OCTOBER 2022      

News from the Director’s Desk

October means it is officially Fall. And Fall conjures up images of cozy nooks where you and your loyal cat/dog/iguana/pet-of-your-choice can cuddle up and enjoy a favorite read.

This past September brought the library some unexpected complications -- a mechanical failure that led to the temporary flooding of the Library, mostly in the middle of the second floor. I want to reassure you all: through some miracle, the mess was cleaned up within a few days and it looks like there's no damage -- not to the books, not to the floors, not at all. We are thrilled and counting our lucky stars. 

October promises to be a busy month! October 6^th, we have an opening reception for the Gallery Upstairs latest show, described below. It sounds terrific! Bridge enthusiasts will be happy to learn we are adding a bridge night. In addition to our regular programming, on October 19th, at 5:30, we've got a special thank-you reception for Senator Martin Looney, whose efforts helped us receive $1.725M in bond funding. We’ll be able to replace our much-patched roof, and much more. Keep your eyes open! Your e-invite will show up soon asking you to party with us as we Raise the Roof! October is going to keep you (and us!) busy. 

Cheers!

Jan

Friday Happy Hour Jazz | Fridays in October | 5:30-7:00 p.m.

• Our bandleader -- sorry, ringleader -- being out of town as this newsletter was assembled, we cannot provide programming details right now. But we expect Jazz to be held when you'd expect:
• Friday, October 7
• Friday, October 14
• Friday, October 21 
• Friday, October 28

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. 

Gallery @ The Institute Library

Opening Reception for

WASTE MANAGEMENT 

Thursday, October 6 

5:00-8:00 pm

Curators Martha Lewis and Rashmi Talpade have been collecting works and will be installing a rather magical exhibit in the Gallery Upstairs @ The Institute Library. 

Swing by The Institute Library to join the party on the third floor! 

TELLABRATION! @

The Institute Library 

Workshops | Performances

Dates listed below 

For the 9th year running, the Institute Library is hosting Tellabration!, a celebration of oral storytelling.

The Story Sharing group asks that all participants and attendees be masked and fully vaccinated for these events. Should ticket prices prove a hardship for you, please join in regardless: we do not wish to exclude anyone. Should you have any questions regarding the Story Sharing group's regular meetings or Tellabration!, please reach out to the coordinator, Arnie Pritchard: apritchard01@snet.net, or phone 203-804-4814.

The evenings will start at 6:30 and end around 8:00. We've got a couple of tables available, and decks of cards. 

Image: illustrations by Rik Lee, for Music Genius playing cards. 

Sew Sew Social: The Sewing Bee at the Institute Library

Sew Sew Social is moving to Wednesday evenings!

A slight reboot, so as to reduce Thursday evening conflicts. 

We meet on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month, from 5:30 – 7:30 PM. (That means the next one is October 12th.) 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 and open to all -- old, steady hands and people who barely know what they're doing should all feel welcome! 

No registration necessary. Light refreshments served. So what, come sew!

The usual p.s. from the Operations Manager:

Remember how I said Autumn 2022 would be really buzzy? 

I was not kidding. 

We've got so many events on the calendar, it's just shocking to us behind the desk here. I don't know if I'm going to have time to read this month. 

We are definitely behind on our acquisitions processing -- we've got stacks of titles waiting to be added to the shelves. Some of them are volumes of poetry that, if you'd asked me, I would have said we already had them. With the poetry action around here lately, it came to our attention that there were some authors not properly represented on our shelves -- we lacked certain crucial Eliot texts, for example, or any works by Donald Hall. The situation is being remedied, folks: take heart. 

If any of you saw, in a recent New York Times Magazine section, the little bit recommending that you read Patrick Dennis's novel Auntie Mame, and you thought, "I like the sound of that!" let me remind you that we have an early printing of this delightful work sitting on the shelves here, though you may need help finding it. We are here for you, darlings: "Help is on the way!" We also have the sequel, Around the World with Auntie Mame, a volume not-often acknowledged as being quite fun in its own right. 

We have had a little rush of new members joining us in the last six weeks or so. It's honestly both delightful and a lot to keep up with! If you asked me to mail you your membership card, and you've not received it, please email me to prod me into action. We're thrilled that you chose us to be one of your third places and look forward to welcoming you here. 

As we ride the waves of events in October, we also look forward to November, when we'll be hosting Rachel Kauder on Nov. 5 and then a couple weeks after that New Haven's Lary Bloom will be here to talk about his new book of essays about life in New Haven. It's all a lot to absorb, I know. So take a deep breath and focus on October, and your reading list.

If you have any questions about books, or anything else we may be able to help with, email the Library: Home@InstituteLibrary.org or me directly: Eva@InstituteLibrary.org. Onward, y'all.

--Eva Geertz