Category: Libraries

• Giving Thanks and Showing Support

  Is it just me, or does this holiday season feel a little… different than usual? I’ve sensed it not only in myself, but in the people around me. Less interest in material objects. More inclination to hold loved ones close. A slowing down, a meaningful realignment with what truly matters. It sounds like a heart…

  brandiedoyle

  December 1, 2025

  A Christmas Carol, Giveaways, Libraries, Library Services, Middletown, CT

  art, books, Donations, GiveBacks, GivingTuesday, Heart, IHeartRussellLibrary, Libraries, library, Merchandise, news

• Theater in the Round at Russell Library

  A few weeks ago, I walked into Russell Library’s Reading Room at 7am on a Friday morning. My mission, with the help of two members of our facilities department and a member of the East Haddam Stage Company’s production team, was to set up 80 chairs in various configurations and then put them all away…

  Mary

  October 27, 2025

  A Christmas Carol, Events, Inside Stories, Libraries, Middletown, CT, Secrets of Russell Library

  AChristmasCarol, CharlesDickens, EbenezerScrooge, JacobMarley, LibraryFundraiser, TheSpace, YeOldeCostumeShoppe

• Reading Room by Day, Theater by Night

  Many folks are wondering why we chose to stage A Christmas Carol in the Reading Room of Russell Library. Besides the fact that the room has its own ghosts, I mean. If you have never seen our Reading Room, let me give you a brief history and description. Frances Russell established Russell Library in memory…

  Mary

  September 29, 2025

  A Christmas Carol, Book Reviews, Events, Inside Stories, Libraries, Library Services, Recommendations, Secrets of Russell Library

  AChristmasCarol, CharlesDickens, ChurchOfTheHolyTrinity, EasternConnecticutParanormalSociety, ECPS, EpiscopalChurch, FilmAdaptations, FrancesRussell, ghosts, LibraryFundraiser, MuppetChristmasCarol, PurchaseTickets, ReadingRoom, SamRussell

• No Buy? No Problem! Russell Library and the No Buy Movement

  $27.40 cents a day doesn’t seem like a lot, does it? Yet by spending that amount each day, you will wind up spending $10,000 per year. It’s scary how fast money can slip away, almost unnoticed. Hence the No Buy 2025 movement. No Buy January, a trend that challenged folks to spend money only on…

  Mary

  September 1, 2025

  Libraries, Library Services, Trending

  BingeBoxes, BookMatch, CalendarOfEvents, DownloadableResources, Downloadables, MuseumPasses, NoBuyMovement

• Ebenezer Scrooge at Russell Library

  Marley was dead: to begin with. from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens You have to give Charles Dickens credit. He knew how to craft a creepy opening to a story. He then goes on to tell the reader, “This must be distinctly understood. or nothing wonderful can come of the story…” That famous line…

  Mary

  August 18, 2025

  Events, History of Russell Library, Inside Stories, Libraries, Middletown, CT, Secrets of Russell Library

  AChristmasCarol, CharlesDickens, EasternConnecticutParanormalSociety, EastHaddamStageCompany, EbenezerScrooge, ECPS, FrancesRussell, Fundraiser, ghosts, JacobMarley, KandieCarle, MiddletownCT, OldEpiscopalChurch, ReadingRoom, SecretsOfRussellLibrary, Tickets