Talbot County Free Library - Chestertown Spy

Library to host 9th Annual Chesapeake Children’s Book Festival Extravaganza

June 11, 2024 by Talbot County Free Library Leave a Comment

For the ninth year in a row, the Talbot County Free Library will host Chesapeake Children’s Book Festival as a kick off for the annual Summer Reading Program.

“The day of the Chesapeake Children’s Book Festival is always one of my favorite days of the year,” said Talbot County Free Library Director Dana Newman. “All the happy children, all the wonderful storytelling and art, all the authors sharing their thoughts with little ones—it just can’t be beat.”

On Saturday, June 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. prepare for a one-day, rain or shine, free extravaganza at the Easton Library, 100 W, Dover Street. This year’s Summer Reading Program theme, “Adventure Begins at Your Library,” offers a celebration for children of all ages, diversity and the joy of reading.

Children who sign up for the Summer Reading Program and attend the festival will receive a voucher valid for one free book from the attending author of their choice (while supplies last). The festivities will include live readings from some of the authors as opportunities for the public to meet individual authors and illustrators.

This year will include 13 new authors to the festival. Laura Shovan is a novelist, educator, and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet. Her award-winning children’s books include “The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary,” “Takedown,” and the Sydney Taylor Notable Book, “A Place at the Table,” written with Saadia Faruqi.

Shovan is a longtime poet-in-the-school for the Maryland State Arts Council and teaches for Vermont College of Fine Arts’ MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Her latest poetry collection for kids is “Welcome to Monsterville.”

Chiêu Anh Urban is an award-winning children’s book author, illustrator, and book designer. She enjoys creating playful books that provide fun learning and exploration for the youngest readers.

Urban’s recent titles include, “Illusions in Art: Animals” and “Illusions in Art: Food” with Candlewick Press (2023), and novelty books “123 Zoom” and “ABC Roar” with S&S (2022). Urban is the creator of the board book series “Color Wonder: Hooray for Spring!” and “Color Wonder: Winter is Here!” When she’s not delving into novelty book projects, she’s indulging in

sweet confections and arts and crafts with her family. She is also the winner of the Indigo Design Silver Award Winner in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

This program is funded in part by a grant from Talbot Arts with revenues provided by the Maryland State Arts Council. Other funders include the Friends of the Talbot County Free Library, the Talbot County Free Library Foundation, and the governments of Talbot County, Easton and Easton Rotary Club. Maryland Public Television will be a media partner for the festival.

Partner organizations at the festival will include: Imagination Library of Talbot County, Maryland Public Television, Judy Center, Flying Cloud Booksellers, University of Maryland Extension – Master Gardeners, the Friends of the Talbot County Free Library, Pickering Creek Audubon Center and Daughters of the American Revolution.

For more information about the 9th Annual Chesapeake Children’s Book Festival and the Summer Reading Program, visit www.chesapeakechildrensbookfestival.com/ or visit www.tcfl.org or call the library at 410-822-1626.

About Talbot County Free Library

It is the mission of the Talbot County Free Library to enrich and renew the lives of the people it serves. There are two locations: The main library in Easton is located at 100 W. Dover St.; and the St. Michael branch is at 106 Fremont St. The Maryland Room in the Easton branch holds a voluminous collection of genealogical resources and historical documents. Services at both locations include the circulation of books, DVDs, and digital devices, as well as free Wi-Fi, public computers, exhibits, and programs for both children and adults. Many of the Talbot County Free Library’s programs are made possible by the generous support of the local community. For more information, please visit www.tcfl.org. Be sure to like the library on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @Talbotcountyfreelibrary.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

An Earth Day Eco-Poetry Reading

April 1, 2023 by Talbot County Free Library

An Earth Day Eco-Poetry Reading. Saturday April 22, 2023, 2:00-4:00 p.m., Talbot County Free Library-Easton Library.

In celebration of Earth Day 2023 and National Poetry Month, Talbot County Free Library, Shore Lit, and The Shore Poetry will be presenting a free eco-poetry reading.

The event will be held in the Easton Library’s Meeting Room and moderated by The Shore Poetry co-editors John Nieves, Caroline Chavatel, and Emma DePanise. They have selected fifteen regional poets to read original poems related to the themes of place, liminality, and human interaction with our environments.

Featured poets will include: Lindsay Lusby, Jane Satterfield, Ned Balbo, Christine Spillson, Sarah Brockhaus, Chris Cocca, Catherine Pierce, Summer Smith, Siobhan Murray, Cassandra Whitaker, Shannon Ryan, Gary Fox, Nancy Mitchell, Tara A. Elliott, and Terin Weinberg.

The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will follow the reading, giving attendees a chance to engage with the poets and editors and speak to them about their work. Reservations are not required.

A special Earth Day 2023 issue of The Shore Poetry featuring poems from the event will launch on Earth Day (4/22) at theshorepoetry.org.

This program is sponsored in part by funds from the Friends of the Talbot County Free Library, Talbot County Free Library, and by a grant from Talbot Arts, with funds from the Maryland State Arts Council and the governments of Talbot County, Easton, Oxford, and St. Michaels.

About The Shore Poetry:

The Shore Poetry is an online poetry publication seeking cutting, strange, and daring work from new and established poets alike. The Shore Poetry publishes poems that explore the worlds of things and ideas, that recognize the liminality, the shifting of everything around us and our ability to name a thing whole—poems that press and push and ache and recede. The journal is published four times a year, once each season.

About The Shore Poetry’s editors:

John A. Nieves has poems forthcoming or recently published in journals such as: North American Review, Copper Nickel, American Poetry Review, 32 Poems, and Southern Review. He won the Indiana Review Poetry Contest and his first book, Curio, won the Elixir Press Annual Poetry Award Judge’s Prize. He is associate professor of English at Salisbury University and an editor of The Shore Poetry.

Caroline Chavatel is the author of White Noises (Greentower Press, 2019), which won The Laurel Review’s 2018 Midwest Chapbook Contest. Her work has appeared in AGNI, The Missouri Review, Foundry, and Poetry Northwest, among others. She is co-founding editor of The Shore Poetry, an editor at Madhouse Press, and currently a Ph.D. candidate at Georgia State University.

Emma DePanise has poems forthcoming or recently published in journals such as Poetry Northwest, The Minnesota Review, The Los Angeles Review, New York Quarterly and The National Poetry Review. She is a winner of a 2019 AWP Intro Journals Award and the 2018 winner of the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry from Nimrod International Journal. An editor of The Shore Poetry, she holds an MFA from Purdue University and is a current PhD student in English at the University of Missouri.

About Shore Lit

Shore Lit founder Kerry Folan is a reader, a writer, and a professor of writing and literature at George Mason University. She has been living in Easton since 2017 and aims to enhance local cultural offerings with regular, free book talks open to the public. Shore Lit events are designed to explore relevant ideas, foster literary conversation, and build inclusive community. Spring 2023 events feature novelist Jung Yun (in partnership with AAM); essayist and cultural critic Lawrence Weschler (in partnership with AAM); and an eco-poetry reading with The Shore Poetry (in partnership with TCFL). Sign up for our monthly newsletter at shorelit.org and follow us on Instagram @Shore_Lit.

About Talbot County Free Library

It is the mission of the Talbot County Free Library to enrich and renew the lives of the people it serves. There are two locations: The main library in Easton is located at 100 W. Dover St.; and the St. Michael branch is at 106 Fremont St. The Maryland Room in the Easton branch holds a voluminous collection of genealogical resources and historical documents. Services at both locations include the circulation of books, DVDs, and digital devices, as well as free Wi-Fi, public computers, exhibits, and programs for both children and adults. Many of the Talbot County Free Library’s programs are made possible by the generous support of the local community. For more information, please visit www.tcfl.org. Be sure to like the library on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @Talbotcountyfreelibrary.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Eminent Douglass Scholar Returns to the Shore in April

March 23, 2023 by Talbot County Free Library

One of the world’s top Frederick Douglass scholars, Professor Celeste-Marie Bernier of the University of Edinburgh, will return to the United States and the Eastern Shore in April for a series of talks on her most recent findings, as described in her forthcoming books: “Douglass Family Lives: The Anna Murray and Frederick Douglass Family Collected Works and Biography: Book 1 – 6,” “The Anna Murray and Frederick Douglass Family Selected Writings: A Reader,” and “Battleground: African American Art (1985-2015).”

“I always look forward to hearing one of Professor Bernier’s talks,” said Talbot County Free Library Director Dana Newman. “Her enthusiasm for her subject is always infectious and I am looking forward to learning more about the family of Anna Murray and Frederick Douglass.”

An excellent public speaker, Bernier is Chair of United States and Atlantic Studies at Scotland’s University of Edinburgh.

The author of over 85 books, exhibitions, essays, and digital educational resources, Bernier is the recipient of a UK Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship Award for her ongoing project, “Sacrifice is Survival: Black Families Fighting for Freedom in the USA and Canada (1732-1936).” She is currently a Sheila Biddle Ford Foundation Fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Harvard University.

On Tuesday, April 4, Professor Bernier will speak from 11 a.m. to noon at Chesapeake College’s Todd Performing Arts Center, and from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Talbot County Free Library’s Easton branch.

On Thursday, April 6, she will speak to the Tidewater Rotary (invitation only) from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., from noon to 1 p.m. at the Brookletts Place – Talbot Senior Center (400 Brookletts Avenue), and from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Museum of Rural Life in Denton (16 N. 2^nd Street).

On Friday, April 7, Bernier will do a book-signing from 5 to 6 p.m. at Easton’s Vintage Book Store (4 N. Washington Street).

With the exception of her April 6 engagement at Tidewater Rotary, which is by invitation only, all of Professor Bernier’s presentations will be free and open to the public.

For more information, visit www.tcfl.org or call (410) 822-1626.

About Talbot County Free Library

It is the mission of the Talbot County Free Library to enrich and renew the lives of the people it serves. There are two locations: The main library in Easton is located at 100 W. Dover St.; and the St. Michael branch is at 106 Fremont St. The Maryland Room in the Easton branch holds a voluminous collection of genealogical resources and historical documents. Services at both locations include the circulation of books, DVDs, and digital devices, as well as free Wi-Fi, public computers, exhibits, and programs for both children and adults. Many of the Talbot County Free Library’s programs are made possible by the generous support of the local community. For more information, please visit www.tcfl.org. Be sure to like the library on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @Talbotcountyfreelibrary.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Lecture on the Friendship Between Two Poets

March 22, 2023 by Talbot County Free Library

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Pushcart Prize winning poet Sue Ellen Thompson will give a lecture on the friendship between two of the greatest poets of the 20^th Century, Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. The lecture is at 6:00 p.m., Thursday, April 13, the Main Branch of Talbot County Free Library in Easton.

Lowell, who came from a wealthy New England family, wrote “confessional” poems about his failed marriages and frequent hospitalizations for bipolar disorder. Bishop, who was born in Nova Scotia and spent most of her life in Brazil, wrote poems that were rich in detail but revealed almost nothing of her personal life. When the two met, they bonded almost immediately and wrote letters to each other for the next 30 years.

“Friends ‘til the End”: Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell” tells the story of this literary friendship and the impact it had on both poets’ work.

Sue Ellen Thompson’s sixth book, Sea Nettles: New & Selected Poems, was published in 2022. She teaches workshops at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD and was the recipient of the 2010 Maryland Author Prize from the Maryland Library Association.

All library programs are free and open to the public. Patrons do not need to preregister to attend this lecture. For more information, call the library at 410-822-1626 or visit www.tcfl.org.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Award-Winning Poet to Present Six Poems That Can Save the World

March 17, 2023 by Talbot County Free Library

In honor of National Poetry Month, award-winning poet and eco-poetry teacher, Meredith Davies Hadaway, will present Six Poems that Can Save the World on Monday April 3, 2023 at noon at the St. Michaels branch.

What is eco-poetry and why does it matter? Along with students in her eco-poetry workshop, Hadaway is exploring ways in which the arts, especially poetry, can facilitate attention, awareness, and healing in an era of planetary peril.

Through close readings of poems by Wendell Berry, Mary Oliver, and others, Hadaway will demonstrate how powerful messages of connection and resilience can fuel hearts, minds, and saving the planet. Hadaway has performed her own poetry in literary venues across the U.S. and in Ireland, where she combined poetry with Celtic harp.

Her three published collections include “At the Narrows,” winner of the 2015 Delmarva Book Award for Creative Writing, “The River is a Reason,” and “Fishing Secrets of the Dead.” Hadaway has received a Maryland Individual Artist Award, fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, multiple Pushcart Nominations, and the “Green Mantle” from the Rachel Carson Landmark Alliance.

She holds an MFA in Poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts and an MA in Psychology from Washington College. Hadaway is a certified therapeutic musician as well as a lecturer and teacher. She is currently the Sophie Kerr Poet-in-Residence at Washington College.

The Lunch & Learn Speakers series is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Coffee and dessert will be provided. For more information, visit www.tcfl.org or call 410-745-5877.

About Talbot County Free Library
It is the mission of the Talbot County Free Library to enrich and renew the lives of the people it serves. There are two locations: The main library in Easton is located at 100 W. Dover St.; and the St. Michael branch is at 106 Fremont St. The Maryland Room in the Easton branch holds a voluminous collection of genealogical resources and historical documents. Services at both locations include the circulation of books, DVDs, and digital devices, as well as free Wi-Fi, public computers, exhibits, and programs for both children and adults. Many of the Talbot County Free Library’s programs are made possible by the generous support of the local community. For more information, please visit www.tcfl.org. Be sure to like the library on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @Talbotcountyfreelibrary.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

TCFL and Carpe Diem Arts Presents Tell Me More! Stories from Hill and Dale

August 18, 2022 by Talbot County Free Library

Talbot County Free Library joins forces with Carpe Diem Arts to present a storytelling series for children and families this fall at the Easton Library, 100 W. Dover St.

The storytelling series will take place on over the course of three Saturdays: September 10, October 8, and November 19 at 3:00 p.m.

L-R: Diane Macklin, Carrie Sue Ayvar, and Noa Baum

DIANE MACKLIN: Saturday, September 10 at 3:00 p.m.

Acclaimed storyteller Diane Macklin has a “dynamic” approach to engaging audiences – whether as a performing artist, keynote speaker, or workshop/residency leader. Her background in theatre, dance, and cultural mediation adds zest to her work, focusing on storytelling as a transformative and healing art form. She has performed from Massachusetts to California at venues such as Cincinnati’s Playhouse in the Park, National Association of Black Storytellers, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, International Storytelling Festival’s Exchange Place, National Docent Symposium, and many more. As a performer, certified educator, and teaching artist, Diane believes in “Making a Difference, One Story at a Time!” www.DianeMacklin.com

CARRIE SUE AYVAR: Saturday, October 8 at 3:00 p.m.

Growing up surrounded by stories, Carrie Sue learned early on the power of the oral tradition and its capacity for healing, inspiration, education, and entertainment. Today, Carrie Sue is a nationally acclaimed storyteller dedicated to preserving and promoting the art of storytelling. Sharing her stories in both English and Spanish, she connects people, languages, and cultures through a remarkable bilingual exploration of Latin-American folktales using words, rhythms, movement and chants that begins with the simple phrase, “Había una vez/Once upon a time . . . ” Children and adults, even those who may never have spoken a word of Spanish before, often find themselves easily and successfully repeating Spanish phrases this interactive and animated storytelling program. Flowing seamlessly between Spanish and English, Carrie Sue Ayvar, chooses from her large repertoire of personal and traditional tales to connect people, languages and cultures through her stories. All Aboard! Don’t miss this memorable story-journey around the world! CarrieSueAyvar.com

NOA BAUM: November 19 at 3:00 p.m.

The Washington Post praises Noa Baum as someone who “spreads cultural truths that eclipse geopolitical boundaries…” An award-winning internationally acclaimed storyteller and published author, Noa was born and raised in Jerusalem. She offers performances and workshops that focus on the power of stories to heal across the divides of identity and build bridges of peace. Noa will share her delightful adaptation of a Burmese folktale titled “How the Birds Became Friends” about the power of kindness to change the world. She engages young and old in her telling of stories and in conversations about peace and the process of turning a oral story into a picture book. Signed copies of Noa’s book, illustrated by renowned ecologist and artist Zev Labinger, will be available for purchase after the performance. www.NoaBaum.com

The “Tell Me More” storytelling series is made possible by the generous support of Talbot Arts, the Maryland State Arts Council, Talbot County Free Library, and by individual contributors to TCFL and Carpe Diem Arts. As a condition of receiving grants from Talbot Arts, organizations are required to acknowledge support from both the Maryland State Arts Council (MSA) and Talbot Arts (TA), in all materials and announcements for your funded projects. This program is funded in part by Talbot Arts with revenues provided by the Maryland State Arts Council and the governments of Talbot County, Easton, Oxford, and St. Michaels.” The TCFL Foundation also funded this program (equally).

All events are free and open to the public and appropriate for all ages. To schedule interviews with the performers, contact: Busy Graham, Carpe Diem Arts: [email protected] / 301-466-0183

About Talbot County Free Library

It is the mission of the Talbot County Free Library to enrich and renew the lives of the people it serves. There are two locations: The main library in Easton is located at 100 W. Dover St., and the St. Michael branch is at 106 Fremont St. The Maryland Room in the Easton branch holds a voluminous collection of genealogical resources and historical documents. Services at both locations include the circulation of books, DVDs, digital devices, free Wi-Fi, public computers, exhibits, and programs for both children and adults. Many of the Talbot County Free Library’s programs are made possible by the generous support of the local community. For more information, please visit www.tcfl.org. Be sure to like the library on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @Talbotcountyfreelibrary.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

TCFL, AAM to Host “Lost & Found” Talk & Book Signing with Kathryn Schulz

March 2, 2022 by Talbot County Free Library

Talbot County Free Library and the Academy Art Museum are joining forces to host author Kathryn Schulz’s “Lost & Found” Talk and Book Signing.

The free event will take place on Friday, March 11, at 6 p.m. at the Academy Art Museum. Though the event is free, registrations for the evening poured in so quickly it is already “sold-out.” Over-flow seats and seats unclaimed by those that pre-registered will become available on the 11^th at 5:45 p.m.

Those who end up seated in the over-flow section will watch the event on a large screen and will be able to ask questions of Schulz during the Q&A. All who attend Friday night’s event will have the opportunity to purchase a copy of “Lost & Found” and have it signed by the author. The evening will be moderated by Casey Cep, Talbot County native and acclaimed author of “Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee.”

Speaking of Schulz and Cep, whom he will introduce on the 11^th, library guy Bill Peak said, “It is a privilege granted to few to get to meet and speak with authors whose writing has changed the way we look at the world. The Talbot County Free Library takes great pride in bringing writers of Schulz’s and Cep’s caliber to our community.”

“Lost & Found” examines the period before and after the death of Schulz’s beloved father died, and how she met the woman she would marry. Schulz weaves the stories of those relationships into a meditation upon the experiences of loss and discovery.

The resulting book is part memoir, part guidebook to living in a world that is full of wonder and joy and wretchedness and suffering—a world that always demands both our gratitude and our grief.

A native of Ohio, Schulz is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of “Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error.” She won a National Magazine Award and a Pulitzer Prize for “The Really Big One,” her article about seismic risk in the Pacific Northwest.

“Lost & Found” grew out of “Losing Streak,” a New Yorker story that was anthologized in “The Best American Essays.” She has also appeared in “The Best American Science and Nature Writing,” “The Best American Travel Writing,” and “The Best American Food Writing.” Schulz lives with her family on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

“It’s my hope that those attending the event will come away feeling they have experienced something they will remember, and cherish, the rest of their lives,” said Peak.

Books will be available for purchase at the Museum that evening and from other area booksellers. For more information, visit www.tcfl.org or www.academyartmusuem.org.

About Talbot County Free Library

It is the mission of the Talbot County Free Library to enrich and renew the lives of the people it serves. There are two locations: The main library in Easton is located at 100 W. Dover St.; and the St. Michael branch is at 106 Fremont St. The Maryland Room in the Easton branch holds a voluminous collection of genealogical resources and historical documents. Services at both locations include the circulation of books, DVDs, and digital devices, as well as free Wi-Fi, public computers, exhibits, and programs for both children and adults. For more information, please visit www.tcfl.org. Be sure to like the library on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @Talbotcountyfreelibrary.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Library Guy Interviews Donald Hall Prize for Poetry Winner Joy Priest

December 24, 2020 by Talbot County Free Library

The Library Guy, Bill Peak, has just recorded an interview for The Talbot Spy with Joy Priest, a young poet with a complicated past. Priest won the prestigious Donald Hall Prize for Poetry in 2019 with her very first book of poems, Horsepower. This year she won the equally prestigious Stanley Kunitz Poetry Prize for her poem A Personal History of Breathing.

Joy Priest

Priest’s poetry has appeared in The Atlantic, Poetry Northwest, Poets & Writers, ESPN, The Louisville Anthology, Best New Poets 2014, 2016, & 2019, and A Measure of Belonging: Writers of Color on the New American South, among other publications. She has received support from the Fine Arts Work Center, The Frost Place, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the Hurston/Wright Foundation. Priest is currently a doctoral student in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Houston.

Peak’s interview with the poet can be watched at: https://talbotspy.org/the-library-guy-donald-hall-award-winning-poet-joy-priest/

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Three Poets Come to Talbot County Library September 28

September 24, 2015 by Talbot County Free Library

There will be a major poetry event next Monday at the Talbot County Free Library – Easton branch this coming Monday night. Entitled, Body of Water: A Poetry Reading, the event gathers together three accomplished poets from different parts of the country.

P. Ivan Young is author of Smell of Salt, Ghost of Rain (Brick House Books, 2015) and the chapbook, A Shape in the Waves (Stepping Stones Press, 2008). He received an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council (2011), and is the 2013 winner of the Norton Girault Literary Prize. His most recent publications are Passages North, Southeast Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Apple Valley Review, Blood Lotus, The Delaware Review, and Crab Orchard Review.

Le Hinton is the author of five poetry collections including, The Language of Moisture and Light (Iris G. Press, 2014). His work has been widely published and can be found in The Best American Poetry 2014, Little Patuxent Review, the Baltimore Review, the Delmarva Review, and outside Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, incorporated into Derek Parker’s sculpture Common Thread.

Finally, Meredith Davies Hadaway is the author of three collections of poetry, At The Narrows, (2015) The River is a Reason (2011) and Fishing Secrets of the Dead (2005), all issued from Word Poetry. She has received fellowships from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council and multiple Pushcart nominations. In addition to publishing poetry and reviews in numerous literary journals, she serves as poetry editor for The Summerset Review.

Body of Water: A Poetry Reading
Talbot County Free Library, Easton Branch
Monday, September 28, 2015 at 6:00 p.m.
Free admission

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Robert Horvath, Longtime Talbot County Library Director, to Retire

April 1, 2015 by Talbot County Free Library

After 17 years as director of the Talbot County Free Library, Robert T. Horvath, who oversaw the renovation of both the St. Michaels branch library and the main library in Easton, will retire on October 31 of this year. A national search is underway to find his successor. Barbara Lane, president of the library’s board of trustees, said of Horvath’s career, “Bob brought the Talbot County Free Library into the twenty-first century. Under his tenure, the library greatly improved both of our library’s buildings and the many services available to our community through those buildings and the library’s online facilities. Thanks in no small part to Bob’s efforts, the library now has approximately 29,000 cardholders and circulates some 281,000 items annually. The people of Talbot County owe the man a real debt. He will be greatly missed.”

Robert T. Horvath

Under Horvath’s supervision, the library has greatly expanded its collections, online services, public programming and community outreach, but his crowning achievement as director must be the renovation of the main library in Easton, completed in May of 2012. The remodeling included the addition of a new children’s wing and garden, a new, state-of-the-art facility for storing and preserving the library’s archive of rare local and state historical documents (the Maryland Room), an increase in the number of public-access computers from 12 to 40, new quiet study rooms, and the installation of a modern heating and cooling system featuring geothermal wells. The renovation added 10,000 square feet to the main library building.

During Horvath’s tenure, the Maryland Room’s collection of historic maps was properly catalogued, the important Dillworth Map of Talbot County restored, and the facility’s capacity for storing and preserving delicate historical materials was brought up to the most rigorous of modern standards. With its collection of over 4,500 rare and important books, genealogical archives, and historical documents, the library’s Maryland Room has become a destination for scholars and researchers from across the country.

Horvath was instrumental in the Talbot County Free Library Foundation’s publication of several works of Talbot County and Maryland history, including James Dawson’s “Irregularities in Abundance: an Anecdotal History of Trappe” and Jacques Baker’s “Gilbert Byron: a Life Worth Examining.” In celebration of both Horvath’s service to the library and the 90th anniversary of the library’s existence, the Foundation plans to publish in October a collection of The Star Democrat’s articles about life in the library written by Bill Peak.

In addition to his work as library director, Horvath has served the people of Talbot County in any number of ways. A past president of both the Rotary Club of Easton and the Talbot County Visual Arts Center (which he helped found), he has also been active in Talbot County’s Cinema Society, Plein Aire Easton, Arts in Easton, and the St. Michaels Arts League. Nationally, he serves as chair of the Board of Trustees of the Norman Rockwell Museum, located in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. An accomplished artist himself, Horvath’s paintings have been exhibited in such prestigious collections as the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum and the USAF Museum. The magnificent 24-foot mural depicting an Eastern Shore landscape which Horvath painted and donated to the library now hangs in the main library’s fiction section. He also painted a mural of an Eastern Shore snow scene for the St. Michaels branch.

When asked about his time in Talbot County, Horvath replied, “I have had a wonderful seventeen years in Talbot County. I was extremely fortunate in having the opportunity to come here in 1998. I have found this area a perfect fit for my family, my interests, and me. I have made many friends here, and the community of Talbot County has been very welcoming to me. This is no doubt one of the most beautiful places to live in this country. My thanks go out to everyone who has helped me make this my home.”

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Sections

More