Art Exhibit

“A Sight for Sore Eyes,” featuring the works of eight local artists, is on view until June 30 in the Olga Knoepke Memorial Meeting Room. Represented in the show are Bill Carney, Fred Declement, Barbara George, Jeanne Ireland, Mario Oquendo, Lisa Ann Regina, Randi Rote and Victoria Westphan.

Summer Reading Volunteers

Summer reading kicks off on Monday, June 29.

Every year young adults volunteer to help with our independent summer reading program by listening to younger readers talk about the books they are reading. You must be entering sixth grade or older to be a library volunteer.

Training and information sessions will be held on Monday, June 1, and Thursday, June 4, at 4 pm. If you have never volunteered for our summer program, you must attend one of these sessions.

Applications will be available on June 1 and must be turned in by June 10. Applications received after that date will go on the sub list.  Summer reading ends on August 15.

Young Adults

*Fifth graders, do you love to write?

We have a creative writing program for young people that we’d like to tell you about.  It’s a peer group for young writers who enjoy sharing their work with each other.

Join us Monday evening, June 15, from 6:30  to 7:30, in the Antiques Room on the third floor. Meet the leaders and assistants and hear from students in the program. We will have complete information on the Creative Writing Summer Camp and the year round program groups in poetry, fiction, and mystery.

Feel free to sign up online or just drop in with a parent. For more information contact Young Adult Librarian Margaret Brown.

*Save The Date: Join us on Monday, June 22, at 3:30 pm, for Cool Drinks & Cool Stories, our kickoff event for ‘Tweens & Teens Summer Reading.

We’ll make you a fruit smoothie and then you can sit back while renowned storyteller Rona Leventhal regales us with her stories and fables.

Signups and more information about this program for rising grades 6-12 will follow next week.

*Creative Writing Summer Camp For Young Adults will welcome returning author Kathlee Kudlinski to lead the 2009program.

Camp will meet from 3:30 to 5:30 pm for rising grades 6-7 and from 6-8 pm for rising grades 8-9, on Mondays, June 29, July 6, 13, 20 and 27 (makeup will be August 10 if needed). Signups are required online, and participants are expected to attend all five sessions.

Each group is limited to ten students who either live or attend school in Newtown. All sessions will allow time for writing and sharing stories, as well as creative activities and one-on-one communication between adults and young people. Sharing is an important part of all writing groups.

*Chess Club News: Playing in only his second US Chess Federation-rated tournament ever, Newtown Chess Club junior member and Newtown resident Brendan Gregory won a scholastic tournament held in Bethel on May 31. Congratulations to Brendan, who won all of his games for a perfect 4-0 score!

Families And Adults

*Play Ball! Julie Stern will lead a three part summer book series on America’s favorite past time, baseball. This discussion series is for both baseball fans and those who love a good story. Programs are Tuesday evenings beginning at 7:30 pm.

Discussions will feature Wait Til Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin on June 16, The Natural by Bernard Malamud on June 30, and Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella on July 14.

*Book Groups: The Evening Book Group will talk about Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen on Thursday, June 18, at 7:30 pm.

*Authors & Illustrators Reception: Meet and greet forty of Newtown’s talented writers and illustrators at the C.H. Booth Library’s Newtown Authors and Book Illustrators Champagne Reception on Sunday, June 28, at 2 pm.

C.H. Booth Library is at 25 Main Street in Newtown. Call 426-4533 or visit CHBoothLibrary.org for information on these and future programs and offerings.