Consumer Reports new at the library

The Simsbury Library is pleased to announce that patrons now have free access to the on-line version of Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports.org is the largest paid subscription-based website in the world with 3.3 million paying subscribers and is one of the most trusted resources for information and advice on consumer products.

Consumers Union (CU), the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, and ConsumerReports.org, was founded in 1936 and is recognized as one of the most important consumer organizations in the world. It has the world’s largest nonprofit educational and consumer product testing facility. Since Consumers Union accepts no free product samples, every product tested is bought on the open market, and its family of publications provides unbiased product reviews. No CU publication accepts outside advertising.

ConsumerReports.org provides ratings and reviews, recommendations, and buying advice across several franchises. Each product includes an overview, a ratings report card and reviews and recommendations. Additional information includes brand reliability and user reviews plus news, blogs, forums and video content.

Click here to access Consumer Reports. If you are outside the library, you will be asked to enter your library card number.

It's CTForum In Your Library

Explorers & Adventurers
Nov. 5, 2009 – 7 pm


WATCH VIDEO of this remarkable conversation, including…
• What does the discoverer of the Titanic, Bob Ballard, say was the most important thing to come out of the space program?
• Hear Jean-Michel Cousteau talk about the future of human life on earth
• Hear what Iditarod winner Susan Butcher says about her family of 94 dogs
• He climbed Mt. Everest with a prosthetic leg, hear what Tom Whittaker says about life not being a straight path

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to view highlights of this remarkable CT Forum…and continue the conversation in your own library!

Reserve Your Seat!
Call 658.7663 or online at
www.simsburylibrary.info

Gift Presented to Library

A $25,000 check in memory of Ruth C. Bolz was presented to the Friends of the Simsbury Public Library on September 25, 2009. This generous gift was given by Ruth’s daughter, Marge Taylor, to Friends of the Simsbury Public Library’s President, Monica Starrett, at a small ceremony in the library.

Ruth was an active woman who travelled the world with her husband. Here in Simsbury, she was a regular volunteer in the Library’s Homebound Program, and spent many summers sorting books for the Annual Book Sale.

“I watched my mother read all her life – in later years, she read three or four books a week,” says Marge Taylor. “Eventually, her eyes failed her, and that is why she asked that her gift be used for helping library patrons with reduced eyesight.” The donation will be used to expand the library’s collection of large print books, as well as the purchase of other materials to assist the visually impaired.

“This gift is a sizable amount for the Friends of the Simsbury Public Library and for our community; we will honor Ruth’ Bolz’s wishes in dispersing the funds,” notes Starrett. She encourages other Simsbury residents to consider memorial bequests to the Friends for specific purposes as Ruth did, or for general use.

Picture caption: Marge Taylor, daughter of the late Ruth C. Bolz, presents a $25,000 check to Monica Starrett, president of the Friends of the Simsbury Public Library. Looking on are Julie MacKay President-Elect of the Friends of the Simsbury Library, and Sue Bullock, Library Director.

FSPL Music Series

Noah Baerman - Piano and Bass Covering the Scope of Jazz History
Friday, May 7
8:00 p.m., Program Room


Jazz pianist, composer, educator and author Noah Baerman, studied jazz at New Haven's Educational Center for the Arts and at Jackie McLean's Artists' Collective in Hartford. He has earned B.M. and M.M. degrees in Jazz Studies from Rutgers University, while performing extensively in and around New York. From 1994-1999, he co-led the quartet Positive Rhythmic Force, performing throughout the east coast and recording two CDs. Since then he's participated in numerous recordings as a sideman and under his own name. Noah has been nationally recognized in such publications as JazzTimes, Jazziz, Jazz Critics (Japan) and All About Jazz - New York. In 2008 he released the trio album Bliss and was awarded a "New Works" grant from Chamber Music America/Doris Duke Foundation. Noah, also a member of the collective quintet Playdate, will release its eponymous first album in 2009. He teaches privately and at several institutions including Wesleyan University, CCSU and Charter Oak State College. His teaching style has been codified through a series of well-regarded instructional books published by the Alfred Publishing Company. Noah received First Prize (jazz category) in the Billboard Song Contest and in the Unisong Contest, as well as "ASCAPlus Awards" from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers every year since 2004.

This program has been made possible through the generous support of the FRIENDS OF THE SIMSBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY

FSPL Music Series

The Keith and Mazer Trio - An Eclectic Mix of Blues,
Jazz, Swing & Pop
Friday, April 16
8:00 p.m., Program Room

This talented acoustic trio is instrumentally comprised of two guitars and djembe, combined with finely crafted vocal leads and tasty harmonies. The band is made up of two siblings Megan Keith, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, and David Keith, percussionist and vocalist. The third member is Susan Mazer, lead guitarist and vocalist. Megan Keith's voice is a professionally honed instrument, spanning a wide range of styles and timbres. David's intricate and versatile djembe playing, has established him as one of the most innovative hand percussion players around. Mazer's guitar handwork is deft and reliable, and features intricate fingerstyle and dobro technique. In addition to their performing expertise, they are all individually credited as composers and educators in their field. The Keith and Mazer songbook is loaded with some of the most diverse and interesting tunes - all spice and no filler!

This program has been made possible through the generous support of the FRIENDS OF THE SIMSBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY

FSPL Music Series

Little Windows - Traditional Irish and Appalachian Songs and Tunes
Friday, March 19
8:00 p.m., Program Room

Little Windows creates a mix of Appalachian and Irish music, and traditionally-based originals, with a special focus placed on unaccompanied ballads. They also explore the spiritual nature of song and harmonic sound. Mark Weems and Julee Glaub tour together nationally and abroad with a focus on the art of the pure voice with tight harmonies in traditional songs.Instrumentation includes guitar, fiddle, banjo, flute, piano and bodhran. In addition to performing concerts, they also teach workshops and music camps around the country and have developed their own traditional singing camp called Camp Little Windows. Together they bring a beautiful blend of both traditions with a unique harmonic sound that is rare and often beckons response from audience members. Though they have both made several recordings with other bands as well as solo projects, Julee and Mark's first recording together, Just Beyond Me, was submitted for a Grammy and has been highlighted on NPR's radio program The Thistle and Shamrock. Mark and Julee have created a unique musical presentation.

This program has been made possible through the generous support of the FRIENDS OF THE SIMSBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY

FSPL Music Series

Barbara Rosene - 1920's - 30's Traditional Jazz - Tin Pan Alley Composers
Friday, February 19
2:00 p.m., Program Room

Barbara Rosene is a passionate vocalist whose interpretations uncover the richness of jazz classics through the subtle, skilled delivery of one truly in love with the genre she sings. Vibrantly at home in a style reflective of 1920s and 1930s jazz artists, Rosene gives voice to songs in ways that are both gracefully provocative and warmly welcoming. In her established career she has shared stages with jazz icons, performing internationally with The Harry James Orchestra, sitting in with Les Paul at New York's Iridium Jazz Club, with the Woody Allen Band, at The Carlisle Hotel, as well as directing her own New Yorkers, and guest performing with orchestras and in festivals across the world. Influenced by the Tin Pan Alley composers and singers such as Mildred Bailey and Ella Fitzgerald, she has been recognized by NPR, The New School, Backstage Magazine (Bistro Award, 2006), and is featured in Scott Yanow's "Great Jazz Singers." Rosene is personally committed to the significance of jazz music in American Popular Song and in America's roots and spirit. Her next album will be released in the fall of 2009.This program has been made possible through the generous support of the FRIENDS OF THE SIMSBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY

FSPL Music Series

Goza Latin Band - A Cross Section of Traditional
& Modern Latin Music
Friday, January 22
8:00 p.m., Program Room


GOZA, Spanish for "Joy", creates a tightly woven blend of song & dance rhythms from the Americas, Puerto Rico and Spain. Dave Giardina received his B.A. from St. Anselm College, and also studied at Longy School of Music. He has been teaching for many years on the faculties of Trinity, St. Joseph and Manchester Community Colleges, as well as privately. Dave is an award recipient member of the CT Commission on Culture and Tourism, performing extensively throughout the Northeast at schools, bandshells, major festivals, First Nights, clubs and both Connecticut casinos as a soloist and with ensembles he has formed such as Fiesta del Norte, Bamboleo, Goza, and the Typsy Gypsys. His compositions are featured on two releases by the CT Classical Guitar Society of which he is a founding, professional member. His latest release, Fiesta Grande, features music of Mexico. Each performance brings an extensive repertoire in different traditions; the clarity and precision of classical technique, the explosive and exotic sound of flamenco, the smoothly shifting harmonies of jazz, the exuberant energy of traditional Latin music and the classic power chords and riffs of rock n roll.

This program has been made possible through the generous support of the FRIENDS OF THE SIMSBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY

FSPL Music Series

Joy Kills Sorrow - A Modern American Stringband
Friday, November 20
8:00 p.m., Program Room

The Boston-based string band brings a decidedly modern sensibility to an old-world sound, channeling the prodigious talents of its individual members into elegant arrangements and well-crafted songs, effortlessly merging influences as diverse as folk, rock, pop and jazz. First emerging out of Boston's thriving folk music scene in 2005, they released their self-titled debut album in 2007. Two years and several band members later, Joy Kills Sorrow is poised to make its mark with a new lineup of some of the areas finest young talent. In 2007, the group won first prize in the Podunk Bluegrass Festival Band Contest; and that same year, they were deemed the poster children™ for the burgeoning Americana format by Sing Out! magazine. Slated for release in 2010, the new album, entitled Darkness Sure Becomes This City, is an accomplished piece of work, laced throughout with polished arrangements and pop-inflected melodies. With it, Joy Kills Sorrow gracefully combines the old and the new, and the outcome, however surprising, is sublime.

This program has been made possible through the generous support of the FRIENDS OF THE SIMSBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY

Adult Writers Group

Carol Healy, moderator of the Simsbury Writer’s Group has announced new meeting dates: They are:


Tuesday 11/3 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Tuesday 12/1 6:00-8:00p.m.
Tuesday 12/15 6:00-8:00 p.m.

All meetings are scheduled in the Barnes Conference Room. The writers Group welcomes all published and aspiring writers. If interested, please contact Carol Healy at carolhealy@comcast.net. The group is limited to ten writers.

Simsbury Scrabblers

Join us weekly on Thursday nights 6-8 in the Friends Café area of the Library. Novice to expert. All are welcome! Playing boards and scrabble dictionaries are supplied. Drop-ins are welcome but we prefer if you sign up here or email lraskauskas@sbcglobal.net so we know how many boards are needed.

Conversational French Group

Are you interested in refreshing your knowledge of the French language? Or perhaps learning enough to just get by on a visit to the country? The has a French conversation group under the leadership of Yvonne Foley, French Professor Emerita, Manchester Community College and a 35 year veteran of teaching the language. Classes meet Tuesday evenings 6:30-7:30 in the Friends Café area of the library. Classes will continue as long as there is interest. The classes are free but space is limited. Please contact Susan Bullock to sign up or if you have any questions. 658-7663 x. 2103. You can also sign up on-line by going to the library website www.simsburylibrary.info and clicking on Calendar.