Easton Library

On Thursday, May 24 at 7:00 pm, Michael Russert will present a talk at the library entitled “For the Liberation of Ireland: Last Battle of the Civil War?”  In 1866, Irish Union and Confederate veterans united to invade Ontario, Canada hoping to seize control of the Canadian government and exchange it for the liberation of Ireland.  This presentation will discuss the formation of the Fenian Brotherhood, the organization of the Irish Army of Liberation, their invasion from Buffalo, New York and the ensuing battles.  This is a little known and often ignored aspect of Civil War and New York State history.  The evening will be both informative and entertaining.

Michael Russert, a member of the Company of Military Historians and the North Shore of Long Island Civil War Round Table, lives in Cambridge.  He has a Master’s Degree in American Studies of the Nineteenth Century and is on the book review staff of the Civil War News.  he has published over two hundred fifty book reviews.  He is the former Coordinator of the New York State Veteran Oral History Program.

This presentation is free and open to the public.

June 25 – August 13

Easton Library, along with libraries all across New York State, encourages children to Dream Big…READ through the summer months with the Summer Reading at New York Libraries Program.  Children preschool age through grade six are invited to sign up at the library, read, enjoy the fun, entertainments, stories, and lots of great books.  Participants will keep a record at the library of the library books they read and will be rewarded for meeting their summer reading goals. 

Please see other posts on this page for listing of special events.

The Summer Reading Program is supported, in part, by Federal Library Services and Technology Act funds awarded to the New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

On Wednesday, June 27 Planetarium Adventures will open the world of astronomy and the wonderment of the solar system at the library.  An environmental educator and former science teacher for Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Chris Grubb will inspire young scientists of tomorrow using his completely portable “Starlab Learning Dome.”  There will be two 30 minute programs.  Please sign up at the library for either 1:30 pm or 2:00 pm or you may register by calling 692-2253 or 692-7164.

On Wednesday, July 11 at 3:00 pm the library will host The Puppet People performing “The Last Dragon.”  Note the change of time!  Are all princesses helpless?  Are all knights brave and strong?  Are all dragons evil?  Find out in this whimsical retelling of the fairy tale by E. Nesbit.

Husband and wife team, Mark Carrigan and Michelle Smith-Carrigan hand-craft all of their puppets, scenery and scripts and incorporate many different styles of puppetry.  “The Last Dragon” features classical music, large rod puppets, a 7 ft. dragon and a life-size knight on horseback.  This performance takes place in Burton Hall, located on NYS Route 40, directly across from the library.

This program is supported by funds from the Stewart’s Holiday Match Program and by Federal Library Services and Technology Act funds awarded to the NYS Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Meet Bernadette Hoffman and three of her live animal friends at the library on Wednesday, July 18 at 1:30 pm.  Learn about the life of a Canadian Lynx, Yellow-naped Amazon Parrot and the African Pygmy Hedgehog, examine animal artifacts up close and take part in an educational game. 

Following the closing of Flag Acres Zoo where she was a zookeeper, Bernadette Hoffman became a part-time museum educator for the Pember Museum of Natural History in Granville, NY.  She believes that children learn best when they can touch, hold and investigate things.

New magazine subscription:

Saratoga Living

Adult Fiction books:

Leah’s Choice, Marta Perry; Locked On, Tom Clancy; Micro, Michael Crichton; Next Always, Nora Roberts; Rachel’s Garden, Marta Perry; Red Mist, Patricia Cornwell; Trick of the Light, Louise Penny; You..Again, Debbie Macomber

Audiobooks:

Affair, Lee Child; Best of Me, Nicholas Sparks; Dovekeepers, Alice Hoffman; Heat Rises, Richard Castle; Lethal, Sandra Brown; Litigators, John Grisham; Race, Clive Cussler; Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand; V is for Vengeance, Sue Grafton

In the fall of 2009 writer and historian, Teri Gay launched her book Strength Without Compromise: Womanly Influence and Political Identity in Turn-of-the-Twentieth Century Rural Upstate New York.  The Political Equality Club of Easton is highlighted and the work of its two most ardent leaders, Lucy Allen and Chloe Sisson, showcases the Easton club members commitment to “votes for women.”

New York Archives magazine, in its Fall 2011 issue, also features the women of the Easton P.E.C. and the unique approch taken by those rural women in seeking to gain the vote.  Stop by the library to borrow this magazine and read The Suffragists of Easton also written by Teri Gay.