Visit the Collaboratory throughout the month of November to create a luminary, then come see everyone's luminaries on display in the library's front garden during the Holiday Stroll on Friday, Dec 1st from 4-9pm

We’ve made it to the embers of the year—November and December, that is! Help us light up the darkest months with some library luminaries! Luminaries, or paper lanterns, have convergent histories from across many cultures. 

Talking TED @ Home

Thursday, Nov 9th

7-8pm

Zoom

Register

Join librarian Cindy Haiken on Zoom to watch and discuss a popular TED talk. Once registered, you will receive an invitation to the Zoom meeting via email on the day of the event. In November, we will watch and discuss Daniel Pink’s “4 Kinds of Regret—And What They Teach You about Yourself.”

Regret is one of our most powerful emotions—and also one of the most misunderstood. Over the past two years, author Daniel H. Pink has collected a trove of more than 16,000 regrets from people in 105 countries in an effort to better understand this mysterious emotion. He shares the key patterns that emerged (it all boils down to the same four core regrets, he says) and explains how to transform your own regrets in order to create the life you’ve always wanted to live.

Job Interviewing 101

Wednesday, Nov 15th

7-8:30pm

Community Room

Register

Are you looking for a job and confused on how to prepare for an interview? Do you want to learn why employers ask certain questions? Do you want to learn what’s different when you have a Zoom interview or a phone interview? Join Librarian and Career Specialist Sarah Eiseman to learn how to answer some common interview questions, how to prepare answers for more challenging questions, and how to prepare for different types of interviewing settings. We’ll also learn how to access some free library resources that can help you land the job! 

Wallingford library card (or card from another subscribing library) recommended. Non-WPL participants are welcome. Please check with your home library to see if they subscribe to JobNow! Before registering. This is a great session to attend before a one-on-one session with Sarah for those who want to create a new resume.

Quinnetukut: 
Our Homeland, Our History

Tuesday, Nov 21st

6:30-8pm
Community Room & Zoom

Register

Much of what we know about Connecticut’s past comes from documents written from a colonized perspective. This history has almost completely left out the voices of Indigenous people who have called this land home for over 12,000 years. The ways in which knowledge about the past is preserved and passed down by different cultures affect the way that history is perceived. In this presentation, led by Darlene Kascak of the Institute for American Indian Studies, participants will learn about the past from the oral tradition of storytelling and art of the Indigenous people themselves.

One-on-One Career Counseling

Sign up today to schedule your virtual appointment with our career specialist Sarah Eiseman!

Get personalized help with crafting a resume or cover letter or preparing for your big interview. 
Visit to get started or contact Sarah Eiseman at [email protected]. You will be contacted shortly to schedule your Zoom appointment. 

Register

Library Gatherings

Spanish Conversation Group

Thursdays| 4:30-5:30pm

Improve your Spanish in a friendly and non-judgmental space! Some knowledge of Spanish recommended. Just drop-in! 

French Conversation Group

Mondays | 4:30-5:30pm

Improve your French in a friendly and non-judgmental space! Some knowledge of French recommended. Just drop-in! 

Knit @ WPL
First and Third Monday of Each Month

Monday, Nov 6th & 20th

6-7:30pm

Board Room

No registration required
Knit @ WPL is a place where knitters and crocheters can practice their work in the company of others. Newcomers are welcome to join, but knitting experience is required.

WPL Play Readers

First Wednesday of Each Month

Wednesday, Dec 6th

6:30-8:30pm

Collins Room

No registration required

The Wallingford Public Library Play Readers bring and share poetry, prose, famous speeches and documents, monologues, as well as original material! Come check us out. All are welcome to read and/or listen. 

Open Sew

First Tuesday of Each Month

Tuesday, Nov 7th

5:30-8:30pm

Adults & Teens in Grades 9+

Drop-in

Collaboratory

Do you like to sew? Join people who enjoy quilting and sewing at a casual “drop in” program. Bring your unfinished projects, either hand sewing or machine. There are 4 portable sewing machines (or bring your own) and lots of sewing supplies and tools provided by the library for your use. Due to the one-on-one nature of this program, masks will be required for all participants.

Saturday Mornings with Poetry

Second and Fourth Saturday of Each Month

Saturday, November 11th & 25th

9:45am-12noon

Collins Room

No registration required

A meeting of people who love reading and writing poetry. SMwP provides poetic opportunities for anyone to share their poetry, discuss the literary works of poets known and unknown, and expand skills in writing and editing poems in the shared camaraderie of comfortable, supportive members. 

FRIDAY NIGHT FLICKS

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Part One [PG-13]

Friday, Nov 17th | 6pm

As enemies encroach from all sides and old alliances sour with betrayal, the skilled Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan Hunt faces the twilight hour of his storied career as he knows it. Cautioned against pursuing his course of action, Hunt continues to fight for what he believes to be right. Along the way, Hunt faces overwhelming odds, new threats, and former flames in his tireless quest for justice.

UPCOMING BOOK CLUBS

Thursday Night Book Club: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Thursday, Nov 16th 6:30-8pm

Collins Room & Zoom

Contact Cindy Haiken to participate: [email protected]

In the early 1960s, chemist Elizabeth Zott is a single mother and the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking is revolutionary, but as she becomes more famous, not everyone is happy. That’s because Elizabeth isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s also urging them to change the status quo. Adapted into a series on Apple TV+, Garmus’ debut novel has spent 75 weeks (and counting) on the New York Times bestseller list.

Mystery Book Club: Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt

Wednesday, Dec 6th, 3-4:15pm

Community Room & Zoom

Contact Carole to participate at [email protected] and put “Wallingford Mystery Book Club” in the subject line.

Kenny Schilling is a running back for the New York Giants. Troy Preston was a wide receiver for the Jets, until he was murdered. The police think that the teams’ rivalry turned Kenny into a cold-blooded killer, so the football star needs a good lawyer and turns to Andy Carpenter, a New Jersey lawyer whose legal maneuvers are famous both in and out of the courtroom.

Truth Be Told Nonfiction Book Club: These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

Thursday, Nov 30th, 7-8:30pm

Collins Room & Zoom

Contact Cindy Haiken to participate: [email protected]

An essay collection that touches on family, friendships, beloved authors and aspects of the writing life. The title story, about an unexpected friendship with a woman undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, went viral when it was first published in Harper’s Magazine. In 22 essays, Patchett meditates poignantly and with humor on “what I needed, whom I loved, what I could let go, and how much energy the letting go would take.”