What's Going On - September 2023 | | |
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From The Desk of the Executive Director | |
Who doesn’t love Fall.
I’ve seen the first whispers of red in the foliage. Here at the library, we are shaking off the
summer doldrums, ready for great things to come. We were hoping to have another Visioning
Session this week but decided it would be better to wait until everyone has returned from end-of-
summer-fun-in-the-sun events. Your input will help us as we move ahead, so, please, tell Eva if
you are interested. She is keeping a list of those of you who wish to join us for discussion about
the future of the Library. Just drop her a line at [email protected].
See you at the Gallery closing of the Oasis show on September 13th. Martha really knows how to
throw a party, so you won’t want to miss this! More information below.
All the best,
Jan
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An Important Note about Driving on Chapel Street:
The east bound side of Chapel Street (across from the Library) is closed to traffic for the nonce, until early 2024. Traffic detours around the block (along Church Street to Elm to Orange to Chapel). This detour is to accommodate the construction of two buildings currently under construction. The west bound side of Chapel remains open. The building on the corner of Orange and Chapel (808 Chapel) will be done early 2024, the building across from the Library (848 Chapel) will be finished in the summer of 2024. Regardless: We are open! There are many parking garages, including two on State Street, one and a half blocks from the library. Please call us if you have any concerns.
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Program Visioning Session
Hosted by Library Board member Ben Wrobel
originally scheduled for September 7th
will be rescheduled for late September
Questions? Call us or email the Operations Manager
[email protected]
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NEWS FROM THE GALLERY UPSTAIRS: | | |
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The Oasis Closing Reception:
Put Your Camel To Bed!
Wednesday, September 13, 5:00 - 9:00 pm
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We encourage you to invite your friends and loved ones
for this night of celebration and activities.
5:00-7:00 -- Refreshments in the gallery
7:00-8:00 -- Convene in Biography Room
for a special oasis of storytelling games!
Plenty of time to mingle afterwards!
Refreshments will be served and
of course we always welcome contributions to the spread.
Think good cocktail nibbles and fun libations.
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GALLERY OPEN CALL
for Mysterious Circumstances: opens Oct 2023
We Want Your Eccentric Relatives
(or at least their portrait)
DEADLINE: SEPT 20, 2023
see full details at bottom of this newsletter!
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DOWNTOWN BRIDGE:
The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Bridge Game at
847 Chapel Street
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: [email protected]
The secret population of closet bridge players
and aspiring bridge players in our midst
now meet Second Mondays
(but there is talk of a second night maybe?)
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:
Monday, September 11th at 7:00 p.m.
(subject to change; please reach out to us for schedule confirmation)
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The evenings will start at 7:00 and run about 90 minutes. We've got a couple of tables available, and decks of cards. | |
Friday Happy Hour Jazz |
Fridays in September | 5:30-7:00 p.m.
September 8 -- . TBA
September 15 -- TBA
September 22 -- TBA
September 29 -- TBA
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 with support from Jazz Haven.
Friday Jazz is on in September, but the programs have not been settled on. Updates will be provided via the internal Jazz email list. Want to be added to that list? Let us know!
Please consider making a $5 donation when you come to Friday Happy Hour Jazz.
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Story Sharing @
the Institute Library
September 14
7:00-9:00 p.m.
We meet in-person on the second Thursday of every month
from 7:00-9:00 P.M.
In September, the 14th,
but do see about
Tellabration! =====>>>>>>
Story Sharing welcomes those wishing to tell stories and those wishing to listen. Stories may be of any genre – personal experience, family stories, folktales, what have you. The stories may
also be at any stage of development, from first stabs at this-might-be-a-story to polished pieces. No experience is needed. We will be our usual friendly and lively selves.
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Get ready for Tellabration!
This year, Tellabration! will take place over six weeks starting in September, with workshops on
Sept. 28, and Oct. 5th, 12th, and 19th.
The Tellabration! performances will be held October 26th
(and the 25th, if a second evening is called for).
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There are four (4) workshops. Each participant chooses a story and prepares it for public telling, with the help of feedback from the other participants. Stories may be of any genre; most of the stories we hear come from the tellers’ own lives, but if you wanted to do a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, have at it! Those who choose to do so will tell their stories at a public performance, a “Tellabration!".
The workshops will be from
7:00-9:00 p.m. on four Thursdays: September 28 and
October 5, 12, and 19.
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Join us for Year 10 of Tellabration! at the Institute Library!
Tellabration! will be at
7:30 P.M. on October 26.
In recent years we have had too many tellers to fit into one evening. if that happens this year there will also be a performance on October 25. The performance(s) will be at the Library.
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Please note that people with active memberships at the Institute Library
get discounted ticket rates!
Participants in Tellabration! workshops should please be fully vaccinated against Covid.
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Introductory meeting for prospective students to take place late October 2023
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Listen Here!
The seemingly lost, much loved program returns...
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Tuesday October 10
6:00-8:00 p.m.
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Bennett Lovett-Graff returns to downtown New Haven for one night, and you can relive the old days.
Sit and listen to a selection of two short stories read aloud by members of the New Haven Theater Company, and enjoy a "talk back" session
led by Bennett.
Just bring yourself, maybe something for the donation box, and have a seat. NHTC and Bennett will take care of the rest.
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This show will be curated by Maxim Schmidt & Martha Willette Lewis and will be made possible by the gallery dream team of M & M plus Scott Schuldt, Ann Marlowe, Mohan Maharaj, Jr., with book input from the fiendishly knowledgeable staff and volunteers at the library. | |
GALLERY OPEN CALL DETAILS:
Mysterious Circumstances will feature:
Marvelous vintage mystery books from our collection, a selection of curated artwork (this part is NOT open call, but you may contact us if you think you have work we should look at)
and a Rogue's Gallery of Black Sheep family photos from YOU!
This show will be a bit different -- in a fun, spooky, and whodunit way -- and we are gathering a cast of characters for our portrait wall directly from your family albums!
What Do We Want?
Weird, wonderful, dodgy, glamorous and just plain strange portraits of ancestors past to cluster on our wall.
Do you have one we can share?
We can print from your scan (we know family memorabilia can be precious)
or we can scan it ourselves (we will be VERY CAREFUL) or we can show your ornately framed beauties as they are.
How to participate:
Email us a picture (don't worry about the quality yet, a quick phone shot is fine) with any information you have about the person and their relation to you that you might want to share. This will go in our exhibit binder.
The show will run from
October- December 2023
PLEASE SEND ALL ENTRIES WITH
"Eccentric" IN THE BYLINE TO:
[email protected]
NO LATER THAN SEPT 20, 2023
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION!
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The Operations Manager Speaks: | |
September has rolled
up on us
kind of under the radar in some ways because we've been busy even if we've not been on site at 847 Chapel Street. We recently showed up at the Schwarzman Center, attempting to seduce innocent Yale students into coming over to the other side of the Green to visit us. A few do, every year -- there are always some intrepid students who come to think of us as the most un-elitist Secret Society around. Anyhow, there we were, and I think a good and interesting time was had by all. At the Institute Library we see students from pretty much every local college -- Gateway, Quinnipiac, UNH, Yale... I admit I can't think of any Albertus Magnus students, but we should get them in. Maybe this year they'll find us by the trail of candy I'll leave down Prospect Street...
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Detail-oriented people will note that the table we set up in the rotunda (see photo below) features many blasts from the Institute Library's past -- t-shirts from the pig roasts from days of yore; table linens that have been used at countless Library events; and cards from the card catalog written in Library Hand. It was great to see people pick those up curiously asking what on earth these were. We fielded some questions about the Samovar of Generosity (one kid asked, "How did you wind up with something like that?" to which I replied, "This is the magic of the Institute Library), and we handed out an awful lot of candy. The little strawberry ones were the quickest to go, no question, and many expressed joy at seeing them on offer. Go figure.
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We look forward to seeing you again! Or, for the first time!
So many people have joined the Library this summer and I've not yet met all of you, and some of you haven't given me a mailing address to send your card to you -- please come in and stop by the desk and talk to me about this! We want you to have your card!
Onward, friends.
--Eva Geertz, Operations Manager
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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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