C.H. Booth Library offered a Jane Austen Tea in the afternoon of Sunday, November 13. The event included a presentation on period fashion and a sampling of tea and treats.

Susan J. Jerome offered a presentation called "Of the Influence of Custom and Fashion Upon Our Notions of Beauty," as people sipped tea and ate treats prepared by volunteer library staff members.

C.H. Booth Library Adult Program Director Lucy Handley organized the event. She also oversaw preparing the tea for the afternoon presentation. Just before people entered the meeting room, she placed a bowl of lemons by the Earl Grey and herbal tea options. People attending were encouraged to come in Jane Austen period attire, and some decorated hats and other accessories were donned for the occasion.

Treats offered included little spice cupcakes, finger sandwiches, and Welsh tea cakes. Once people were settled in chairs with plates of finger foods and steaming tea cups, the presentation began.

Ms Jerome is the collections manager at the University of Rhode Island Historic Textile and Costume Collection. Ms Handley introduced her by saying Ms Jerome's return to the library follows a popular Downton Abbey Tea presentation she offered in January.

"Fashion really is a kind of identification," Ms Jerome said before beginning a slide show, which featured details about the history of fashion and pictures of examples of period attire.