It has been fifty years since the State Library acquired and began exhibiting the Colt Firearms Collection (see story below). It was also in 1957 that Robert C. Sale became State Librarian. Mr. Sale was Connecticut’s first state librarian to have formal training as a librarian. more...

The Connecticut State Library has acquired some new databases for you to use anywhere you can log onto our website: from your laptop at the coffee shop, from your personal assistant device at the airport; or from your desktop at home!

Here's a sampling of how you can use them:

Do you love Indian summer? Here's something to ponder next time you curl up with a bowl of popcorn and a dvd:  By the time Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, native Americans had already created more than 700 varieties of corn through crossbreeding and seed selection. Among those varieties were several familiar to us today such as popcorn and sweet corn. 

From the American Indian History Online database. more...

You never know what impact you might have on influencing individuals to come to your aid. Late in 2006 Boy Scout Troop 41 from Middletown, Connecticut came to tour the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped as part of a program about disabilities. Several months later Anthony Perrotti, a member of that troup, approached the Library to inquire about possible projects that that he could propose for his Eagle Scout candidacy. He had been impressed with the mission of the Library and wanted to assist us in any way hecould. more...

Hilary Frye is a Library Specialist in the Law and Legislative Reference Unit of the Connecticut State Library. more...

The State Archives has begun to make its finding aids available online. Both new and legacy finding aids are being encoded in EAD (Encoded Archival Description). EAD is a Data Type Definition of XML. We use the XML editor Notetab to tag the various components of a finding aid's text. more...

Colt Firearm's Collection 50th Anniversary

On March 7, 1957, the gift of the Colt Firearms Collection by the Pratt and Whitney Foundation to the State of Connecticut was officially accepted by Governor Abraham A. more...

On August 8, 2007, Guilford Library had a groundbreaking ceremony for their $8 million addition and renovation project. Guilford is an historic residential and summer shoreline community, a suburb of New Haven, with a population of 22,400. The library, located on the town green, will be expanding from 18,395 square feet to 34,000 square feet. On that very hot day, Edith Nettleton, the original librarian from 1933-78, was in attendance (see picture with shovels). She has been a library volunteer from 1978 to today, and she will soon turn 100. 

 

Speakers: Sitting (left to right) Tom Ginz, Co-chair Library Building Committee; Kendall Wiggin, State Librarian; Patricia Widlitz, State Representative; Matthew Hoey, Chair, Board of Finance; Carl Balestracci, First Selectman; Standing at podium - Fred Vogt, President, Guilford Library Association; and Standing at right: Sandra Ruoff, Library Director

 

September 29th dawned windy and warm on the National Mall in Washington, DC as over 120,000 people began arriving for the 7th Annual National Book Festival. During the day long festival 70 nationally and internationally renowned authors shared their love of books and reading with bibliophiles of all ages. For a librarian there isn't anything that's more fun than this day. The enthusiasm for books and reading is infectious, and the sights and sounds of families sharing their love of reading with one another is nothing short of heart warming. 

Since 2001 the Library of Congress has sponsored, and First Lady Laura Bush has hosted, this annual celebration of the joys of reading and lifelong literacy. more...

The Durham Fair exhibit in the Commercial Building was well-attended, in part owing to the large attendance at the Fair this year (and great weather). more...

The Museum of Connecticut History continues to acquire artifacts that reflect and illuminate the state's military, industrial and political history. These recent additions to the collection typify the artifacts the Museum actively seeks. more...

Timothy Boland 

Timothy Boland started with the State Library in November 1989. During the past 17 years he was assigned to various duties at Connecticar as a Maintainer 2 . He was responsible for the operation of several different CCar routes during that period as well as their sorter until his well earned retirement on July 31, this year. more...