Q&A: Composting Talk To Be Held Thursday at New Canaan Library

New Canaan Library, Planet New Canaan and the Conservation Commission are co-sponsoring a talk about composting on Thursday. Registration is open for ‘Anyone Can Compost: Approaches to Home Composting that Work for You,’ to be held at 6 p.m. on June 15 in the Jim & Dede Bartlett Auditorium at the library. It features Master Gardener and Composter Alice Ely, garden education chair at Wakeman Town Farm, one of the organizers of Westport’s Pollinator Pathway, a UConn Advanced Master Gardener and a UConn Master Composter. Composting is widely practiced in New Canaan. According to data supplied by the Department of Public Works, the total food scrap collection weight at the transfer station (in pounds) for the five weeks starting May 3 are: 1,110, 1,420, 980, 1,040 and 1,150.

PHOTOS, VIDEO: ‘New’ New Canaan Library Opens to the Public

Some day soon—“it could even be today,” Town Council Chair Steve Karl said Tuesday morning, addressing a crowd of 300-plus people gathered outside the new New Canaan Library—a boy or girl “will walk through these doors and learn to read for the first time.”

“They’ll be holding their parents’ hands, and when they leave here they may leave with a book in the other hand,” Karl said. “Their eyes will be open and they will begin a journey of learning that will last a lifetime. It’s been a magical journey on the corner of Main and Cherry for 100 years now. I actually learned to read here, as well. When the ribbon is cut in a few short minutes, it will represent hundreds of thousands of hours in long-range planning, thoughtful design, hard work, gritty determination and literally a small army of people putting this together.”

More than three years after library officials unveiled a vision for a dramatically reimagined facility and campus, New Canaan Library opened its doors at 9 a.m. on Feb.

‘A Contribution to An Already Amazing Town’: The Farmer’s Grind To Operate New Café at Library

A local provider of specialty coffee, pastries, organic breads, artisanal soups and sandwiches is on track to operate the new cafe in the rebuilt New Canaan Library. Michelle and Erich Smith, owners of The Farmer’s Grind in South Salem, N.Y., say they’re excited to bring their established business to the downtown. “It’s about bringing local back to the community,” Michelle Smith told NewCanaanite.com. Referring to New Canaan Library Executive Director Lisa Oldham, she added, “When Lisa approached us and talked to us about the library and all the new innovations and plans for the future, the forward thinking, it was very simple and easy to just slip right in. We are looking forward to making it another home.”

The Farmer’s Grind launched its first location in 2020, just north of the New Canaan town line.