Students perform at the Great Hall

The Springfield Town Library, Riverside Middle School and Gallery at the VAULT are hosting a party with refreshments, Monday, June 5 at 5:30 p.m. at the Great Hall, 100 River Street in Springfield.

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The Springfield Town Library, Riverside Middle School and Gallery at the VAULT are hosting a party with refreshments, Monday, June 5 at 5:30 p.m. at the Great Hall, 100 River Street in Springfield. A free evening of art, poetry, and family stories brings to an end Springfield’s celebration of Brown Girl Dreaming, the 2017 Vermont Reads title. Students, families, friends and neighbors are welcome to see and hear the work created by Riverside students as they respond to the themes of Brown Girl Dreaming. Librarian Michelle Stinson, Riverside teacher Lisa Mobus and the VAULT’s Diane Kemble worked together to create this event—choosing the Great Hall for its magnificent setting, easy parking, and accessibility. Visitors can also enjoy the current Great Hall exhibit, “Four Centripetal Views,” from Rutland artist William T. Ramage. Brown Girl Dreaming is a beautiful memoir for adults and children, written by Jacqueline Woodson. She evokes the Jim Crow years in her story of finding herself, as reader, writer, child, daughter, sister, and granddaughter in South Carolina and Brooklyn, N.Y. To explore themes in the book, the Springfield Town Library turned to local presenters. Hugh Putnam of the Springfield Art and Historical Society guided adults through basic Vermont and Springfield genealogy. Vermont poet and educator, Dan Heller, led a book discussion of Brown Girl Dreaming and read from his first book of poetry, “Between the Shadows.” Michelle Stinson brought the picture books of Jacqueline Woodson to the youngest Springfield residents. Riverside Middle School found civil rights and literature in the book—enlarged with a residency on telling family stories given by Natalie Kinsey Warnock. Vermont Reads is a program of the Vermont Humanities Council. This year Vermonters in all corners of the state will read and discuss Brown Girl Dreaming. Springfield readers are welcome to turn their paperback copies in at the Library and the Springfield Food CoOp; they will travel on to other Vermont communities. For more information about the Great Hall program, call the Springfield Town Library at 802-885-3108.