CLA Special Achievement Award Winner!

Congratulations to Hamden Public Library's own Nancy  McNicol, winner of the 2012 Connecticut Library Association Special Achievement Award. Each year, CLA honors an individual who has implemented a significant project or initiated an innovative program which has had significant impact on the library, the community, or the library profession this year.


In the spring of 2011, Hamden Public Library’s Associate Director, Nancy McNicol initiated plans to celebrate the life and works of Hamden native, former U.S. Poet Laureate and 2011 recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Donald Hall. She partnered with various Hamden agencies, the Mayor’s Office, the Connecticut Poetry Society and a number of town residents to bring the plans to fruition. On the evening of September 16th, more than 300 friends and poetry lovers paid tribute to Mr. Hall. He rewarded his audience with reminiscences of growing up in Hamden and readings of his poems. We are all thankful for Nancy's tireless effort creating this remarkable event, and grateful to the Connectict Library Association for recognizing her outstanding acheivement!

Yale Dean to Discuss Poetry of Donald Hall

Mark Schenker, Assistant Dean of Students and Lecturer at Yale University will discuss the poetry of Hamden native Donald Hall in the Friends Room of the Miller Memorial Library on Wednesday, September 14 at 7 p.m.  In a free program designed to give readers an opportunity to familiarize themselves with Mr. Hall's work prior to the Friday evening celebration of Mr. Hall's life and work, Schenker will take participants through several pre-selected poems that will be made available to all those who register for the program. For further information and to register for this presentation, call 203 287-2680.



Hamden Celebrates its Native Son, Poet, Donald Hall

Former U.S. Poet Laureate and recent recipient of the National Medal of the Arts, Donald Hall who was born and raised in Hamden will be honored by his hometown on Friday, September 16 at 7 p.m. in Thornton Wilder Hall at the Miller Memorial Library Complex, 2901 Dixwell Ave.  The event will mark Mr. Hall's 83rd birthday and the publication of his latest book of poetry, The Back Chamber.  

Grandson of Henry Hall, one of the founders of Hamden's Brock-Hall Dairy, Mr. Hall grew up in the Whitneyville neighborhood of Hamden during the 1930s and 40s, attended Spring Glen Grammar School and Hamden High before going on to Philips Exeter Academy, Harvard and Oxford Universities. His youth in Hamden has figured prominently in several of his poems as well as his most recent memoir, Unpacking the Boxes.  The winner of numerous prizes for his poetry and other contributions to literature, he has lived on his maternal grandparents' farm in rural New Hampshire since 1975.

Mr. Hall plans to travel to Hamden for this event which will include presentations by Mayor Scott Jackson, Hamden Historian, Eric Lehman and The Connecticut Poetry Society.  The program is free and open to the public.