What will your challenge be today?  Build a castle,  use only blue bricks, or make a model of your house.  For LEGO fans of all ages.  Registration is not required.

Stories, songs, and finger-plays for ages 0-24 months with a care giver.  Register upon arrival.

Copies of The Kid Who Ran for President by Dan Gutman are currently available in the Children's Department to check out and read before tonight's discussion.  Register when you pick up your book(s). Snacks and beverages will be provided.

Today's focus: Bird feeders.  For grades 4 and up.  Advance in-person registration is required.

Winter stories and a craft.  All ages.  Registration requested.

Rated PG.  Registration requested.

Stories, songs and crafts for ages 2-5.  Register upon arrival.

Sit around the "campfire" near our Reading Cave for great picture books followed by an activity.  Grades K and up.  Register upon arrival.

All ages are welcome.  Registration is not required.

Stories, songs, and finger-plays for ages 0-24 months with a care giver.  Register upon arrival.

Teen After Hours Game Night!  Food and beverages will be provided.  For students in grades 7-12. Advance registration is required.

Come learn about the healing power of crystals and stones from this high energy mother-daughter team! Velya Janez-Urban & Ehris Urban of Woodbury, professionally known as "Grounded Goodwife" will explain stone selection, how to cleanse, charge and set intentions for your stones, divinatory meanings and so much more!! Is it all woo-woo and juju? Come and find out!!

Registration is required for this free program generously sponsored by the Friends of the Thomaston Public Library. 
Please call or visit the library to register.

After school crafting for Kindergarten and up!  Registration is not required.

Stories, songs and crafts for ages 2-5.  Register upon arrival.

Sit around the "campfire" near our Reading Cave for great picture books followed by an activity.  Grades K and up.  Register upon arrival.

The United Nations Association of Connecticut and the Thomaston Public Library present Dr. Sergei Kambalov in the second lecture of a series on the United Nations entitled "Russia: Adversary or Partner to the US" The program is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended but not required. Please call or visit the library to register.

Russia and the United States are members of the Security Council “Permanent 5" at the United Nations.  Their history has been both collaborative and conflictual. In the age of Putin, Crimea, the Syrian Civil War, the Iran Nuclear Agreement, cyber security and sanctions, what opportunities and challenges await us?  Dr. Kambalov, having served at the UN in various posts over 20 years, brings his expertise to explore this subject and will welcome Q & A.

Dr. Kambalov was the Executive Coordinator of the UN Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development before retirement in 2010 after 21 years of service at the UN. Prior to joining the UN in 1989, he was a First Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, and before that he worked in academic research on international economic relations. He has several academic publications, including a book on economic sanctions as a tool of foreign policy. Born in Riga, he grew up in Novosibirsk. He graduated magna cum laude from the Department of Economics of the Moscow State University and has a PhD in International Economics from the Diplomatic Academy, Moscow.  He and his wife live in Middlebury CT.

The United Nations Association of Connecticut, whose mission is “to educate, mobilize and inspire Americans to support the principles and vital work of the United Nations and to advocate for constructive leadership from the United States within the United Nations,” is Connecticut’s chapter of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (commonly abbreviated UNA-USA).

The UNA-USA traces its founding back to 1943 with the establishment of the American Association for the United Nations (AAUN), a citizen-based organization led by former U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. AAUN merged with the U.S. Committee for the United Nations in 1964, creating the United Nations Association of the USA as it is known today. Membership in the UNA-USA is open to any U.S. citizen or resident who is committed to the purposes of the United Nations Association of the USA.

What will your challenge be today?  Build a castle,  use only blue bricks, or make a model of your house.  For LEGO fans of all ages.  Registration is not required.

Stories, songs, and finger-plays for ages 0-24 months with a care giver.  Register upon arrival.

Today's focus: Mystery box!  For grades 4 and up.  Advance in-person registration is required.

Local chocolatier, Amy White, presents a delicious chocolate filled program. Learn how to make a special chocolate treat and take home a sample. This program is for children in grades 3-12.  Advance in-person registration is required.  Thomaston residents have priority.  Out of town residents may sign up on our wait list and we will call if there are openings.

Together we will read Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick for this Book Chat.  Find out about the real Winnie-the-Pooh.  For grades K-3.  Registration requested.

Stories, songs and crafts for ages 2-5.  Register upon arrival.

Sit around the "campfire" near our Reading Cave for great picture books followed by an activity.  Grades K and up.  Register upon arrival.

The Library Board of Trustees meets the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at 7 pm in the library's Community Room.
These meetings are open to the public.

All ages are welcome.  Registration is not required.

Stories, songs, and finger-plays for ages 0-24 months with a care giver.  Register upon arrival.

For moms and daugters in grades 4-7.  Tonight we discuss A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord.  To join, visit the library for a copy of the book to read before tonight's discussion.

All ages welcome.  Registration is not required.

Teen After Hours Movie!  Mamma Mia 2. Food and beverages will be provided.  Advance registration is required.

Amy Lorenda White will present a delicious chocolate demonstration for adults in which participants will learn to create peanut butter cups, filled cordials, lollipops, and figures using hollow molds. They will also be shown how to make and paint chocolate sculptures. Each participant will receive a pre-made bag of samples and will participate in the creation of at least one of the chocolate creations. Recipes and a list of vendors will be provided.

Ms. White learned chocolate making as a child from her grandmother. She now enjoys making chocolates and sharing her knowledge to encourage family time and homemade gift-making.

Spaces are limited. Please call or visit the library to register for this free event, offered through the generosity of the Friends of the Thomaston Public Library.

Valentine stories and a craft for all ages.  Registration is requested.

Pick up a copy of Winnie's Great War by Lindsay Mattick to read before today's Book Chat.  Copies will be available in January.  Families are welcome to attend together!  Register when you check out the book.

Stories, songs and crafts for ages 2-5.  Register upon arrival.

Sit around the "campfire" near our Reading Cave for great picture books followed by an activity.  Grades K and up.  Register upon arrival.

Welcome to the Teen Advisory Board!  Join us tonight to discuss what teens want to see at the library!  Registration not required.

What will your challenge be today?  Build a castle,  use only blue bricks, or make a model of your house.  For LEGO fans of all ages.  Registration is not required.

Stories, songs, and finger-plays for ages 0-24 months with a care giver.  Register upon arrival.

You’re invited to join our discussion of The River at Night by Erica Ferencik.

Stifled by a soul-crushing job, devastated by the death of her beloved brother, and lonely after the end of a fifteen-year marriage, Wini is feeling vulnerable. So when her three best friends insist on a high-octane getaway for their annual girls’ trip, she signs on, despite her misgivings.

What starts out as an invigorating hiking and rafting excursion in the remote Allagash Wilderness soon becomes an all-too-real nightmare; a freak accident leaves the women stranded, separating them from their raft and everything they need to survive. When night descends, a fire on the mountainside lures them to a ramshackle camp that appears to be their lifeline. Then Wini and her friends grasp the true intent of their supposed saviors and lifelong allegiances are put to the test.

This is a dark exploration of creatures—both friend and foe—that you won’t soon forget.

Copies of the novel will be available at the library to borrow. All are welcome to attend this free discussion. No registration is required.
 

Make your own teddy bear!  This activity is for preschool to Grade 6.  Advance in-person registration is required.  Thomaston residents have priority. Out of town residents may go on our wait list and we will call if there are openings. 

Make your own teddy bear!  This activity is for preschool to Grade 6.  Advance in-person registration is required.  Thomaston residents have priority. Out of town residents may go on our wait list and we will call if there are openings. 

Rated PG.  Registration requested.

Stories, songs and crafts for ages 2-5.  Register upon arrival.

Sit around the "campfire" near our Reading Cave for great picture books followed by an activity.  Grades K and up.  Register upon arrival.

All ages are welcome.  Registration is not required.

Stories, songs, and finger-plays for ages 0-24 months with a care giver.  Register upon arrival.

Book Mania Jeopardy!  Fun for the whole family!  Categories include "On the Big Screen" and "Book Bears".  Registration requested.

Today's focus: Poetry.  For grades 4 and up.  Advance in-person registration is required.

Stories and crafts and polar bears--oh my!  All ages.  Registration requested.

Bring your favorite teddy bear for a tea party, stories and crafts.  Pre-school-Grade 3.  Registration is required. 

Stories, songs and crafts for ages 2-5.  Register upon arrival.

Sit around the "campfire" near our Reading Cave for great picture books followed by an activity.  Grades K and up.  Register upon arrival.

What will your challenge be today?  Build a castle,  use only blue bricks, or make a model of your house.  For LEGO fans of all ages.  Registration is not required.

Stories, songs, and finger-plays for ages 0-24 months with a care giver.  Register upon arrival.

You are invited to read and discuss the classic novel Washington Square by Henry James.
Dr. Mark Schenker will lead the discussion.

Copies of the novel are available at the library now to borrow for this discussion.
All are welcome to attend. Registration is not required.

Support your local library at our annual used book sale event where several thousand copies of hardcover, softcover, and mass market paperback books for children and adults - both fiction and non-fiction - will be offered for sale at prices ranging from 25 cents to $1. A selection of higher priced books will be featured and special access to books listed on Alibris and AbeBooks will be granted on request. Baked goods will be available for sale and the event will conclude with a drawing for gift baskets specially assembled by members of the Library Board of Directors.

The library will accept gently used books for the sale during the last week of February and donations of baked goods may be left at the library Friday, March 1st, during regular library hours from 10 am to 5 pm, or the morning of the sale from 10 am to noon. Thank you for your generosity.

The Library Board of Trustees meets the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at 7 pm in the library's Community Room.
These meetings are open to the public.

For moms and daugters in grades 4-7.  Tonight's selection is TBA.  To join, visit the library for a copy of the book to read before tonight's discussion.

You’re invited to join our discussion of Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow.

Homer and Langley Collyer are brothers - one blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged into madness, or perhaps greatness, by mustard gas in the Great War. They live as recluses in their once grand Fifth Avenue mansion, scavenging the city streets for things they think they can use, hoarding the daily newspapers as research for Langley’s proposed dateless newspaper whose reportage will be as prophecy. Yet the epic events of the century play out in the lives of the two brothers—wars, political movements, technological advances—and even though they want nothing more than to shut out the world, history seems to pass through their cluttered house in the persons of immigrants, prostitutes, society women, government agents, gangsters, jazz musicians . . . and their housebound lives are fraught with odyssean peril as they struggle to survive and create meaning for themselves.

Copies of the novel will be available at the library to borrow three weeks prior to the meeting date. All are welcome to attend this free discussion. No registration is required.
 

The United Nations Association of Connecticut and the Thomaston Public Library present Robert Petrausch of Iona College in the third lecture of a series on the United Nations entitled "Culture, Politics and Fake News: Is the UN the Answer?" The program is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended but not required. Please call or visit the library to register.

The UN is not a perfect institution, but serves a near perfect mission to promote global cooperation and address some of the world’s most pressing issues in a time of promise and peril. In the age of instantaneous communications, the UN is being shaped by cross-cultural communications, worldwide politics and surprisingly by fake news that can disrupt the communication and diplomatic programs. What the UN can and cannot do!

Dr. Robert J. Petrausch, a board member of the United Nations Association of Connecticut, will talk about the influence of culture, politics, and fake news and its impact on the UN. He is a faculty member and former chair of the department of mass communication at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY. He holds a doctorate in education from the Department of Organization and Leadership at Columbia University as well as an MS from Boston University’s School of Communications. He has extensive international experience as an academic and former communications executive with global organizations. He is a member of the Princeton Club in New York City.

The United Nations Association of Connecticut, whose mission is “to educate, mobilize and inspire Americans to support the principles and vital work of the United Nations and to advocate for constructive leadership from the United States within the United Nations,” is Connecticut’s chapter of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (commonly abbreviated UNA-USA).

The UNA-USA traces its founding back to 1943 with the establishment of the American Association for the United Nations (AAUN), a citizen-based organization led by former U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. AAUN merged with the U.S. Committee for the United Nations in 1964, creating the United Nations Association of the USA as it is known today. Membership in the UNA-USA is open to any U.S. citizen or resident who is committed to the purposes of the United Nations Association of the USA.

The Library Board of Trustees meets the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at 7 pm in the library's Community Room.
These meetings are open to the public.

For moms and daugters in grades 4-7.  Tonight's selection is TBA.  To join, visit the library for a copy of the book to read before tonight's discussion.

You’re invited to join our discussion of The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta.

What if - whoosh, right now, with no explanation - a number of us simply vanished? Would some of us collapse? Would others of us go on, one foot in front of the other, as we did before the world turned upside down?

That's what the bewildered citizens of Mapleton, who lost many of their neighbors, friends and lovers in the event known as the Sudden Departure, have to figure out. Because nothing has been the same since it happened - not marriages, not friendships, not even the relationships between parents and children.

Kevin Garvey, Mapleton's new mayor, wants to speed up the healing process, to bring a sense of renewed hope and purpose to his traumatized community. Kevin's own family has fallen apart in the wake of the disaster: his wife, Laurie, has left to join the Guilty Remnant, a homegrown cult whose members take a vow of silence; his son, Tom, is gone, too, dropping out of college to follow a sketchy prophet named Holy Wayne. Only Kevin's teenaged daughter, Jill, remains, and she's definitely not the sweet "A" student she used to be. Kevin wants to help her, but he's distracted by his growing relationship with Nora Durst, a woman who lost her entire family on October 14th and is still reeling from the tragedy, even as she struggles to move beyond it and make a new start.

With heart, intelligence and a rare ability to illuminate the struggles inherent in ordinary lives, Tom Perrotta's The Leftovers is a startling, thought-provoking novel about love, connection and loss.

Copies of the novel will be available at the library to borrow three weeks prior to the meeting date. All are welcome to attend this free discussion. No registration is required.
 

The Library Board of Trustees meets the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at 7 pm in the library's Community Room.
These meetings are open to the public.

You’re invited to join our discussion of Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.

A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel tells with seamless authenticity the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.

Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha.

In this novel, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction - at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful - and completely unforgettable.

Copies of the novel will be available at the library to borrow three weeks prior to the meeting date. All are welcome to attend this free discussion. No registration is required.
 

The United Nations Association of Connecticut and the Thomaston Public Library present Joseph Baxer, president, United Nations Association of Connecticut in the fourth and final lecture in a series on the United Nations entitled "Marco Polo: the Silk Road: the UN in Action." The program is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended but not required. Please call or visit the library to register.

Images of the ancient Silk Road and the medieval journey of Marco Polo invite fascinating images of caravans of camels navigating long stretches of desert, caravanserai hosting a veritable Babel of tongues and cooperation midst diversity as traders, diplomats and adventurers came in contact. The UN is far from an office building in Manhattan, but alive, in action, rooted across a continent in which China reimagines the ancient routes at sea, on ice and through cyberspace. Dr. Baxer, following an immersion in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, will explore the vitality and promise of the UN in action.

Joseph J. Baxer is president of the United Nations Association of Connecticut and has been US representative to the United Nations for the London based NGO, Strategies for Peace. He is engaged in sustaining cultural diversity and mediating cross-cultural conflicts. His focus involves creating the atmosphere/conditions in which reconciliation can occur. He has led seminars and lectured locally and internationally on conflict resolution and cross cultural dialogue, including participation in international peace missions to Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nicaragua. His first visit to Russia was in 1976. He has traveled extensively in Europe, both East and West, South America and the Philippines and given priority time to the Middle East, especially Iran, Syria and Israel. Ordained a priest, he is affiliated with the American Catholic Church. He has been a high school principal in Connecticut, taught at Emory University, St. Joseph University and the Hartford Seminary. He has ministered in multicultural churches, directed a large inner city homeless shelter/rehabilitation center, and in Rome, Italy served as Vicar General of an international Church Order. He holds Masters’ degrees in Philosophy and Sociology and Doctorates in Theology and Psychology. He has studied at the Gregorian University, University of Detroit, Catholic University of American, Oxford and Harvard. His most recent book, published in English and French, is An Intercultural Life, exploring the crossroads of religion and culture. He lives with his wife Barbara in Kent, CT.

The United Nations Association of Connecticut, whose mission is “to educate, mobilize and inspire Americans to support the principles and vital work of the United Nations and to advocate for constructive leadership from the United States within the United Nations,” is Connecticut’s chapter of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (commonly abbreviated UNA-USA).

The UNA-USA traces its founding back to 1943 with the establishment of the American Association for the United Nations (AAUN), a citizen-based organization led by former U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. AAUN merged with the U.S. Committee for the United Nations in 1964, creating the United Nations Association of the USA as it is known today. Membership in the UNA-USA is open to any U.S. citizen or resident who is committed to the purposes of the United Nations Association of the USA.

The Library Board of Trustees meets the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at 7 pm in the library's Community Room.
These meetings are open to the public.

You’re invited to join our discussion of Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. Dr. Mark Schenker will lead the discussion.

One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny’s mother, Beverly - thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.

Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows up between them.

When, in her twenties, Franny begins an affair with the legendary author Leon Posen and tells him about her family, the story of her siblings is no longer hers to control. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, their guilt, and the deeply loyal connection they feel for one another.

Told with equal measures of humor and heartbreak, Commonwealth is a meditation on inspiration, interpretation, and the ownership of stories. It is a brilliant and tender tale of the far-reaching ties of love and responsibility that bind us together.

Copies of the novel will be available at the library to borrow three weeks prior to the meeting date. All are welcome to attend this free discussion. No registration is required.
 

The Library Board of Trustees meets the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at 7 pm in the library's Community Room.
These meetings are open to the public.

The Library Board of Trustees meets the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at 7 pm in the library's Community Room.
These meetings are open to the public.

The Library Board of Trustees meets the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at 7 pm in the library's Community Room.
These meetings are open to the public.

The Library Board of Trustees meets the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at 7 pm in the library's Community Room.
These meetings are open to the public.