Category: Library Services

• Thanks for Your Memories

  By Ramona B. For most of the past thirty-five years, I’ve worked in public libraries. It all started at age 14, when I got a special work permit so I could become a Page, i.e. book-shelver, in my hometown library in coastal Maine. I had spent untold hours at the library as a child, first…

  Amy S.

  December 29, 2025

  Inside Stories, Libraries, Library Services, Middletown, CT

  150Years, HubbardRoom, MiddletownCT, ReferenceDesk, RussellLibrary, Sesuicentennial, SouthFarms

• 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

• 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

• Tonies & Yotos at the Library

  By a Librarian-Mom If you are a parent, grandparent, caregiver, child, toddler, preteen, teacher, or … other, you may have noticed these strange boxy-things in toy stores, Targets, libraries, and on ads. Somehow they’re related to books … or music? Or yoga? Or meditation? All of the above? Yes. Tonies and Yotos are both essentially…

  Amy S.

  September 15, 2025

  Kids and Teens, Library Services, Recommendations, Technology, Trending

  ScreenFreePlayer, Toniebox, TonieFigures, Tonies, YotoCards, YotoPlayers, Yotos

• 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