Currently residents of New Haven, Rosalind (Ro) Hinman and her husband, Richard, made their home in Old Lyme for more than thirty years and raised their four children here. For many of those years Ro – a graduate of the Central School of Speech and Drama, London – worked as a storyteller; first with the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s outreach program, and later with the Connecticut Storytelling Center, bringing stories to libraries, schools and other venues, all over Connecticut.  She continues to be one of the organizers of the Connecticut Storytelling Festival at Connecticut College.

Peg Donovan, also of the Connecticut Storytelling Center will present a storytime like you’ve never heard before! Ms. Peg will use books, puppets, songs and flannel board to lead your children on a merry journey into the magical world of words, spoken and written.  Multicultural stories will be the theme of this fun-filled and enthralling program for young children.

This program will begin May 14, 2012 during the toddler story time on Mondays, as well as, on the corresponding Friday throughout the month of May. The series will then continue through

Friday, June 15.  There will be no story time on Monday, May 28 in honor of Memorial Day.

Registration is requested. To view the schedule of guest reader please visit the Children’s Blog.

The Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library proudly presents an exciting new component to the library’s toddler story time called “Today’s Toddlers, Tomorrow’s Leaders”.  We wish to introduce young children to Old Lyme’s current leaders and to show the importance of reading as part of a successful life. Various community leaders have been invited to be guest readers to share a favorite book and talk about themselves and what they do within the town.

This program will begin May 14, 2012 during the toddler story time on Mondays, as well as, on the corresponding Friday throughout the month of May. The series will then continue through Friday, June 15. There will be no story time on Monday, May 28 in honor of Memorial Day.

Please visit the Story Times  or the Front page to register for this program.

Guest readers include:

Monday, May 14 – Bonnie Reemsnyder, First Selectwoman
Friday, May 18 – Alison Zanardi, Director of the Old Lyme Children’s Learning Center
Monday, May 21 – Dr. Elizabeth Osga, Superintendent of L-OL Public Schools
Friday, May 25 – Patricia Downes, Principal of Mile Creek Elementary
Friday, June 1 – Ellen Tyler, Principal of Center School
Monday, June 4 – Susan Ballek, Executive Director of the Lyme Art Association
Friday, June 8 –Mary Seidner, Director of Lymes Youth Services Bureau
Monday, June 11 – Mary Jo Nosal, Selectwoman
Friday, June 15 – Tammi Flynn, Director of Marketing at the Florence Griswold Museum

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Fine Art Photography Class, Wednesday’s  June 20 – July 18, 5- 8pm

Register Here!

This 4 session course introduces students to the techniques associated with producing Fine Art Photographic prints utilizing industry standard printing and software methods. This session is designed to help you identify and find your photographic style. (No class on 7/4)Classes are divided into class instruction time and field work in Old Lyme. Selected photographs will be printed.

No class on 7/4

Required Materials: Single Digital Lens Reflex or Point and Shoot Camera.Some knowledge of photography and camera operation.

 Fee is $150

One Day Workshops

Nikon Digital SLR Workshop, Saturday June 23  9am – 5pm

Register Here!

This full day hands-on class will teach you how to better operate the myriad of features, buttons, dials and menus.The workshop begins with class instruction & equipment demonstrations on the most commonly used Nikon equipment (D40 to the D7000 DSLRs and the SB-600 to the SB-900 flash units). The afternoon session consists of field work on the streets of Old Lyme. Individual attention will be provided to help you successfully utilize your camera’s features. The class concludes with a review, Q&A and a critique of the photos taken that day.
Required Material: Nikon DSLR

 Fee is $150. Lunch provided

High Dynamic Range Workshop, Saturday July 14  9 – 5pm

Register Here!

This course is an introduction to the amazing world of High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging. HDR has developed into an important part of image work flow. The technique when applied properly will enhance your image to its full range of luminance. The most commonly used HDR software will be discussed and demonstrated.The afternoon session will include a photo tour of picturesque Old Lyme. Selected images from your tour of Old Lyme will be processed back in the classroom.
Required Materials: DSLR with multiple exposure capability, a tripod and a remote shutter release.

Fee is $150, Lunch will be provided.

The God of Small Things is Roy’s first book and, as of 2010, is her only novel. Completed in 1996, the book took four years to write. The potential of the story was first recognized by Pankaj Mishra, an editor with HarperCollins, who sent it to three British publishers. Roy received half-a-million pounds in advances, and rights to the book were sold in 21 countries.

Arundhati Roy is an Indian novelist. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and has also written two screenplays and several collections of essays. Her writings on various social, environmental and political issues have been a subject of major controversy in India.

June 4, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy    Register Here,

July 2, Waiting by Ha Jin  Register Here,

August 6, The Hours by Michael Cunningham Register Here

All programs are Free and open to public.Marsha Bansavage will facilitate the discussion. New members welcome. Copies of the books will be available for checkout at the Circulation Desk. Co-Sponsored  by  the Connecticut Humanities Council

Featured artists include Kelli Folsom, Old Lyme, the recipient of the John F. and Anna Lee Stacey Scholarship through the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Kelli Folsom’s love of creating art began as a young girl spending her free time drawing and copying other artist’s work on the floor of her childhood bedroom. Since graduating she has been teaching adult group and private lessons at the Lyme Art Association and other organizations along the New England shoreline. She exhibits her work in museums and galleries throughout the country. Kelli’s passion for the old masters and the joy she takes from in depth life study strengthens her work as a young emerging artist. Jill Beecher Matthew, a resident of Lyme, CT, is a landscape painter who works with palette knives and oil paint to create her works of art. Encouraged by her mother who was an oil painter, Jill spent many happy childhood hours working on various creative projects. She uses her painting knives to enrich her art with texture and color clarity.  Her paintings are an expression of her lifelong love for art and nature – a gift from her parents, and her favorite inspirational backdrop is the magnificent New England landscape.“We are revisiting some familiar themes by local artists that are refreshingly new in style. The artists are accomplished professionals who always longed to be painters since childhood. They have achieved their goal with a high degree of success and personal fulfillment.

The Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, which was founded in 1898, has enjoyed a long relationship with artists, noted Mary Fiorelli. When Henry Ward Ranger and other early Impressionists discovered the Old Lyme landscape, they spent summers at Miss Florence Griswold’s home but were unable to show their work. The Library came to their rescue in 1902, offering them exhibition space. The Library was the first gallery for the Old Lyme Art Colony.

Join Eleanor Robinson to sing lullabies before tucking in for the evening. With our voices, her stringed instruments and quantities of percussive instruments for the families gathered, we will enjoy a melodic close to the day. Children in jammies welcomed!  Favorite stuffed animals too! 

Miss Eleanor has taught music and movement classes for over a decade in libraries, nursery schools, community centers and churches. She has performed in classic rock and blue grass bands.   Please register here or send an e-mail to rkeith@oldlyme.lioninc.org.

Beginners : 1:00 – 3:30 pm, Fee is $140

Register Here! 

Advanced Beginners : 10AM – 12:30PM, Fee is $140

Register Here!

Experience the joy of painting with watercolors and discover the artist within you! The six week course is an introductory level class on watercolors for beginners or anyone who has done some painting previously.  Participants will explore the basics of using the three primary colors.

Joan Bernard has studied fine art at Syracuse University, The Silver Guild Art Center and Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. She has been painting in watercolor for 40 years. Joan is a member of the Friends of the Library for two years. She is a member of the Art Committee who donates her expertise to hanging the Library’s art exhibitions.

 Registration and payment is due by the first class. Checks should be made out to Joan Bernard at the first class. To register click above on Register Here. You may call the library for staff assistance at 860-434-1684.

Material List

Please Register Here for the Classes!

Mar 7, 2012 Register Here,  Mar 14, 2012 Register Here,  Mar 21, 2012 Register Here,  Mar 28, 2011  Register Here,  

The cost is $10 per person per class

• All participants must register and pay at first class
• Register for as many classes as you attend; New members welcome!
• Class size is limited to 12

Registrations accepted on a first come basis and are due no later than the first class. Checks should be made out to Joanie Fitton. Register above or call the library at 860-434-1684.

Liz Moore holds an MFA from Hunter College and is a professor of writing.  According to the Boston Globe, “Moore’s writing is clear, persuasive, and totally engaging, bringing her characters to life in all their sweet, quirky glory . . . Heft is about transformation and about accepting that the agent of change can come from the most unlikely source.” Moore is a writer, musician, and teacher. She wrote most of her first novel, The Words of Every Song (Broadway Books, 2007), while in college. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Writing at Holy Family University in Philadelphia, where she lives.

Her second novel, Heft, was published by W.W. Norton in January 2012 to popular and critical acclaim. Of Heft, The New Yorker wrote, “Moore’s characters are lovingly drawn . . . a truly original voice”.