Future Exhibits

Curator Mary Thomas invites residents to share their memorabilia with library patrons on a temporary basis. We are especially looking for objects to display that reflect Newtown’s unique heritage, such as items for school districts.

Call the library for more information or if you are interested in providing a display.

Programs For Children

*St Patrick’s Day Craft: Marie Walker will conduct a St Patrick’s Day craft on Thursday, March 11, from 4 to 5 pm, for children ages 6 and older.

A $3 material fee is due upon registration, which can be done at the children’s desk (no phone registrations please).

*Register for Story Times: Registration for the next session of story hours for 3-5 year olds will take place March 17-24. Children must be at least 3 years old on or before March 29 and a resident of Newtown to be eligible for this free program.

Classes are offered on Monday and Tuesday at 10 am and on Monday and Wednesday at 1 pm. The six-week story time session begins the week of March 29 and ends the week of May 10.

Young Adult Programs

*Battle of the Books Update: Monday, March 8 is the last day to sign up your team and hand in your questions for the 2010 Battle of the Books.

This annual trivia contest for grades 5-8 is based on four great books.  This year’s books are 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, and homeschoolers are welcome!  The team captain must come to the library and sign up their team members, and will receive a packet with all relevant information to share.

Copies of all the books are available at Booth Library and in many school libraries.

The competition will be held on Saturday, March 27, at 1 pm, with a snow date set for March 28. For more information, contact Alana Bennison (426-3851) or Margaret Brown (426-4533) at the library.

Adult Programs

*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).

*Build A Bluebird Nesting Box: Mike Amodeo from Flanders Nature Center in Woodbury will be on hand Thursday, March 11, to lead a workshop on building a nesting box for bluebirds. The program will run from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

There will also be a talk about bluebirds in Connecticut, and how to attract these special birds to your backyard. The nest box kits cost $20, are made of red cedar, and come pre-drilled.

The program is suitable for parent-child teams as well as individual adults. Online registration is required.

*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.