Kim Weber, Booth Library young adult librarian, Kim Killoy, Drug Free Communities grant coordinator, and Judy Blanchard, district health coordinator and co-chair of the Newtown Prevention Council, recently met at The Parent Corner of the C.H. Booth Library to plan the group’s Parent Speaker series.

This year the library and NPC will present Anthony Wolf, PhD. He is the author of many books including, I’d Listen to My Parents if They’d Just Shut Up: What to Say and Not Say When Parenting Teens and Get Out of My Life, but first could you drive me and Cheryl to the Mall? A Parent’s guide to the New Teenager. His lecture, titled “Parenting Teens in a Difficult Time,” will take place at the library, on October 23, at 7 pm.

The Newtown Prevention Council was founded in 1986 as a diverse coalition of community members committed to creating a culture in Newtown that positively engages the community to empower youth and families to make healthy, thoughtful decisions and to support healthy, substance-free living.

With The Newtown Bee among its community partners, the council boasts upwards of 45 members and meets five times each year at the library. All meetings are open to the public.

Ms Blanchard has been a part of the council since 1991 and serves as co-chair with Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe. Ms Blanchard is currently the program director for a SAMHSA Drug Free Communities grant, which has brought in more than $1 million in prevention funding to the community within the past decade.

As a certified prevention specialist, Ms Blanchard’s input into grant acquisition and programming has kept Newtown on the forefront of effective prevention strategies, according to Ms Killoy.

Collaboration with its members has always been a big part of the council’s mission, and one of the most successful collaborations for the council is the new Parent Corner in place on the third floor of the C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street.

The Parent Corner’s purpose is to educate parents on issues relevant to raising children in an ever-changing world.

To register to attend the talk by Dr Wolf, go to chboothlibrary.org. To find out more about the Newtown Prevention Council, visit newtownprevention.org.