New Canaan Library

‘The Real Queen’s Gambit,’ True Stories of International Chess Master and Coach, is Presented by New Canaan Library via Live Webinar

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“The Queen’s Gambit,” Netflix’s blockbuster series about a chess prodigy, has ignited sales of chess boards and a new national obsession with the game. But, before the glamorous world of Beth Harmon, international master Rusa Goletiani and expert coach, Mike Amori, were fully steeped in the world of chess competitions and coaching. This program will take you into the real world of competitive, high-stakes chess—drawing on parallels from The Queen’s Gambit to illuminate true tales of confronting gender inequities, competing against masters, and the life skills benefits the ancient game can have. The live webinar will be presented on Thursday, January 28 at 7 PM EST via Zoom; please register at newcanaanlibrary.org for sign in information. Rusa Goletiani was born in Sokhumi, Georgia, learned to play chess at the age of 6 and began competing shortly after.

New Canaan Library

‘The Art of Ballot Design Throughout History,’ presented by Author and Graphic Designer Alicia Yin Cheng, Concludes Library’s ‘Presidential Trappings’ Series

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January’s “Presidential Trappings” series, presented by New Canaan Library and the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society, concludes on Tuesday, January 26 at 7PM EST. Alicia Yin Cheng, founding partner of MGMT. design and author of This is What Democracy Looked Like: A Visual History of the Printed Ballot will take the audience through a fascinating history of some of the unique designs of ballots in the past. Please register at newcananlibrary.org; Zoom info will be provided upon registration. The humble ballot has a long and storied history, and has, in fact, not always been so humble in design.

New Canaan Library

Library’s “Movements in Cinema” Series Explores Italian Cinema of the 1960s, Presented by Professor Michael Cramer

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Although Italian cinema first gained international notoriety with neorealist films such as Open City and Bicycle Thieves released after WWII, it reached perhaps its greatest commercial and artistic heights in the early 1960s. Join New Canaan Library in welcoming Michael Cramer, Professor of Film History at Sarah Lawrence College, who will explore the various factors and influences that produced some of Italy’s most renowned and artistic films. Professor Cramer’s talk is the second in New Canaan Library’s new cultural series, Movements in Cinema, and will take place via live webinar on Thursday, January 21 at 7 PM EST. Zoom sign in information will be provided upon registration at newcanaanlibrary.org. An economically burgeoning Italy resulted in a vital film industry willing to produce stylistically innovative and challenging films. Professor Cramer will focus on three major films released in 1960: Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers, and Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Avventura. Despite taking radically different approaches, each of these films dissects Italy’s post-war “economic miracle” and the new culture and lifestyles that it made possible; all three directors combine inimitable personal signatures with the analysis of a newly prosperous Italy that seemed at once exhilarating and horrifying.

New Canaan Library

New Canaan Library’s ‘Presidential Trappings’ Series continues with ‘The Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum: Presidential Papers and the National Archives’

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January’s “Presidential Trappings” series, presented by New Canaan Library and the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society, moves into session three on Tuesday, January 19 at 7PM EST. Jeffrey Urbin, Education Specialist, will present The Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum: Presidential Papers and the National Archives. His in-depth discussion will cover the famous Roosevelt Presidential Library (the nation’s first Presidential Library), as well as the history of the Presidential Library System in general. Please register at newcananlibrary.org; Zoom info will be provided upon registration. Presidential Libraries are hallowed halls and invaluable museums of our collective history.

New Canaan Library

Professor Ronald Schurin Explores the History of Inaugurations in Session Two of “Presidential Trappings,” Presented by Library and NC Museum & Historical Society

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January’s “Presidential Trappings “series, presented by New Canaan Library and the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society, continues Tuesday, January 12 at 7 PM EST with Ronald Schurin, PhD, Associate Professor in Residence in the Department of Political Science at the University of Connecticut, examining the history of inaugurations. The four-part series continues Tuesdays throughout January. Please visit newcanaanlibrary.org for a full schedule and to register. Zoom sign in information will be provided upon registration; each session must be registered for individually. As a nation, we have experienced 53 formal Presidential inaugurations since 1789 and another nine subdued ceremonies in which vice presidents took the place of presidents due to death or resignation.