"One Book Bernardsville" Offers Walks in the Woods

Bernardsville Public Library's "One Book Bernardsville" is more than a series of book discussions of Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail." Just as Mr. Bryson celebrates the outdoors, so will three guided programs in the area allow participants to enjoy our environment and learn about the animals and plants that inhabit it.

The first walk will be held in Lord Stirling Park in Basking Ridge on Saturday, October 11. Get tips on how to prepare for a “walk in the woods” and how to behave when you are there. Led by park naturalist Christa Wood, this is an improvisational hike on level trails highlighting what’s occurring in nature at this time of year. Meet at Lord Stirling Park, 190 Lord Stirling Road in Basking Ridge at 8:45 am in the lobby of the Environmental Education Center. Advance sign-up is requested, but there's no charge to come along. 

On Saturday, October 18, experienced Appalachian Trail hiker and library volunteer Bob Baker will lead a day hike on a portion of the Appalachian Trail that runs through New Jersey near the Delaware Water Gap. The group will meet at 9:00 am and hike toward Sun Fish Pond. Hikers should bring lunch and water. Details and the meet-up location will be emailed to participants a week ahead. There is no charge to attend, but advance sign-up is required. [This hike is suitable for older teens and adults.]

One of the most spectacular fall sights is the migration of the raptor. On Saturday, October 25 at 1:00 pm, the library will sponsor a program at the NJ Audubon Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary. A PowerPoint presentation on our local birds of prey will be followed by a walk on the sanctuary grounds enjoying the wildlife and the beautiful fall scenery. The sanctuary protects 276 acres of woodland, field and floodplain habitat where over 200 species of birds have been sighted, and is home to over 60 species of nesting birds. This walk is for adults and children aged ten and up. It's free; advance registration is required and is limited to 25.

Advance registration for these walks will enable the library to contact participants in case of inclement weather.

One Book Bernardsville is shared community reading experience which includes a month of book discussions as well as other activities for both adults and children. Detailed information on all the events during the month is available at http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/one-book-bernardsville. All the programs are free. To sign up for the events, go to www.bernardsville.library.org or call 908-766-0118.

Many Chances to Discuss "A Walk in the Woods"

"One Book Bernardsville," organized by Bernardsville Public Library and featuring Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, will bring multiple chances to discuss the book with library staff book group leaders during the month of October. One Book Bernardsville is shared community reading experience which includes a month of book discussions as well as other activities for both adults and children.

The first chance to join a discussion will be Saturday, October 11 at 3:30 pm when Program/PR Assistant Evelyn Fischel will lead her monthly book group, Saturday Samplers, in talking about the book. Director April Judge is next with her evening book group, Page Turners, on Tuesday, October 14 at 6:30 pm. Pat Kennedy-Grant has the morning offering during her long-running Memoirs and Coffee book group on Tuesday, October 28 at 10:30 am. No sign-up is needed for any of these groups.

Community members are encouraged to join one of these discussions. The library has books for individual readers and members of local book clubs to borrow. Books are also available for purchase at The Bookworm.

Detailed information on all the events is available at http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/one-book-bernardsville, or call the library at 908-766-0118. All the programs are free. To sign up for the kick-off event on October 8 or the other programs, go to www.bernardsville.library.org or call 908-766-0118.

"One Book Bernardsville" Gets Underway in October

With the beginning of October comes the first "One Book Bernardsville" organized by Bernardsville Public Library and featuring the book by Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail. This shared community reading experience includes activities for both adults and children: a month of book discussions and thematically related programs on the Appalachian Trail, hiking, wildlife, camping equipment, and campfire stories.
  
The official kick-off will be on Wednesday, October 8 at 7:00 pm with guest speaker will be Bob Sickley who through-hiked the Appalachian Trail in two long sections in 1997 and 1998. A 1978 graduate of Bernards High School, he has been an avid hiker and backpacker for more than thirty years. He currently works at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), focusing on treadway programs and projects in ATC's Mid-Atlantic region, i.e. from the New York/Connecticut border to the southern end of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

Among the other programs scheduled are a program on camping equipment, a walk led by naturalist Christa Wood in Lord Stirling Park, one at the Sherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary focusing on our local birds of prey, and another on the portion of the Appalachian Trail that actually runs through New Jersey. All three of the library’s book groups will be discussing "A Walk in the Woods" as well, and it's not too late for local book groups to call the library and sign up to have a library staff member lead their discussions.

“This book has broad appeal for its humor as well as its information on hiking, geology, plant life and animal life, making it the perfect choice for our first 'One Book' selection,” said April L. Judge, Library Director. The library has books for individual participants or members of local book clubs to borrow.  Books are also available for purchase at The Bookworm.

Detailed information on all the events is available at http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/one-book-bernardsville, or call the library at 908-766-0118. All the programs are free. To sign up for the kick-off event on October 8 or the other programs, go to www.bernardsville.library.org or call 908-766-0118.

Essex Water Color Club: Exhibition in October

Ethiopian 2 by John Wolff

Paintings by members of the Essex Water Color Club will be on display at Bernardsville Public Library during the month of October. The exhibit represents the club's final exhibit this year of members’ watercolors whose topics range from landscapes and portraits to abstract paintings. There will be an opening reception, to which the public is invited, on Sunday, October 5, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.

The Essex Water Color Club is New Jersey’s oldest watercolor organization. It was founded by twenty-seven Essex County artists in 1932 to stimulate interest in and advance the art of water media painting. Since then, this non-profit organization has continuously provided a forum for artists to meet, share ideas, discuss techniques and exhibit their work. 

This exhibition will be on view in the library’s Community Room from October 2 through October 30 during regular library hours unless a meeting is in progress. For further information, please call the library at 908-766-0118.

The Can-Do Connection

The next meeting of The “Can-Do” Connection will convene at Bernardsville Public Library on Wednesday, September 24 at 7:00 pm. Some people fear failure; some fear success. Whatever your fears, come to this workshop led by Professional Inspirer Andrea Mastrobattista to discover how to turn fear into the fuel that helps you achieve your goals.

Ms. Mastrobattista has been leading her inspirational workshops on Wednesday evenings at the library since 2006. She heads a company called Operation INSPIRATION and also facilitates workshops in the Somerset Hills such as "Facing Your Fears" and "Transforming Negatives Into Positives" in which she helps people to fully form their goals and develop a strong can-do attitude for achieving them. Her core belief is that, no matter what circumstances people face, they have the strength and ability to create and live fulfilling and inspiring lives. She also owns Golden Slipper Productions, a company which creates websites and promotional materials for small and mid-sized businesses.

There is no charge to attend the library workshop, but advance registration is requested. Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org, and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Page Turners: Evening Book Group

Bernardsville Public Library’s evening book discussion group, Page Turners, will meet on Wednesday, September 24 at 6:30 pm in the library’s Community Room when Library Director April Judge will lead the discussion of “Providence" (2014) by Lisa Colozza Cocca. [The author will not be present.] The book is the "One Community, One Book" selection for the Morristown Festival of Books this month.

The novel follows the story of a Becky, a young girl who runs away from a violent home and, a few hours later, finds an abandoned newborn girl whom she rescues from a train and with whom she settles in another town far away. As she forges bonds with the people in this town and the infant she has rescued, Becky becomes tangled in the web of lies she has woven and is forced to make difficult decisions. She manages to survive, even thrive, in difficult circumstances.

The author grew up in upstate New York and now lives in New Jersey. She worked as a teacher and has run a school library. "Providence" is her first published novel, but, she says, "I’ve written other novels, chapter books, and picture books... If you’ve been to school in the past decade, there is a good chance you have used something I had a part in making."

There is no charge to attend and no registration is needed to join the discussion. Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.

Memoirs and Coffee Book Group to Discuss "I Am Malala"

The next meeting of Bernardsville Public Library’s book discussion group, Memoirs and Coffee, will be held on Tuesday, September 23 at 10:30 am in the library’s Community Room. Pat Kennedy-Grant, Readers’ Services Manager for the library, will lead the discussion of “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban” (2013) by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb. [The authors will not be present.] The group will also celebrate ten years of great books and discussions.

Malala Yousafzai was born in Pakistan in 1997. She is known for her activism for rights to education for women, especially in the Swat Valley, where the Taliban at times banned girls from attending school. In early 2009, at the age of 11, Yousafzai wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban rule, its attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls in the Swat Valley. In 2011, she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by South African activist Desmond Tutu.

In October 2012, Malala was shot by the Taliban as she rode home from school on her school bus. Miraculously, she survived and continued to speak out. She is now living and studying in the United Kingdom, where she attends school.

Marie Arana of the Washington Post called the book "riveting" and continued, "Co-written with Christina Lamb, a veteran British journalist who has an evident passion for Pakistan and can render its complicated history with pristine clarity, this is a book that should be read not only for its vivid drama but for its urgent message about the untapped power of girls.... It is difficult to imagine a chronicle of a war more moving, apart from perhaps the diary of Anne Frank, with the essential difference that we lost that girl, and by some miracle, we still have this one."

There is no charge to attend, and no registration is needed to join the discussion. Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.