The next regular meeting of Friends of the Library in Oxford (FOLIO) is scheduled for March 26 at 7 p.m. in the Library.  The meeting will feature guest speaker, Friends of the Edith Wheeler Memorial Library President, Beth Ulman.  She will give a short presentation on how the FOEWML in Monroe was put to the task of raising $100K to offset the cost of the new library building built in 2004 in Monroe.  FOEWML ultimately raised over $280K & enhanced library services by adding:

Beth will be available to answer questions concerning where to focus our energy into building a new library for Oxford.  Their website is http://www.oxford-town-historian.net/folio/www.ewml.org/friends.htm.

Besides the program, the Friends will hold a business meeting. FOLIO Pres. Elaine McKinney is proposing that FOLIO join the CT Association of Nonprofits.  This Organization offers many services to 501(c)3's in CT.  Funding from The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven & CANP has offset our cost of our 1st year membership a total of  $55.00.  Their website is:  www.ctnonprofits.org.

National Volunteer Week is coming in April.  A BIG celebration & exciting program is being planned at the moment.  If you're able to help out, please contact Elaine McKinney at mckinneyer@sbcglobal.net

FOLIO officers are working with the Oxford MOMS Network & FOLIO to sponsor a Book Signing/Book Discussion by Author, Melinda Josiah Geaumont, to be held on Wednesday  April 23, at 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served.  The location will be in the Town Hall meeting room. For information regarding her work, "Becoming Auma", refer to Ms. Geaumont's website: http://www.becomingauma.com/.  Extra books are on order at the library or you may pick up a copy via Amazon.com

The FOLIO Annual Membership Appeal Brochure is still being reviewed and is expected to come out later in March.  A membership appeal letter is in process of being mailed to  ours past FOLIO members seeking renewal of their FOLIO membership.  New members are also being sought.

The Kerry Boys are Mark James, originally from the County Kerry Ireland now a Cheshire, CT resident, and Pierce Campbell from Prospect, CT who is also the Connecticut State Troubadour for 2007 & 2008. These two dynamic and popular Connecticut Irish balladeers have been performing together for over 15 years, dazzling fans of all ages from Maine to New York. Their humorous, high-energy show will have you clapping and singing along in no time, engaging you from start to finish with their wide collection of traditional and original songs.

In their years performing together they have been welcomed throughout the North East at Irish festivals, library and municipal performances, schools, Irish pubs, clubs and fairs. The Kerry Boys website, features sound clips of their music: http://thekerryboys.com/home.html

From the Director’s Chair:

Spring is here, and with it comes a change in staffing positions. I was chosen to be your new Library Director and began in that position on February 11, 2008.  I want to thank the Friends of the Library in Oxford for the wonderful reception they held in my honor on Valentine’s Day. I felt very loved and appreciated!  I will miss working so closely with the children, teens, teachers and parents of Oxford. However, I’m looking forward to new challenges and improving library services, spaces and programs for all of our patrons.

We recently went through a major weeding project to discard outdated information resources, and have purchased books and materials to replace them. I concentrated on buying books to update the areas of computer software, new technologies’ how-to books (like the iPhone), current travel books, and updated histories, for example.  We also have been making room in our fiction collection for newer books and will be purchasing more soon.

I plan to start increasing the amount and types of programming the Oxford Library hosts. I would like to ask for your suggestions on topics that you want to explore, and then work with local groups and professionals to provide you information on those topics. Some types of programs that have been mentioned to me are medical updates on allergies, legal help with estate planning, gardening expertise, author visits either standalone or paired with book discussions, teen career guidance from sports figures or business professionals, historical topics, etc.
Stop at the library and chat with me sometime. My door is always open and I look forward to seeing you!

New at Oxford Library

There are changes afoot at the Oxford Library.  The column above was written by the new Library Director, Dawn Higginson, whose appointment has been celebrated by the Friends of the Oxford Library.

Her appointment fills one vacancy in the library staff, but it creates another. The Children's Librarian is a key position because a high percentage of the library users are young people.  In addition, the library sees a large influx of young users during the summer months.  With schools closed, more and more children seek out the library as a source for activities, story hours, and as a resource for personal reading.  Further demands for young people's library services comes from the release of the Governor Rell’s summer reading list distrubited by the school system.

The work of planning for the summer season and ordering required books and materials is usually concentrated in the month of March.  So, library staff see the need for hiring a new Children's Librarian as critical. Thankfully, the Town is now advertising the position and library staff are hopeful an appointment can be made soon.

In other developments, Oxford First Selectman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers met recently with the Long Range Planning Committee to discuss their recommendations for a new library facility.  While Mrs. Drayton-Rogers said it would be inadvisable to appoint a Library Building Committee before the preparation of the town budget and the review of Oxford's long-term obligations and resources, she did agree to the appointment of a site selection committee.

"Once a charge is prepared for a Library Site Search Committee, I will ask the Board of Selectmen to appoint a committee for this purpose.  This will be the first step in preparing for a new library location.  I expect this to take place during the Summer of 2008," she said.
Members of the Long Range Planning Committee, the Board of Library Directors and the Library staff were encouraged to forward their recommendations.  These will be used as a reference for the selectmen as they draw up a charge.

The Long Range Library Planning Committee's recommendations were approved by the Library Board of Directors in September, 2006.  Prepared by Lushington Associates with the assistance of the Library staff, the Long Range Planning Committee and Oxford citizens who participated in a variety of focus groups and interviews.

The report considered a variety of factors which indicated the need for increased library space and services.  It said, “The library had many programs twenty years ago.  Today, it has become increasingly more difficult to schedule or find room for them.  Population growth and civic meeting demands limit the town’s ability to find adequate space for these programs and many other community activities.  It also reported that in order to add new books to the collection, other books have to be removed to create shelf space.

Science Snoopers Highlight Library Programs
The Oxford Public Library has hosted a series of enjoyable science exploration programs for children under age 6.  In the past few months, they have covered a variety of subjects geared to boost their interest in science.  Topics have included,  •  Arctic Adventures •  Me and My shadow •  Brr! •  Take Heart •  Who's Awake - nocturnal animals	Young Scientists-to-Be enjoy presentations on science topics at the Library as part of the children’s programs at Oxford Library.

NON-FICTION STAFF PICK  reviewed by Sandra Davis, Assistant Director
Desperate Passage, The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West by Ethan Rarick
     In late October 1846, the last wagon train of that year’s westward migration stopped overnight before resuming its arduous climb of the Sierra Nevada mountains, unaware that a fearsome snowstorm was gathering force.  Seemingly everything that could go wrong did go wrong…from bad leadership to disasterous choices, from fatal accidents to murderous fights and finally a ghastly ordeal in the Sierra snows. Eighty one men, women and children would be trapped for a brutal winter with little food and only primitive shelter.  The Donner Party was synonymous with the most harrowing extremes of human survival.  Drawing on fresh archaeological evidence, recent research on topics ranging from survival rates to snowfall totals and hearbreaking letters and diaries made public by descendants a century and a half later, the author offers an initimate portrait of the Donner Party and their unimaginable ordeal.  If you don’t know anything about the Donner Party, read this book.
 

AUDIOBOOK (CD) reviewed by Circulation Supervisor Kathy Kycia
Phantoms, by Dean Koontz and read by Buck Schirner.
  When Dr. Jenny Paige returns to the small town ski village in Snowfield, California, she finds the town silent, apparently abandoned. The tables are set for dinner, meals in the midst of being prepared, but  there is not a sign of the people who were doing these things. As she searches for answers, Paige finds that everyone was killed by a mysterious force.  The first body found is swollen and still warm, the bodies show no sign of trauma or disease and no known plague killed the victims so quickly. She can find few answers in the quiet town. At first she thought it was the work of a maniac or terrorist, but it was worse than anything you could have imagined. You will be unable to stop listening to her chilling journey to find the truth!
 

CHILDREN’S BOOK PICKS
reviewed by Director Dawn Higginson

Franklin Plants a Tree by Paulette Bourgeois
     Our friendly turtle friend Franklin learns a valuable lesson about growing up and doing things for your community in this picture book when he loses the sugar maple sapling he has been given to plant. A great read-aloud for Spring and Arbor Day!

 Amelia Bedelia, Bookworm by Herman Parish
   Amelia, the funniest maid ever, causes havoc at the library when a misunderstanding of words leads Amelia to steal the library’s bookmobile to buy a book to replace the one her dog Sam ate. The language and fun in this early chapter book will have you giggling all through her story!

Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell
   This teen poetry novel describes in 22 wonderful stories how the legend of King Arthur and his knight Sir Lancelot evolved from the points of view of Lady Guinevere and the Lady of Shallot, Elaine. A great historical adventure and a great romance in a short space, this book is perfect for April’s Poetry Month.

Christopher Argonese wears his crown while making crafts.	Jim and Rebecca Copsey were among those attending.

Library Celebrates the “Year  of the Rat”     The Oxford Library was the site of a Chinese New Year’s Celebration.  Young visitors made “coolie hats” and enjoyed refreshments, as the Library celebrated “The Year of the Rat.”

Valentine Candy WinnerKelly Greathouse, above, was the lucky recipient of the Valentine Candy Give-A-Way in February.

Reduced Admission to Museums & Parks Available through the Library
• Beardsley Zoo-Bridgeport (2 adults and 4 kids free pass)
• Children’s Museum of Ct.-Hartford&Canton, CT (1 free child with every paid adult admission Limit 4 free.)
• Discovery Museum & Planetarium - Bridgeport (2 adults & 4 kids Free)
• Golden Age of Trucking Museum-Middlebury, CT (Coupon for $1 off single,  $2 off a family admission)
• Imagination Museum-Bristol, CT (4 people free admission-except special program fees)
• The Maritime Aquarium-(Aquarium & IMAX)- Norwalk, CT($2 off combo ticket Aquarium and IMAX)
• Mystic Sea Aquarium -Mystic, CT ( 2 Adults save $4 each; 2 kids save $3 each.
• Peabody Museum-New Haven, CT ($5 off for 4 people)
See more on the web: www.biblio.org/Oxford/ .  Ask at the circulation desk or call to reserve your Passes today! 888-6944

The Library Display case in January featured a collection of painted stones, on loan from Mary Beth Foenrenbach.	In February, the display case featured the webkins collection of Rebecca Rinaldi, shown above with her work.

Dawn Higginson & Friends Celebrate Library Directorship The Friends of the Library in Oxford held a special reception for new Library Director, Dawn Higginson, the former Children’s Librarian. Standing behind Dawn in the Valentine’s Day photo is FOLIO president Elaine McKinney, who coordinated the event.

Above:  Dawn Higginson receives news by phone that she has been appointed Director.	Former  Director Lois Hiller, returned to Oxford to congratulate Dawn and to celebrate with friends and supporters of the library.  Hiller is now Director of the Mystic-Noank Library.	An appreciative Dawn Higginson enjoys flowers sent in honor of her appointment.
Dawn was honored by friends and supporters from among Library Friends and Town Hall workers.  Above, Sharon Scinto and Karen Guillet join the festivities.	Cake at reception offers congratulations to former Children’s Librarian now promoted to Library Director.  Is the Sunrise just a play on her first name or a hope for the dawn of a new Library facility?	Dawns’s parents, Mr. & Mrs. Higginson, are seated behind  flowers, while Eileen Deutsch and Lenny Alexander are at right. E. Deutsch is working to secure grants for the Friends of the Library in Oxford.
Ellie Noll, center, celebrates with her mom, Sam, on the right and Dawn, who as a teenager was trained as a Library Page at Southbury Library by Ellie Noll	Dawn chats with Lenny and Leslie Alexander at the Friends reception.  Lenny is Vice-President of the Friends of the Library in Oxford. (FOLIO).	Alice Hardej joins with  Karen Guillet and Sharon Scinto in wishing Dawn Higginson well as the new Library Director.  The Library is seeking town support for a new facility.