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1171 Main Street
St. Johnsbury, VT, 05819
United States

8027488291

Athenaeum News

Athenaeum Film Fan Club, Tuesday, May 20, 6:30 PM - What's Up, Doc?

Linell Moss

Join the Athenaeum Film Fan Club for our monthly movie with free popcorn and soft drinks.  

With an introduction by Damian Ryan. 

This event is free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.

What’s Up, Doc? (1972) was directed by Peter Bogdanovich and stars Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal. Two researchers have come to San Francisco to compete for a research grant in music. The man seems a bit distracted, and that was before he met a strange woman who has devoted her life to confusing and embarrassing him. At the same time a woman has her jewels stolen and a government whistle blower arrives with his stolen top secret papers.

Meet the Staff: Karen Haskins

Linell Moss

Meet the Athenaeum Staff: Karen Haskins

Karen Haskins is the Youth Services Outreach Coordinator at the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum.  “My husband and I moved to St. Johnsbury from western New York in 1989. I worked at Vermont State University in the English department until 2023, and I also worked as an elementary school teacher and librarian for several years and co-owned a shop in St. Johnsbury.  When I am not at the library, I am spending time with my family, gardening, reading, and crafting!”

What do you do at the Athenaeum?

In the mornings, I visit local preschools and daycares and do storytimes with read-alouds, singing, and movement activities. At each center, I drop off a bag of books for them to enjoy until the next time I visit. When I return to the Athenaeum, I usually work at the front circulation desk helping patrons and assisting with the interlibrary loan program. One afternoon a week and during summer camp, I read and do craft projects with the CatCH afterschool program at the St. Johnsbury School.  Saturday Storytime each week at 10:30 am is a new event in the Children’s Library that I am excited about.

What in your life prepared you for working in the Athenaeum?

I have always loved to read, and I looked forward to visiting the library every week.  I have also been an English teacher for most of my life, and it is a pleasure to work surrounded by great books and people who love to read.

What is one book in the Athenaeum collection that you would recommend?

Gather by Kenneth Cadow.  It is beautifully written, and it celebrates many of the things that make Vermont a wonderful place.  This book also reminds us of the work that still needs to be done to make it a wonderful place for everyone.

How is the Athenaeum an asset to the town?

As a public library, the Athenaeum embodies the belief that we have the power to create change and make the world a better place. The library provides us access to the knowledge and the tools to start making our dreams a reality. As a historic building, the Athenaeum is a place where everyone is welcome to come and be surrounded by art and beauty.

Gallery Series Presents Continua Hospice Choir - Music for Comfort and Support. Wednesday, May 14, 1:30 PM

Linell Moss

In the historic Athenaeum Art Gallery, Continua will share some of their music and members will talk about their experiences providing comfort and support to those facing the end of life.

Continua is a group of volunteer singers who offer bedside sings for patients and their families in private homes, nursing homes, hospitals, and rehabilitation center settings. Continua music includes a large repertoire of songs from many traditions sung by 4-6 singers in unaccompanied three or four-part harmony. Music is selected to speak to a client’s beliefs, musical preferences, and personal needs. 

For more information about Continua, please contact Janet Heartson, Continua Administrator at 802-633-3810. Continua welcomes referrals for clients and inquiries about singing with their choir.  

This event is free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.

Menopause Café, Tuesday, May 13, 6 PM

Linell Moss

Pssst! Feel like your hormones are on a roller coaster? Haven't had a good night's sleep in a while? Has your personal thermostat gone haywire? If you're dealing with peri-menopause or menopause or just curious, come join us for a café-style discussion about the physical and emotional ups and downs of this transitional time. Talk with others who are going through it, will go through it, have gone through it! Refreshments, including chocolate, will be served.

For more information, contact Adele West-Fisher at 802-748-8291 or email awestfisher@stjathenaeum.org.

Sponsored by NVRH and the Athenaeum, this event is free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.

Off-Grid Roundtable Saturday, May 3, 1 PM

Linell Moss

Do you live off the grid? Do you have experience setting up your own off-grid systems? Do you need advice from someone who does? Come check out the Off-Grid Roundtable! It is held the first Saturday of every month in the upstairs gallery at the St Johnsbury Athenaeum at 1pm. Current off-gridders, people who are thinking about off-grid living or homesteading, or people who are just interested in learning more are welcome.

This event is free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.

For more information, contact Nelly Detra at ndetra@stjathenaeum.org

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Poet April Ossmann Reads from "WE" - Wednesday, April 30, 7 PM

Linell Moss

WE seeks what unites us, how to change our perceptions to heal families, friendships, and country of incivility and villainization by practicing greater compassion, by seeing past egos to souls. April will read from WE and share stories of being a bridge.  She will invite the audience to share personal stories of positive interactions with people you know or have met, whose politics may differ from yours, but with whom you shared a moment of mutual humanity. 

April Ossmann is the author of WE (Red Hen Press), Event Boundaries (a Vermont Book Award finalist), and Anxious Music (both Four Way Books), and recipient of a Vermont Arts Council Creation Grant. She has published her poems widely, and is an independent editor at www.aprilossmann.com.  She has taught at the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing Program at Sierra Nevada College, was executive director of Alice James Books from 2000 – 2008, and lives in White River Junction, VT.

 This event is free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.

Friends of the Athenaeum Meeting, Thursday, April 24, 9:30 AM

Linell Moss

You are invited to join The Friends of the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum monthly meetings!  We generally meet on the last Thursday of each month at 9:30 am. 

We are a volunteer group involved in promoting the resources and services of the Athenaeum, providing hospitality at programs and events, and fundraising for the benefit of the Athenaeum. Friends strive to improve, advocate for and make resources and services of the Athenaeum more widely known in the community.

Friends may volunteer at the Secondhand Prose Bookstore, organize pie sales, or assist with various Friends-sponsored programs and events.

If you have questions about the Friends of the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, contact Adele West-Fisher at awestfisher@stjathenaeum.org or 802-745-1391.

The meetings are free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.

Vermont Reads Book Discussion at The Hub, Thursday, April 17, 6 PM

Linell Moss

Come join Dr. Alan Berolzheimer, Vermont Humanities scholar, as he leads us in a community book discussion of the Vermont Reads book Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow. Cadow tells a story about a boy and his dog and finding value in what and who might be easily overlooked.  This event is at The St. Johnsbury Community Hub, 438 Railroad St, Suite 2. St. Johnsbury. Pizza at 6:00 pm, discussion at 6:30 pm.

Copies of the book are available at the HUB and the Athenaeum circulation desks to read before the discussion. Finishing the book is not required.

Contact Adele West-Fisher at awestfiser@stjathenaeum.org or
802-745-1392 for more information.

This event is free and open to the public.

Athenaeum Film Fan Club, Wednesday, April 16, 6:30 PM: Woman of the Year

Linell Moss

Join the Athenaeum Film Fan Club for our monthly movie with free popcorn and soft drinks.

“Woman of the Year” is a 1942 American romantic comedy drama film directed by George Stevens and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The film is about the relationship between journalist Tess Harding and her husband, sports writer Sam Craig, who encounter problems as a result of her unflinching commitment to her work.

With an introduction by Damian Ryan.

This event is free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.

NEK Poetry Reading in the Gallery, Sunday, April 13, 3 PM

Linell Moss

Come join us for the NEK Poetry Readings in the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum's beautiful Art Gallery in celebration of Poem Town and National Poetry month!

Northeast Kingdom poets Judy Janoo, Scudder Parker, and Louise Rader will be reading selections from their new and published works.

A wine and cheese reception will follow the reading.

This event is free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.

Mi'kmaq Creation Stories with Poetry and Song, Thursday, April 10, 6 PM

Linell Moss

Julie Pellissier-Lush, the first Indigenous Poet Laureate for Prince Edward Island, relates some of the “Seven Generations” stories about how the Mi’kmaq People came into being.  Woven into these stories are songs accompanied with drumming and poetry that might inspire creative energy to start your own work in getting to know who you are and where you come from.

Come for the stories, drumming and the fun, learn in a safe place, and take away with you anything that resonates in your heart, your mind and your spirit.

This event is free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.

Off-Grid Roundtable, Saturday, April 5, 1 PM

Linell Moss

Do you live off the grid? Do you have experience setting up your own off-grid systems? Do you need advice from someone who does?

Come check out the Off-Grid Roundtable! It is held the first Saturday of every month in the upstairs gallery at the St Johnsbury Athenaeum at 1pm.  Current off-gridders, people who are thinking about off-grid living or homesteading, or people who are just interested in learning more are welcome.

On April 5 the focus topic will be on off-grid water systems. If you have related books or other materials to share or swap, please feel free to bring them!

This event is free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.

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Seed Swap, Saturday, April 5, 11 am-1 pm

Linell Moss

It’s time to think about starting your seeds for that summer garden!  We have a varied selection of vegetable and flower seeds from the Seed Library.  Bring seeds you have saved or seed packets of non-hybrid, non-GMO seeds to swap.

Come anytime between 11 am and 1 pm.  Free gardening resources will be available.  For more information, contact Adele West-Fisher at 802-745-1392 or awestfisher@stjathenaeum.org.

This event is free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.

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Writers for Recovery Workshop with Bess O'Brien, Wednesday, April 2, 6:30 pm

Linell Moss

Vermont’s Writers for Recovery offers a unique outlet for people with substance use disorder to share their stories and heal.  In this engaging participatory workshop, you’ll hear the powerful stories of people in recovery. You’ll learn how and why the writing techniques used in Writers for Recovery enable people to ease their emotional pain, reduce their feelings of shame, and move forward toward recovery. You’ll even develop new tools for managing stress and difficult situations in your own life.

After this workshop, you’ll look at substance use disorder and people in recovery through a more positive and productive lens. And you’ll discover how the simple act of writing and sharing stories can help us all lead better, more connected lives.

This Vermont Humanities Council event is hosted by the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum.

For more information, contact Adele West-Fisher at (802) 748-8291 or awestfisher@stjathenaeum.org.

This event is free, ADA accessible, and open to the public.

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