The Westport Library has been honored with a 5-star rating from Public Library Service’s 2022 Library Journal Index — the highest score available — distinguishing it as one of the top libraries in the United States.
The Westport Library is the only 5-star library in the state of Connecticut, per the Library Journal Index. Overall, 5,359 public libraries were assessed for 2022, 85 of which received 5-star status, placing The Westport Library in the top 1.6% of public libraries in the U.S.
“We are overjoyed to receive this distinction,” said Bill Harmer, executive director of The Westport Library. “This recognition validates and celebrates the engagement of and high value that our community places on the services that this Library provides and the hard work and dedication of our staff, board of trustees, and our donors and volunteers — those who enable us to imagine and execute our programs and realize our vision to make The Westport Library a community gathering space and a hub for innovation.”
“And of course, a huge thank you to the hundreds of people who come to the library every day and provide the input we rely on to make sure we’re meeting the needs of Westporters and all visitors throughout Fairfield County and beyond.”
Said Library board president Jeremy Price: “On behalf of The Westport Library's Board of Trustees, I congratulate all who worked so hard to make The Westport Library one of the very best in the country. The 5-star recognition is as impressive and commendable as it is well-deserved.”
In determining the ratings, the Library Journal, the nation’s oldest and most respected library service publication, compared The Westport Library to other libraries with similar annual expenditures. Scores and star ratings were based on circulation of physical materials, circulation of electronic materials, library visits, library program attendance, public internet users, Wi-Fi sessions, library website visits, and e-retrievals (usage of online content such as databases).
The Westport Library received the top honor due to the extent that patrons use the Library and its resources, performing exceptionally well in several of the evaluated categories including library visits, program attendance, and website visits.
“As contributors to the Library, and in particular The Children’s Library, my wife and I are extremely proud that our support, and the continuing support of all the other donors, has proved beneficial to all those involved within the Library community in earning this 5-star rating,” said longtime Library supporter Bud Siegel.
“In so many ways, this confirms what we’ve long known: that The Westport Library is not only an invaluable community resource, but also one of the finest libraries in the nation,” said Westport First Selectwoman Jen Tooker. “It is clearly one of the primary reasons Westport is the best place to live, work, and play in the region.”
The Westport Library was started in 1886 as a reading room in downtown Westport. The Library moved to its own dedicated building on Post Road East in 1908 before relocating to its current location overlooking Jesup Green in 1986. In 2019, the Library underwent a wholesale transformation that reimagined the space to provide more accessibility, adaptability, and flexibility.
After an expected drop in attendance during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Library has returned to full programming and is back to normal daily attendance, with more than 400,000 visitors expected to pass through its doors during the current fiscal year.
Nancy Beard is one of the Library’s most generous supporters. She contributed to the 2017-19 transformation project and recently pledged a landmark donation through the Nancy J. Beard Foundation to create the Nancy J. Beard Lifelong Learning and Education Fund, a sustaining endowment that will support educational courses, lectures, special workshops, and hands-on training activities at the Library.
Nancy, a longtime Westport resident with her husband, Gene, recently sat down with us to discuss her philanthropy, why libraries matter, the importance of community, and more. Here are excerpts from that conversation:
Westport Library: Why did you decide to support the Library?
Nancy Beard: The Library has become a real part of the community and it has something for everybody, which I like. Everybody can come, from a 2-year-old to a 92-year-old, and there is something there for them. It’s a real community center.
Why do you think libraries matter still today?
Because it’s a source of information and I think it’s a source of true information. It’s not the television telling you how it is or how it should be. At the Library, you can find out for yourself.
What have been the personal rewards of you donating to the Library?
I’m very happy with it. This library is one of the best in the United States and certainly one of the best in the Northeast, and I’m very proud to have been a part of that.
What would you tell others who are considering donating to the Library?
It’s a great cause. If they ask me, I’d say that if you believe in libraries and you want a place to go and take your children, the Library is a great place.
The Westport Library has long endeavored to be a place of discovery and education, where patrons of all ages can explore what interests them and grow as leaders and thinkers.
Now, the Library will have the opportunity to do so like never before.
The Nancy J. Beard Foundation has bestowed a landmark pledge to The Westport Library to create the Nancy J. Beard Lifelong Learning and Education Fund. The fund will support educational courses, lectures, special workshops, and hands-on training activities, leveraging the Library’s classroom and laboratory spaces to sustain, educate, and engage the local community.
The gift is the largest in the Library’s history to support operations.
“The Westport Library has a strong historical identity as a center for knowledge and learning, a resource for personal development, and a place to gather for cultural and community engagement,” said Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer. “This generous gift will allow us to build on the work we’ve done and expand the reach and the scope of our programming. We are incredibly grateful to Nancy and the entire Beard family for their generosity, support, and belief in us and our mission.”
[Related: Westport Library Q&A: Nancy Beard]
A particular focus of the fund will be on expanding Library programing and supporting Library assets. That includes mobile technology and the Verso Studios’ video and TV media suite, as well as the Library’s recording studio and post-production suite.
“The Westport Library is a hub for the community, a gathering place, and a place of learning and conversation,” said Nancy Beard. “We love that the Library is active in the community and that is open and accessible to everyone. We hope this gift allows it to stay that way and to expand its great work so it can be a beacon for the community in the years to come.”
Nancy and her husband, Gene, moved to Westport in 1969 and have been active members of the community. (The couple currently reside in Florida but return to Westport often.) The Beards made their first donation to the Library 26 years ago and have given regularly since that time, notably in supporting the Library’s 2019 transformation project. Prior to that, Nancy was involved with the Cub Scouts — she started her volunteer work in Westport as a den mother — served as a teacher’s aide in the elementary and middle schools, and volunteered with both the Red Cross and Norwalk Hospital.
In addition to its support of the Library, the Nancy J. Beard Foundation has given to the Church of the Assumption, Yale University, Save the Children, the Mercy Learning Center, Norwalk Hospital, and various food pantries. Gene Beard also established the Beard Center for Leadership in Ethics at Duquesne University and was a significant contributor to the Eugene P. Beard Faculty Fellowship in Ethics at the Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Center.
“Giving back to the community has always been important to us, which is why we wanted to create this endowment fund for the Library,” Nancy Beard said. “Westport is a special place, as is The Westport Library. We want to do everything we can to grow that sense of community, and we’ve always viewed the Library as central to that role. We’re excited to see this fund make a difference, and we’re thrilled to play even a small role in supporting the Library’s future.”
Author, creative artist, filmmaker, playwright, and multi-dimensional performance artist Junauda Petrus will be the special guest at Westport’s 17th annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, to be held Friday, January 13, through Sunday, January 15, 2023.
Petrus’ work centers around Black wildness, laughter, futurism, ancestral healing, sweetness, spectacle, and shimmer. Her debut novel, The Stars and the Blackness Between Them, received the 2020 Coretta Scott King Book Award, and she is currently writing a screenplay adaptation of the book.
“I am overjoyed to be reflecting on the legacies of justice, tenderness, and peace that honoring MLK Jr. situates us in,” Petrus said.
Petrus’ visit to Westport will focus on reimagining community diversity, engagement, and civility. She will be in town starting Friday, January 13, presenting for local schools. She will visit The Westport Library on Saturday for an experiential workshop with local artists, followed by a 3 pm panel discussion with the artists.
The three-day celebration culminates on Sunday at 3 pm with a keynote address delivered by Petrus at the Westport Country Playhouse. Copies of her book will be available for purchase on-site, with Petrus signing copies after her address. The program will also include a dance performed by the Regional Center for the Arts.
“While at The Westport Library, I will be grounding all of my offerings in the sacred force of sweetness, imagination, and creativity as foundational to our work in actualizing justice and healing in our world,” said Petrus. “This engagement will be filled with joy, playfulness, and connection, and will be an opportunity to replenish and warm our souls in the depths of winter.”
The Westport Martin Luther King Jr. celebration began in 2006 as an interfaith gathering coordinated by the Westport/Weston Interfaith Council and Westport/Weston Interfaith Clergy. Since 2016, it has been hosted by those two organizations as well as The Westport Library, Westport Country Playhouse, and TEAM Westport.
“We are honored to once again be part of the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and cannot wait to welcome Junauda to the Library,” said Bill Harmer, Westport Library executive director. “Her talents know no bounds, and her message is as powerful as it is resonant. We look forward to our Westport community having a chance to hear from her.”
With her coming appearance, Petrus joins an esteemed list of past keynote speakers, including National Book Award winner and MacArthur Fellow Ibram X. Kendi, Pulitzer Prize winner James Forman Jr., New York Times best-selling authors Heather McGhee and Layla Saad, Guggenheim Scholar Carol Anderson, American Book Award winner Tricia Rose, and Quinnipiac Law School founder Marilyn Ford.
“Over much of the past decade, the MLK keynote has featured world-class speakers with profoundly timely updates and insights to facilitate racial understanding,” said Harold Bailey Jr., chair of TEAM Westport. “This year, throughout MLK weekend, we are delighted to have Junauda Petrus in Westport to extend that track record, with the added dimensions of her talent as an award-winning writer, poet, and performance artist. Furthermore, her strength as a young adult author should broaden our engagement of young people throughout the area.”
Among her many accomplishments, Petrus wrote and directed There Are Other Worlds, an ancestral-circus-poem-play with a cast of Black women to tell the story of an activist who has spent the majority of her two teenage daughter’s lives incarcerated, and wrote, directed, and produced Sweetness of Wild, an episodic-poetic-film-series about life after Prince, first queer love, police violence, and bike culture against the backdrop of Minneapolis.
She also performed in and co-wrote (with Erik Ehn) the puppet-gospel-musical Queen starring Laurie Carlos, served as the lead artist with the Heart of the Beast Theatre’s May Day Parade, and created and performed in her own experimental short film work, including Love Tones, Out My Mind, and Erotics of Abolition.
As an aerial acrobat of the corde lisse (a hanging smooth rope), Petrus intertwined her background in West African and Afro-Caribbean dance and explored themes of Blackness, queerness, and wildness reclaimed and re-imagined in the vertical space.
Among her many honors, she received a Jerome Foundation grant to research queerness and African-inspired spiritualities in Trinidad and Tobago for her fiction and was named a 2016 City Pages Twin Cities artist of the year. Her stories and essays have been featured in anthologies including Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good, Body Talk, How I Resist, and the speculative fiction collection Tasting Light.
Her forthcoming children’s book, Could We Please Give The Police Department to the Grandmothers?, is based on her viral poem that imagines a radically positive future where love and healing are at the center of public safety and community well-being.
In addition, Petrus is the co-founder (with Erin Sharkey) of Free Black Dirt, an experimental artist collective based in Minneapolis that creates original performances and supports the emerging literary artists’ community.
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Past Keynote Speakers
A good book is an immersive experience, an opportunity for the reader to get lost in imagination and explore a new world. A great book does that and more — it brings a community together to discuss, debate, and share in its wonder.
That is the goal of WestportREADS, which was created in 2002 as a way for Westporters to bond over a book and deepen the community’s engagement in literature.
The 2023 WestportREADS selection is Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley, the celebrated young adult novel centered on 18-year-old Daunis Fontaine, a Native teen who must navigate family tragedy, new relationships, and an FBI investigation to root out the corruption in her community.
Copies of the book are available for borrowing now at The Westport Library. Firekeeper’s Daughter is also available as a digital copy (e-book) and as an audiobook.
In addition, throughout the months of January and February, there will be events and programs centered on Firekeeper’s Daughter, including book discussions, celebrations, learning opportunities, and more. The capstone event will be held Thursday, February 16, when Boulley appears in-person at the Library to deliver the WestportREADS keynote address.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate Firekeeper’s Daughter as the 2023 WestportREADS selection and ecstatic to have her in the Library to deliver this year’s keynote,” said Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer. “Angeline is a master storyteller with a tale that will resonate throughout the Westport community and spark discussion and conversation in the way only a great book can.”
Boulley is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and hails from Sugar Island, Michigan, located between the state’s Upper Peninsula and Canada. She served as her tribe’s education director and assistant executive director and on the board of regents at Bay Mills Community College before becoming director for the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education, and most recently, a first-time published novelist at age 54.
Boulley told The New York Times that she first had the idea for Firekeeper’s Daughter in high school but didn’t start writing it until she was 44. “The story started out as a whisper and then it got louder and louder,” she told the Times.
The book is a #1 New York Times Bestseller and a Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club YA Pick. It is being adapted at Netflix for TV with former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.
Among its many honors, Firekeeper’s Daughter was named a Printz Medal Winner, Morris Award Winner, American Indian Youth Literature Award YA Honor Book, TIME Magazine Best YA Book of All Time Selection, 2021 Kids’ Indie Next List Selection, Entertainment Weekly Most Anticipated Books of 2021 Selection, and PopSugar Best March 2021 YA Book Selection.
“Hitting hard when it comes to issues such as citizenship, language revitalization, and the corrosive presence of drugs on Native communities, this novel will long stand in the hearts of both Native and non-Native audiences,” raved Publishers Weekly.
Said NPR: “A contemplative exploration of existing between two cultural identities meets fake relationship romance meets backwoods thriller in this absolute powerhouse of a debut.”
Boulley’s father is a traditional firekeeper, which she described as one “who strikes ceremonial fires at spiritual activities in the tribal community and ensures protocols are followed.” She currently lives in Southwest Michigan but said that “my home will always be Bahweting (the place of the rapids) in Sault Ste. Marie.”
Past WestportREADS selections include The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, Towards a More Perfect Union: Confronting Racism by Layla Saad, and Exit West by Moshin Hamid, among others. For more past WestportREADS selections, and to learn more about the annual event, visit the WestportREADS homepage on The Westport Library website.
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Firekeeper’s Daughter Companion Books
Preschool and K-2
Fry Bread by Kevin Maillard
We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom
Grades 2-5
Jo Jo Makoons series by Dawn Quigley
We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell (nonfiction)
Middle School
Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids (short stories)
She Holds Up the Stars by Sandra Laronde
Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection
Longtime ESPN reporter and E60 host Jeremy Schaap will be at The Westport Library on Monday, December 12, from 7 to 9 pm, to screen his new film, The Survivor, an ESPN-produced documentary that looks back at the 1972 Munich Massacre, when terrorists murdered 11 Israeli sportsmen at the Summer Olympics.
Schaap, an 11-time Emmy Award winner for his work as a sports reporter and investigative journalist, also will host a talk after the screening, to be held in the Library’s Trefz Forum.
“We are delighted to have Jeremy at the Library to show and discuss this important film,” said Bill Harmer, executive director at The Westport Library. “Jeremy is one of the finest reporters of his generation. He has covered some of the most pressing issues in sport and society with incredible depth and nuance. I’m so looking forward to his presentation, as I’m sure so many in our community are.”
Schaap traveled to Israel and Germany to tell the story through the eyes of 86-year-old Israeli race walker Shaul Ladany, who survived the massacre, as he had World War II and the Holocaust when he was a child.
“In his long life, Shaul Ladany has seen up close the worst of humanity,” said Schaap. “Not only has he survived, he has pressed forward, constantly, to lead a life of achievement. The lessons of his life are valuable to us all. I was honored to be part of the team that told the story of what he endured and what he witnessed. Ladany’s story is not so well-known here in the United States — but it should be.”
The Munich Massacre was the first terrorist attack broadcast live on television around the world. The Survivor breaks down the tragedy through archival video and news reports, along with new interviews and reporting. In addition to Ladany, others interviewed for The Survivor include Zelig Shtroch, Ladany’s roommate and a shooter on the Israeli Olympic team; Shlomo Levy, an Israeli photojournalist who was embedded with the team in Munich; and Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism.
The Survivor was produced and directed by Frank Saraceno, with Schaap serving as the lead reporter and narrator.
Click here to register for the December 12 event.
Since The Westport Library’s transformation in 2019, the Trefz Forum has hosted literary festivals, music festivals, and programs and events of all kinds.
This Saturday, and starting again Friday, December 9, the forum and its 18-foot by 10-foot video screen will play host to the globe’s biggest sporting event: The World Cup.
The Library will show the U.S. vs. the Netherlands round-of-16 match — the opening round of the World Cup’s knockout stage — on Saturday, December 3, at 10 am. The Library also will broadcast the quarterfinal games on Friday, December 9, and the semifinal games, on Tuesday, December 13, and Wednesday, December 14. (All times listed are Eastern Standard Time.)
Those who want to listen to the games will have the ability to do so through the Sennheiser Mobile App, which connects to the audio in the forum. To access the app, patrons need to bring their own mobile device (to download the app) and headphones or earbuds to listen.
Library Broadcast Schedule:
Saturday, December 3 – U.S. vs. Netherlands, 10 am
Friday, December 9 – World Cup quarterfinals, 10 am & 2 pm
Tuesday, December 13 – World Cup semifinal #1, 2 pm
Wednesday, December 14 – World Cup semifinal #2, 2 pm
Connecting to Audio:
Instructions to access the app will also be available on the tables located in the Trefz Forum.
A visionary music and media festival calls for visionary talent.
Enter Steve Lillywhite.
The lauded record producer, whose credits include the Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, U2, the Psychedelic Furs, XTC, Morrissey, the Pogues, Dave Matthews Band, Guster, Phish, the Killers, and many more, has been confirmed as a headliner for VersoFest 2023.
VersoFest is The Westport Library’s annual music and media conference and festival where knowledge is shared and inspiration is discovered — a forum for media creators, artists, and fans to converge.
Lillywhite will be appearing on Saturday, April 1, in conversation with renowned Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club drummer Chris Frantz.
“Hello Versoites, come and watch my good friend Chris Frantz and me share some stories from the past on April Fool’s Day,” Lillywhite said. “What could possibly be better?!”
Lillywhite’s career began as a staff producer with Island Records, flowering with the emergence of new wave music. Island Records is widely regarded as one of the all-time forward-thinking popular record labels and rosters. With grand success in pioneering recording ethos and technique, as well as popular sales, Lillywhite was made a Commander of the Order of The British Empire (CBE) for his contributions to music in 2012.
Lillywhite’s VersoFest 2023 booking capitalizes on Verso Studios’ Island Records alumni connections, including Frantz and Grammy-winning producer and engineer Rob Fraboni, both key Verso Studios contributors and VersoFest 2022 alums.
“VersoFest celebrates the creative community, with a focus on innovation and inspiration,” said Bill Harmer, executive director of The Westport Library. “Steve Lillywhite perfectly embodies this spirit. He has left an indelible imprint on music and popular culture. His production credits are legendary and helped to define the soundtrack of a generation. It’s an honor to have him headline VersoFest 2023.”
VersoFest 2023 will run from Thursday, March 30, through Sunday, April 2, and include panels and keynotes where experts share their perspective and vision; intimate workshops provide creators the opportunity to deconstruct, improve, and hone their craft; and performances that entertain and inspire.
Contributors and artists will continue to be added to the festival. Sign up for Verso Studios e-news for all the latest VersoFest and Verso updates.
Three new installations will grace The Westport Library walls starting in December, headlined by Dick Rauh: A Botanical Retrospective, an exhibit featuring botanical paintings from the 97-year-old longtime Westporter that will hang in the Library’s Sheffer Gallery from December 5, 2022, through February 28, 2023. There will also be a special artist talk and reception with Rauh and host Miggs Burroughs on January 29, 2023, in the Trefz Forum.
Also coming to the Library in December is Speak to Me, an exhibit of woven art by local artist Tina Puckett, and a series of eight works from the Westport Public Art Collections (WestPAC), titled Musical Notes.
“I am extremely fortunate to be granted the ability to continue to function as well as I do as the years pass,” said Rauh, who took up botanical painting in retirement, after a long career in motion pictures special effects. “Spread along these walls are the results of what I have observed looking closely at flowers over the years. Whether in my quest for the accurate I have managed to bring a personal statement is for you to judge. It is enough for me that you will look at flowers in a way you never have before.”
Rauh won the gold medal and Best in Show awards at the 2006 Royal Horticultural Society Show in London, and his work is in the permanent collections of the Lindley Library in London; the Shirley Sherwood Collection in Kew Gardens, London; the New York State Museum; and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University. He has served as an instructor in the botanical illustration certificate program at the New York Botanical Gardens since 1994 and was named its Teacher of the Year in 2010. He also teaches widely in local senior centers.
Puckett’s work will be displayed in the South Gallery and run December 6 through February 2023. Puckett specializes in baskets woven from natural materials, in particular the bittersweet vine, a source of inspiration she described as a happy accident.
“Sometimes, the path in life that we chose to take comes in the form of an unexpected gift,” said Puckett. “In 1981, my mother gave me a gift for an adult education basket weaving class. … It didn’t take me long before I became bored with weaving traditional baskets. I started to look for natural materials grown locally that I could incorporate into different woven forms. One brilliant autumn day when I was foraging for grapevine, I came across the bittersweet vine, and it was love at first sight. Going on 40-plus years, I have never looked back and continue to forage for Native American bittersweet vines and imagine the fantastic forms that we will create together.”
The WestPAC exhibit will also go up December 6, in the Jesup Gallery, and remain on display through the end of February. The exhibit includes works that pay tribute to the performing arts in Westport and features artists Susan Malloy, Ann Chernow, Larry Silver, and Paul Rand, among others.
“Dick Rauh is a local treasure, and we are absolutely thrilled to host this retrospective of his larger-than-life, beautifully detailed botanical paintings in the Sheffer Gallery,” said Carole Erger-Fass, exhibits curator at the Library. “At the same time, in the South Gallery, Tina Puckett’s whimsical woven art, created out of bittersweet and other local materials, delights the viewer, offering a distinctly different way to experience the natural world around us. And for these works to be joined by so many great pieces from WestPAC is a true treat for us and a gift to everyone who visits and who will pass through our space in the coming months.”
For more on the Library’s art collection and upcoming events, visit our Art at the Library webpage.
Billy Collins is making his much-anticipated return to The Westport Library.
Sixteen years after headlining The 2006 Malloy Lecture in the Arts, the former U.S. poet laureate will be in the Library’s Trefz Forum on Friday, December 9, for a conversation with Connecticut Poet Laureate Antoinette Brim-Bell. The two will discuss his new volume, Musical Tables, which focuses on short-form-poetry, or small poems, while keeping to his trademark themes of nature, animals, poetry, mortality, absurdity, and love.
“Whenever I pick up a new book of poems, I flip through the pages looking for small ones,” Collins said. “Just as I might have trust in an abstract painter more if I knew he or she could draw a credible chicken, I have faith in poets who can go short.”
The event begins at 7 pm. Tickets are $26 (same price for one or two patrons) and include a signed copy of Musical Tables.
“If you know Billy Collins' work, then I’m sure I don’t have to encourage you to see him live,” said Jessica Noyes McEntee, Westport’s poet laureate. “If you haven’t yet explored his oeuvre, this night promises to be delightful. His work has a magical and effortless quality that many of us in the poetry community emulate — and envy!”
Collins is the author of a dozen volumes of poetry, including the bestsellers Aimless Love, The Trouble with Poetry, and Sailing Alone Around the Room. He is also the editor of Poetry 180, 180 More, and Bright Wings. He was poet laureate of the U.S. from 2001 to 2003 and subsequently served as New York State poet from 2004 to 2006. In 2016, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
“Billy Collins is perhaps the most revered poet writing in America today,” said Bill Harmer, executive director of The Westport Library. “Most communities would count themselves fortunate to see him once in a lifetime. To have him back in Westport for a second time is a thrill beyond measure. And to be joined by Antoinette is a true gift.”
Brim-Bell is the author of three full-length poetry collections, These Women You Gave Me, Icarus in Love, and Psalm of the Sunflower. Her poetry has appeared in various journals, magazines, textbooks, and anthologies, including Poetry Magazine and Poem-a-Day. She is a Cave Canem foundation fellow, an alumna of Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation (VONA), and a professor of English at Capital Community College in Hartford.
For more on Billy Collins Returns to Westport and to purchase your ticket, please visit our dedicated event page.
Ed. note: As of December 6, tickets are now sold out for in-person seating. Please visit here to watch from home on December 9.
Chris Frantz is bringing his Emerging Musicians series back to The Westport Library.
The famed member of the Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club will reprise the series on Saturday, November 19, with two Fairfield County acts: Residual Groove, a funk-fusion, improv-heavy dance band, and contemporary singer-songwriter Brian Dolzani.
The show begins at 7:30 pm in the Library’s Trefz Forum and will run until 10 pm. Doors open at 7 pm.
The Chris Frantz Presents Emerging Musicians series at The Westport Library features up-and-coming regional, national, and international music, hand-picked by Frantz, with the goal of bringing new music to new ears and to be an incubator for rising talent. The concert is a music collaboration and production by Verso Studios at The Westport Library and the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce.
“I’m excited to be resuming the Emerging Musicians Series at The Westport Library in the beautiful and innovative Verso Studios,” Frantz said. “Both Residual Groove and Brian Dolzani are Fairfield County mainstays deserving of a larger platform. A fun night is in store.”
Previous sessions of the Emerging Musicians Series featured Lulu Lewis, The Problem with Kids Today, Daniprobably, and Enid Ze.
“Chris is one of the landmark figures in rock and roll, and we’re thrilled to partner with him once again to bring these incredible artists to our stage,” said Bill Harmer, executive director of The Westport Library. “When we planned and executed the Library’s transformation, we imagined creating a space that could feature creativity in all its forms and deliver first-class events to Westport, Fairfield County, and beyond. The Emerging Musicians series is another example of delivering on that vision and another opportunity to demonstrate the full capabilities of our Verso Studios.”
Residual Groove is a five-piece Funk-Fusion band out of Norwalk, featuring brothers Previn Edwards (guitar/vocals) and Kiran Edwards (keys/vocals), Miles Livolsi (bass/vocals), Henry Thomas (drums), and Garrett Halstead (percussion). Their bio reads: “With a healthy mix of groovy originals and surprising covers, Residual Groove joins their influences and creations together through tasteful segues and spontaneously improvised segments.” Westporters will recognize Residual Groove from its continued Dunville’s residency.
The storytelling roots of Dolzani’s music are in the singer-songwriter tradition of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Cat Stevens, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and Credence Clearwater Revival, among others. He has played at famed stages such as the World Cafe, Daryl’s House, New York City’s Rockwood Music Hall, The 5-Spot in Nashville, and the Blue Plate Special radio program in Knoxville, among many others.
The Big Fall Book Sale is returning to The Westport Library, Friday, November 11, through Monday, November 14, offering a wide variety of titles for readers of all ages and interests.
The book sale will feature thousands of gently used books in more than 50 categories, including children’s, literature and classics, fiction, mysteries, and Sci-Fi/fantasy, as well as art, photography, history, math, science, psychology, religion, biography, business, cooking, gardening, performing arts, travel, foreign language, and more, including a selection of antique books and special volumes.
A broad selection of DVDs and CDs will also be available, as well as a limited selection of collectibles and artwork.
The book sale is held in the Library’s Trefz Forum. All proceeds from the sale go to benefit the Library.
“This is a can’t-miss experience for anyone and everyone who loves books,” said Jocelyn Barandiaran, president of Westport Book Sale Ventures, which operates the book sale in conjunction with the Library. “And we have so many amazing titles this year, in addition to great deals. We can’t wait to welcome the Westport community — and beyond — to check it out!”
Admission to the book sale is free, with the exception of an early access session on the morning of November 11 from 8:45 am to 1 pm. Free access runs that day from 1-6 pm, following by open hours on Saturday, November 12, 9 am to 5 pm; Sunday, November 13, 1-5 pm; and Monday, November 14, 9 am to 4 pm.
All titles will be half-price on November 13. And on November 14 shoppers can purchase a logo bag for $8 and fill it for no charge, bring their own equivalent-sized bag and fill it for $5, or buy titles at half-price.
“The book sale is an awesome experience as well as a great way to support the Library, our catalogs, programs, events, and offerings,” said Bill Harmer, executive director of The Westport Library. “We look forward to packing the Forum with titles of all kinds and then watching them fly off the shelves.”
Among the highlight offerings at the sale are a selection of vintage book sets in leather bindings; a sizable collection of books from the Library of America series, each in its own slipcase; an extensive collection of history books; a large assortment of cookbooks; a collection of paperback romance novels, all in new condition, offered at two for $1; an extensive collection of holiday-themed books, CDs, and DVDs; and, new for this year, a fiction room with all books selling for $1.
The book sale also will feature dozens of books signed by cabinet secretaries, senators, congress members, and civil rights leaders, donated by Westport resident and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph Califano, and a collection of books and ephemera, including limited printing editions by Reynolds Price, most signed and dating back to 1978.
For more information on the Big Fall Book Sale, visit our website. For early access tickets on November 11, visit westportfall2022booksale.eventbrite.com.
And to volunteer at the sale, send an email to volunteers@westportbooksales.org.
