Activity

Program for kids ages 3-6. Join dancers from Eastern Connecticut Ballet for an interactive creative movement class with a Nutcracker theme. This presentation will be led by Eastern Connecticut Ballet’s teacher educators and will feature dancers from their upcoming Nutcracker performance. Eastern Connecticut Ballet was founded in 1992 to serve students in the shoreline area and beyond. As a nonprofit organization, Eastern Connecticut Ballet recognizes their responsibility to the broader community. Through their educational outreach programs, they raise awareness of the beauty and power of dance. Essex Library programs are free and open to the public. Space is limited, registration is required. Click here to register.

Program designed around The Food Group book series by Jory John, written for an audience age 4-8. Kids ages 4-12 are welcome to join, and for safety reasons, kids ages 4-8 must have an adult participate alongside! This summer’s popular Food Group program is BACK for the release of Jory John’s newest Food Group book, The Toast of the Town! Meet Toast. He knows everybody, and everybody knows him. He pops up wherever help is needed—shoveling sidewalks, welcoming newcomers, checking in on neighbors—just because. But Toast wasn't always so warm and toasty. In his younger days, he kept to himself, loafed around, and mostly just felt a little . . . stale. It took one life-changing moment to help him rise to the occasion. Can one ordinary piece of toast transform an entire community? And can helping others turn out to be the best thing since sliced bread? What to expect: Cook, read, and explore with us in this deliciously fun program inspired by Jory John’s Food Group series. This program will combine stories with simple snack-making. We’ll kick things off by washing hands and learning a few basic food safety tips, because every great chef starts with good habits. […]

Essex Library is honored to host Gordon Giffin, the United States Ambassador to Canada under the Clinton Administration, for its second annual Fulford History Lecture. His talk, “American Diplomacy, the Canada - US Relationship and Why It Matters,” will take place on November 14 at 4 p.m. in The Cube at Centerbrook Architects. Giffin, born in Massachusetts, moved in 1950 to Montreal, Canada at age 3 months. Ultimately graduating from High School in Toronto, in 1967 he returned south to obtain a BA at Duke University and a JD at Emory University School of Law. After graduation he moved to Washington DC in January 1975 to become Chief Counsel and Legislative Director to US Senator Sam Nunn. He served as outside General Counsel to the 1988 and 1992 Democratic National Conventions. In 1992 Giffin became Chair of the Clinton presidential campaign in Georgia and southeastern coordinator. Following the election, he declined opportunities to move back to Washington to join the Administration to continue to grow his law practice. In 1996 he served as Chair of the Site Selection Committee and Vice Chair for the Democratic National Convention and Chair of the Southern Region Campaign. Following the election, in June 1997 […]