The Library Vault

Storytelling at Russell Library

Winter is the season of storytelling. In some cultures, November 1st marked the start of the New Year: the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. True to form, this year in Middletown the first frost came between the dusk of November 1st and the dawn of November 2nd. Now the remaining crops…

Amy S.

November 6, 2023

Inside Stories, Kids and Teens, Library Services

AChristmasCarol, CharlesDickens, ConnecticutStoryTellingCenter, JaneAusten, PrideAndPrejudice, ReverendCollins, storytelling, Tellebrations, WatershipDown

Seeking Awe

Have you noticed lately that people aren’t okay? Maybe you’re raising your hand and saying, “Me! That’s me! I’m most definitely not okay.” I hear you. In most places there’s a palpable undercurrent of unrest, irritability, depression, anxiety, mistrust, divisiveness, and grief, among many other equally unsettling things. The reasons for our current state of…

Cate T.

October 30, 2023

Book Reviews

Awe, DacherKeltner, JeffreyDavis, JonahPaquette, JuliaBaird, MikeRucker, RossGay, SharonBlackie, Wonder

Wine & Words: Bovary, Beaujolais, and Imperial Russia?

The books that are catching my attention recently have not been that of best sellers, nor of romance, or any nonfiction. The novels that are fulfilling my needs and feeding my desires are the classics. Classic literature is a funny genre, because is it a really a genre? Or a grouping of novels that people…

sbarillari

October 23, 2023

Book Reviews, Wine & Words

AnnaKarenina, ChateauThivin, MadameBovary, Tolstoy

Eastern Connecticut Paranormal Society: The Second Investigation

This time it was a dark and stormy night. I stood in the bay window of the old white house next door to the library that serves as extra office space and stared over at the library. I could see lights moving around the upper level of the tower. Thunder rumbled and lightning lit up…

Mary

October 16, 2023

Inside Stories, Middletown, CT, Secrets of Russell Library

ClockTower, EasternConnecticutParanormalSociety, ECPS, FrankenBuilding, GhostHunters, ParanormalActivity

Wait … Is the Library Moving???

By Ramona Burkey, Director of Russell Library You may have read in the newspaper or on social media recently that the Russell Library is on the verge of making some momentous decisions about the future of our building. One comment I’ve been hearing a lot lately is “So, I hear the library is moving!” Well……

Amy S.

October 9, 2023

Inside Stories, Library Services, Middletown, CT

LibraryDirector, NewBuilding, RussellLibraryMoving