Peace: The Other Side of Anger-- A Workshop with David Wolffe Friday, October 29, 3:30 PM

David Wolffe is author of Peace:The Other Side of Anger to be published in the Fall 2010. The book was written to help parents, educators, social workers and others to help them understand anger and help empower young people to express this emotion without hurting themselves or others.

David will present a short workshop on the principles revealed in his new book,

David has been an educator for over 35 years. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree and Masters Degree in Education from Queens College. He taught grades 1-9 with the New York City Board of Education, and was a high school guidance counselor for 13 years. Presently he is an Adjunct Lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, where he teaches Sociology of Conflict, a course in the Dispute Resolution Program. He is also certified as a Peer Mediation Specialist from the International Center for Conflict Resolution of Columbia University Teachers College.

More information click here

White Huts, Conspiracy theories, Peace Corps, and Mocha Joe's Coffee...all in May @ Your Library

Wednesday, May 6, 7 PM, The Appalachian Huts.

Dartmouth professor Allen Koop explains how the history of the huts reflects the larger issues of American history, but also how the huts and their people have formed a society with its own history, traditions, and legends.

Professor Allen koop earned his Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania. He lectures in the History Department at Dartmouth College, primarily on 20th century European history and on the American health care system.

The Vermont Humanities Council's First Wednesdays series is held on the first Wednesday of every month from October through May, featuring speakers of national and regional renown. The program is free, accessible to people with disabilities and open to the public.

This lecture is part of the First Wednesdays Lecture Series sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council and underwritten by Brattleboro Savings & Loan, Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, Entergy Vermont; Friends of Brooks Memorial Library, and Merrill-Lynch, Brattleboro. The Vermont Department of Libraries and Windham Foundation are the statewide underwriters of First Wednesdays. "The White Mountain Huts" is sponsored by The Woodstone Company.

Wednesday, May 13, 7 PM,Conspiracy Theories in Film, Television, and Politics

Montserrat College Professor Gordon B. Arnold, author of the recently published Conspiracy Theory in Film, Television, and Politics, will discuss his book in the library's Meeting Room.

Conspiracy theory has captured the American imagination for more than two generations. Once at the fringes of society, the conspiracy-theory mindset is now a mainstream phenomenon. This is not surprising, as Americans have been bombarded with the conspiracy message since the middle of the last century.

In this new book, Arnold explores how Hollywood has perpetuated conspiracy culture in the United States.

Dr. Arnold is professor of liberal arts at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Mass., where he has taught courses in film, media, and politics for many years. He was previously a reference librarian and library director at public and academic libraries. His publications include the book The Politics of Faculty Unionization (2000), as well as articles in Library Journal, Change, and Labor Studies Journal.

Thursday, May 14, 7 PM, Former Senior Peace Corps Volunteer Lawrence Siddall will speak about his recent memoir, Two Years in Poland and Other Stories.

In his newly-published memoir, Lawrence Brane Siddall describes his "late-life adventure" as a Peace Corps volunteer in Poland where he taught English in a high school from 1997 to 1999 following his retirement. As a 67-year-old grandfather, Siddall was one of only 450 senior Peace Corps volunteers out of 6,500 worldwide.

With an eye for detail, the author vividly describes the challenges he faces in his Polish classroom, his struggle to learn the language, his initial feelings of isolation in adjusting to a new culture, and the close friends he eventually makes. He has since returned to Poland twice to visit friends, participate in a school reunion, and attend two weddings.

Siddall's most recent adventure is only one of many in his active lifetime. He weaves these stories into his narrative as flashbacks. These include a glimpse into his own high school years and a vignette about the death of his mother in China in 1932.

In the longest flashback, the author tells of an amazing 11,000-mile overland trek from Europe to India in a VW Beetle in 1956 at a time of political Mid-East instability. With the events of that time still reverberating today, Siddall's keen observations are as relevant now as they were then. His account of working his way back to the U.S. on a freighter is a colorful final chapter to this five-month-long odyssey.

Born in China where his father was a medical missionary, Lawrence Siddall grew up in Oberlin, Ohio. He is a 1952 graduate of Oberlin College and holds advanced degrees from the University of Connecticut and the University of Massachusetts. A retired psychotherapist, he lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Thursday, May 21, 7 p.m.Coffee Tasting and Talk: Farmer Direct Purchased Coffee.

Mocha Joe Coffee Tasting. Pierre Capy and Ari B. Reis of Mocha Joe's, will be on hand to offer us tastings and education on the coffee that they buy and roast.

Owner Pierre Capy of 10-year-old Brattleboro-based

Mocha Joe's, along with sales manager Ari Reis, will present a talk on "Beyond Fair Trade: Farmer Direct Purchased Coffee," accompanied by a tasting. Capy and Reis will discuss their recent trips to Central America and Cameroon to set up direct contacts and purchases from the farmers who produce the coffee in these regions-a totally different model of coffee purchasing than most in existence now.

Hey..It's Your Library..Come to an event this month

Thursday, March 12, 7 PM, American social anthropologist Ann Armbrecht, PhD, will discuss her recent book, Thin Places: A Pilgrimage Home, in the library's Main Reading Room. A "thin place" is a place where two worlds meet,usually the mundane and the spiritual worlds. During the 1990s, Dr. Armbrecht made several trips to northeastern Nepal to research the relationship between Yamphu Rai farmers and their land use in an area recently designated as a national park and conservation area; and whether-as she believed-they held a wisdom about living on the earth that the industrialized West had forgotten.

Thursday, March 26, 7 PM, Author Hal LaCroix will present a talk on his book Journey Out of Darkness: The Real Story of American Heroes in Hitler's POW Camps. The book is illustrated with photographs by Jorg Meyer. Journey Out of Darkness is a poignant collection of portraits, in words and photographs, of 19 former prisoners of war who bravely endured captivity in Nazi Germany during World War II. Through these men, one can learn essential truths about the POW experience during that war-truths that counter many popular myths and misconceptions. Journalist LaCroix and photographer Meyer have crafted a powerful exploration of the struggles of these brave veterans. Using both oral histories and photographs, Journey Out of Darkness humanizes a terrifying aspect of war, redefining how we think about these men as POWs, survivors, patriots, and members of the "Greatest Generation."

Friday, March 27, 7 PM, Newfane author Castle Freeman, Jr. will read from his new novel, All That I Have, in the Main Room. Just one year after his critically acclaimed, Go With Me: A Novel¸ Castle presents his readers with another "gripping, wise, and darkly funny tale of suspense. Sheriff Lucian Wing confronts a series of trials that test his work, his marriage, and the settled order of his life. Wing is an experienced, practical man who enforces the law in his corner of Vermont with a steady hand and a generous tolerance. Things are not as they should be, however, in the sheriff's small, protected domain. The outside world draws near, and threats multiply: the arrival in the district of a band of exotic, major league criminals; an ambitious and aggressive deputy; the self-destructive exploits of a local bad boy; Wing's discovery of a domestic crisis. The sheriff's response to these diverse challenges calls on all the personal resources he has cultivated during his working life: patience, tact, and humor. Castle Freeman Jr. is the award-winning author of three previous novels, a story collection, and a collection of essays. He has been a regular essayist for The Old Farmer's Almanac since 1982 and is also a contributor to Vermont Life magazine. He lives in Newfane, Vermont.

Lily Koppel Presents The Red Leather Diary at Brooks Memorial Library

It was a good turnout on a beautiful summer's eve tonight at the library to hear. Lily Koppel, author of The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal, read exquisitely from her work. Lily tells the story of the discovery of a red leather diary written by a 15 year old Florence Wolfson in 1929. 2,000 entries and five years later the diary ends but within its crumbling pages Koppel discovers the vivid and dynamic life of a young woman growing up in Manhattan in the 1930s.

When Koppel, a young journalist, left her New York City apartment one morning in 2003, she had no idea that the contents of a dumpster outside her building would change the course of her life and that of 90-year old Florence Wolfson.

Read more of this incredible serendipitous discovery at her web site. Or join her Facebook group.

If you missed Lily tonight you can catch her at the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT. on Wednesday, August 6, at 7 pm. Or, see her at one of the many public appearances.

Reserve the book at Brooks Memorial Library by clicking here.

Library friend, Castle Freeman, Jr., reads from newest novel, Go With Me

Brooks Memorial Library's friend, Castle Freeman, Jr., of Newfane, will read from his highly acclaimed novel, Go With Me, on Sunday, January 27, 2008, at 2:00 PM in the Library’s main reading room. Read Deborah Luskin's review here.

Howard Frank Mosher says, “Go with Me is the most suspenseful, frightening, memorable and best-written novel about backwoods America since Deliverance. It’s the book Castle Freeman was born to write.

The characters seem as real and human as my next door neighbors. I sat down and read Go with Me straight through. Then I went and got a beer, came back and read it again. Now that’s a novel.”

Castle gets rave reviews from other writers such as, Reeve Lindberg, Jeffery Lent, and Craig Nova. Publishers Weekly says, Go With Me has “dialogue rich with humor, philosophic depth and a near-mythic sensibility.” A starred review in Kirkus, the book [is] “a small masterpiece of black comedy and suspense about a trio of backwoods heroes who embark upon a modern-day quest.... If all novels were this good, Americans would read more." —

The program is free an open to the public.

Listen to author talks? It's easy with OPAL

I am listening right now to a talk presented by Alaska mystery author, Dana Stabenow. Her talk was recorded by OPAL, the Online Programming for all Libraries, whose purpose is:

OPAL is an international collaborative effort by libraries of all types to provide web-based programs and training for library users and library staff members. These live events are held in online rooms where participants can interact via voice-over-IP, text chatting, and synchronized browsing. Everyone is welcome to participate in OPAL programs. Usually there is no need to register. Nearly all OPAL programs are offered free of charge to participants.

Go to the link above and click on archive. You will see a list of lectures and presentations done in libraries all over the US. You get the audio as well as the chat history of listeners of the talk.

You can also listen to these lectures in real-time by clicking on chronological list of all scheduled programs to see what is being offered. Here you can listen and comment while the lecture is being presented.

Again, the "good" Internet skrinks the world for all of us. Check it out!