Unfortunately, due to a shortage of vaccine, Nursing & Home Care has had to cancel its December 1st flu clinic at the Library. We apologize to those of you who had planned to get your inoculations with us - although we understand that NHC has applied for more doses, the likelihood they will arrive in time for this flu season is remote. Please call Nursing & Home Care at 834-6341, extension 444, for more information.

On Tuesdays December 6th and 13th kids one through five years old can stop by for a story with no fee or registration necessary. Our staff will be on hand to tell tales at the following times:

Ones ~~ 10:30-11 am
Twos ~~ 11:30 am - noon
Threes ~~ 1-1:30 pm
Fours and Fives ~~ 2-2:45 pm

Ones and twos must bring along an adult to share in the fun.

On Tuesday, December 6th, from 4-5:30 pm, we will be pleased to host the first in a series of informative sessions on special needs. Many of our staff members will attend and we encourage parents and interested care givers and professionals to be on hand when Christine Chambers and Pauline Smith from the Wilton School System's Special Services Department speak about how our schools provide service to children with special needs and their families. Upcoming sessions will address topics of Autism, The Disability Spectrum, Assistive Technology, and Internet Resources for Special Needs. The sessions are free, but advance registration is requested in person, by phone or online.

On Wednesday, December 7th, at 7:30 pm, we'll offer a free counseling session by camping consultant Ginger Murtaugh. Ginger will share her knowledge, helping parents sort through information and choices for summer activities. Although there is no charge for the program, advance registration is requested in person, by phone or online.

On Friday, December 9th, from 1-3 pm, Beth Gallos and Jill Maller-Kesselman, Wilton Schools psychologists, will lead a discussion on Friendship and the Preschooler. Beth and Jill will talk about planning successful playdates, developmentally appropriate expectations for play in preschoolers and problem solving for preschool conflicts. Do yourself and your child a favor and attend this informative session - you are bound to be glad you did! Advance registration is suggested in person, by phone or online.

We are so delighted at community response to our second annual Wilton Reads! - and thanks to our friends at the Wilton Bulletin, 350 copies of Pete Hamill's Snow in August were distributed free to eager readers in less than three days! In addition, thanks to several Wilton organizations, all of our sophomores will be able to join in reading and discussing this moving novel. Several book discussion groups in town have adopted the title for their gatherings this fall and winter, and we will host a discussion led by popular lecturer Ben Van Vechten. Join us on Thursday, December 8th from 10:30 am to noon to talk about the messages and mysteries of this fabulous book.

Note that the Library has many copies of the title in its collection, so you need not worry about tracking it down at a bookstore if you missed getting one of the hundreds given away by the Bulletin. You can reserve your copy online or call us to put one aside for you. Advance registration is requested for Ben's discussion - in person, by phone or online.

Note that other Wilton Reads! Snow in August events are posted on our website, including a second book discussion led by Susan Boyar, a free showing of the film, and culminating in an appearance by the author himself on February 2nd (thanks to grants from United Way of Norwalk & Wilton and The Wilton Bank).

From Monday, December 12th through Friday, December 23rd, children of all ages can drop in at any time during the week to make their own holiday creations for Christmas and Hanukkah at the Library.

There is no charge for supplies - and we have lots of fun things on hand to make the decorations. Just drop in and create!

Andy Mais, former member of Wilton's Board of Finance and currently Director of the Voluntary Action Center of Mid-Fairfield, will lead the showing and discussion of another of the very special films we've been able to add to our collection via a grant from United Way of Norwalk & Wilton. This award-winning animated documentary is sure to spark discussion about the creativity inherent in a diverse community.

Please join us on Tuesday, December 13th from 7-8:30 pm for a thought-provoking evening that can benefit us all. Advance registration is required in person, by phone (762-3950) or online.

• Thanks to Mark and Fran McGowan for children's books donated to honor the birth of their daughter Emma Hope.
• Thanks to Lenore Palmer for her continued funding of our International Herald Tribune subscription.
• Thanks to Stewart Flowers for their wonderful weekly floral arrangement donations.
• Thanks to Susan Wilterding for maintaining our "Wilton Library geraniums" during construction - they are now back at home in the windows of the Magazine Reading Area.
• Thanks to Marianne Wilson for her donation of food and services at the Leadership Breakfast held in October.
• Thanks to all who have given gifts to fund our plantings and to Donna Ferries and Lydia Wallis for mounting this special campaign.
• Thank you to all who made gifts to memorialize our dear friend, Joe Monteleone.
• Thank you to all who gave in the name of another wonderful Library friend, Peter Van Alstyne.
• Thanks to Wilton PTA Council, SPED*NET and Wilton Schools Special Services for helping us to bring author Mike Sullivan to Wilton to talk about his Connecting Boys with Books.
• Thanks to United Way of Norwalk & Wilton for funding our Operation Respect film discussion series in November, December and January. We are grateful as well to learn that they will join the Wilton Bank and Wilton Bulletin in supporting this year's Wilton Reads! Snow in August.
• Thanks to Blue Tulip for their generous donation to our building fund on the occasion of their opening in Wilton Center.
• Thanks to Open House, Inc. for hosting a shopping night to benefit the library in November. We are so grateful to all our business friends!

As we draw toward the end of the construction process, several exciting changes will occur this month. With the completion of the northeast addition, adult fiction and non-fiction collections will be moved to their final locations December 7th-9th. Immediately thereafter, crews will begin work on our new Teen Services Area (where adult fiction stacks used to be) and the new Quiet Study and Reference Computer Area (where picture books used to be housed in the "old library").

Work will continue on the Brubeck Room through the month of January and into February, but the end is definitely in sight! Check out the progress. - in person or online.

Alfred Hitchcock was arguably the most widely known and influential director in the history of world cinema with a significant body of work produced over 50 years. The Library would like to acquire a wonderful group of his best films on DVD, entitled Alfred Hitchcock - The Masterpiece Collection. Listed at $90, this group of 15 discs will be circulated as individual titles, greatly enhancing our DVD collection.

The title list for this collection includes Saboteur (1942), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Trouble With Harry (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo (1958), Psycho (1960), The Birds (1963), Marnie (1964), Torn Curtain (1966), Topaz (1969), Frenzy (1972), and Family Plot (1976). All 14 films are digitally re-mastered and represent amazing star power spanning over three decades in Hollywood including James Stewart, Paul Newman, Sean Connery, Anthony Perkins, Doris Day, Grace Kelly and many, many more. An all-new bonus disc showcases Hitchcock's films, career and legacy.

If you would like to donate this exceptional set, please send your check in the amount of $90 made out to the Wilton Library Association to the attention of Kathy Leeds, Wilton Library, 137 Old Ridgefield Road, Wilton, CT 06897. You may also purchase the set with a credit card (Visa or Mastercard) by calling me at 203-762-3950 x 215. We will be glad to designate your donation in the name of a loved one - just let us know!