The Annual Library Book Sale
is about to happen this weekend!

Our very biggest fund raising effort this year will take place within hours as we hold the most magnificent Annual Book Sale ever! In spite of the recent weather and thanks to the enormous efforts of scores of volunteers and the generosity of all of our book, video, CD and DVD donors throughout the year, the Annual Book Sale will come off as planned and in great style. Stop in to shop more than 50 categories of sale items in "like new" condition (all incredible bargains) and fill your shelves for the summer and your bag for the beach! A silent auction of rare books will be conducted Saturday and Sunday, too.

Hours of the sale are:
Saturday, April 28th, 7-10 am: Early Buyers with $15 admission fee
Saturday, April 28th, 10 am-5 pm: Admission free to public, books full price
Sunday, April 29th, 1 pm-5 pm: Admission free to public, books full price
Monday, April 30th, 10 am-6 pm: Admission free to public, books half price
Tuesday, May 1st, 10 am-2 pm: Admission and books free with donation

The Rotary Club of Wilton will have hot dogs, soda, and coffee and donuts available for you to buy as well, and sales will benefit the Library. Please stop by and shop - we will have the door open for you. You won't believe the great variety and how well our Book Cellar and Gallery sale areas are organized... join us for the best "win-win" effort in town!

See you there!
Kathy Leeds, Director

For their senior interest project, WHS students Mara Schechter and Madeline Kennedy explored homelessness within Fairfield County. Meeting with residents at three local shelters, they took photos and gathered stories from residents and visitors. An exhibit of those interviews and portraits entitled "Fairfield County's Homelessness: Interviews and Portraits" is on display now through May in the Adult Computer area.

Schechter and Kennedy hope to break stereotypes about homelessness. "I hope that some people will be moved enough by the exhibit to provide larger forms of help, perhaps even in the political sphere by pushing the government to increase low-income housing," says Schechter. Please take a walk to the southeast corner of our building to see this important project.

At the Wilton Library, we'll celebrate as well. Children of all ages can drop in at any time during the day to make a May Day craft designed to be worn at our two May Pole celebrations at 11:30 am and 4 pm in the courtyard (weather permitting). No registration is necessary - just come and take part in the fun.

Downloadable Audiobooks ~~ Thursday, May 3rd from noon to 1:30 pm
Join in the fun of downloading audiobooks from NetLibrary to your computer at home and then transferring them to an MP3 player to carry with you as you travel or commute. You can have a book with you wherever you go, even if you don't own your own player, because the Library has them available for you to borrow. Join Mary Anne to learn how to find, download, transfer and listen to hundreds of great titles. Note that the NetLibrary service is not compatible with iPod or other Macintosh products. Please register in advance.

According to Amazon, What could be better than a magic cupboard that turns small toys into living creatures? Omri's big brother has no birthday present for him, so he gives Omri an old medicine cabinet he's found. Although their mother supplies a key, the cabinet still doesn't seem like much of a present. But when an exhausted Omri dumps a plastic toy Indian into the cabinet just before falling asleep, the magic begins. Turn the key once and the toy comes alive; turn it a second time and it's an action figure again.

The Indian in the Cupboard is one of those rare books that is equally appealing to children and adults. The story of Omri and the Indian, Little Bear, is replete with subtle reminders of the responsibilities that accompany friendship and love. For kids, it's a great yarn; for most parents, it's also a reminder that Omri's wrenching decision to send his toy back to its own world is not so different from the recognition of their children's emerging independence.

Allen Brings
Out of One, Many: How Single-Voiced Music Became Many Voiced
Employing a blend of musical illustration and discussion, composer and pianist, Allen Brings, will demonstrate how the monophony that characterized all music in the early Middle Ages in the West evolved into the polyphony that is heard in almost all music today. Dr. Brings will illustrate his talk both by playing the piano and with CD selections from the Library's own outstanding Knott Classical Music Collection. Please register in advance for this session to take place on Saturday, May 5th, from 10:30 am to noon.

Chris Brubeck
Evolution of a Commission
Award-winning composer and musician, Chris Brubeck, discusses his compositional process, focusing mainly on the development of a piece commissioned by The Boston Pops for national broadcast entitled Interplay for Three Violins and Orchestra. The task was to write a concerto for three superstar violinists from three different fields: Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, classical virtuoso; Regina Carter, best-selling jazz violinist; and Eileen Ivers, Irish fiddle champion of Riverdance fame. Portions of the award-winning broadcast will be shown during the class. Please register in advance for this session to take place on Saturday, May 12th, from 10:30 am to noon.

John Mucci
The Rise and Fall of Verismo Opera
Employing a blend of musical illustration, slide presentation and discussion, writer, composer, and lyricist, John Mucci, will enlighten us all about Verismo opera. A sort of Italian opera that began in 1890 and flourished between 1900 and 1929, this music was characterized by stories abounding in violent love and hate, themes that mix the basest motives with the most ardent expression. Using examples from the Library's exceptional opera collection, John will examine verismo as the first "reality" event for opera goers. Please register in advance for this session to take place on Saturday, May 19th from 10:30 am to noon.

Please note that Ben Van Vechten led a discussion of the novel on April 24th at the Senior Center, but you need not have taken part in that discussion to attend this screening. Please register in advance and bring your lunch for a truly remarkable experience.

• May 5th online registration
• May 19th online registration
• May 26th online registration

Susan Boyar will lead a discussion of Becoming Strangers, by Louisa Dean, on Wednesday, May 9th, from noon to 1:30 pm. Booklist said, What keeps an unhappily married couple together? In her impressive debut, long-listed for the 2004 Man Booker [Prize], Dean dissects two hollow unions against the sultry backdrop of a Caribbean resort. George and Dorothy Davis, an English couple married more than 50 years, are worn down by neglect and boredom; Jan and Annemieke de Groot, Belgians married 31 years, are pulled apart by Jan's terminal cancer, which exposes issues they've suppressed for years. Dean is at her best in interior moments, when characters ponder their lives with private, brutal candor. On holiday, friendships form, affairs spark and revelations startle. Adept at sharp dialogue and brisk plotting, Dean is also attentive to character development, choosing authenticity over sentimentality in a book that is poignant, often funny and unexpectedly redemptive. Please let us know you are coming by registering in advance, and bring your lunch if you like - we'll provide the beverages.

Our International Book Group that features the literature of other lands will take place on Wednesday, May 9th, from 7 to 8:30 pm when Vita Silina will discuss The Rings of My Tree: A Latvian Woman's Journey, by Jane E. Cunningham. This book is a well-told story of one young woman's journey that starts in pre-WWII Latvia and follows her as she is ripped from her home in Liepaja, separated from family and friends, and ends up, like so many others, in a Displaced Persons Camp in Germany. I encourage you to join us, even if you aren't able to read the book, as Vita will speak about her country and countrymen. Refreshments including international desserts will be served, so please register in advance so that we may plan to have enough treats on hand.

The Senior Center book discussion this month will be led by program head, Barbara Jones. Every year, Barbara lines up a wonderful series of titles and discussion leaders, but we look forward especially each year to the time she steps up to lead a discussion herself. This month she's chosen Martha Washington: An American Life, by Patricia Brady on Tuesday, May 22nd, at 11 am at the Senior Center (in Comstock Community Center, 180 School Road). Booklist says, Brady paints a portrait of the long-lived marriage between George and Martha as a passionate merger of both minds and hearts. A lively, intelligent, and fiscally shrewd widow, Martha was the perfect match for the more somber and less financially secure George. Unwavering in her devotion to her second husband, Martha quickly became his sounding board as well as his most trusted confidante during the tumultuous revolutionary and presidential years. Please call the Senior Center to register (834-6240) and let them know if you would like to stay for lunch.

On Thursday, May 17th, from noon to 1:30 pm, they will lead a spirited discussion of William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair. Long considered a masterpiece of classic literature, Vanity Fair is a timeless story about unbridled ambition and a skewering of upper class society. Please register in advance.

On Thursday, May 31st, again from noon to 1:30 pm, they'll talk about The House of Mirth. A drawing room drama about the whispered politics and wily business of marriage in New York high society, the book is about a beautiful young socialite whose life becomes hampered with scandal, in part because she can't reconcile her heart with the fact that she must marry well to maintain her station. Please register in advance.

The repertoire on May 20th will feature Maurice Ravel's luminous Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet, and strings. Players are Maryly Culpepper (flute), Kathryn Taylor (clarinet), Wendy Kerner Lucas (harp), Robert Zubrycki and Salley Koo (violin), Renate Falkner (viola), and Arthur Cook (cello). This concert is sponsored by the Suzanne La Follette Culley Charitable Trust. Please register in advance to guarantee seating. Pre-registrants must arrive by 4 pm to claim their seats. After 4 pm, and if space is available, waitlisted and walk-in registrants will be admitted. We hope you can join us for a thrilling afternoon.

And if you do belong to a discussion group, stop by the reference desk the next time you are in to pick up a request form or call us at 762-3950 to let us know what you need. We will purchase six copies of paperbacks you would like your group to read if they are available and add them to this growing and heavily used collection. We're always happy to obtain copies from other libraries as well, when our supply runs out.