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The bees are buzzing and we hope that you are finding time to enjoy the outdoors as much as these pollinators do. This month’s calendar is buzzing with activity as well. From novel writing to Green Up Day, from Braver Angels to insect hotels, we hope that you find programs to enjoy.
Of course, we are always excited about the books. This month, look for new books from favorite authors such as Chris Bohjalian, Jane Korelitz, Emma Straub, and Candice Millard as well as debuts by Susannah Lewis, Shelby Van Pelt and Claudia Gray. You can browse the full list of titles here and at the end of this newsletter.
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If you or someone you know needs assistance with reading due to vision impairment, we have good news: the latest books are now available in Large Print from the Department of Libraries. Stop by the library to sample our selection or to request titles you may be looking for. If you’d like to consider an audiobook option, you can also try out the Talking Book demo here at the library. This playback equipment reads audiobooks (called Talking Books) and magazines, which are circulated to patrons by postage-free mail.
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Green Up Day
Saturday, May 7
Green Up Day bags are available at the library circulation desk. Please remember to separate cans, and bottles (both plastic and glass) and to drop your bags at Charlotte Central School– please do not leave on the roadside. More information: charlottevtgreenupday.com. A big thank you to our town coordinators, Kim Findlay and Ken Spencer.
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More Recycling Options!
Thanks to TerraCycle, we can now offer recycling drop-off for these additional items:
1. Oral care products and packaging: This includes toothpaste tubes, floss containers (no floss!), toothbrushes and all boxes or other packaging. Please make sure all materials are clean on the outside before dropping off.
2. Rigid #6 Plastic Cups: Drop off clean Solo or other #6 plastic cups. Just in time for barbeque season and those graduation parties!
3. Shaving accessories: Recycle all brands of blades, razors, and plastic packaging.
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Park Your Carbon Week: May 16-May 20
Want to try a different way of getting around? How about a healthy option, one that can save you some money and even be fun? You can reduce carbon pollution in Vermont and impact worldwide climate change. Park Your Carbon is a week-long initiative to help change Vermonters’ transportation and commuting habits by encouraging green ways of travel. Do it for a day, a week or make it a habit. Bike. Walk. Share Your Ride. Bus. Work From Home. Find out more and register.
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Preschool Story Time
Tuesdays, May 3, 10 & 17
10 am - 11 am
Join us Tuesday mornings at 10am in the library for Preschool Story Time fun with stories, crafts and play time. The program will be held in the program room unless it is warm enough to be held on the library porch. All children 2 years of age and over and their guardians must wear a mask at all times per library policy when indoors. No registration required.
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Tech Time
Wednesdays in May
10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Computer conundrum? Digital download dilemma? Phone frustration? Get some help with our tech librarian, Susanna. Email to sign up for a half hour spot or take your chances and stop by: susanna@charlottepubliclibrary.org.
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Knitting Drop-In @ the Library
Wednesdays
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Swing by for knitting night at the library. Dust off those old projects you’ve been wanting to finish, start a new project, or even pick up a new skill! Jessica won't be able join us this month, but we hope you'll come to knit with fellow fiber enthusiasts at the library!
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The Process of Writing Novels with NYT Bestselling Author Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
Wednesday, May 4
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
At Charlotte Senior Center
New York Times bestseller and Shelburne resident Miranda Beverly-Whittemore has published five novels, including Bittersweet and her most recent novel, Fierce Little Thing. In this talk about her process, Miranda will explore how she writes a novel, from conception to completion, giving us a glimpse of both her own craft and of the publishing process in general, from working with an agent and editor to promotion—and deciding what to work on next! No registration required. Co-sponsored with the Charlotte Senior Center.
Don't miss our book Fierce Little Thing book discussion in June!
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Book Chat
Fridays in May
9:30 am - 10:30 am
On Zoom
Join Margaret Friday mornings on Zoom to discuss new books, old books and books we might have missed. Each week, Margaret selects a theme and highlights related titles from the library collection.
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Braver Angels: "Reuniting America" Film & Discussion
Tuesday, May 10
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Hybrid
Join Braver Angels Vermont chair, Lincoln Earle-Centers, for a curated discussion of this film that launched the organization's mission to "bring Americans together to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our democratic republic."
Register for Zoom link.
Register to attend in person. |
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Short Story Selections
Thursday, May 12 & 26
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
On Zoom
Join Library Director Margaret Woodruff to share and discuss short stories old and new. The reading list will include a variety of authors, and one or two stories will be featured each session. Copies of the stories are available at the library circulation desk or via email.
Co-sponsored by the Charlotte Senior Center.
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Braver Angels "Depolarizing Within" Workshop
Sunday, May 15
2:30 – 5:30 pm
In person
The Depolarizing Within Workshop is designed to foster skills to help you lessen the effects of polarization when you encounter them in your political conversations. Note that by “polarization,” we are not referring to healthy disagreements over issues or philosophy. We are talking about how we regard large groups of ordinary people on the other side of the political aisle. Registration required.
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Film & Discussion: Reuse! Because You Can’t Recycle the Planet
Wednesday, May 18
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm at the Senior Center
In person
This documentary follows reuse expert Alex Eaves’ cross-country adventure as he discovers endless reuse solutions for our waste problem that are easy, sustainable, and fun. (Spoiler alert: it features visits to Conant Custom Brass and the VT Peace and Justice Center!) Note: Documentary is approximately 60 minutes will be followed with a discussion led by CSWD staff. No registration required.
Co-sponsored with Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) and the Charlotte Senior Center.
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ReUse Workshop
Thursday, May 19
2:00 – 4:00pm
In person
Follow up the Senior Center film showing and put your Reuse skills to the test. Can you make a dog toy from a t-shirt or a coaster from a tile set? You can! All materials available during the drop-in workshop session at the Library. No registration required. Co-sponsored with the Charlotte Senior Center.
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Be a Pollinator Ally
Wednesday, May 18
6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Hybrid
Join us to learn how we can all help put Charlotte on the "Pollinator Pathways" map. Julia Parker-Dickerson, who designs and manages the pollinator gardens in East Charlotte, brings her experience to help plan next steps forward in our public spaces and personal gardens. No registration for in-person participation. Registration required for Zoom link. |
Pollinator Potential Workshop
Saturday, May 21
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
In person
Do you want to promote and protect pollinators in your garden and yard? Chloe Silverman from the Charlotte Energy Committee is leading a family-fun workshop to create wildflower seed balls and Mason Bee "hotels". All materials supplied.
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After School Maker Challenge: Make it Fly!
Thursday, May 26
3:15 pm - 4:15 pm
Let’s make catapults, paper airplanes and more! How far can your catapult launch a marshmallow? How long does your airplane stay in the air? Join Susanna and Charlie for some flying object fun! For 4th grade & up.
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Closed for Memorial Day
Monday, May 30
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Mark Your Calendars: Summer Reading Programs Begin Early This Year!
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- June 4 @10 am Three Sisters Family Program- Make a seed medallion with the Three Sisters (bean, corn, and squash) and go home with a planting kit.
- June 14 @ 10:30 am: Story Time at Adam's Berry Farm
- June 22 @ 1 pm: Vermont Institute of Natural Science
- June 28 @ 10 am: Make a Biocube
- June 29 @1 pm: Four Winds Nature Program
Please see library events calendar or contact the library for more information on any of these programs.
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Art on Display for May & June: Deborah Mueller Peate
Deborah Peate was born in Montreal and currently lives in Williston, Vermont. She finds inspiration in architecture, her travels abroad and the beautiful rural scenes and Green Mountains of Vermont. She attended Concordia University where she studied graphic design, printmaking and etching, then studied watercolor with Montreal artist Helmut Gerth. In 2010, she began working with pastels and still loves the vibrancy and more predictable nature as compared to watercolors. Lately, she discovered a new, rather whimsical passion, embellishing three-dimensional animal forms.
Despite the pandemic, 2021 was a very productive year with a solo exhibit in Charlotte, VT featuring fifty works that spanned fifty years. Her work was also exhibited and sold at the Mary Bryan Gallery in Jeffersonville, VT and ArtHound Gallery in Essex, VT. She has multiple exhibits scheduled for 2022. “Painting for me is all about capturing the moment. I try to bring the natural light and atmosphere from outside onto the paper. I hope you appreciate my work and enjoy the exhibit”
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Monthly Book Discussions
Join us for one of these book group meetings on Zoom! Please call to reserve a copy of the book.
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Mystery Book Group
Arsenic and Adobo
by Mia P. Manansala
Monday, May 16
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Hardcopies are available at the library.
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Men's Book Group
The Lincoln Highway
by Amor Towles
Wednesday, May 18
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Hardcopies are available at the library.
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Friends Book Discussion
Stay tuned for title information
Wednesday, May 25
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Hardcopies are available at the library.
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Garden Chat -- Getting Started
Friday May 13
11:30 am - 12:30 pm
On Zoom
Join Seed Library Coordinators Karen Tuininga and Linda Hamilton to share fun progress and seek answers to puzzling questions about your vegetable garden as it starts up this year. Registration required for Zoom link.
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2022 Catalog of Available Heritage Seeds
Seed Library 2022 Catalog is available at charlotteseedlibrary.org and at the Library front desk! We offer past favorites plus some recommended new ones. All tried and true heritage varieties of vegetable, herbs and edible flowers which are easy to grow and easy to save seeds from. We invite you to add some to your garden! Not an experienced gardener? No problem. We provide guidelines for eco-friendly gardening and successful seed saving so you can enjoy the fruits of your labors this year and have seeds ready for 2023 for yourself and to share with others. To request small packets of seeds from this catalog (no charge), email us at Seed@charlottepubliclibrary.org. We will let you know when they are ready for pick up in the Library foyer.
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Vegetable Garden Starter Kits
Very popular last year, Seed Library is again offering free kits for starting a small vegetable garden with an assortment of familiar vegetables, herbs and edible flowers. Each kit includes small packets of 8-10 varieties that are easy to grow, and delicious to eat! Great for a family project and/or to utilize a small space. Available for pick up in the Library foyer starting May 9.
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We'd love to see what you are making and doing. Share on social media with #charlottelibraryvt or send us a pic!
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Happy Arbor Day 2022!
Friday, May 6
In Vermont, we celebrate Arbor Day on the first Friday in May. The Vermont Department of Libraries has partnered again this year with VT Urban & Community Forestry Program, and the VT Department of Forests, Parks, & Recreation for a state-wide celebration of trees and all the benefits they provide. Stop at the Charlotte Library to pick up an Arbor Day Kit filled with maple seeds, tree craft ideas, a VT tree guide and a tree scavenger hunt. Displayed inside the library will be a large collection of tree books to check out.
Look at the list of celebrations around Vermont.
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Mini Loom
Teens & Adults
Try your hand at weaving using the mini loom and provided yarn. Add your own materials to make it unique - think beads, twigs, feathers, pompoms. Kit includes yarn, tiny cardboard loom and needle. Pick up at the circulation desk.
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If you like to listen to books or read ebooks on a tablet or computer, you'll love Hoopla! Don't miss out on thousands of audiobooks, beautiful crafting books, novels, magazines, videos and more. These instructions will help you get started. If you are not a Charlotte resident, see if your library offers Hoopla.
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New, Upcoming, and Featured Titles
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