Free Jazz Concert

Program date: November 22, 2009

The Friends of Middletown Thrall Library, Inc. Present

Peter Einhorn

Sunday, November 22nd, 2 PM

at Middletown Thrall Library

Join us for a free jazz concert
in the 2nd Floor Community Room at Thrall.

Refreshments will be served.

About the Performer Peter Einhorn, a graduate of the University of Miami's jazz guitar program, holds a Masters degree in Composition. He is an award-winning composer who has scored dozens of documentaries. His work can also be heard on radio, national television, and other multimedia formats.

For more information on Peter Einhorn, you can visit his website at www.petereinhorn.com

Mark Twain Talks

Program date: October 25, 2009

The Friends of Middletown Thrall Library, Inc. present

Mark Twain Talks

Sunday, October 25, 2009, at 2 PM

Experience the wit and wisdom of this American humorist.

This program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

"Reel Eclectic" Film

November 5, 2009

Our Art and Foreign Film Festival continues on

November 5, 2009

Please call 341-5454, ext. 5479 for title and complete movie information.

All films are shown in the 2nd Floor Community Room at Middletown Thrall Library.

Please note: Most of these films are not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America and are intended for adult audiences. Additional information for some of the films in this series may be found online at www.filmmovement.com or www.imdb.com. Film annotations provided by RB Publishing and Film Movement.

Help for Job Seekers

Posted on October 2, 2009 (see program dates below)

Middletown Thrall Library Hosts
Ramapo Catskill Library System

Help For You - Job Consultations

Middletown Thrall Library will host FREE individual job consultations for up to twelve job seekers on October 21 and 22, 2009.

Two employment specialists will provide participants with tools to help them get a job in today's market. Participants will be able to meet one-on-one with a consultant.

Please note: Advanced registration is required (see directions below).

Specific and practical ideas will be shared by the consultants on creating a job ready resume, removing barriers to employment, and acing the interview.

One-hour consultations will be available on Wednesday, Oct. 21 and Thursday, October 22 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm.

To register for this service: Please contact the Library Director's Office at (845)341-5485. Employment specialists Eleanor Speier and Evelyn Fields will lead these workshops.

This program has been partially funded by the Ramapo Catskill Library System (RCLS) Coordinated Outreach Grant from the New York State Education Department, Division of Library Development.

"Reel Eclectic" Film

October 1, 2009

Our Art and Foreign Film Festival continues on

October 1, 2009

Please call 341-5454, ext. 5479 for title and complete movie information.

All films are shown in the 2nd Floor Community Room at Middletown Thrall Library.

Please note: Most of these films are not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America and are intended for adult audiences. Additional information for some of the films in this series may be found online at www.filmmovement.com or www.imdb.com. Film annotations provided by RB Publishing and Film Movement.

Back by Popular Demand: Henry Hudson and His World

(see program date below)

Henry Hudson and His World

The Place Where America Began

Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 7 - 8 PM

Presented by historian Tony Nappo. Questions to follow.

If you missed Tony's multi-media lecture in May, or would enjoy hearing it again, with added enhancements, here is your opportunity. During Henry Hudson's three week voyage of exploration in September 1609 he claimed the river, fertile valley, and riches of timber and beaver for the Netherlands. Within 20 years a thriving colony and cosmopolitan city (New Amsterdam, now Manhattan) had been established. You will discover this vital, little known period in pre-English colonial America - a dynamic, diverse and tolerant society - when New Amsterdam became the gateway to a vast mixture of people who would come to define a nation.

Tony Nappo recently retired as a teacher in the Middletown City School District. He holds an MA in Soviet-American Relations from John Carroll University, as well as an MA in Instructional Technology from the New York Institute of Technology. Tony has taught American History, World History, International Politics, and Futuristics to secondary and college students for over 35 years. He is excited by the opportunity to share new insights and historical interpretation surrounding the earliest settlement of New Amsterdam, and its evolution to the New York City of today.

This project is made possible, in part, with funds from Orange County Planning, the County of Orange, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Environmental Protection fund.

Also: Meet special guest "Henry Hudson" in costume this evening!

Free Musical Peformance: Inspiring Songs

(see program dates below)

The Friends of Middletown Thrall Library, Inc. present a musical peformance:

Between Heaven and Earth

An Afternoon of Inspiring Song

Starring

Eileen Mackintosh, Soprano
Louis Menendez, Pianist

Sunday, September 20, 2009, 2:00 PM
at Middletown Thrall Library, 2nd Floor Community Room

Join us for what the performers describe as "thoughtful art songs, inspiring sacred masterpieces, traditional Scottish music, and powerful opera favorites."

This concert is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Fall 2009 Book Discussion Series + Films

(see program dates below)

Stories into Screen

Do Good Books Make Good Movies?

The answer to this question must, of course, be "sometimes." In this series, we invite you to read four acclaimed books that have been made into movies and join us for great scholar-led book discussions.

Evaluate each book and its impact. Come and share your own conclusions, then attend the accompanying film the following week and compare it to the book. If you just want to relax and enjoy the film, regardless if it's true to the original or not, then just come and enjoy it!

In either case, we will take the films on their own merits, as a genre different from the literary.

Here is the schedule of book discussions and film showings:

• 1. Book: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
  Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 7 - 9 PM
  Scholar: Chris Godwin, Professor Emeritus, SUNY Orange
  
  In 1995, Bauby, the 43-year-old editor of the French fashion magazine Elle suffered a massive stroke that left him paralyzed in all but his left eyelid. Out of this waking nightmare (what the medical community calls "locked-in" syndrome) he managed to dictate--letter by letter, by winking his left eye, this small memoir of his "life in a jar." He died two days after the book's French publication. Bauby's essays are remarkable simply because they exist. His observations are amazingly full of humor, generosity, and devoid of much self-pity. He is able to rely upon the butterfly of his mind, dreams and memory to sustain him and triumph over despair. As sad as his condition is, his essays remain an amazing testament to the human spirit. Bauby's memoir will linger in your mind for a long time.
  
  + Film: (2007, Rated PG-13 - call 845-341-5454, ext. 5479 for title)
  Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 7 PM. 112 minutes. In French with English subtitles.
  Biography. Drama. Nominated for four Oscars. Directed by Julian Schnabel. Stars: Jean-Dominique Bauby - Mathieu Amalric; Celine Desmoulin - Emmanuelle Seigner; Henriette Durand - Marie-Josee Croze; Claude - Anne Consigny; Dr. Lepage - Patrick Chesnais
  
  
• 2. Book: The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
  Date: Tuesday, October 6 , 2009, 7 - 9 PM Scholar: Peggy Abt, Professor Emeritus, SUNY Orange
  
  In this Pulitzer Prize winning novel the protagonist is Quoyle, a big man with a huge chin who is an established loser. Unappealing in appearance and uninspiring in personality, Quoyle is pegged as a wretch from day one by everybody, including his parents. He is married to an unashamedly philandering woman who has borne him two children she almost never sees, a heartless bawd who never misses work and brings her boyfriends home. A rapid succession of momentous events changes his life and that of his family. Quoyle's Aunt Agnis convinces him that the best thing would be to relocate to his family's ancestral home in Newfoundland. The way in which he begins to change to make a place for himself and his family in this odd little community that lives off the sea is at the heart of this lyrical, affecting book.
  
  + Film: (2001, Rated R - call 845-341-5454, ext. 5479 for title)
  Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 , 7 PM. 111 minutes. Drama. Romance.
  Directed by Lasse Hallström. Stars: Kevin Spacey - Quoyle; Julianne Moore - Waverly Prowse; Judi Dench - Agnis Hamm; Cate Blanchett - Petal
  
  
• 3. Book: Persuasion by Jane Austen
  Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 7 - 9 PM
  Scholar: Mary Makofske, SUNY Orange, retired
  
  Persuasion, published posthumously in 1818, paints a fascinating portrait of Regency England, especially when dealing with women's place in society. Rigid social barriers existed and everyone wanted to marry "up" to a higher station and, of course, into wealth. Persuasion is also a poignant and passionate story of love, disappointment, loss, and second chances. Initially the romance between Captain Wentworth and Anne, the daughter of Sir Walter Elliot, seems doomed because of the young man's family connections and lack of wealth. Some years pass and Wentworth, now a Captain in the Royal Navy, is quite wealthy. When Anne and Wentworth next meet one can feel Anne's longing and remorse. Wentworth is aloof with Anne, although civil. He was hurtfully rejected once before, and it appears that he still feels her snub. Anne and Wentworth must find a way to negotiate their past, their different social classes, and proper behavior to work their way back to one another. While the plot conventions may be known to Austen fans it doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the book in the slightest.
  
  + Film: (1995, Rated PG - call 845-341-5454, ext. 5479 for title)
  Date: Tuesday, October 27 , 2009, 7 PM. 107 minutes. Drama. Romance.
  Directed by Roger Mitchell. Stars: Anne Elliot- Amanda Root; Capt. Wentworth- Ciaran Hinds; Lady Russell-Susan Fleetwood; Sir Walter Elliot- Corin Redgrave.
  
  
• 4. Book: Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow
  Date: Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 7 - 9 PM
  Scholar: Tony Nappo, Middletown City School District, retired
  
  Ragtime is perhaps Doctorow's best known work. In this story a cast of historical figures are mixed in with fictional characters to create a novel that presents an unsettling vision of New York at the turn of the twentieth century. On the surface Ragtime is a light read, "a crazy quilt of humanity" but its dark side of racism, poverty, and violence is never far from the surface. Many tales make up this work but it centers around three families, an upper-middle-class white family from New Rochelle, an impoverished immigrant Jewish family, and a young black ragtime pianist, his girlfriend and infant son whose lives ultimately become intertwined in this narrative.
  
  + Film: (1981, Rated R - call 845-341-5454, ext. 5479 for title)
  Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 7 PM. 155 minutes.
  Directed by Milos Forman. Stars: James Cagney, Brad Dourif, Moses Gunn, James Olson, Elizabeth McGovern, Academy Award Nominations 8 - including Best (Adapted) Screenplay, Best Original Song ("One More Hour" by Randy Newman)

Books Available Copies of each book can be requested at any time and in any order you wish using your RCLS library card. We will have copies of each title at Thrall at least 3 weeks prior to the discussion

When available we will have copies in various formats (large print, CD, cassette).

For more information, please call (845) 341-5454 ext. 5479 or send e-mail to thrall16@warwick.net.

"Baseball: America's Pastime" Series

(see program dates below)

Baseball: America's Pastime

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Join us and discover little-known connections between baseball's early years and Middletown players and the story behind baseball's greatest scandal - the 1919 'Black Sox' World Series.

All 4 programs are FREE and will be held in the 2nd floor meeting room at Middletown Thrall Library. Here is the schedule:

• "The Good"

  The Asylum Base Ball Club: Glimpses into Baseball's Past
  Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 7 - 8 PM
  Presented by Bob Mayer, baseball historian, collector of vintage baseball memorabilia
  Discover Middletown's crack 19th century semi-pro team during the early days of the game. Dr. Selden Talcott, Superintendent at the State Homeopathic Hospital for the Insane at Middletown, believed that providing a highly competitive baseball team would ease the patients' troubles, and in 1888 the Asylum BBC was born. Comprised mostly of men hired to work at the State Hospital, the team was superb, and several of the players went on to careers in professional baseball. The team was so good by 1894 that eight of the starters signed contracts to play for minor league clubs the following year. Future Hall of Famer "Happy Jack" Chesbro got his start with the "Asylum 9."
  
  On display will be some of Bob's unique collection of early baseball memorabilia, including photographs, trophies, uniforms, and equipment.
  
  Bob Mayer of Putnam Valley, NY has been connected with baseball since boyhood. He is a member of The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and on their Negro League and 19th Century committees. He is also a member of The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. He has contributed articles to baseball journals and spoken before civic groups, libraries, and historical societies. Bob owns and manages Spring Fever, a baseball memorabilia company, and has a significant collection of vintage artifacts. He holds an MBA in Business Management from Adelphi and a BS in Finance from the University of West Florida.
  
  

• "The Bad"

  Alfred W. Lawson's Whirlwind Tour Through Middletown
  Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 7 - 8 PM
  Presented by Jerry Kuntz, author of the forthcoming book Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines: The Strange Lives & Interesting Times of Al and George Lawson.
  The 1892 Middletown Asylum team was the crowning success of Middletown State Hospital superintendent Selden Talcott's sponsorship of semi-professional baseball. During the heart of its season, from late June to late July, the star pitcher of the team was a ringer named Al Lawson. Lawson had pitched in the National League in the tumultuous season of 1890, and at the start of 1892 was once again poised for major-league stardom. However, thanks to a hot-headed temperament, events of the spring of 1892 ultimately led Lawson to Middletown. During his short time here, events transpired that would redirect Lawson's future in baseball, which led him to have one of the most outrageous careers in the history of the national pastime.
  
  Lawson's improbable baseball career, which spanned over 20 years, was just one facet of his eccentric character. He was also a utopian novelist, a Socialist Party candidate for the New York Legislature, a pioneer aviation promoter, pilot, originator of the airliner, health-fad advocate, founder of the philosophy of Lawsonomy, Depression-era social reform movement leader, and religious cult figurehead. And as if that wasn't enough, throughout his life he was hounded by an even more outrageous brother.
  
  Jerry Kuntz of Warwick, NY is a librarian and the Electronic Resources Consultant at the Ramapo Catskill Library System. He has been an avid baseball fan and historian of the game for many years. He has published articles in baseball journals and is a member of The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).
  
  

• "The Ugly"

  Baseball's Darkest Hour - The 1919 'Black Sox' Scandal
  Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 7 - 8 PM
  Presented by Stuart Greenwald, Middletown Lawyer and life long student of professional baseball
  Step back in time with Stuart as he shares Eliot Asinof's fascinating story, Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series, of the men, the times, and the sport scandal that rocked professional baseball, our country, and our culture. Stuart will help us understand the complicated story as Asinof researched and presented it in 1963. We'll meet the characters- talented but clueless ballplayers, manipulating gamblers, money-hungry owners, corrupt politicians, and stunned fans. We'll delve into the complicated world of the real story-the United States, baseball's inner structures, financial and political institutions-into which these characters were plunged. And we'll trace the convoluted plot in this non-fiction narrative.
  
  Eight Men Out is a story of baseball, crime, and legal maneuvering. It is a window into the workings of power, a cautionary tale of the corruption of the American dream, and a reminder that this sordid affair did not occur in a vacuum. While it is not necessary to have read this book to enjoy the discussion, copies of the book will be available to be borrowed about three weeks before this lecture.
  
  
• Film to Be Shown (call 341-5454, ext. 5479 for title).
  Free admission.
  Tuesday, September 8, 2009, 7 - 9 PM
  This acclaimed film explores what possessed talented players to betray the national pastime.

For more details, please call (845) 341-5454, ext. 5479.

"Reel Eclectic" Film

Art and Foreign Film Festival - July, August, September (see dates below)

Our film series continues throughout the summer!

Please join us for free films and refreshments on these dates:

• Thursday, July 2, 2009, 7 PM
• Thursday, August 6, 2009, 7 PM
• Thursday, September 3, 2009, 7 PM

All films are shown in the 2nd Floor Community Room at Middletown Thrall Library.

Please call 341-5454, ext. 5479 for titles and complete movie information.

Please note: Most of these films are not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America and are intended for adult audiences. Additional information for some of the films in this series may be found online at www.filmmovement.com or www.imdb.com. Film annotations provided by RB Publishing and Film Movement.

Brooklyn Baroque Music Concert

Program date: May 31, 2009, 2 PM

The Friends of Middletown Thrall Library, Inc. Present

Brooklyn Baroque

A Free Music Concert at the Library
Sunday, May 31, 2 PM
in the 2nd Floor Community Room at Middletown Thrall Library

"Bach and His Contemporaries"

Music of Bach, Handel, Telemann, and Boismortier, including the sublime Trio Sonata from the Musical Offering, one of Telemann's joyous Paris Quartets, selections from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, and sonatas by Handel and Boismortier.

The concert celebrates the release of two new CDs: Andrew Bolotowsky's recording of Bach's Flute Sonatas and Rebecca Pechefsky's recording of the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I. CDs will be available at the concert.

Brooklyn Baroque will be joined by acclaimed Baroque violinist Claire Jolivet.

This concert is open to the public. All may attend! Light refreshments will be served.

"Reel Eclectic" Film

Program date: June 4, 2009, 7 PM

Playing in the 2nd Floor Community Room at Middletown Thrall Library

Please call 341-5454, ext. 5479 for complete movie information.

Please note: Most of these films are not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America and are intended for adult audiences. Additional information for some of the films in this series may be found online at www.filmmovement.com or www.imdb.com. Film annotations provided by RB Publishing and Film Movement.

"Reel Eclectic" Film

Program date: May 7, 2009, 7 PM

Playing in the 2nd Floor Community Room at Middletown Thrall Library

Please call 341-5454, ext. 5479 for complete movie information.

Please note: Most of these films are not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America and are intended for adult audiences. Additional information for some of the films in this series may be found online at www.filmmovement.com or www.imdb.com. Film annotations provided by RB Publishing and Film Movement.

Hudson's Valley (three programs)

Program dates: (listed below)

Middletown Thrall Library celebrates the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage of discovery and exploration with three special programs!

All programs are free and will be held in the 2nd Floor Meeting Room at Middletown Thrall Library.

Here is the schedule:

• Program 1:
  
  Henry Hudson and His World - "The Place Where America Began" *
  Tuesday, May 19, 2009, 7 - 8:00 PM - Questions to follow.
  Presented by Historian Tony Nappo, Middletown High School Social Studies Dept., retired
  
  During Hudson's three-week exploration in September 1609 Hudson claimed the river, fertile valley, and riches of timber and beaver for the Netherlands. Within 20 years a thriving colony and cosmopolitan city (New Amsterdam, now Manhattan) had been established. Discover this vital, little known period in pre-English colonial America when New Amsterdam became the gateway to a vast mixture of people that would come to define a nation. Don't miss this entertaining and informative multi-media program with historian Tony Nappo. Part of his presentation will include information from the book The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America by Russell Shorto.
  
  Tony Nappo recently retired as a teacher in the Middletown City School District. He holds an MA in Soviet-American Relations from John Carroll University, as well as an MA in Instructional Technology from the New York Institute of Technology. Tony has taught American History, World History, International Politics, and Futuristics to secondary and college students for over 35 years. He is excited by the opportunity to share new insights and historical interpretation surrounding the earliest settlement of New Amsterdam, and its evolution to the New York City of today.
  
  (* Historian Kenneth J. Jackson of Columbia University called New York "The Place Where America Began.")
  
  
• Program 2:
  
  "Of Time and the River: Songs of the Historic Hudson"
  Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 7 - 8:00 PM
  Presented by singer / balladeer / musician Linda Russell
  
  The Hudson River has been the backdrop for a wealth of human history. In the seventeenth and eighteenth century pirates hid in its coves; soldiers built forts on its banks. In the nineteenth century artists, poets, and inventors drew inspiration from its power and beauty. In the twentieth century it changed from a dirty, neglected river into an environmental success story. Linda Russell will bring our Hudson Valley to vivid life accompanied by the hammered and mountain dulcimer, pennywhistle, and guitar.
  
  Linda Russell's New York venues have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center Out-of Doors, Avery Fisher Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art - American Wing, and the National Archives. She enjoys sharing her talent at national parks, historic sites, schools, and libraries. She has recorded eight albums of traditional and historical music.
  
  This event is made possible through Speakers in the Humanities, a program of the New York Council for the Humanities.
  
  
• Program 3:
  
  Be Your Own Explorer - "The Joy of Hiking" or A Walk in the Woods
  Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 7 - 8:00 PM
  Presented by Peter Reiner and Aaron Schoenberg, leaders of the Adriondack Mountain Club
  
  Learn how to get started in hiking from the experts. Hiking will allow you to enjoy Hudson Valley vistas not too much different from what the earliest explorers saw. Reiner and Schoenberg will describe nearby hiking trails and bring along their hiking equipment to show and discuss the features of back packs, hiking boots, hiking poles, maps, GPS devices, and appropriate outdoor clothing. They include a slide show of some of the beautiful scenery in the Valley, with views from all four seasons of hiking. Reiner and Schoenberg will answer questions to get you thinking about enjoying the wonderful woods and parklands that surround our area. This talk will motivate everyone to enjoy a fun low-cost activity for all ages.
  
  Peter Reiner is the former president of the Ramapo Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club, one of the oldest and most respected outdoor clubs in the Northeast. He has hiked throughout the New York and New Jersey area and is a member of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. Aaron Schoenberg is a board member of the Ramapo Chapter and an avid hike leader.

For more information, please call (845) 341-5454, ext. 5479, or send e-mail to thrall16@warwick.net.

Music + Poetry Performance

Program date: April 19, 2009, 2 PM

Friends of the Middletown Thrall Library, Inc. Present Ada Margoshes' "Cummings and Goings"

...featuring the poetry of E. E. Cummings combined with music...

April 19, 2009, 2 PM, in the 2nd Floor Community Room at Middletown Thrall Library

Singer Julie Ziavras will perform a theatrical work by composer Ada Margoshes entitled "Cummings and Goings,???¢?¢?€ð?¬?‚?? written to the poetry of E.E. Cummings.

Performers will include baritone Elex Vann, and other singers and instrumentalists.

This concert is free and open to the public. Refreshements will be served.

"Reel Eclectic" Film

Program date: April 2, 2009, 7 PM

Playing in the 2nd Floor Community Room at Middletown Thrall Library

Please call 341-5454, ext. 5479 for complete movie information.

Please note: Most of these films are not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America and are intended for adult audiences. Additional information for some of the films in this series may be found online at www.filmmovement.com or www.imdb.com. Film annotations provided by RB Publishing and Film Movement.

Elder Law 2009: Peace of Mind!

Program date: Thursday, April 16, 2009, 11:00 AM to Noon

Attend our "free legal checkup" and put your mind (and your family) at ease!

This program will be held in the 2nd Floor Meeting Room at Middletown Thrall Library

Learn about wills, health care proxies, powers of attorney, probate, guardianship issues, what documents to keep and for how long.

A volunteer lawyer will explain it all so you can begin to make more informed personal health care and financial decisions!

Now in its fifteenth year, Decision Making Day is a volunteer, public-service project of the Elder Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.

Handouts and sample documents will be given out to the audience to assist people in making informed decisions about important legal issues.

For more information please call the library at (845) 341-5454, ext. 5479.

Spring 2009 Book Discussion Series: "Favorite Fiction"

Program dates: Please see below

"Favorite Fiction: An Eclectic Selection"

from David, Mary, Chris, and Peggy

This book discussion series highlights some favorite novels from some of our favorite scholars. (We might also discover other titles that are scholar favorites.) With these examples of good literature we are given an opportunity to transcend ourselves - our time, our place, our backgrounds to discover characters of depth and substance. Join us and read any or all of these titles and see if you agree with the scholars' choices.

• Book: The Hamlet by William Faulkner
  Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 7-9 PM
  Scholar: David McTamaney, English Department, Monroe-Woodbury High School, retired
  
  About the book: William Faulkner has become known as the pre-eminent "novelist of the South." His elaborate creation of Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi with its unique history, social structure, and culture was the setting for many of Faulkner's stories including The Hamlet which was published in 1940. It is the first volume of the Snopes trilogy, to be followed years later by two volumes, The Town and The Mansion. In The Hamlet you will read of the advent and the rise of the Snopes family in Frenchman's Bend, a small town built on the ruins of a once-stately plantation. Flem Snopes -- wily, energetic, grasping, a man of shady origins -- quickly comes to overwhelm and dominate the town and its people with his cunning and guile. Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949.
  
  
• Book: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 7-9 PM
  Scholar: Mary Makofske, SUNY Orange Department of English and Foreign Languages, retired
  
  About the book: Read by generations of people, this novel was a sensation from its publication in 1847 and unsettling for many conventional Victorian readers. In early nineteenth-century England, an orphaned young woman accepts employment as a governess and soon finds herself in love with her employer who has a terrible secret. Jane is presented as a strong, independent woman, for her time, making her way (and her living) in a hostile world. One of the most striking characteristics of this novel is the voice of Jane Eyre herself, who tells her own story in a way that encourages empathy with her situation. Read or re-read this classic from the perspective of your own life experiences.
  
  
• Book: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
  Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 7-9 PM
  Scholar: Chris Godwin, Professor Emeritus, SUNY Orange Department of English and Foreign Languages, retired
  
  About the book: Cisneros' lyrical prose and vivid imagery permits us to see the world through the perspective of Esperanza Cordero, an adolescent Latina coming of age in the Hispanic section of Chicago. Esperanza is determined to find her own path in life without forgetting her past. Don't let the simple sentences and short chapters fool you. Beneath the surface lies a rich network of themes: poverty, child abuse, spousal abuse, families, the importance of education, and a host of others. Readers will understand Esperanza's world and her quest for a better life, and the importance of her promise to come back for "the ones I left behind."
  
  
• Book: A Separate Peace by John Knowles
  Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 7-9 PM
  Scholar: Peggy Abt, Professor Emeritus, SUNY Orange Department of English and Foreign Languages, retired
  
  About the book: This is John Knowles' greatest and most popular work, a novel of volatile male adolescence. Here you will meet Gene Forrester in his senior year at a New England boys' preparatory school (recognizably Exeter) where, in 1942, the fairly peaceful, protected life is already overshadowed by the uneasiness of the war and the draft ahead. The novel concentrates on Gene's complex relationship with Finny, whose careless charm, disregard for and defiance of any rules, and dazzling athletic feats attract him- and also distract him from the academic success Gene is more interested in achieving. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes forever the innocence of these boys and their world.

All programs are FREE, and light refreshments, courtesy of The Friends of Middletown Thrall Library, Inc., will be served.

Books Available

Copies of each book can be requested at any time and in any order you wish using your RCLS library card. We will have copies of each book at Thrall about three weeks before each discussion.

When available, we will also try to have copies of each title in different formats - large print, book on CD or cassette. For more information, please call 341-5454, ext. 5479.

"Reel Eclectic" Film:
(Call 341-5454, ext. 5479 for title)

Program date: March 5, 2009, 7 PM

Playing in the 2nd Floor Community Room at Middletown Thrall Library

Due to licensing restrictions, the title of the film cannot be published. Please call 341-5454, ext. 5479 for complete movie information.

Please note: Most of these films are not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America and are intended for adult audiences. Additional information for some of the films in this series may be found online at www.filmmovement.com or www.imdb.com. Film annotations provided by RB Publishing and Film Movement.

Gravikord Duo: February 22, 2009

Program date: February 22, 2009, 2 PM

The Friends of Middletown Thrall Library, Inc. present "Gravikord Duo."

This group will perform contemporary, folk, traditional, and Celtic music.

The program will be held in the 2nd Floor Community Room at Middletown Thrall Library.

Statement from the performers: "This program is made possible, in part, with funds from Orange County Tourism, Orange County Arts, and the County of Orange."

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.