Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Edmundson becomes Hotchkiss Library board president

SHARON — The Hotchkiss Library of Sharon’s new board president Lorna Edmundson, who assumed the role in September 2024, has charted a course toward progressing the historic institution’s reach as it continues to defy the odds of a small town library.

“The big news is that we are bucking the trends,” Edmundson said in a recent interview. “Fewer people are using their libraries,” she lamented, noting that even though services are free, library usage is down across the country.

In the case of the Hotchkiss Library, though, “everything is up.” She said the library has more patrons and more than 200 new library card holders – numbers that have spiked since the completion of the recent renovation.

“We have 184 programs going for adults – I mean, that’s an awful lot for a small institution.” She added that the library is also hosting 142 children’s programs, and that town committees, nonprofits, and other groups are hosting their meetings in the renovated building’s new rooms.

The numbers are up, but Edmundson noted that the approximately 1000 active library cards don’t cover all the households in town. “We still have a ways to go if we really want to engage everyone,” she said.

Accessing the whole community is at the top of Edmundson’s priority list as she assumes her new role. She sees the library as a community hub that provides services for the region far beyond loaning books.

“We’re responding to what people are asking for, and they’re not asking only for books,” she said. She upheld that the library is a resource for healthcare information, a site for residents who don’t have internet access to get connected, or a venue for yoga classes and cookbook talks, among other community programming. She also mentioned that the library is now fully accessible to the elderly and disabled — a much needed update to the building’s Victorian design.

“It’s really meant to pull people together, to educate, and to inform,” she said.

After 45 years working in education, both as a university faculty member and as president of three women’s colleges, Edmundson sees her new appointment as an appropriate and exciting continuation of her life’s work.

“I’ve always been really committed to educating people and seeing the remarkable things that happen when people have the opportunity to come into touch with new information and ideas,” she said.

“The library’s mission is so much like that of a college — it’s to educate the public,” she added.

She comes into the president role after serving six years on the board, during which she chaired the capital campaign to raise money for the building’s renovation. Under her leadership, the campaign more than doubled the minimum funding they set out to raise, all of which was necessary to finance the restoration, renovation, and expansion of the library and achieve their vision of being “a true community hub, not just for Sharon, but for the region.”

Latest News

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notice

BOND RESOLUTION DATED JUNE 15, 2026 OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE WEBUTUCK CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT AUTHORIZING NOT TO EXCEED $429,327 AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS AND/OR INSTALLMENT PURCHASE CONTRACTS TO FINANCE THE ACQUISITION OF A SCHOOL BUSES AND VEHICLES AT AN AGGREGATE ESTIMATED MAXIMUM COST OF$429,327, LEVY OF TAX IN ANNUAL INSTALLMENTS IN PAYMENT THEREOF TAKING INTO ACCOUNT STATE-AID, THE EXPENDITURE OF SUCH SUM FOR SUCH PURPOSE, AND DETERMINING OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THERE-WITH.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tenmile Distillery is making history the old-fashioned way

Cheers! The Revolutionary Whisky Series at Ten Mile Distillery, each named for a significant battle of the American Revolution, celebrates America at 250.

D.H. Callahan

In December 2024, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau officially established the Standard of Identity for American Single Malt Whisky. It was the first new classification in more than half a century, creating new possibilities for American distillers. One of the distilleries taking advantage of this new landscape is Wassaic’s Tenmile Distillery. It is well positioned to make history because Tenmile has always honored traditional whiskey-making practices.

Single malts are often associated with Scotch whisky. Perhaps that’s why, years before the new standard was adopted, Tenmile hired Shane Fraser, a Scottish master distiller with 30 years of experience at some of Scotland’s most prestigious distilleries. Fraser began designing the distillery from the ground up. Alongside owner and general manager Joel LeVangia, he emphasized time-honored traditions, favoring hands-on craftsmanship over the increasingly automated methods used by larger producers. When it comes to making the best whisky possible, Tenmile believes in learning from the past. That philosophy extends beyond the distilling process.

Keep ReadingShow less

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

Belinda Sinclair

Dean Chamberlain
Sinclair’s show explores the ways women have been practicing forms of magic for centuries, and there is plenty of history to tell.

Belinda Sinclair is the kind of magician who impresses people who don’t like magic. Her tricks are mind-boggling. Her stories are captivating. And if she picks you to write your name on a card, get ready to be wowed. Repeat attendees of her shows, of which there are many, take almost as much delight in watching new jaws drop as they do in seeing an illusion reach its astonishing conclusion.

Since the summer of 2025, Sinclair has been baffling local audiences at the Hughes Memorial Library in West Cornwall, but her magical run comes to a close at the end of August.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

Renée Fleming, Andris Nelsons and Thomas Hampson.

Hilary Scott

On Friday, July 17 at 8 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood, two of the greatest American voices of their generation, soprano Renée Fleming and baritone Thomas Hampson, join Music Director Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a performance of excerpts from John Adams’ groundbreaking opera “Nixon in China.” The piece, performed earlier this year in Boston and at Carnegie Hall in New York City, is a highlight of a program that also includes “Meditations on Grace” (2024) by BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon, and the melodic and technically demanding Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber.

Fleming is internationally celebrated for her vocal and dramatic artistry, as well as for her advocacy for the powerful impact of the creative arts in health. Hampson has long been recognized as one of the most innovative musicians of our time and has received countless international honors for his singular artistry and cultural leadership. Both performed in “Nixon in China” earlier this year at the Paris Opera under the baton of Kent Nagano.

Keep ReadingShow less
Local playwright revisits Revolutionary moment in “Rebel Town”

The cast and crew of “Rebeltown: The Musical.”

Jack Sheedy

John Alan Segalla was working in Boston a few years ago, giving historic tours at the site of the Boston Tea Party. Now, as America celebrates 250 years as a nation, the Canaan native is about to debut a new version of his original musical, “Rebel Town,” inspired largely by the Boston Tea Party, the protest that helped launch the American Revolution.

“It wasn’t until I got to Boston and learned the Tea Party story that I fell in love with this moment in history, and I saw the story as wildly compelling and very important, and really a story that was very misunderstood, mistaught in schools,” Segalla said at a recent rehearsal in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, ahead of the show’s July 10 opening.

Keep ReadingShow less
An invitation to paint a community mural in Torrington

Community mural design by Macayla Muzzulin will be painted by volunteers on July 11 in Franklin Plaza in Torrington.

Provided

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, Five Points Arts in Torrington will host a community mural project celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary. Volunteers of every age and artistic ability are invited to help paint a 20-by-6-foot mural designed by artist Macayla Muzzulin. The mural will be completed in one day, transformed from a numbered outline into a permanent public artwork along the river in downtown Torrington.

“We firmly believe art is for everyone,” said Five Points founder and executive director, Judith McElhone. “It’s so great to be able to do this with such talent, and with Launchpad artists, volunteers and staff there to help.”

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.