Monday 2 - 8
Tuesday 10 - 5
Wednesday  10 - 5
Thursday 2 - 8
Friday 10 - 5
Saturday 10 - 1
Kimball Public Library
  67 Main Street, Randolph, VT 05060
  802-728-5073 or 728-6735     info@KimballLibrary.org

Kimball Library Events - 2012

Book Discussion Groups for Adults
Children's Events
Genealogy

2011-2012 Winter Book Discussions

Making Sense of the American Civil War

Cosponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council.

Kimball Library will host a free five-part reading and discussion series called “Making Sense of the American Civil War.” The series is cosponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council. The VHC received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to develop and offer a public library reading and discussion program on the sesquicentennial of the Civil War and Emancipation. The grant is a special award to VHC’s 35 year old Reading and Discussion Program through the NEH's We the People program.

The NEH initiative is the latest of its long running project "Let's Talk About It!" The new project is called, "Making Sense of the American Civil War". The program's content was developed by Edward L. Ayers, author of the award-winning book, In the Presence of Mine Enemies: Civil War in the Heart of America, and creator of the web site, Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War, which has attracted millions of users and won major prizes in the teaching of history. Ayers is the president of the University of Richmond in Virginia.

The program is designed for libraries and other community-based organizations seeking to present sesquicentennial programming that probes meanings of the Civil War that are “hidden in plain sight” behind the key questions and main characters so familiar to us. Program participants may be surprised to encounter in the selected readings such a large cast of characters, so broad a range of perspectives, and so dense a web of circumstances. After considering the vast sweep and profound breadth of Civil War experience, readers will understand that the American Civil War was not a single thing, or a simple thing. And yet they will also see emancipation—the end of the most powerful system of slavery in the modern world—take its place as the central story of the war.

Scholar John Turner will lead the discussions. Mr. Turner attended a workshop, hosted by the NEH, in which scholars and state humanities councils staff considered ways to address issues that the Civil War, and Ayers’ book raise for modern audiences. Turner has taught literature and history for more than four decades in institutions as diverse as Goddard College and Norwich University. He writes a blog on current affairs, WordandImageofVermont.com, and is the author of Adair Street and Letters to Dalton. He lives in Montpelier with his wife Shirley.

Wednesday evenings, 7 p.m., at Kimball Library

January 25 - Session 1: Imagining War - March by Geraldine Brooks; Part 1 of America's War anthology edited by Edward L. Ayers

February 22 - Session 2: Choosing Sides - Part 2 of America's War anthology edited by Edward L. Ayers

March 28 - Session 3: Making Sense of Shiloh - Part 3 of America's War anthology edited by Edward L. Ayers

April 25 - Session 4: The Shape of War - Crossroads of Freedom by James McPherson; Part 4 of America's War anthology edited by Edward L. Ayers

May 23 - Session 5: War and Freedom - Part 5 of America's War anthology edited by Edward L. Ayers

To obtain copies of all program materials, please contact Kimball Library.

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Tuesday evenings, 7 p.m., at Kimball Library

Jan. 3, 2012 - The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: a Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, by Anne Fadiman.

Feb. 28, 2012 - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot.

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First Wednesdays, at 12:45 p.m., at the Randolph Senior Center

Discussions are led by Amy Grasmick, Kimball Library Director

Jan. 4 - "Show and Tell" - bring your favorite book to share
Feb. 1 - Catering to Nobody, by Diane Mott Davidson
Mar. 7 - The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
Apr. 4 - The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson
May 2 - Killer Angels, by Jeff Shaara
Jun. 6 - Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier

Knitting Group

Knitters, crocheters, quilters - and other crafters, are all welcome to the Monday Evening Knitting Group at Kimball Library. Knitters at all levels are invited to join this casual group at any time between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Monday evenings. This is a good way to get that project finished, or get help with the tough part, or simply enjoy the camaraderie of other knitters.

Genealogy

Kimball Library has suspended its genealogy workshop until there is more interest. In the meantime, if you have genealogy questions, or are interested in attending a workshop, you may contact Harriet Chase or Nancy Gray. Harriet Chase, hatchasse@earthlink.net, 802-728-6677, is a Randolph historian, author and genealogist. Nancy Gray, rgng36@myfairpoint.net, 802-728-5547, is the Regent of the Colonel Israel Converse Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and Honorary State Regent.

If you have a Membership at Kimball Library, you have free access to Heritage Quest for help in your search. Call the Library for instructions and/or the password.

Updated 1/11/12.