How many of us wish we had a clearer idea of our own financial health or a realistic plan of how to get ourselves there?  Here is an opportunity to attend a one-time, free program which will lay out, in some detail, eight steps necessary to take control of one’s own finances.  Join us on Wednesday, May 22 at 7:00 PM as Certified Financial Planner Kristin Oswald presents a program developed by the non-profit Financial Planning Association.
 
      According to Oswald, the presentation will be helpful to "people who may be starting out on their own as well as...people who have never really thought about managing their finances but rather allow their finances to manage them!  Topics include retirement plans, estate planning documents, budgeting and insurance and more."  The program does not cover specific financial products; rather it gives attendees the organizational tools and knowledge that can give them enough confidence to make their own financial to-do list.  Expect fellow attendees to be of all ages, since both young people--and older financial procrastinators--can benefit from learning these achievable strategies.
 
      Kristin W. Oswald is an owner/partner of Planning Partners, a financial services firm in Canton.  She and business partner, Carolyn Staub, have been providing services to clients in the area for over fifteen years.  Her firm offers investment and advisory services as registered representatives of Tower Square Securities, Inc, as well as life and health insurance.  In addition to teaching "Taking Control: A Financial Planning Starter Kit," Kristin has experience teaching seminars on Women & Investing.
 
      Kristin started her career with Traveler’s Life and Annuity after graduating cum laude from Mount Holyoke College. A 20-plus-year resident of Canton, she is a former president of the Canton Chamber of Commerce, in which she remains active, and has been on a number of town committees.

      Although the program, called "Taking Control of Your Finances in 8 Steps: A Financial Planning Starter Kit," is free, registration is required. Participants may register by calling the library at (860) 693-5800 or emailing kbunn@cantonpubliclibrary.org.

      Canton Public Library is at 40 Dyer Avenue, Canton.  For information, call (860) 693-5800, or visit the Library website at www.cantonpubliclibrary.org.

     Mystery, literary biography, and historical fiction rolled up in one book? Any author who manages to sustain a reader’s interest in an invented mystery, where two historical literary figures become unlikely allies, deserves a closer look. On Saturday, May 25, at 1:00 pm, The Saturday Book Conversations group will discuss Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders.
      Saturday Book Conversations welcomes new members at any time.  Feel free to call Beth Van Ness, the Reference Librarian, for more information or simply come to a monthly meeting.  If you are interested solely in a particular book selection, you are very welcome just to attend that one discussion.  Copies of our current selection are available at our Circulation Desk.Canton Public Library is at 40 Dyer Avenue, Canton.  For information:  (860) 693-5800 or www.cantonpubliclibrary.org

     On Wednesday, June 5, at 6:30 PM the library will present the film, Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of our Lives, by Jeffrey M. Smith. The film presents strong objections to the use of genetically-modified plants as animal feeds and human foods. 
     In showing the film, the library intends to create awareness of the issues, health concerns and controversies surrounding genetically-modified foods. Afterward, attendees are invited to discuss the ideas expressed, or to make arguments for or against the claims of the movie.  Registration is requested in order that we might provide sufficient seating. Canton Public Library is at 40 Dyer Avenue, Canton.  For information and registration, call (860) 693-5800, email kbunn@cantonpubliclibrary.org,  or visit the Library website at www.cantonpubliclibrary.org.

     Canton Public Library’s Monday Night Book Club will discuss Robert Gildea‘s Marianne in Chains: Daily Life in the Heart of France Under the German Occupation as its June selection.  The discussion begins at 7:00 PM on Monday, June 10.
     Copies of Marianne in Chains: Daily Life in the Heart of France Under the German Occupation are available from the library prior to the discussion on June 10.  New members are always welcome to join the group.  Canton Public Library is located at 40 Dyer Avenue, Canton.  For information or to reserve a copy of the book, call (860) 693-5800 or visit our website at www.cantonpubliclibrary.org. Canton Public Library is at 40 Dyer Avenue, Canton.

     Over the past few years, Canton Public Library patrons have enjoyed the opportunity to watch a very talented artist at work.  Painter Art Chouinard has spent one day per month in the library demonstrating how he puts together an oil painting. During his most recent visit he was perfecting the design of the sky in a waterfront scene of Mystic, Connecticut. He will be at the library on Wednesday, June 12 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and will be working on one of his signature marine scenes. 
     A selection of Art Chouinard’s paintings will be on display throughout the months of July and August in the gallery at Canton Public Library.  Mr. Chouinard, a Farmington Valley painter, is known for his realistic and detailed paintings.  He works in the media of oil, pastel, and mixed media, and has produced limited edition prints of some of his original paintings.
     Canton Public Library is at 40 Dyer Avenue, Canton.  For information:  (860) 693-5800 or www.cantonpubliclibrary.org

     Join us rain or shine for our first Summer Mini-Festival of Literary Readings, to be held at the Canton Library on Saturday, June 22, at 2:00 PM. The featured guests are the women writers of the Write Like a River workshop, whose work has been guided and facilitated by poet, author and teacher, Chivas Sandage. With luck and dry weather, the event will take place outdoors, accompanied by appropriate music and light refreshments.
     Now at its one year anniversary, the multi-genre Write Like A River workshop will offer a debut group reading of new work. Writers include Linda Ernst, Nora Jamieson, Maggie Rueda, Andrea Rutsky, Jackie Welsh, and Chivas Sandage.
     The event on June 22 is free, although registration is requested for seating set-up. Canton Public Library is at 40 Dyer Avenue, Canton. For information or registration: (860) 693-5800; email, bvanness@libraryconnection.org, or the library website at www.cantonpubliclibrary.org

     Most would argue that author, Paul Rusesabagina, a former hotel manager who hid and protected refugees during the Rwandan genocide,-- as portrayed in the Academy Award nominated film Hotel Rwanda-- was far from ordinary. On Saturday, June 29 at 1:00 PM- “Saturday Book Conversations reads: An Ordinary Man, by Paul Rusesabagina” at Canton Public Library to discover and discuss the unassuming hero’s own take on events during that horrible conflict.
     Saturday Book Conversations welcomes new members at any time.  Feel free to call Beth Van Ness, the Reference Librarian, for more information or simply come to a monthly meeting.  If you are interested solely in a particular book selection, you are very welcome just to attend that one discussion.  Copies of our current selection are available at our Circulation Desk. Canton Public Library is at 40 Dyer Avenue, Canton.  For information:  (860) 693-5800 or www.cantonpubliclibrary.org