New Year's Day

The Springfield Town Library will be closing at 5:00 pm, Monday, December 31 (New Year's Eve) and will be closed all day January 1 (New Year's Day). The library will reopen for its normal business hours* at 9:00 am, Wednesday, January 2, 2008. In the meantime we wish everyone a safe and happy holiday, and a wonderful 2008.

*Mon - Thurs 9am - 8pm, Fri 9am - 5pm, Sat 10am - 3pm.

The Library Has New Computers

Thanks to a generous grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Springfield Town Library has been able to purchase six new public Internet terminals. These have replaced the old and somewhat slow terminals that had been a mainstay of our lobby and children's room for several years. Each computer is identically equipped, with Windows Vista, CD/DVD burner, Microsoft Office 2007, etc. The computers were locally purchased and assembled through Computers By Ken.

While books and other circulating materials, children's and adult programs, reference and other more traditional library services continue to be quite popular, our free Internet access has become one of our most heavily used services.

In addition to the six Internet terminals, the library also offers free WiFi (wireless) Internet access to anyone with a compatible device.

From All of Us at The Springfield Town Library

Enjoy The Holidays!

VPR Radio Program - Winter Books

VPR hosted a great discussion about books for winter reading today with Vermont Librarians, Janet Kleinberg from the Mark Skinner Library in Manchester and Lorrie Colburn from the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington. If you missed the broadcast, it is still available at http://vpr.net/news_detail/78558

Holiday Closing

In observance of the Holidays, The Springfield Town Library will be closing at 5:00 pm on Friday, December 21, and will reopen on Thursday December 27, when the library will resume its normal hours.

*Mon-Thurs 9 am - 8 pm, Fri 9 am - 5 pm, Sat 10 am - 3 pm.

Bell Ringer's Cancelled / January Highlights

We sided with caution last evening and decided to cancel the Saxtons River Bell Ringer's program of holiday music on handbells. There is still a chance to hear them perform on Christmas Eve at the Saxtons River Congregational Church, 802-869-2340.

That's it for adult programs 2007 - BUT 2008 is just around the corner! We have several exciting programs happening in January, here are some highlights:

January 10 - 7pm The Vermont Humanities Council and The Springfield Library are sponsoring a 6 session book discussion series titled, "People and Other Animals". Discussions will be led by a Humanities Scholar and all the books are available on loan at the library. Attend one session or all six!

January 11 - 10:30am-11:30am a NEW discussion group begins at the library. The Friday Morning Pageturners is a short-story discussion group. Tell the non-bloggers about this one! We will meet the 2nd and 4th Friday of each month with a break during the summer months. Each story will be available at the Circulation Desk in the library. We will read and discuss a different story at each meeting. Come as often as you'd like! Knitters and handcrafters welcome.

January 17 - 7pm "Who Did It - Now and Then" with former detective Guy Paradee. This is a BIG READ event open to the public.

January 26 - 1-3pm, Seed Starting For Less program with Ron Krupp, author of "The Woodchuck's Guide to Gardening" a Vermont organic gardening book. Ron has been the garden and farm commentator on Vermont Public Radio for the past 10 years.


January 30 - 7-8:30pm MEET MYSTERY AUTHOR, Nancy Means Wright. This is a BIG READ event open to the public.

Holiday Music on Handbells! (Thurs, Dec 13)

The Saxton’s River Bell Ringers will play holiday music on handbells, Thursday December 13 from 7 - 8 pm in the Springfield Town Library's Flinn Room.

Join us for a festive evening!

Holiday Open House Tonight (Friday Nov. 30)

Our Annual Holiday Open House, sponsored by The Friends of the Springfield Town Library (FOSTL), will be held tonight, following the town's tree lighting, and the arrival of Santa.

After the viewing the tree lighting and welcoming Santa, come into The Springfield Town Library to warm your fingers and toes. Our Annual Holiday Open House will include refreshments, music provided by the Comtu Chamber Players, and the raffling of the beautiful holiday gift baskets (one adult, one children's) on display in the library's lobby.

Tickets for the Adult Gift Basket are on sale at the desk, $2.00 per ticket, or three for $5.00.

The drawing for the Children's Gift Basket is FREE, any child may enter.

Books for Holiday Giving on Channel 3 (Dec. 3, 12:10pm)

Looking for a good book to give someone this holiday season? Or something for your own reading? Martha A. Penzer of Brownell Library, Essex Jct., and Amy Howlett of the Vermont Dept. of Libraries will be appearing on WCAX-TV, Channel 3's program "Across The Fence" on Monday, December 3 at 12:10 pm to review books for the holiday gift-giving season.

A list of the books they will be reviewing is available at:

(HTML) http://www.libraries.vermont.gov/libraries/misc/wcax1207.htm
(PDF) http://www.libraries.vermont.gov/libraries/misc/wcax1207.pdf

Thanksgiving Closing

The Springfield Town Library will be closing at 5:00 pm on Wednesday, November 21, and will be closed the remainder of the week in observance of the Thanksgiving Day holiday. The library will resume its normal hours^* on Monday, November 26.

^*Mon-Thurs 9 am - 8 pm, Fri 9 am - 5 pm, Sat 10 am - 3 pm.

Holiday Open House November 30 - 5pm - 8pm

After the town tree lighting and Santa's arrival, come into the library to warm your fingers and toes. The Friends of the Springfield Town Library (FOSTL) sponsor the annual Holiday Open House at the library. Music will be provided by the Comtu Chamber players, refreshments will be served, and the beautiful holiday gift baskets (one adult, one children's) will be raffled.

WWII Story-Collecting Day November 10, 2007

WWII Story-Collecting Day: Preserve your story of wartime. Springfield Town Library and Vermont Public Television invite people with stories or their service during World War II or their life on the home front to a World War II Story-Collecting Day from 10 am to 2 pm. Computer users can read other's stories and submit a story of 500 words of less. As a service to people with stories to tell who do not use a computer, library staff will be available to help submit stories. Please call the library to schedule a time slot to submit your story

The BIG READ comes to Springfield!

Let's read Springfield! Join the Springfield Town Library and The Vermont Arts Council in The Big Read, a national project that gives communities the opportunity to read and discuss one book. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Big Read title for Vermont is "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett. In Springfield, "Sam" the (toy) falcon will be traveling around town during The Big Read, looking for folks "caught" in the act of reading. Get "caught," and get your picture taken and posted at the library. Look for other Big Read events at the library coming in January and February: A presentation by a private detective on crime solving today vs Sam Spade's era; an author talk with Vermont mystery author, Nancy Means Wright; and a presentation and discussion of the 1941 film version of "The Maltese Falcon".
The Vermont Arts Council is the only organization participating in The Big Read whose programming covers an entire state. Copies of "The Maltese Falcon" are available at all participating libraries. For a list of participating libraries or more information about The Big Read, please call the Springfield Town Library or visit http://www.vermontartscouncil.org/.