Hello, Friends!
Happy August! This month, we are proud to be co-sponsoring an American Cross Blood Drive at the Heritage Hotel on Thursday, August 7 from 11am-4pm. You can find more information and schedule an appointment online, or call 1-800-RED CROSS.
It's hard to believe it, but there are only two weeks left of Summer Reading! Make sure all your reading and prize tickets are entered in by Friday, August 15!
We hope you'll join us for our virtual and off-site events this month! Some highlights include Writing Workshops for Grades 3-5 and a lecture about F. Scott Fitzgerald for adults. To find out more about all of our exciting events in July, see below!
This month, we will be closed on Saturdays and Sundays as a part of our summer hours. We will also be closed on Monday, September 1 in observance of Labor Day. There may be times we have to reduce our services to just holds pick up or close entirely due to events at the Heritage Hotel, but we will post all changes to our hours and services on our website and inside our location at the Heritage Hotel.
If you need assistance with anything related to your library card account, please visit us at the Heritage Hotel, call 203-262-0626, or email asksbylib@biblio.org.
Best wishes,
The Staff of the Southbury Public Library
Table of Contents
- Flood Recovery Updates
- Audiobooks, eBooks and Video Streaming Services
- Museum Passes
- Adult Events
- Children and Teen Events
- The Friends of the Southbury Public Library
- Artist of the Month: Diana Windham
Flood Recovery Updates
The Board of Selectmen approved a bid for IT repairs in their July meeting so work can begin repairing internet and other wiring in the library; this is a crucial step towards our path to reopening. Other work and repairs continue. Throughout these repairs, the library building at 100 Poverty Road continues to remain structurally sound with consistent temperature and humidity throughout the main floors. While not yet ready, we remain on schedule to reopen to the public in November 2025. Progress is also being made on rebuilding the Old Field Road Bridge next to the Library.
For the most up-to-date information, please follow our website and social media accounts or the Town of Southbury’s website and social media accounts (Town Facebook & Town Instagram). In the meantime, please come visit us at our temporary location in the Heritage Hotel at 522 Heritage Road!
Audiobooks, eBooks and Video Streaming Services
Borrow eBooks, audiobooks, movies and television shows for free on your phone, tablet or smart TV with your Southbury Public Library card! Read ebooks and listen to audiobooks through Libby. Use Kanopy to watch movies and television shows. Borrow audiobooks, eBooks, movies, and music with Hoopla. For more information about these online resources, click here.
Museum Passes
Take a daytrip with one of our museum passes and get reduced or free admission to a variety of attractions. Find a full list of our passes here! Our passes can be checked out and returned at our temporary location within the Heritage Hotel. The passes can be checked out for three days and are first come, first served with one at a time per household.
Adult Events
Information and Registration: Reference Department at 203-262-0626
All programs require registration unless otherwise noted. The majority of programs are sponsored by the Friends of the Southbury Public Library. Library programs are not funded by the town fiscal budget. All virtual adult programs require registration; registrants will receive an email with the Zoom links the morning of the program.
Adult Summer Reading Challenges
2025 Adult Summer Reading Challenge: Level Up at Your Library (Ages 18 & Up)
June 7 – August 15, Online on Beanstack
From June 7 to August 15, 2025, we invite adults, regardless of town of residency, to participate in Southbury Public Library's Adult Summer Reading Challenge! This summer's theme, Level Up at Your Library, reminds us that libraries are not just a space for knowledge, they are a space for fun!
For each book you read this summer, earn a raffle ticket towards one of several $25 gift card prizes. All submitted tickets are eligible for this summer's grand prize, a $150 Visa Gift Card! Click here to log your books and submit your raffle tickets on Beanstack!
Raffle tickets must be submitted by August 15, 2025, to be eligible for this summer's prizes. If you cannot submit your raffle tickets digitally, paper raffle tickets and prize boxes are available at our temporary location within the Heritage Hotel. A drawing will occur to decide the winners. For more information about this summer's prizes, click here.
Bookopoly (Ages 18 & Up)
June 7 – August 15, Online on Beanstack
We invite adults, regardless of town of residency, to join us on Beanstack for Southbury Public Library's Bookopoly reading challenge! Click here to view the game board and get started!
From June 7 to August 15, 2025, select books to read for each theme on the game board’s boardwalk. For each theme you complete on the game board’s boardwalk, you will earn raffle tickets that can be entered into the Adult Summer Reading Challenge's drawing for one of several $25 gift card prizes! Completed game boards will be automatically entered into a raffle to win a $200 Visa Gift Card!
Raffle tickets and completed game boards submitted by August 15, 2025, will be eligible for this summer's prizes. A drawing will occur to decide the winners. If you cannot use the digital version of Bookopoly on Beanstack, please visit the library’s Circulation Desk to request a print version.
Events for Adults
Adult Coloring Club
Monday, August 25, 2-3:30pm, Offsite at Parks and Recreation, 561 Main Street South, Registration Requested
Welcome to the Adult Coloring Club! Join us for a relaxing hour of therapeutic coloring. Materials will be provided, but participants are welcome to bring their own supplies as well. Registration is requested, not required. Please sign up so we know how many people to expect and to receive event updates! To register, click here.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Thursday, August 28, 2-3:30pm, Online via Zoom, Registration Required
F. Scott Fitzgerald is best known for his four completed novels depicting the flashiness and excess of the Jazz Age. Join us as we explore the life and career of F. Scott Fitzgerald. To register, click here.
Mary Poppins: Disney's Super-Cali-Fragi-Listic Screen Classic
Friday, August 29, 2-3:30pm, Online via Zoom, Registration Required
How did Walt Disney persuade the eccentric author of Mary Poppins to allow him to build a film around her fictional flying nanny? How did Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke turn a demanding film into a dazzling triumph? Entertainment historian John Kenrick returns to pull back the curtain on this beloved screen classic, and to tell us how it changed his life. To register, click here.
Adult Book Clubs
The Southbury Public Library offers three book clubs for adults: Tuesday Night Fiction Book Club, Nonfiction Book Club, and Mystery Book Club. Registration is requested, not required. Join us for a discussion about this month’s books! Please sign up so we know how many people to expect and to receive event updates!
Mystery Book Club
Monday, August 18, 3-4pm, Offsite at Parks and Recreation, 561 Main Street South, Registration Requested
This month we'll be discussing The Catch: A Joe Gunther Novel by Archer Mayer. To register, click here.
Tuesday Night Fiction Book Club
Tuesday, August 26, 6:30-7:30pm, Offsite at Parks and Recreation, 561 Main Street South, Registration Requested
This month we'll be discussing The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl. To register, click here.
Nonfiction Book Club
Wednesday, September 10, 10-11am, Offsite at Parks and Recreation, 561 Main Street South, Registration Requested
There is no August meeting of the Nonfiction Book Club. Next month we'll be discussing The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel. To register, click here.
Children and Teen Events
Information and Registration: Children/Teen Department at 203-262-0626
See below for information about our upcoming Children's and Teen Programming! All of our Children's and Teen Programs are sponsored by the Friends of the Southbury Public Library. Library programs are not funded by the town fiscal budget.
Children and Teen Reading Challenges
Summer Reading Program: Level Up at Your Library (PreK to Grade 12 & Class of 2025 Graduates)
June 7-August 15, Online on Beanstack
Log your reading time to enter to win different raffle prizes, join us for fun events, and more! This year, all our Summer Reading registration and raffle tickets will be online with Beanstack, our virtual summer reading tracker. While you will have to use Beanstack to enter in the time you've read and earn tickets or rewards, we will have paper bookmarks you can use to help organize your time read before entering it into Beanstack. Readers who cannot use Beanstack can talk to Teen Librarian Eli or Children's Librarian Jen directly to arrange an alternative.
We have something special for each age group!
Pre-K (0 through entering Kindergarten): Keep track of the days you read. Earn one sticker or one bead for every day you read to add to a Sticker Book or Read-for-Beads necklace.
Entering Grades 1-5: Keep track of how much time you read. Every hour earns you one raffle ticket for a variety of prizes and a bead for a Read-for-Beads necklace.
Entering Grades 6-12 (and Class of 2025 Graduates): Keep track of how much time you read. Every hour earns you one raffle ticket for a variety of $25 Gift Cards and a bead for a Read-for-Beads necklace or keychain.
Grades 1-12 can also participate in our Scavenger Hunt: 12 board games are hidden around the town of Southbury. Can you find them for a chance to win a $75 Amazon Gift Card? See the full challenge in Beanstack for more details!
1000 Books Before Kindergarten (Birth to Entering Kindergarten)
Ongoing, Online on Beanstack
Read a book (any book!) to your newborn, infant, or toddler and keep track on Beanstack. Repeats count! If you read 1 book a day for 3 years, that’s 1,095 books! 10 books a week for 2 years is 1,040 books, and 3 books a day in one year is 1,095 books. Every book you read you get one sticker, and if you finish you can get a certificate, small prize, and your picture on our wall of fame if you’d like! Visit Beanstack to get started online.
100 Books Before Graduation (Grades 9-12)
Ongoing, Online on Beanstack
Read 100 books before High School Graduation! 100 books may seem like a lot (and it is), but it works out to about 1 book every 2 weeks. When you sign up, get a special tracking bookmark to fill out as you read. Make it to half way and get a $5 Gift Card to Dunkin' or The Bakery. Read 100 books and get a special throw blanket! Every 10 books you read, pick out something from the prize box (pins, stickers, animal sticky notes, and more!). Visit Beanstack to find out more and get started!
Children's Storytimes
Southbury Firehouse Pop-Up Family Storytime with Region 15 (All Ages)
Monday, August 4, 10:30-11am, Southbury Fire Department, 461 Main Street South, No Registration Required
Join Miss Jen and our amazing school librarians from Region 15 for a summer pop-up storytime for the whole family! This event is outside, so please come prepared with blankets, chairs, and anything else you need to be comfortable outside. Please park in the back lot at the fire station. Find out more on our website here.
Babies & Books (6-24 months)
Tuesday, August 5, 10:30-11am, Nursery Room, United Church of Christ, 283 Main Street North, Registration Required - Space Limited
Babies & Books is a 5-week lapsit program for children 6 to 24 months and their parents/caregivers. Listen to short stories and songs, and enjoy a small craft or sensory play. Find out more and register on our website here.
Special Events for Children
Take & Make Craft (All Ages)
Monday, August 4 & 11, Heritage Hotel, 522 Heritage Road, While Supplies Last
Stop by our Heritage Hotel location for a Take & Make Craft. Bring home everything you'll need to make a fun and exciting thematic paper craft. Appropriate for all ages, though young children may need assistance. Find out more on our website here.
Family Games Night (All Ages)
Thursday, August 7, 6:30-7:30pm, Mat Room at Parks & Recreation, 561 Main Street South, No Registration Required
Join us for an evening of board games! Families or teen groups of friends, drop in between 6 and 7:30pm to enjoy a variety of board games. If a team is not made of middle schoolers and above, an adult must be present. Find out more on our website here.
Monday Grab & Go Craft: Recycled Robots (Grades 1-5)
Monday, August 11, Heritage Hotel, 522 Heritage Road, While Supplies Last
Stop by our temporary Heritage Hotel location to pick up your Recycled Robot Grab & Go Kit! Recommended for children in Grades 1-5. Younger children may need assistance. Find out more and register on our website here.
Writing Workshop (Grades 3-5)
Monday-Friday, August 11-15, 3-4pm, Mat Room, Southbury Parks & Recreation, 561 Main Street South, Registration Required - Space Limited.
Join Kitan Arole, a college student and graduate of Pomperaug High School, for a creative writing workshop for children in grades 3-5! She is an accomplished student and award-winning writer, and she is excited to share her love of writing with children. At the end of the week, participants will have a written story to share with family and friends, and will build their confidence and public speaking skills. This five day series will run Monday-Friday, August 11-15, from 3-4pm. Find out more and register on our website here
LEGO Club (Grades K-5)
Tuesday, August 12, 6-7pm, Mat Room, Southbury Parks & Recreation, 561 Main Street South, Registration Required - Space Limited
Join us for an afternoon of LEGO fun! We’ll provide the LEGO bricks, and you bring the creativity! You can free build, or work off of instructions. Find out more and register on our website here.
Last Day of Summer Reading (All Ages)
Friday, August 15
All virtual raffle tickets due by 11:59pm. Make sure to get in your last Summer Reading entries before our raffle drawings close! See our website for details at here.
Special Events for Teens
Mini Cross Stitch (Grades 6-12)
Tuesday, August 5, 6:30-7:30pm, Mat Room at Parks & Recreation, 561 Main Street South, Registration Required - Space Limited
Join us to make mini cross stitch designs! Work off one of our easy patterns, or make your own design. You can turn your 1 inch cross stitch into very small wall art or a pendant. If you have never tried cross stitching before, this is a very approachable way to start! All supplies provided. Find out more and register on our website here.
Teen Crochet Club (Grades 6-12)
Thursday, August 7, 6:30-7:30pm, Kitchen/Arts & Crafts Room of Parks & Recreation, 561 Main Street South, Registration Required - Space Limited
Join us for our crochet (and knitting) club, open to both new and experienced crafters alike. If you’re already working on a project, bring it with you. If you’re new to knitting and crocheting, get started with us! We will have basic knitting and crocheting supplies available. Find out more and register on our website here.
Family Games Night (All Ages)
Thursday, August 7, 6:30-7:30pm, Mat Room at Parks & Recreation, 561 Main Street South, No Registration Required
Join us for an evening of board games! Families or teen groups of friends, drop in between 6 and 7:30pm to enjoy a variety of board games. If a team is not made of middle schoolers and above, an adult must be present. Find out more on our website here.
Chocolate Olympics (Grades 6-12)
Thursday, August 14, 6:30-7:30pm, Mat Room at Parks & Recreation, 561 Main Street South, Registration Required - Space Limited
Competition can be sweet! Join us to compete in a variety of chocolate based tasks, including a donut hole relay, oreo stacking challenge, and blind chocolate taste test. Please note: chocolate, nuts, dairy, and gluten will be present. Find out more and register on our website here.
Last Day of Summer Reading (All Ages)
Friday, August 15
All virtual raffle tickets due by 11:59pm. Make sure to get in your last Summer Reading entries before our raffle drawings close! See our website for details at here.
The Friends of the Southbury Public Library
The Friends of the Southbury Public Library sponsor almost all of our fun virtual and in-person programs found on the calendar page of our website, as well as most of our Summer Reading Program Prizes! Find out more about the Friends here!
Donations
Friends’ Donation Center, located in the Southbury Plaza between Catalyst Gym and The Paper Store
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-11:30am, and Wednesdays from 5-7pm
The Friends of the Southbury Public Library are accepting donations for future book sales to raise funds for library programs and services to benefit the community. The Friends’ Donation Center is located at their new space, generously donated by Gatto Development Corporation, in the Southbury Plaza between Catalyst Gym and The Paper Store. The Center is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., and Wednesdays from 5 to 7 p.m.
Items accepted include gently-used hardcover, softcover, and paperback books in all genres, both fiction and nonfiction, for adults, teens, and children. The Friends also accept DVDs, music CDs, vinyl records, audiobooks on CD, jigsaw puzzles, and games. Donation receipts for tax purposes are available.
The August 2024 flood completely destroyed the entire Friends’ inventory of material collected in the past year from generous donors. The Friends are extremely grateful to all those in the community, the surrounding towns, and even out of state, who have so generously donated books and other materials. The success of past sales allows us to continue to fund almost all programs offered by the library.
For more information about the Friends of the Southbury Public Library, click here.
Artist of the Month: Diana Windham
Our virtual art gallery features Diana Windham this month!
About Diana Windham: Having developed a love of music through the study of piano and violin, in Idaho, where she was born, Diana attended Oberlin College, in Oberlin Ohio majoring in English. In her first drawing class, under the instructor, Forbes Whiteside, she discovered the spaces between forms, which piqued her visual curiosity. The ability to make something visible, never before seen by anyone else, gave her an inner identification that was life changing. While music remained invaluable as a major part of her life, making the object of art became her focus, bringing her into a world that felt more of her own and less programmed by environment.
During the study of painting at The State School of Visual Arts in Frankfurt, Germany, where original etchings of Rembrandt and other Dutch masters were passed around the table for study and discussion, a much deeper appreciation for the processes of making art was being developed. At Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, she studies with the late James McGarrell and received a Master of Arts in Teaching. His encouragement and his emphasis on strong drawing ability was key to her interest in showing her work and in encouraging art in education.
The Art Students League in New York City provided the next stage in her development as a painter of the human figure. Edwin Dickinson’s masterful rendering of one focused-upon area next to another, combined with his open-minded conversation with avant garde artists was enlightening and inspiring. To be completely in charge of one’s subject matter, at the same time, inventing something new became her goal.
Diana has taught studio art, drawing, painting and art history in colleges in Kansas, at John Jay High School, Katonah, New York and at Tunxis University, Farmington, Connecticut. The need to expand her world of experience brought her to study commercial art at SUNY, Purchase, and at Parsons School of Design in New York City. Diana’s paintings and drawings have been shown at Silvermine Gallery, New Canaan, Connecticut, the Neuberger Museum, Purchase, New York, and the Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, Connecticut.
For more information, click here. To view this virtual exhibit, click here.