The Big Read - by the numbers - yet again
0 - Amount of quiet in the library on March 4th and 11th when Sue Callaghan's English students interviewed seniors who had stories that made us stop, think, and write. The "Footprints in the Sands of Time" Legacy writing workshop, created in partnership with Caldwell LIVE, resulted in stories that need to be shared beyond this library, and the classroom. (Look for a book deal in 2011!)
2 - Number of DELICIOUS cakes created, baked, iced and decorated with likenesses of "Our Henry" and then Abe Lincoln by our talented friends at Le Baker's Dozen.
3 - Number of BIG READS Caldwell Public Library has been lucky enough to receive. (And number of FINAL REPORTS that have now been filed with Arts Midwest. Whew!)
6 - Boxes, but, FILLED to overflowing and more to follow, sent to Eagle Butte, South Dakota's Habitat for Humanity - boxes filled with knit, crocheted and quilted blankets, scarves, hats and slippers to share with friends. While we didn't read Longfellow's "Hiawatha" we did watch "Evangeline" and this friendship with our friends in Eagle Butte seemed befitting The Big Read of Longfellow.
15 plus - Number of school groups that "Listened and heard of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" with a visit from Illustrator Christopher Bing.
18 - Number of generous hosts and hostesses in Caldwell & West Caldwell who provided bed and breakfast, coffee, pizza, beer or wine, laughter, friendship and more to our 20 new friends - The Longfellow Chorus who traveled to Caldwell from Portland, Maine. And, hats off to Bill May and the Dapper Dans of Harmony - we are forever grateful to you for also seeing opportunities for collaboration with The Chorus - and of course, let us give another round of applause for Elsie Timpson. The James Caldwell High School students who performed "Snow-Flakes" looked, and sounded, top notch.
20 (and probably more!) - Number of poets who shared their talents with us as "Local Poets [Took] on Longfellow" as well as performed at other Longfellow Big Read-related events.
23 (twice!) - Since that number represents both the number of educators who attended our October 18, 2009 "Educators' Workshop" to roll out The Big Read to our teachers, first and foremost, but 23 is also the number of PARTNERS we had in this current Big Read. From Scouts (in NJ and MA) to Authors, Our Partners in Service at Kiwanis and Rotary, The Caldwell/West Caldwell Education Foundation, Musicians, Professors, Caldwell LIVE and the list goes on…and on.
66 - Number of Scouts*, and adults, who created a Big Read Finale to beat ALL others, anywhere, as well as topped ANY possible celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America - with a Scout Camporee/Jamboree in the field behind Longfellow's Wayside Inn. Eternal gratitude is extended to visionaries/Scout Men/friends Bruce White and Bill Downey - who shared a vision with us, and made it happen. (*Troops 1, 3, 6 & 9 from the Caldwells and Troop 61 of Sudbury, MA participated in some way. And, if you have not yet seen the patch, well, you are in for a treat!)
204 - The number of cookies created, baked, iced and numbered by Essex Vo-Tech Bakers to celebrate our Big Read Kickoff on Longfellow's 203d birthday on Saturday, February 27, 2010 - at which time 203 lines of Longfellow poetry was read aloud by friends and neighbors of all ages.
350 - Members of our community who celebrated the talents of our teen photographers from MSDA and JCHS, who, inspired by not only Longfellow but also [Linda] Stewart and [Bridgit] Martin, created photography that blew us all away. In addition to exhibits shared with our library community during March and April of this year, March 31, May 22 and June 10 provided opportunities for us to truly see, to experience how many thousands of words one picture can indeed tell. Once again we thank our art and music teachers for understanding the value and power of The Big Read channeled through art, whether it be Wharton, or Ozick or…LONGFELLOW!
1025 - Copies of "Selected Poetry of Longfellow" shared with our community, and 48 copies of "Bing books" shared with our schools, thanks again for the funding the National Endowment for the Arts provided us thanks to The Big Read grant. And, watch out for 230 additional books - Big Read Book Titles which will soon be able to be checked out in their "Big Read Book Club in a Bag" for your own reading group's pleasure. Included with the ten copies of the title you will also find the audio guide, teacher's guide and ten copies of the reader's guide to accompany the Big Read title. (I am ready to join whichever book group wants to read and discuss "Housekeeping" as I have wanted to read that for years!)
1860 - Year the Melrose Pondfeilders rely on for the rules as they play their Vintage Baseball games. If you missed them on May 16th in Sudbury MA, when they played against our Scouts in the field behind Longfellow's Wayside Inn, travel and see them. (Check out: www.pondfeilders.org & while you are at it, why not also look at www.wayside.org. If you are planning to visit, may I tag along? )
11,397 - Number of adults and children who experienced one, or many, aspects of The Big Read of Longfellow - by reading, discussing, reflecting, photographing, knitting, listening, watching, writing, cooking, baking, reporting, scouting..
Ad infinitum - How long I could write, and chronicle, and marvel about The Big Read and what it has done for our library, for our community, for our students, for our teachers, and for me…personally. Thank you NEA, thank you Arts Midwest, for believing in Caldwell, NJ when you awarded our small Carnegie Library, the first Big Read grant awarded to a NJ Library. We hope you understand how seriously we took the job of being the "first" - and how the memories of these three years will last a lifetime.
ALL your friends at the Caldwell Public Library
268 Bloomfield Avenue
Caldwell, NJ 07006
973.226.2837
www.caldwellpl.org
library blog
"The Caldwell Public Library's mission is to provide our diverse community with a wide array of literary, cultural, historical, educational and social resources through personal service and innovative programs utilizing a range of learning technologies in a welcoming environment."
September 2010 Art Exhibit
The Caldwell Public Library is honored to be hosting the art of Joan Weiss. Joan Weiss will be exhibiting her watercolor paintings during the month of September. During her college years she studied lithography, life drawing and oil painting at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center in Colorado. After graduaton she studied life drawing and oil painting at the Art Students League in New York City. In recent years she has studied watercolor painting with Sharon Pitts, Ann Taylor, Chris Calandra and Margie Samuels as well as pastel painting with Catherine Kinkade.
Joan is a member of the West Essex Art Association, the Livingston Arts Association and an associate member of the Essex Watercolor Club.
The art show will be on display in the Gene and Kathryn Collerd Local History Resource Room during September and all are welcome to come view it during library hours - Mondays and Fridays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. In addition, there will be an evening reception in honor of the artist on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. All are invited and no reservations are required.
In addition, please note that during September Gideon Steele will be sharing his Photography of New York and New Jersey in the Library's Display Case and the Technology Center.
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Summer 2010 Art Show in Memory of Catherine Zink
The Caldwell Public Library is presently hosting the art show of works by students of Margie Samuels. Samuels is a West Caldwell artist and art teacher. The students participating in this show have been studying watercolor painting with her all year. Additionally, there are works by teenagers who have been painting and drawing with Samuels as part of the new teen exploration classes.
This year’s show is dedicated to the memory of Catherine Zink, a student of Samuels’s for three years. Zink passed suddenly on June 10, 2010. She was a retired art teacher herself who had lived in West Caldwell. Zink had recently completed two beautiful pieces and these are included in the art show. Other participating artists in this year’s show include: Irma Berman, Rori Berse, Marsha Henry, Judy Tabs and Gaby Roth from North Caldwell; Mimi Korn and Joan Weiss from West Caldwell; Susan Bell from Roseland; Chris Iorio and Sue Weinberger from Fairfield; Leona Wreschner and Marcia Mohl from Montville; Lisa Marx and Marilyn Saxe from West Orange; Marcia Ezra, Patrice Towey, Abigail Rubin and Rachel Zucker from Livingston; and Audrey and Sarah Silverberg from New Vernon.
The art show will be up through Friday, August 27, 2010. You are welcome to come view it during library hours - Mondays and Fridays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. In addition, there will be an evening reception in honor of the artists on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. All are invited and no reservations are required.