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October is going to be a busy month at Manchester Community Library! Aside from the chills and thrills of the Halloween season, the coming month’s programming is as vibrant as the seasonal foliage in culture and educational opportunities. Events include gallery exhibitions, historic talks, hands-on workshops, and, of course, MCL’s annual all-ages Halloween party. These special events, paired with the Library’s multitude of weekly programs, can keep the whole family busy almost every day of the month. All MCL programs are free and open to the public.

Special Events

The Library’s next main space gallery exhibition features landscape paintings by Manchester artist Wendy Galbraith. Wendy’s work reflects a profound love of the landscapes, skies, and waterways that surround us. The gallery opening event will take place on Friday, October 3, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, featuring light refreshments and an opportunity to speak with the artist.

On Saturday, October 4, at 2 pm, the annual International Voices event, presented by Taconic Music, will celebrate music and poetry from around the world. Community members have been invited to share poetry that stems from their cultural or linguistic roots. This year’s event will feature poetry from Bulgaria, Belarus, Hungary, and France. The Taconic String Quartet (Joana Genova, Heather Braun, Ariel Rudiakov, and Nathaniel Parke) have artfully chosen music to match the poems, to be performed alongside the multilingual readings. Musical selections include pieces by Kodaly, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, and various folk tunes. The Vermont Arts Council has sponsored this year’s International Voices event.

On Tuesday, October 14, at 5:30 pm, join author Bryan Wiggins as he shares the story behind his medical thriller novel, The Corpse Bloom. Every author’s journey is different, and Bryan’s took him from doing brand work for Dr. Lee Thibodeau’s medtech company, to operating room observations, to intensive planning, and finally to branding and marketing his own book. Discover what inspired his story, and then learn about the publishing process.

The People vs. Big Tech, a Vermont townhall series, is coming to the Library on Wednesday, October 22, at 4:30 pm. Vermont State Representative Monique Priestley (Bradford) and Zach Tomanelli from the Vermont Public Interest Research Group will discuss data privacy violations, unreliable digital advertising, and artificial intelligence, and provide practical tips to help protect one’s privacy and voice. The series aims to educate and engage the public to help shape stronger protections and more innovative policies.

MCL’s annual family-friendly Halloween Party will take place on Saturday, October 25, from 5 – 7 pm. The event will feature activity stations catering to everyone’s interests, themed foods (both sweet and savory), music, and games. So grab your broomsticks, don your costumes, and join us for a night of thrills, chills, and library-sized laughs. It’s going to be a scream!

Banned Books & Fire Prevention Week

Banned Books Week coincides with Fire Prevention Week this year, from October 5 to October 11, and the Library will host informative programs and fun activities to celebrate both. Each year, libraries, schools, and readers across the country come together during Banned Books Week to highlight the harms of censorship and to celebrate the right to seek and share stories freely. This year’s theme for Fire Prevention Week, ‘Charge Into Fire Safety,’ focuses on the safe use of battery-powered devices and the growing need to understand fire risks in our increasingly technology-filled lives. The following programs will be hosted in commemoration of these two weeks:

• Banned Books Week Screen Printing Workshop
  Saturday, October 4, 1 – 3 pm
• Fire Safety at Home with Manchester Fire Department’s Bill Beideman
  Friday, October 10, 2 – 3:30 pm, for Adults
• Film Screening: Fahrenheit 451
  Friday, October 10, 5 – 7 pm
• Fire Safety for Kids with the Manchester Fire Department
  Saturday, October 11, 2 – 3:30 pm

NEA Big Read

NEA Big Read events will continue to take place throughout the month, presented in partnership with Merck Forest and Farmland Center. Programs will include family-friendly craft workshops, historical talks, and a book discussion group, all centered around the two organizations’ NEA Big Read project theme, Building Hope and Connection Through Our Landscape. These events have been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read. NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. Events will take place either at the Library, 138 Cemetery Ave, Manchester Center, or at Merck Forest and Farmland Center, 3270 VT-315, Rupert:

• Exploring Environmental Art: Found-Wood Sculpture with Lee Williams
  Saturday, October 4, 11 am – 1 pm at Merck Forest and Farmland Center
• Nature Journaling with the US Forest Service
  Saturday, October 11, 1 – 3 pm at Merck Forest and Farmland Center
• Outdoor Story Time: Can You Hear the Plants Speak?
  Tuesday, October 14, 10:30 am at MCL
• Book Discussion Group: Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
  Monday, October 27, 5 pm

Vermont Reads

Vermont Reads events, sponsored by Vermont Humanities, are also in full swing. This year’s Vermont Reads title, The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton, “is a meditation on the beauty and violence of an untamable wilderness. It considers the dissolution of the human-made world, and helps us see how human connection, adaptability, and a little bit of magic might guide us to a new future.” (Vermont Humanities). MCL has organized a variety of events in line with the novel’s themes of resilience, strength through community, and the power of nature. This month’s Vermont Reads events at the Library are:

• River Memories: Exploring Settlement Patterns on Waterways in Vermont
  Tuesday, October 7, 5:30 pm, presented in partnership with Manchester Historical Society
• Storying the Land: Reading and Q&A with Author Kai Thomas
  Saturday, October 11, 11 am, presented in partnership with Smokey House Center

Vermont 250th

Vermont 250th events, which will continue through 2027, commemorate Vermont’s origin story, from the Hampshire grants, through the Revolutionary War, and culminating in the Campaign of 1777 and the Battles of Hubbardton and Bennington. In partnership with Manchester Historical Society, MCL will be hosting the following VT 250 events in October:

• Revolution and Remedy: The Impact of the American War of Revolution on Medicine
  Thursday, October 9, 5:30 pm
• George Washington’s Corn Whiskey and Thomas Jefferson’s Peas: Farms, Gardens, and the Founders
  Saturday, October 18, 11 am, also an NEA Big Read event

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