Science For Everyone Series: Time Travel

April 4th at 7 p.m. at the Essex Town Hall

Is time travel possible? Einstein thought so – and so does Dr. Mallett, University of Connecticut Professor of Physics and researcher into particle and field theory. In fact, his determination to unlock this particular secret is why he became a physicist in the first place. You may have seen him on the Science Channel, or on the BBC’s documentary about time travel researchers: Hear about his current research into this fascinating topic.

Sincere thanks to local business BrandTech Scientific, Inc. for sponsoring the Science For Everyone series.

Science for Everyone Series: Artificial Intelligence

Thursday, March 21st at 7 p.m. at the Essex Town Hall

Can an artificial intelligence be created that can learn, reason, and formulate original ideas? Dr Chengyo Cao of the University of Connecticut’s Mechanical Engineering Department is doing research funded by NASA and Pratt & Whitney focused on unmanned systems, like clusters of drones that interact with their environment and each other to better reconnoiter an area. His talk will highlight breakthroughs in this exciting and dynamic field.

See our Adults’ Featured Events page for more Science For Everyone programs.

Huzzah! Celebrate Patriot Week With The Essex Library April 12-17th

Join us for a week’s worth of spring break events, classes, and more, for kids, families, and adults. We’ll feature:

Felicity: An American Girl Adventure, this film, about two girls whose parents are on opposite sides of the conflict, will be shown on Monday, April 12th at 2 p.m.

Colonial Crafts with the Essex Historical Society’s Carol Young on Tuesday, April 13th at 10 a.m. For children in grades K-3.

Colonial Games and Toys with the CT River Museum’s Jennifer White-Dobbs, Wednesday, April 14th at 3:30 p.m. For children in grades K-5.

Fife and Drumming Workshop Thursday, April 15th at 3:30 p.m. with the Deep River Junior Ancients for ages 7-15.

Johnny Tremain, this film about an adolescent in Boston describes how he is drawn into the Revolutionary War and becomes a patriot figh will be shown Friday, April 16th at 10 a.m. For everyone grade 5 and older.

Wesleyan Professor and author/historian Richard Buel will screen the film Mary Silliman’s War, Friday, April 16th at 3 p.m. Based on his and the late Joy Day Buel’s book “The Way of Duty: A Woman and Her Family in Revolutionary America”, followed by a discussion on women’s lives in the Revolutionary period. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

The 5th Connecticut Regiment, historical re-enactors, will set up a military camp Saturday, April 17th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the meadows behind Pratt House, complete with military exercises and demonstrations of cooking, spinning, metal smithing, medicine, music, and more. It’s a mini-Williamsburg – and it’s FREE! for people of all ages. Adults can get a preview of the 5th on Friday night, April 16th starting at 8 p.m. at the Griswold Inn’s taproom, when the 5th’s musicians and singers will provide spirited period entertainment.

Book Trailer Contest For Teen Read Week

Teen Read Week is October 18th-24th, 2009. To celebrate, the Essex Library is having a book trailer contest. The Winner will have their work posted on the Library web page and the Teen Blog. A valuable prize will be awarded to our first place winner (hint hint.) The book that you represent in your trailer will be selected for a teen book discussion where your work will also be aired. So…have a favorite book? Make a trailer!

Book trailers are similar to movie trailers, in that they are designed to build interest in an upcoming or current novel. These quick 1-3 min segments encourage people to check out a title they might not otherwise. They’re also a great way to express your creativity! If you’re comfortable with taking pictures or filming quick video shots, this is sure to be an activity that you’ll enjoy. One of the best parts? You can use free software programs like One True Media to make them for free.

Here’s an example of The Graveyard Book narrated by author Neil Gaiman. And check out this fan-made trailer for Catching Fire, the sequel to Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. (If you don’t like spoilers……..DON’T watch this one!!!!)

Contest Info:
You will have the entire month of October to create one (or more)1-3 min. long book trailers! Submissions are due by Halloween, October 31st.

Save your submission to a CD (in Quick Time, if possible) with the following information: Name, Phone Number, Address, and Date.

Book Clubs For Children and Teens In October

The Essex Library is proud to offer a variety of book clubs for children and teens. Books are available at the Library. Please stop in to register or call: 767-1560. Here’s the meeting schedule for October:

Magic Tree House Club
Join the Essex Library’s Magic Tree House Club and travel through time and around the world with Jack and Annie.  This club will run for 6 Wednesdays in a row from 3:30-4:30 beginning on Wednesday, October 7th. Children will read the assigned book at home each week and then come to the library for some tree house fun and activities.  The library will have extra copies of each of the books needed for each week. The first book to be discussed will be Dinosaurs Before Dark.

Hunger Games Book Night
What is it about the Hunger Games that’s got everyone’s attention? Why did Valley Regional students love doing their homework this summer? Join us as we discuss the first book in Suzanne Collin’s two part series and a potential release date for a Hunger Games film. If you are a fan at any age you ARE invited to join! PIZZA will be served and prizes will be given out. Tuesday, October 6th, 6-7 p.m.

Twilight Book Club
Meeting #2 of this club will take place on Tuesday, October 20th at 6 p.m. We’ll be discussing the novel New Moon and its upcoming film counterpart scheduled to be released on 11/20/09. We’ve got access to new trailers and will have contests with great prizes to win. If you are a fan at any age you ARE invited to join! Snacks will be served!

Middlesex County Community Foundation Grants Awarded To Essex Library

Thanks to two generous grants from the Middlesex County Community Foundation, the Essex Library will be able to offer two very special programs for young people in 2009.

Days of Knights, offered during the February school break, Feb. 17th thru the 21st, is a daily series of events themed around chivalry, knighthood, and the Middle Ages, with crafts like shield-making, heraldry, stories, films, and more, that ends with an all-day Medieval Fair and a program by the curators of the Higgins Armory Museum, in which kids will see actual armor and weapons displayed and demonstrated. Huzzah!

The second program, offered in the spring, is called GirlZone, and is aimed at helping teen girls gain essential life skills in a supportive and encouraging environment. Girls will learn about grooming, self-image, job interview techniques, manners, and more during the six once-weekly meetings.

The Middlesex County Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in Middlesex County. Its two-fold mission: to work with charitably-minded individuals and organizations to build permanent endowments and other charitable funds; and to support local nonprofit organizations through effective grantmaking to address community needs. Since its founding in 1997, the Community Foundation has provided more than $1.1 million in grants to more than 150 organizations for the arts, cultural and heritage programs, educational activities, environmental improvements, and for health and human services.

College Prep In November

Our College Prep series returns on Monday, November 10th from 7-8p.m. with How to Pay Less for College! This workshop lists colleges that pay you to attend!

Come to a workshop hosted by the Essex Library and Sam Rosensohn, founder of College Planning Partnership.  As personal finances weaken and lenders get tough, learn which colleges will pay you to attend their schools. Discover how to identify the schools that are offering merit money (money not based on need but based on academic accomplishment) and how to qualify for merit money.  Merit scholarships can be helpful in financing your college education. In contrast to need-based grants or scholarships, merit scholarships are awarded to students based on grades, accomplishments or other personal characteristics rather than financial need.  Sam, author of the newspaper column College 101, will share with parents and students how to identify the schools that offer merit academic awards and honors programs that they can acquire.  Sam will offer school lists, web sites and tips on how to prepare, starting in the ninth grade, for merit money and honors programs.

Most students do not actively seek merit awards because they do not know about this pool of money. They learn about merit money once they’ve been accepted to college. Come to this workshop and get ahead of the curve.

Please contact the Essex Library at 767-1560 or jmccann@essexlib.org to register for this important informational evening.

Teen Gaming Party

If you like gaming and you’re a high-school-aged teen, then join us on Tuesday, August 26th from 6:30-8p.m. for a gaming party. We’ll have the Wii, DDR, Guitar Hero, various board games and backgammon sets available. And come hungry because there’ll also be pizza and snacks!

The Last Lecture At The Library

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
~~ Randy Pausch

The Essex Library is proud to feature a special showing of Randy Pausch’s phenomenal “The Last Lecture”, on Wednesday, August 27th at 7p.m. Admission is free.

At Carnegie Mellon University’s “Last Lecture” series, professors are asked to share with the audience what wisdom they’d choose to impart to the world, if they knew it was their last chance. When computer science professor Randy Pausch was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine. He had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

But the lecture he gave–”Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”–wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was about living. Funny, incisive, surprising, “The Last Lecture” has been viewed over six million times on the Internet. It has spawned an international best-seller that’s on the summer reading list for high schools across the country. Its author has been featured on Oprah and in a Diane Sawyer television special. Don’t miss this opportunity to see and discuss “The Last Lecture” with someone who matters to you. Call the Essex Library at 767-1560 for reservations.

Announcing The Teen Blog!

The Essex Library now has a teen blog available. It is a space where teens in the Essex area can make the library their own. Find out about teen programs, books and interesting web sites. We’re looking for feedback from our local teens, so log on and let us know what you’d like to see and do at the Library.