Free Computer Classes for Beginners

The Black Rock Branch Library announces a series of  free computer classes designed for beginners.

All classes begin at 10:30 AM or and will last approximately 1 hour.

Space is limited so register for one or more classes now.

Call:  (203) 337-9676.

Topics covered will include:

Computer Basics

Intro to the Internet

Email

Social Media

Microsoft Word/Excel

Desktop computers will be provided for all students.

Get Fit Bridgeport – “Walking Down Your Blood Sugar”

The Black Rock Branch announces a physical fitness series using exercise DVD’s, that are available at the library. They are simple to use and appropriate for those who have not exercised regularly, or who need a gentler way of exercising, yet want results.

The first program is entitled “Walking Down Your Blood Sugar” from the Leslie Sansone ‘Walk at Home’ DVD Series.  It includes an educational ‘Talk’ offering a doctor’s expert advice on the importance of fitness walking while managing diabetes

The format will be 15 minute welcome and education, 30 minute walking with the video, 15 minute handout /repeat education and close.

Little Rocks

Join us for our popular Little Rocks program for children up through age 3 with a caregiver. Stories, rhymes, music, movement, short films, and time for play are all part of the mix!

Contact: Miss Bina:   203-337-9676

WAITING FOR SUPERMAN

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim reminds us that education “statistics” have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR SUPERMAN.

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As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying “drop-out factories” and “academic sinkholes,” methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems.

Documentary Feature
Paramount Vantage;
Directed by Davis Guggenheim
Rated PG; 102 minutes; 2010

Family Film Festival – Ratatouille

Remy is a young rat in the French countryside who arrives in Paris, only to find out that his cooking idol is dead. When he makes an unusual alliance with a restaurant’s new garbage boy, the culinary and personal adventures begin despite Remy’s family’s skepticism and the rat-hating world of humans.

For all ages! Popcorn and juice!

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Back by Popular demand – Free Italian Language Classes for Beginners.

What: Intro to the Italian Language Offered at the Black Rock Branch Library

When: February 9th from 7:15 to 8:15 PM

When: February 16th from 7:15 to 8:15 PM

When: February 23rd from 7:15 to 8:15 PM

When: March 1st from 7:15 to 8:15 PM

Why: The Italian language is the most beautiful in the world. Ci vediamo!

Only the Strong Survive

The Stax Record label generated some of the most beloved songs of all time launching the careers of such legends as Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, Otis Redding, Mary Wilson, and Isaac Hayes.

This rousing documentary recognizes the late greats of the label and also catches up with the survivors of the R&B era of the 60’s and 70’s.  This film features performances by these living legends while giving you a take on the evolution of rhythm and blues not only from artist to artist but also from city to city as the popularity of this style moved across the country.

Isaac Hayes, Wilson Pickett, Sam Moore, Mary Wilson
Miramax Films; Directed by Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker
Rated PG-13; 95 minutes; 2003

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Food for Thought – Book Discussion

The Black Rock Branch Library’s lunchtime book club meets the 3rd  Wednesday of the month at 1:00 PM - bring your brown bag lunch, we will provide coffee, tea and dessert.

Our next book up for discussion is:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows have written a wondrous, delightful, poignant book — part Jane Austen, part history lesson. The letters in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society aren’t addressed to you, but they are meant for you. It’s a book everyone should read. An absolute treasure.”
– Sarah Addison Allen, author of Garden Spells

Call the library today and reserve your copy: 203 337-9676

Upcoming books:

Wednesday, March 14th
1:00 PM
Black Rock Branch

The Life of Pi by Yan Martel

Winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Life of Pi is at once a realistic, rousing adventure and a meta-tale of survival that explores the redemptive power of storytelling and the transformative nature of fiction. It’s a story, as one character puts it, to make you believe in God.

The Underground Railroad

Please join the Black Rock Children’s Department in celebration of Black History Month with Pearlye Sams Allen’s interactive Underground Railroad Program.

These Africans resisted. In nearly every conceivable way, they registered their protest against their enslavement. One of the most important ways they resisted was to remove their labor from the reach of their masters. By running away — by “stealing themselves” — they not only deprived their taskmasters of their labor, they escaped the dehumanizing work regime of servitude, and sometimes found new lives in freedom.

For additional information on the Underground railroad:

• Underground Railroad
  Resource Bank from PBS

• National Geographic Online
  National Geographic presents the Underground Railroad

• Flight to Freedom Game“Flight to Freedom,” allows “players” to experience slavery through the eyes of those who lived it.

• Connecticut Freedom Trail
  The Freedom Trail has been preserved in history,recognizing the importance to Connecticut of numerous sites in the state that are associated with the heritage and movement towards freedom of its African American Citizens.

The Help

Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends’ lives — and a small Mississippi town — upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen, Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper, is the first to open up — to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community.

Despite Skeeter’s life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories — and as it turns out, they have a lot to say.

Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard

Walt Disney Pictures; Directed by Tate Taylor

Rated PG-13; 146 minutes; 2011

View trailer