fall.

New Movie Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:40:00 +0000

The Bank Job
A car dealer with a dodgy past and new family, Terry (Jason Statham) has always avoided major-league scams. But when Martine (Saffron Burrows), a beautiful model from his old neighborhood, offers him a lead on a foolproof bank hit on London's Baker Street, Terry recognizes the opportunity of a lifetime. Martine targets a roomful of safe deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewelry. But Terry and his crew don't realize the boxes also contain a treasure trove of dirty secrets - secrets that will thrust them into a deadly web of corruption and illicit scandal that spans London's criminal underworld, the highest echelons of the British government, and the Royal Family itself...the true story of a heist gone wrong...in all the right ways.

Songs for a Friday Afternoon

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:28:00 +0000

New music just in time for the weekend...

If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle and Sebastian
New Perspective by Donald Byrd
Black Byrd by Donald Byrd
Surfer Rosa by The Pixies
Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie
The Emancipation of Mimi by Mariah Carey
Life's Rich Pageant by R.E.M.
Dummy by Portishead
The Score by The Fugees
Homogenic by Bjork
Madonna
Grace by Jeff Buckley
Live at the Fillmore East by Jimi Hendrix
Sheryl Crow
Give Up by The Postal Service
I, Flathead by Ry Cooder
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain by Pavement
Last Days at the Lodge by Amos Lee
Moxie Bravo by The High Strung
Get the Guests by The High Strung
Pearl Jam
Rain Dogs by Tom Waits
In Utero by Nirvana
Nevermind by Nirvana
Unplugged in New York by Nirvana
Stankonia by Outkast
Paul's Boutique by The Beastie Boys
Rhythm Nation 1814 by Janet Jackson
Either/Or by Elliott Smith
Faith by George Michael
My Life by Mary J. Blige
Live Through This by Hole
Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins
Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea by P.J. Harvey
The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips
A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay

Visit our new book shop

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:20:00 +0000

The Book Seller, a cozy new book shop located in the Library's lower level, will feature used books, cds, etc. in excellent condition. The shop will open for business on Monday, July 21 and regular hours will be Monday and Wednesday, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm and Friday, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. All proceeds benefit the Wallingford Public Library Association.

New Movie Tuesday (and the Tuesday before)

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:48:00 +0000

Charlie Bartlett
Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has been kicked out of every private school he ever attended. And now that he’s moved on to public school, he’s simply getting pummeled. But when Charlie discovers that the kids who surround him are secretly in desperate need, his entrepreneurial spirit takes over. Charlie becomes an underground, not to mention under-aged, shrink who listens to the private confessions of his schoolmates, and makes the imprudent decision to hand out the pills he’s proffered from his own psychiatric sessions. Then, Charlie Bartlett makes his big mistake: falling in love with the beautiful and bold daughter (Kat Dennings) of the school’s increasingly disenchanted Principal (Robert Downey, Jr.), who is hot on his trail. As Charlie Bartlett’s world and fledgling psychiatric practice unravel, he begins to discover there’s a whole lot more to making a difference than handing out pills.

Vantage Point
Thomas Barnes and Kent Taylor are two Secret Service agents assigned to protect President Ashton at a landmark summit on the global war on terror. When President Ashton is shot moments after his arrival in Spain, chaos ensues and disparate lives collide. In the crowd is Howard Lewis, an American tourist videotaping the historic event to show his kids when he returns home. Also there is Rex, an American TV news producer who is reporting on the conference. It's only as we follow each person's perspective of the same 15 minutes to and immediately after the shooting that the terrifying truth behind the assassination attempt is revealed.

Meet the Browns
Single mother Brenda (Angela Bassett) suddenly loses her job, then she receives news that the father she never met is dead. With nothing to lose, she gathers her brood and heads to Georgia, where she meets her father's uproarious family for the first time and finds the tentative beginnings of a new romance.

Stop-Loss
Decorated Iraq war hero Sgt. Brandon King makes a celebrated return to his small Texas hometown following his tour of duty. Brandon tries to resume the life he left behind with the help and support of his family and his best friend, Steve Shriver , who served with him in Iraq. Alongside their war-time buddies, Brandon and Steve try to make peace with civilian life. Then, against Brandon's will, the Army orders him back to duty in Iraq. This upends Brandon's entire world. The conflict into which he is thrown tests everything he believes in: the bond of family, the loyalty of friendship, the limits of love, and the value of honor.

Bella
A chef (Eduardo Verastegui) leaves his post at a busy Manhattan restaurant to show a fired waitress (Tammy Blanchard) around town.

Funny Games
A vacationing family gets an unexpected visit from two deeply disturbed young men. Their idyllic holiday turns nightmarish as they are subjected to unimaginable terrors and struggle to stay alive.

Our Ever-Expanding Music Collection

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:19:00 +0000

A new batch of CDs is ready to go. Pick one up today!

Overtures and Preludes Vol. 1 & 2 by Richard Wagner
Are You Hep to the Jive? by Cab Calloway
Radio Nostalgia #3 by Bob Schultz
Perfectly Clear by Jewel
Hits by The Birthday Party
Indestructible by Disturbed
Flavors of Entanglement by Alanis Morissette
Evil Urges by My Morning Jacket
Waking Up the Neighbors by Bryan Adams
Stop Drop and Roll!!! by Foxboro Hot Tubs
All I Intended To Be by Emmylou Harris
The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection
Pieces of You by Jewel
Outside Inside by The String Cheese Incident
Pacific Ocean Blue by Dennis Wilson
Legalize It by Peter Tosh
Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton
BBC Sessions by Led Zeppelin
458489 A-Sides by The Fall
The Eminem Show by Eminem
Hotel California by The Eagles
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill
Viva La Vida by Coldplay

get an e-mail, send an e-mail

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:24:00 +0000

Have you always wanted your own e-mail account? Here's your chance. On Friday, July 18 at 10:00 am, the Library will offer an E-mail Basics class. The class will introduce you to how e-mail works. You'll set up your own free e-mail account and send e-mail by the end of the session at 11:30 am. Please stop by the Reference Desk or call (203)265-6754 to reserve your seat. The class is limited to 6, so be sure to sign up early.

What Happened???

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:02:00 +0000

Can't wait for a copy of Scott McClellan's bestselling book What Happened: inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception? Well, the great news is that it is now available to our patrons as an Always Available Overdrive Title. This means it can be downloaded by any number of patrons simultaneously, and also can be burned to a CD. Hooray! Visit our downloadable books, and get the skinny today!

Put on your reading glasses - it's summertime

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:03:00 +0000

Participate in the Library's Adult Summer Reading Program and get rewarded for reading your favorite books!

Beginning June 26^th adults are able to earn chances to win a gift certificate to a local restaurant by participating in our Adult Summer Reading Program, "Read "Em and Eat." To enter, read any book(s), and fill out a form for each book (available at the Information Desk.) Each week beginning on July 3, forms will be entered into a random drawing and a gift certificate will be awarded to the winner. Subsequent drawings will be held July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 and August 7, 14, 21. A grand prize drawing will be held on August 28 when the forms from all the past weeks will be entered into a drawing for a $50.00 gift certificate to one of the participating restaurants. Look for our "dining display" at the Library! The more you read, the better your chance to win!

This year's participating restaurants are: Archie Moore's, Gaetano's Tavern on Main, Half Moon Coffee Café and Grill, Laskara Restaurant, Michael's Trattoria, 95 Gathering Place, Tata's Restaurant, and Westbrook Lobster Company. Participants must be a minimum of 18 years old to enter.

Another Great Database Addition

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 11:24:00 +0000

Is that clutter in your attic trash or treasure? The Library’s newest database, Antiques Reference, will help you answer that question. The information in the database is drawn from about fifty leading regional auction houses located throughout the United States, plus other selected specialist auctions. You may search in many ways, including keyword, type of object, place of origin, year of origination, auction house, and auction date. Every record in the database has at least one picture, so you’ll finally be able to identify that family heirloom.

Please note that Antiques Reference is accessible only within the Main Library, so be sure to visit us soon.

New Research Resource

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:24:00 +0000

Need to do some serious research for a school or college paper? Perhaps we can help. We have a bunch of reputable sources gathered together in databases under the research tab on the Library website. The latest addition is the Directory of Open Access Journals. This service covers free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals. The DOAJ aims to cover all subjects and languages. There are now 3423 journals in the directory. Currently 1167 journals are searchable at article level. As of today 188621 articles are included in the DOAJ service. Take a look today!

Music To Start Your Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:58:00 +0000

The new CDs just keep on coming...

Here, My Dear by Marvin Gaye
Santogold
Underwater Moonlight by The Soft Boys
Hot Burritos! by The Flying Burrito Bros.
Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc. by Dwight Yoakam
Modern Day Drifter by Dierks Bentley
Second Edition by Public Image Ltd.
Murmur by R.E.M.
Night in Manhattan by Lee Wiley
The Mind is a Terrible Thing To Waste by Ministry
Carnegie Hall Concert by Buck Owens
Big Science by Laurie Andersen
Elite Hotel by Emmylou Harris
Entertainment! by Gang of Four
The Complete Reprise Sessions by Gram Parsons
25 Greatest Hits by Little Anthony and The Imperials
154 by Wire
WOW Gospel 2006 by Various Artists
WOW Gospel 2008 by Various Artists
Esperanza by Esperanza Spalding
Prayer of a Common Man by Phil Vassar
Arrive Without Travelling by Three O'Clock
Fossil Fuel by XTC
Charade by Henry Mancini
Horse of a Different Color by Big & Rich
Simone on Simone

Summer Movie Schedule Finalized

noreply@blogger.com (Wallingford Library) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:47:00 +0000

...and here it is:

French Movie Night, Tuesday, June 17th at 6:30 p.m.Join us for a screening of François Truffaunt’s Masterpiece of French New Wave cinema, Jules et Jim.Here are a couple of quotes about the movie:
"Truffaunt’s greatest achievement...a celebration both of love and cinema. Moreau gives one of the most memorable performances in screen history." The Movie Guide "Age has not withered François Truffaunt’s 1962 masterpiece… Few films capture life’s bittersweet rush and tumble so completely, so profoundly as Jules et Jim. It is the cinematic equivalent of catching lightning in a bottle." The Guardian

Family Movie Night, Thursday July 19th at 6:00 p.m. Our family movie night features a fantasy epic with more than a passing resemblance to the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia blockbusters, The Golden Compass. Please note the movie's PG-13 rating.

Cinema Club, Tuesday July 1^st at 6:30 p.m. We’re continuing Cinema Club, our night for classic and art movie buffs, with Spike Lee’s 25^th Hour. Described as “a powerful and poignant film,” 25th Hour is a eulogy, mourning the New York of post-September 11, 2001, and the regrettable life of one of the city's least reputable citizens. Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) isn't a bad guy--in fact he's a mensch, adopting a battered dog in the film's mood-setting opening scene, and leading a decent life with his girlfriend (Rosario Dawson)... when he's not dealing narcotics. Facing a seven-year prison term, Monty spends his last free night with pals (Barry Pepper, Philip Seymour Hoffman) and visiting his understanding father (Brian Cox), while a Russian drug lord pressures him for getting busted. “Spike Lee is a masterful filmmaker and 25th Hour is one of his best.”

Family Movie Night, Thursday July 17^th at 6:30 p.m. Our family movie night features another great fantasy book adaptation, from Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black's bestselling children's series, The Spiderwick Chronicles. The tale of three young siblings -- and the goblins, fairies, griffins and ogres they find lurking in their backyard -- is a work of both modest enchantment and enchanting modesty, grounded in a classically Spielbergian realm where childlike wonderment crosses paths with the tough realities of young adulthood. MPAA Rating PG - for scary creature action and violence, peril and some thematic elements.

Cinema Club, Tuesday August 5^th at 6:30 p.m. A real classic for Cinema Club: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not. You can virtually see Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall falling for each other in this Howard Hawks variation on Casablanca but adapted from--as legend has it--Ernest Hemingway's self-declared "worst novel." (The story goes that Hawks told Hemingway he could make a movie of the author's least work, and Hemingway gave him the rights to this story.) The script by William Faulkner and Jules Furthman finally resulted in one of Hawks's and Bogart's greatest films. Bogart plays a boat captain who reluctantly agrees to help the French Resistance while wooing chanteuse Bacall. Hoagy Carmichael, wry at the piano, adds a delicious accent to an already wonderful mood.

Family Movie Night, Thursday August 14^th at 6:30 p.m. Nicholas Cage and Diane Kruger star in the “rip-roaring scavenger hunt” that is National Treasure. Like a Hardy Boys mystery on steroids, National Treasure offers popcorn thrills and enough boyish charm to get the audience cheering. The movie serves up an enjoyable dose of PG-rated entertainment, full of musty clues, skeletons, deep tunnels, and harmless adventure in the old-school tradition MPAA Rating PG - for some violence and action.

Keep an eye on the Library website for any other movie events we may put together over the summer.