The Youth Civic Challenge empowers teams of 13–18 year-olds to define and tackle real-world issues. Through this program, participants learn to rethink societal structures, reframe challenges, and implement lasting solutions.Youth Civic Challenge invites you to be part of an exclusive, 4-week summer course designed to empower driven individuals with the tools, knowledge, and network to drive positive change. 

Basic Italian I, a 13-session beginner class, will be held on Thursdays, May 8 to July 31, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. The class will cover pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, conversation, and culture. The required text is Learn Italian the Fast and Fun Way by Marcel Danesi, Barron's Publisher, any edition, available online at abebooks.com and other retailers. 

View the works of local artist DJ Stenson at the New Hatford Artistans Guild.

Join us for Story Time on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 for new books, free play, and fun crafts!

 A Community History of Falls Village in Stories, Pictures and Objects. Join writer and Falls Village resident Mark Gozonsky for a six month learning by publishing workshop centered around telling Falls Village stories. Beginning in January participants will meet at the library once a month to share ideas and work on their stories in community. The group will meet on the fourth Thursday of the month at 11 am. The workshop will culminate in June with a book and a community celebration and reading. This workshop is open to all ages. 

Dates:  June 14 – July 27, 2025

Reception: Saturday June 14, 4 – 6 PM, public invited

Gallery hours: Thursday – Saturday 11:00 – 5:30, Sunday 12:00 – 4:00 and by appointment

Kenise Barnes Fine Art is honored to present a solo exhibition of new paintings by Janna Watson. Watson is a conceptual painter based in Toronto, Canada. Poems Without Words is Watson’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery who has included Watson in eight other exhibitions and placed her work in numerous private collections. The gallery has represented the artist since 2017.

Through her practice, Watson works to reframe spirituality into objects that reflect fluidity, agility, and joy. She communicates this through a queering of the painterly process, into one that is diversely applied, gestural, and multi-oriented. Janna intentionally forgoes the use of borders on her paintings to create a sense of the infinite, and the inherent vulnerability of a spirituality that is not contained by a canon.

Janna Watson’s compositions and color choices are both careful and spontaneous, each gesture evoking an unstated emotional response. The paintings are generous passages of vivid color with swooping buttery paint strokes, and calligraphic marks floating on fields of saturated color. They are not spare, but they have an implied economy of language, each gesture gathered towards the others with an unseen gravitational force coalescing into a graceful equilibrium.

Part of the exhilaration I acquire from painting is being able to see shifts within myself manifested into a physical reality. The most truthful form of expression I have found in my life thus far has been the abstract language of painting.  – Janna Watson, 2025

Janna Watson’s work is widely exhibited internationally including in Canada, the United States and Taiwan. Watson’s paintings can be found in significant collections including Google, Air Canada, TD Bank Financial Group, Toronto, CIBC, Toronto, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Toronto, HBC Global Art Collection, New York, to name a few. Watson earned a BFA in Drawing and Painting from Ontario College of Art and Design University, Toronto.

Please contact Lani Ming Holloway, Associate Director, Lani@kbfa.com, 860 560 3085 with inquires or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.

Bring your lunch, listen to stories, and enjoy a fun craft! All are welcome, this program is intended for preschool-aged children. This event will be offered in person in the Junior Room of the Library.

Registration is appreciated but not required.

Test your knowledge of different dog breeds while learning how they came to be at this special presentation. CT Humane Society will lead this interactive program to show how genetics affect pet health and how breed knowledge can be a helpful part of taking care of pets. Life-size plush pets will be used for demonstrations and interactive learning. 

For the first year, we will be hosting a summer market located at Franklin Plaza on the same nights as our Summer Concert Series. Each Thursday between June and August, check out vendors of all different varieties from meats, veggies, maple syrup, handcrafted goods, and more! Check out our full vendor list soon! Inquire above if you would like to be a vendor!

Check out some of our confirmed vendors:

• Misfit Farms
• Sunset Meadow Vineyards
• Dancing Ferns Houseplants
• Oracle Mushroom Co
• Hathor Hill Farm
• Bloom Where Planted
• Bantam Bread
• Laura Rubino Crafts
• Forever Connected LLC
• and more!

On Thursday, June 26th at 5:30 pm the David M. Hunt Library will host local author Karen Chase. “Two Tales: Jamali Kamali and ZundelState, Chase’s most recent book, was published in May 2025. Jamali Kamali is a book-length poem about two men who lived in 16th century India, a fictional account of their love, longing, separation, and death. ZundelState, a novella in verse, takes place a thousand years in the future in a repressive land where history is banned, and dreaming has vanished. Karen Chase is the author of four volumes of poetry, and four books of non-fiction. Chase and her husband, the painter Paul Graubard, live in the hills of Western Massachusetts. You can learn more about Karen and her work at www.karenchase.com. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Come check out the Torrington Recreations 2025 Summer Concert Series at Coe Park! Over the course of 14 weeks, every Thursday, starting June 5th and running through September 4th, we will be hosting 14 different bands who will perform a range of different genres. Concerts will be held on the outside portico at the Coe Memorial Park (101 Litchfield Road) from 6pm-8pm. Bring your blankets, chairs, food and drinks to enjoy our concerts in the park!

The Rich Badowski Band was formed in 2009. Rich Badowski, Harmonica/Entertainer is a two time participant in the International Blues Band Challenge in Memphis, TN back in 2013 and 2018. The band covers a wide range of musical styles including blues, rock, country, R&B, jazz and much more.

The tarot provides a rich landscape of symbolic imagery that reflects the hero’s journey. The mirror of the tarot is an inspiring tool for both creative writing & journaling.

In this workshop, Kathleen Kryspin, local English teacher for over 29 years, will instruct you to use tarot cards to inspire both creative writing & reflective journal practice.

Whether you are interested in storytelling or self divination, this workshop will provide you with writing tools from the tarot!

Join the Gunn Library Book Club on Thursday evening for a rewarding discussion on celebrated author Niall Williams's beautiful book, The Time of the Child.

Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from the town. His eldest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father's shadow, and remains there, having missed one chance at love – and passed up another offer of marriage from an unsuitable man.

But in the Advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy's lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care. As the winter passes, father and daughter's lives, the understanding of their family, and their role in their community are changed forever.

Registration is required: https://www.gunnlibrary.org/calendar/gml-thursday-book-club-the-time-of-the-child-by-niall-williams/

This discussion will provide a brief overview of the early and middle periods of Stoic philosophy, with a primary focus on the later Stoics. We will also explore select aphorisms from both Eastern and Western philosophical traditions to highlight how wisdom transcends time and cultural boundaries.

Patrick Bonis has been a dedicated teacher and coach for nearly 25 years, specializing in Community Health and holding credentials as a Certified Wellness Counselor. As a Performance Coach, he seamlessly integrates philosophy into his pre-lift and pre-game talks, inspiring athletes and students alike. With a strong foundation in Anatomy and Physiology, combined with his passion for philosophical thought, Patrick empowers individuals to tap into the timeless wisdom and actions of those who came before them. His unique interdisciplinary approach fosters both physical excellence and mental clarity.