Events and Programs

Saving Seeds Workshop

Master Gardener Jean Vose

Wednesday, June 14th – 6:00pm

Meet Master Gardener Jean Vose and learn how and why to save seeds. Share stories and skills as you get ready for the upcoming gardening season!

Tea Time Book Chat

Friday, June 16th

3:00 – 4:00pm

What have you been reading this winter? Join us for a cup of tea and to share your favorite books. Please email librarydirector@chaplinct.org to register.

Saturday, June 17th (raindate June 24th)

11:00am – 1:00pm under the tent

Bring some plants to share and go home with new ones. Games will be played and snacks will be served! Hosted by the Chaplin Senior Center and Friends of the Chaplin Public Library.

Make Music Day with the Chaplin Ukulele Band

Wednesday, June 21st – 4:30pm

June 21st is Make Music Day all around the world! Meet the Chaplin Ukulele Band and sing along with new and old songs. Light refreshments will be provided. Weather permitting, this will be held under the tent outdoors. Bring a blanket and enjoy the music

Preschool Storytime

Wednesdays – 10:30am

(through June 7th, then the Summer Reading Program for all ages will begin the week of June 12. More details will be posted soon!)

Preschoolers can come hear a story, make a craft, and play. This event is held in the library’s meeting room. Weather permitting, it might be held under the tent on the lawn. Although aimed at preschoolers, all ages are welcome!

 

Friends Group Meeting

Third Wednesday of the month- 2:00 pm

We have a Friends group! If you are interested in helping the library, please attend a meeting. Please note there will be no meeting in September.

Chaplin Ukulele Band

Wednesdays – 4:30pm

Join the Chaplin Ukulele Band. No experience required. No ukulele? We have one available for checkout! Stop in and join the fun.

PROGRAM RECORDINGS

Bicentennial Talk: 

The History of Chaplin Place Names

Watch the recording of Warren Church’s talk!

Join Chaplin resident and local historian Warren Church to learn about place names in Chaplin. Why is it called Bear Hill Rd? Who was Diana of Diana’s Pool?

Bicentennial Talk:

Ruth Snow Bowen, Chaplin Quilt Maker

Watch the Recording of Catherine Smith’s talk!

Chaplin resident and artist Catherine Whall Smith shared the history of former Chaplin resident and artist Ruth Snow Bowen, who lived on Chaplin Street and sold many of her wonderful quilts throughout Connecticut. Each month the library is displaying small fiber art pieces of homes on Chaplin Street paired with a quilt from Catherine’s collection.

National Poetry Month: An Evening with Connecticut’s New Poet Laureates

Recording includes Adelaide Northrop

Listen to Connecticut’s newest poet laureates, including Chaplin Poet Laureate Adelaide Northrop.

Bicentennial Talk: History of the William Ross Library

Recording of Leslie Ricklin and Ingrid Wood’s talk

Chaplin resident Leslie Ricklin and Columbia Town Historian Ingrid Wood discussed the history of the William Ross Library.

Bicentennial Talk: Benjamin Chaplin’s Will

Recording of Gavin Horning-Kane and Brendan Kane’s talk

The 2nd Chaplin Bicentennial talk was a discussion of Benjamin Chaplin’s will. Chaplin residents Gavin Horning-Kane and UConn History Professor Brendan Kane explored the contents of our town benefactor’s will. Since it was written in 1790, the handwriting can be difficult to read. View the will for yourself, try your hand at transcribing a portion of it, and discover a bit about our town’s history.

Virtual Bicentennial Talk – Trouble in the Land of Steady Habits:

The Constitution of 1818

Recording of Walter Woodward’s Talk is available!

In celebration of Chaplin’s bicentennial, Connecticut State Historian Walter Woodward discussed what was happening in our state when Chaplin was taking steps to become a town. Connecticut in 1818 was in many ways eerily similar to Connecticut today: A troubled state, seeking a new direction. This lecture highlights the perfect storm of crises — environmental, economic, demographic, religious, and political — which converged in the middle of the eighteen-teens (1810s) to force the state to rethink the ways it had been conducting its affairs for the previous two centuries.