The Westport Library has always been a place where it's OK to occasionally get loud, hosting an array of concerts and music events for patrons of all interests and ages.
On Saturday, April 5, at 10 am, the Library is taking things to the next level — the next decibel level, that is — inviting visionary artist 5iveFingaz to host a 90-minute celebration that will include a rotating cast of DJs, live art, and the Library version of a primal scream in an attempt to set the record for the loudest library ever.
VersoFest 2025 Kickoff Celebration: The Loudest Library in History! is free and open to the public. It will feature an electrifying fusion of music, art, and community as we transform the Library into the epicenter of creativity and sound. There will also be doughnuts and other snacks and beverages on hand for the attendees. (Register here.)
“Our goal is to make this a true celebration and a community experience, showcasing the transformative power of community and creativity,” said Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer. “We want everyone to feel welcome, from our youngest patrons to our longtime music supporters. The emphasis here is on fun and setting the right tone to what promises to be an incredible weekend of events at VersoFest 2025.”
This kickoff celebration will coincide with 5iveFingaz's Interactive Community Participation Mural, which invites members of the community to help fill create a one-of-a-kind work of art from 10 am to 2 pm. And it will be followed by an all-star panel discussion on the 50th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run at 1 pm and two Verso Visionary conversations — the first one at 4 pm between The Roots founder and lead emcee Black Thought and June Archer, followed by hardcore punk legend Henry Rollins in conversation with Nabil Ayers at 7 pm.
The festival closes on Sunday with a very special VersoFest live podcast discussion between longtime David Letterman music director Paul Shaffer and SNL Beehive Queen Christine Ohlman.
Led by 5iveFingaz, the Norwalk-based artist whose installations are serving as the artistic complement to VersoFest, the kickoff celebration will feature a rotating cast of DJs, with four different DJs each delivering a 30-minute set that spans genres and ignites the dance floor, and live art performances with four talented artists who will be creating visual art in real time, projected live on the Trefz Forum’s 18-foot videowall, as they draw inspiration from the music.
It culminates with the grand finale: As the Trefz Forum reaches peak energy, all DJs and artists will unite on stage for a collaborative performance, leading to the Library’s attempt to set the new world record for loudest ever library.
Professional hockey is coming to The Westport Library — and it comes bearing books.
Isles in Aisles is a new community partnership between the Library and the Bridgeport Islanders, the New York Islanders’ American Hockey League affiliate based in Connecticut. Members of the club will be on hand in the Children’s Library on Tuesday, February 4, at 5:30 pm; Tuesday, February 18, at 4:30 pm; and Monday, March 3, at 4:30 pm to read aloud from their favorite children’s and hockey-themed books.
This is a drop-in event designed for kids, but adults are welcome as well. Players will be available for autographs afterward, and there may even be a special appearance at one of the readings from Storm, the Bridgeport Islanders mascot.
“We’re absolutely delighted to partner with the Bridgeport Islanders on this exciting new reading program,” said Mary Parmelee, youth services director at The Westport Library. “Westport is a great community of young readers and a town that loves sports. To have professional hockey players come to the Library to encourage kids to read and engage with the Library is a special opportunity. We can’t wait to get started!”
Potential books for Isles in Aisles include Z is for Zamboni by Matt Napier, Hero's Ho Ho Ho Hockey Dream by Kary Carkner and Pam Helmer, Hockey Morning, Noon, and Night by Doreta Groenendyk, The Magic Hockey Stick by Maloney Zekauskas, The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier, and more.
“One of my best memories growing up was taking field trips to local hockey games, or whenever the players would visit our library and we could interact with them,” Islanders captain Cole Bardreau said. “I’ve always loved books and take several with me on bus rides, so I’m excited to give back in that way. Being a professional hockey player is a privilege, and it’s important for our team to use this platform to encourage good reading habits.”
Students are invited to participate in The Westport Garden Club's 2025 Youth Poetry Contest, presented in partnership with the Westport Arts Advisory Committee, Westport Poet Laureate Donna Disch, and The Westport Library.
The contest is affiliated with the National Garden Club’s Youth Poetry Contest and enables youth to embrace their creativity through the art of writing.
The theme for the 2025 competition is: “My Garden Has Vegetables to Spare That I Can Share – Helping Fight Hunger by Sharing Vegetables from Our Garden."
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Who Can Enter:
-Students in kindergarten through ninth grade.
- Including public and private schools, home-schooled students, special education, English as a Second Language, and general education students.
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Guidelines for Entries:
- All entries must be typed and titled.
- Include the participant's name, address, age, grade, and school on the back of the entry and the preferred email address for correspondence.
- All entries become the property of National Garden Clubs, Inc.
- Poems do not have to rhyme.
- Poems may be traditional verse, acrostics, blank verse, cinquains, diamond poems, limericks, or Haiku.
- The theme should not be used as the title of any poetry. (When judging, the title is worth 10 points.)
- Poems should be submitted by email to: westportctgardenclub@gmail.com by January 10, 2025.
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Scale of Points
Title: 10%
Content: 40%
Creativity: 30%
Style: 20%
Total: 100%
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Entries are due by January 10, 2025. The poems selected by a jury committee will then be submitted to the regional organization, New England Garden Clubs, for another round of judging. The region's final selections will then be submitted for National Garden Club Awards, where winning entries will be compiled into a booklet and made available to the winners.
Locally, poets will be invited to read from their work at a library event, open to the public to celebrate poetry in April 2025.
To view the 2024 winning entries, click here.
The Westport Children’s Library is the introduction to reading for countless Westporters. Now, there are more options than ever get your child engaged — however and whatever they’d like to read.
The Children’s Library has purchased 379 new titles — books and audiobooks — to bolster their digital collection, adding offerings from some of the most famous and beloved children’s authors of today and all time.
“We consistently strive to meet kids where they are, to find ways to engage them in reading, and to foster their love of books,” said Westport Library Director of Youth Services Mary Parmelee. “This expansion helps advance our depth and breadth of titles for the digital age, while providing the same comfort that kids have found in great books for centuries.”
Among the authors added to the digital collection are Kwame Alexander, Dhonielle Clayton, Beverly Cleary, Suzanne Collins, Kate DiCamillo, Sarah J. Maas, Rick Riordan, Lemony Snicket, Jasmine Warga, and Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Other titles include works by Hanna Alkaf, John David Anderson, Victoria Aveyard, L. Frank Baum, Kiera Cass, Eoin Colfer, Leslie Connor, Lindsay Currie, Lamar Giles, Karina Yan Glaser, Tommy Greenwald, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Jenny Han, Varian Johnson, L.M. Montgomery, Garth Nix, Sara Pennypacker, Lisa Moore Ramee, Gary Schmidt, Brian Selznick, Christina Soontornvat, Angie Thomas, and Anne Ursu.
“We were very deliberate in the titles we chose,” Parmelee said, “because we know there are so many different types of readers with different interests. We hope this gives them more options to find a book they love, and we can’t wait to see them develop a love for books and learning. And then to come tell us about them! There’s nothing we love more.”
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Photo: Top Row (L to R): Kwame Alexander, Brian Selznick, Sarah J. Maas, Jasmine Warga, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Kate DiCamillo, and Dhonielle Clayton; Bottom Row (L to R): Rick Riordan, Karina Yan Glaser, Varian Johnson, Lemony Snicket, L.M. Montgomery, Beverly Cleary, and Suzanne Collins
