Update to Library Hours

Closed on Sunday, January 1 and Monday, January 2 for New Year's Day

Closed on Monday, January 16 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Wishing everyone a happy new year!

Thank you for all the holiday cards and treats.

New Library Website Address

We are excited to announce our library domain name has been updated to better serve you! This adjustment affects our library website and library email addresses. Our new website is https://www.ledyardlibrary.org, and library staff email addresses now end in ledyardlibrary.org. Please contact us with any questions.

Take Your Child to the Library Day (TYCLD) is an international initiative that encourages families to take their children to their local library. Launched in Connecticut in 2011, TYCLD raises community awareness about the importance of the library in a child's life and promotes library services and programs for children and families. Join the celebration with us on Saturday, February 4!

Giggles and Wiggles Storytime

Wednesdays, January 11, 18, 25

10:30 a.m.

Bill Library

Ages Infant – 3

Great stories, fun finger plays, and lots of dancing. Registration is not required, however space is limited to the first 15 families.

Preschool Storytime

Thursdays, January 12, 19, 26

10:30 a.m.

Gales Ferry Community Center

Ages 3 – 5

A fun and energetic storytime! Learning stations will be offered at the end of each storytime to actively engage, entertain, and build the skills of the children who participate. Registration is not required, however space is limited to the first 15 families.

Lego Club

Tuesday, January 17

4:00 p.m.

Gales Ferry Community Center

Ages 5-11

Lego Club is a time to come together with other people who love building and creating with Legos. Challenges will be offered if participants are interested, but the goal of this program is to have fun and be creative with friends. Now meeting in the Gales Ferry Community Center so we can accommodate more participants!

Do You Want to Paint a Snowman?

Saturday, January 21

10:30 a.m.

Bill Library

Ages 5-12

Come in out of the cold and paint a snowman! This is an open-ended art lesson where the participants will have free use of an easel, stretch canvas, and a large selection of paints and various tools. Mrs. Burt will be there to guide the process, but the goal of this program is for everyone to use their creativity and go home with a unique work of art!

Graphic Novel Book Club

Monday, January 30

4:00 p.m.

Bill Library

Grades 2 – 5

The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell will be available to pick up the month before we meet to discuss the books. Our meetings will be discussion based, there will be time for trivia, and we will occasionally do some drawing.

Let's Create!

Pokémon Character

Wednesday, February 1

4:00 p.m.

Bill Library

Ages 5-12

We will use polymer clay to design and create your own Pokémon characters. This group meets every other month from October – April.

SAVE THE DATE for Take Your Child To the Library Day!

Ed Popielarczyk, Magician

Saturday, February 4

1:30 p.m.

Bill Library

All ages welcome

Don’t miss out on this fabulous family show! Ed Pop is a professional magician, balloon sculptor, and flea circus ringmaster. He’s been entertaining children and families for over 35 years, and we’re so excited to have him here for Take Your Child to the Library Day 2023! There will be a lot of audience participation and many laughs. Please register to save your seat, but drop-ins are also welcome!

Whatcha Mean, What's a Zine?

Saturday, January 7

2:00 p.m.

Bill Library

Grades 6-12

A zine is a handmade magazine or mini-comic about anything you can imagine: favorite bands, personal stories, subcultures, or collections. Join us to learn more about zines and then make your own.

Crime Scene Investigation: How It's Done

Tuesday, January 24 and January 31

5:00 p.m.

Bill Library

Grades 9 – 12

We are excited to partner with the Town of Ledyard Police Department to teach teens the ins and outs of crime scene investigation. Detective Christopher Cadro and Investigator Mike Browning will set up a crime scene, and participants will learn how to process the scene. Meeting two weeks in a row, the participants will gather and process fingerprints, learn about shoe impressions and casting, and explore other important aspects of police work. Due to weather or unforeseen circumstances, this program may need to be rescheduled. You will be updated as needed once you are registered for the program.

Coming Soon

LitLoot! Winter Box

Registration Opens: February 1

Pick Up: March 1

Grades 7 – 12

Sign up to receive a box with specially selected books, a craft, stickers, treats, and more!

Ledyard Cookbook Club

Tuesday, January 10

12:30 p.m.

Gales Ferry Community Center

Join the Ledyard Cookbook Club as we enter 2023 with Tasha Tudor's old New England cookbook, The Tasha Tudor Cookbook: Recipes and Reminiscences from Corgi Cottage. This cookbook is a work of art, and the recipes are simple but full of home! Books are available at the Gales Ferry Library. We’d love you to join us!

American Presidents Book Discussion

Tuesday, January 10

7:00 p.m.

Bill Library or Zoom

Our monthly discussions include a historical perspective on American Presidents as we learn about their trials and achievements in the Presidential Office. For January, we will discuss Benjamin Harrison and the book Benjamin Harrison by Charles W. Calhoun. Books are available at the Gales Ferry Library.

Tuesday Night Craft

Tuesday, January 17

6:30 p.m.

Gales Ferry Community Center

Use watercolor paper, watercolor paint, and ink pen to make this wonderful, unique accordion book that says PEACE. It's a beautiful decoration.

Winter Rug Hooking Session

Saturdays - January 21, February 18, March 18

11:00 a.m.

Gales Ferry Community Center

Join us this winter to create a rug hooking project! Everything you need to hook a peace dove will be provided. We will have mini-lessons on the days we meet, including time to work on our projects, and then you may take your projects home to complete. When you are finished, you will have a beautiful dove to hang!

Senior Center Book Club

Wednesday, January 25

10:30 a.m.

Ledyard Senior Center

12 Van Tassel Drive, Gales Ferry

For the month of January, we will discuss Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. This book is about a father, his sons, and their sister and their journey through life to make things right. The scenery is beautiful, the challenges great, and love abounds. Books are usually handed out at the previous month's discussion or are available at the Gales Ferry Library.

The Welcoming Library is coming soon to the

Bill and Gales Ferry Library!

The Welcoming Library is a touring collection of New Arrival and New American picture books. Highlighted in a pop-up display unit, the books have embedded discussion questions written by I’m Your Neighbor Books. These questions help people of all ages and backgrounds have conversations about immigration, welcoming, and belonging. I’m Your Neighbor Books strives to build a stronger America, one where immigrants are welcomed and where first-through-third-generation Americans truly belong. The Welcoming Library will be available from late January through mid April at both Bill and Gales Ferry.

Stephanie's picks:

Sometimes, reading two books by one author gives insight into their substance as a writer. I found this recently after reading two books by Christina Baker Kline: Orphan Train and A Piece of the World. Though both are works of fiction, they are well-researched in terms of their time periods and historical references, particularly Orphan Train.

Orphan Train (2013) shows an Irish immigrant household in the 1920s and a young girl whose family is broken up due to a fire in their New York City tenement building. The young girl often finds herself dealing with prejudice and child labor issues. Her desperate search for love and belonging is one of the themes running through this book.

When my parents sold their home in Ledyard several years ago, they were downsizing. One of the pieces of art that my mother wanted me to have is a framed print of Andrew Wyeth’s painting depicting a woman sitting by the edge of a field, looking across at a large, old Maine farmhouse. It was one of Wyeth’s signature paintings from 1945, titled “Christina’s World.” The woman, Christina Olson, was an acquaintance of Wyeth’s, but little else is known about her except that she was disabled and lived with a brother on that farm in Cushing, Maine. Enter the author! In A Piece of the World (2017), Ms. Baker Kline creates a fictional memoir to flesh out the implied longing and austerity depicted in the painting. A great read and a reminder of the struggles of those facing a debilitating condition.

Thank you to all who generously participated in our Giving Tree Book Drive this holiday season! Thank you also to all who gave anonymously.

Friends Meeting

Thursday, January 12

6:00 p.m.

Bill Library

Please join us at our next meeting, Thursday, January 12th at Bill Library in the meeting room. The Executive meeting begins at 6:00 p.m., and the general meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. All are welcome at both meetings.

We have begun accepting donations for the annual book sale at Bill Library. We accept books, DVDs, CDs, audio books, puzzles, and games in good condition or better than good condition. Items can be placed in the foyer during normal open hours. If you would like to help out, we are looking for a volunteer or two to carry the items to the basement on a regular basis. 

Gales Ferry Library is full, so we are not currently accepting donations there.

Remember to visit the ongoing book sales at both libraries - in the meeting room at Bill Library, and the Book Cellar at Gales Ferry Library, each of which are open during normal library hours. All sales go towards support of the library.

Sarah Desormier, President

860 464-9538, Friends@ledyardlibrary.org

Key Dates:

Next meeting: Thursday, January 12th at Bill.

What we need: Donations for the annual book sale at Bill Library.