Around Town

After Next Weekend’s New Canaan Library Book Sale, Longstanding Event Likely To Be Discontinued

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After more than three decades, New Canaan Library’s book sale likely will be suspended indefinitely following next week’s installment, as no one has stepped in to oversee and operate the entirely volunteer-run, twice-yearly event, officials say. The book sale will run June 12 to 14 (next weekend), and after that it likely will be discontinued, New Canaan Libarry Director Lisa Oldham said. “Essentially, if nobody steps up in the next couple of weeks, we will probably have to cancel it,” she said. The book sale, named for longtime volunteer John Randolph, has been operating for more than 30 years, officials say, and each installment brings in about $13,000. The sale itself—the result of a donated book collection that builds up every six months—is a “huge logistical exercise” that has been run expertly and with innovation for the past two years by New Canaan resident Karen Willett, Oldham said.

Around Town

New Canaan Library Director: Borrowing for Nonresidents Eliminated in Governor’s Spending Plan

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If Gov. Dannel Malloy’s spending plan for the state goes forward as proposed, nonresidents will no longer be able to borrow materials from New Canaan Library or any library outside of the town or city in which they live, the facility’s director said. Lisa Oldham said she’s contacted the town’s delegation to the Connecticut General Assembly to advocate on behalf of the Connecticut State Library, whose budget would see a $3.7 million (29.4 percent) reduction under the spending plan put forward last month by the governor. “If you live in Stamford or Norwalk or any other surrounding towns, you won’t be able to use New Canaan Library with ease,” Oldham said. The proposed biennial budget calls for a reduction from $16 million in the current fiscal year to $12.3 million in FY16, according to the governor’s proposal (see page 80 here). Major changes include the elimination of grants to local public libraries ($193,391 statewide or about $20,000 annually for New Canaan Library) and $315,875 for “Cooperating Library Supports.”

The proposed budget calls for no change in the number of full-time positions (55) within the Connecticut State Library (see page 53 here).

Around Town

New Canaan Library Forms Capital Campaign Committee for New Facility

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Library officials say they’ve taken a big step toward fundraising for a widely anticipated rebuilt facility by forming a capital campaign committee. Even before formally launching the campaign, two local donors have generously given $250,000 to get the library going, Director Lisa Oldham said. Working within a budget of about $25 million—that’s how much the library can expect to raise, according to a feasibility study completed in the fall—the new building will approximately double the facility’s usable space. As it is now, about one-third of the approximately 37,000-square-foot library is unusable, Oldham said. “And that’s a really big deal for parents and children,” she said.

Around Town

New Canaan’s First Selectman, Library Director Give Away Donated Copies of ‘One Summer: America 1927’ for ‘One Book New Canaan’

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First Selectman Rob Mallozzi has plenty of personal reasons to embrace this year’s “One Book New Canaan” selection. He’s already started Bill Bryson’s “One Summer: America 1927,” a work of nonfiction chosen by New Canaan Library for the community-wide reading program, and plans to finish it while on vacation during Feb break next week. “So far, it’s a fascinating look at the hoopla and significance surrounding Lindbergh’s flight to Paris,” Mallozzi said. “As a history major, I love the book so far. Can’t wait to read more.”

And there’s this: Mallozzi’s own father attender Baker School in Darien with one of Lindbergh’s sons in the 1930s and early-‘40s.

Around Town

“Did You Hear … ?”

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The town-appointed committee that oversees private youth sports organizations in town hasn’t yet heard back from half of the groups from which it’s seeking basic information on matters such as financials and numbers of participating kids. Members of the Youth Sports Committee reported at their regular meeting Thursday that youth lacrosse, football and basketball hadn’t yet responded to a 3- or 4-page survey that also sought the names of the private nonprofit groups’ board members and officers. Youth baseball, field hockey and soccer all have responded, the committee said. ***

We’re hearing that the New Canaan Police Department’s full report on the Oct. 30 accident on Silvermine Road has been forwarded to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.