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

Electronic media continues to grow in use at KML

KENT — The Kent Memorial Library saw a 5 percent increase in visitors in 2014, with 44,320 people walking through the doors in the 12 months. The Board of Directors and other library members discussed these numbers, welcomed several new board members and discussed other news and business at their annual meeting on Saturday, Jan. 10.

Sharon Hartwick, Elizabeth Radday and Michaela Lawrence were voted unanimously onto the board. Each will serve a term through December 2017. Existing board members Jannette Bornn, Kenneth Cooper, Michaela Hallows, Rudy Molho and John Youngblood were unanimously re-elected. Each member had previously served two consecutive two-year terms. According to the board’s by-laws, that means those five members can only serve a single-year term, ending in December 2015.

Library Director Donna Miller announced some highlights from the year including a third consecutive Connecticut Library Association Award for Outstanding Public Relations. The award was given to the library for the design of the 2013 Spring Gala invitation, created by Marketing and Special Events Director Lucy Pierpont.

More than 500 people attended lectures in the 2014 series, “The Impact of Media in Our Lives,” which featured talks by Tom Brokaw, David Shing and Gary Ross (from the Department of Homeland Security). 

The library also saw a substantial increase in adult attendance at its programs, with 3,597 people attending events.

KML offered a number of alternative and electronic book options. E-book use increased  to 581 in 2014 (a 4 percent increase from 2013); and 3,788 DVDs and videos were loaned out to members, a 15 percent increase. But the big uptick was in downloadable audiobooks, with 404 borrowed over the 12 months (a 106 percent increase from 2013).

Over the course of the year, the library hosted five art exhibits, one artist talk, five author talks — and a book signing by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. 

Many workshops were offered, including “Law Matters” with attorney Metta Rehnberg and “Naturescape Your Yard” with author, photographer and garden expert Karen Bussolini.

Miller listed the library’s goals for 2015, such as creating a young adult nook within the library; continuing to redesign the library website; upgrading the photocopier; and raising funds for repairs and renovations to the old firehouse, which was purchased as a library extension.

Lakeville Journal

Latest News

Sharon voters split opioid settlement funds between ambulance, regional programs

Sharon voters split opioid settlement funds between ambulance, regional programs

Sharon voters approved splitting $24,000 in opioid settlement funds at an Aug. 27 town meeting.

Alec Linden

SHARON — Sharon voters unanimously approved splitting $24,000 in opioid settlement funds between the town’s ambulance service and a regional fund supporting addiction prevention, harm reduction and mental health services.

The decision Thursday, Aug. 27, came two months after voters rejected an earlier Board of Finance-backed proposal, 27-11, at a June 18 town meeting. Residents had expressed concern about directing all the money, which must be used for opioid remediation, to a regional organization rather than supporting the town’s emergency medical service.

Keep ReadingShow less
municipality

At Peggy Mercury, prep meets punk in ‘Imaginary Concerts’

At Peggy Mercury, prep meets punk in ‘Imaginary Concerts’
Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
Provided

Last month, James Boehmer and Greg Fricke of Peggy Mercury launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” wearable art sold exclusively at their store in the Kent Barns section of Kent, Connecticut.

The two fashion industry veterans opened Peggy Mercury more than two years ago, and a quick visit will tell you that people are finding what they’re looking for at the beauty and lifestyle store. But what they’re looking for is never standard.

Keep ReadingShow less
fashion

“Girlbomb” at 20

“Girlbomb” at 20
Photo by Jessica YurkoMillerton author Janice Erlbaum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her memoir “Girlbomb” at Black Rabbit Dispensary on Sept. 5.
Photo by Jessica YurkoMillerton author Janice Erlbaum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her memoir “Girlbomb” at Black Rabbit Dispensary on Sept. 5.
With memoir...the character only knows what the character knows.
—Janice Erlbaum

In “Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir,” published in 2006, author Janice Erlbaum wrote about the years after she left her family’s Brooklyn apartment at 15, moving through shelters, group homes, squats, clubs and the streets of 1980s New York while somehow continuing to attend high school. The book has sold more than 75,000 copies, stayed in print for two decades and continues to find new readers.

Now Erlbaum, 57, lives in Millerton and on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 7:30 p.m., she will celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Girlbomb” with a reading at Black Rabbit Dispensary. The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed on Instagram.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community
google preferred source

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

Spencertown’s 21st Festival Of Books

Spencertown’s 21st Festival Of Books
Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, author of “Daylight Come: Harry Belafonte and the World He Made” is one of thefeatured authors at the Spencertown Academy Festival of Books on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Mirissa Neff

On Saturday, Sept. 5, the Spencertown Academy Arts Center in Spencertown, New York, will host its 21st annual Book Festival.

With over 20,000 gently used books, CDs, DVDs and vinyl donated by the community, it took volunteers 45 days — and an estimated 750 hours —to set the whole thing up. Most of that time was spent sorting through the vast troves of donations and organizing them by category.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Paul Newman racing doc to screen in North Canaan on Sunday

Paul Newman racing doc to screen in North Canaan on Sunday
“Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman,”will be screened Sunday, Sept. 6, at the Colonial Theatre in North Canaan.
Provided

On Sunday, Sept. 6, Lime Rock Park will host a screening of the documentary “Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman” at the Colonial Theatre in North Canaan at 7 p.m.

Newman was one of the most celebrated actors of the 20th century, known for films including “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Hud” and “Cool Hand Luke.” His 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” also began a decades-long friendship with co-star Robert Redford.

Keep ReadingShow less
film

Community to take center stage at Dive Barn

Community to take center stage at Dive Barn

A scene from last year’s Dance Barn.

Steven Tayler

On Sunday, Sept. 6, PS21 in Chatham, New York, will host a celebration of community through dance at its second annual Dive Barn performance at the organization’s Dance Barn.

Dive Barn is the brainchild of dancer, teacher and choreographer Sayer Mansfield, who has dedicated her life to contemporary and experimental dance. She studied in the Department of Dance at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. She’s performed with companies including Pilobolus, Compagnie Marie Chouinardand Mark Morris Dance Group. Her work has been featured in films including “Little Women,” “Maestro” and “Sproutland.” She has served on the faculties of Jacob’s Pillow, Phillips Academy Andover, as well as Harvard and Yale Universities.

Keep ReadingShow less
dance
google preferred source

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