Now On View

The Candlewood Camera Club is currently exhibiting members’ works through February 27 during regular library hours.

Young Adult Programs

Gather your teams for the 2010 Battle of the Books!

Sign-ups continue until March 8. This annual trivia contest for readers in grades 5-8 is based on four great books: Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan, Attack of the Turtle by Drew Carlson, Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, and Jeremy Fink & the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass.

Students who either live or attend school in Newtown can form teams of three to five friends. Homeschoolers are welcome! The team captain must come to the library and sign up his or her team members, and receive a packet with all relevant information to share. Copies of all the books are available at the library and in many school libraries.

The Battle will be held on Saturday, March 27, at 1 pm (snow date March 28).

Adult Programs

*Reality Maps (….or Not Your Usual Memoir): Julie Stern is back to lead another great book discussion, and this time she’s focusing on American memoirs. The books selected by Julie offer insightful portraits of places and experiences different form our own, yet universal in their humanity.

Discussions are Wednesday nights at 7:30 and will conclude on February 24 with Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris.

*Author Talk: Author Thomas Craughwell will visit on Tuesday, March 2, at 7 pm, to speak about his latest book, Great Rescues of World War II, a beautifully presented and illustrated testament to bravery and human kindness.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase. Please register online.

*Independent Film Series: Booth Library has brought back the indie film and you’re invited for free screenings on Wednesday afternoons.

Join us at 1 pm for the following features: March 10, Sunshine Cleaning (United States, 102 minutes); and March 24, Mine (United States, 81 minutes).

*Literature And Life, A Three-Part Lecture Series: All literature is in the service of life, even as it recognizes that it is not itself life.

In three lectures, Mark Schenker will discuss the relationship between literature and life for readers who see themselves as what Virginia Woolf called “the common reader:” the regular, literate reader who seeks more than pleasure and escapism from literature but who is not a professional critic or literary practitioner.

Programs will be on Wednesdays from 7 to 8 pm and will open with “The Role of Literature in Life” on March 17. Subsequent lectures will be “Charles Dickens” on April 14 and then “James Joyce” on April 28.

There is no charge but space is limited and so registration is requested. Visit the library’s website to register.

C.H. Booth Library is at 25 Main Street in Newtown. Call 426-4533 or visit CHBoothLibrary.org to register for any of the above listings, and for information on additional programs and offerings.