***See communities at right for 2012-2013 schedule***

*** RESCHEDULED TALKS ***

Norwich's June 5 talk with Race and Reunion author David Blight has been cancelled. A rescheduled date has not yet been announced.

St. Johnsbury's March 6 talk with Lisa MacFarlane on early photographs of Native North Americans has been rescheduled for Wednesday, June 26

First Wednesdays Humanities Lecture Series Hosted by Nine Libraries Around Vermont

2012-2013 First Wednesdays Brochure/Schedule (pdf)

This eclectic lecture series offers talks in nine towns on the first Wednesday of the month, October through May. Topics are varied, timely, timeless, thought-provoking, and fun.

The 2012-2013 season of First Wednesdays begins October 3 at locations listed to the right. Since its beginning in 2002 at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier, First Wednesdays has expanded to nine sites within or near most of Vermont’s population centers.

The free lectures draw nationally and regionally renowned authors, artists, scholars, and public figures who speak on diverse topics before audiences sometimes numbering several hundred people.

All First Wednesdays talks are free and open to the public, held at libraries and other venues in the host communities.

A few of the speakers and talks coming in the new season:

• New York Times Chief Washington Correspondent David Sanger on Obama's use of American Power (Brattleboro, December 5)
• Former CIA Chief of Counterterrorism Haviland Smith on the future of the Arab Spring (Essex Junction, Tuesday, December 4)
• Acclaimed historian David Hackett Fischer on the life of Samuel de Champlain (Manchester, November 7)
• Dartmouth professor Jane Carroll on chess and courtship in the Middle Ages
  (Middlebury, April 3)
• Dr. Nils Daulaire of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services on global health priorities (Montpelier, January 2)
• Author Howard Frank Mosher on his recent 20,000-mile American book tour
  (Newport, December 5)
• Rabbi Ronald B. Sobel on the meaning of faith in Christian and Jewish thought
  (Norwich, January 2)
• Dartmouth College lecturer Marlene Heck on the building of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello (Rutland, December 5)
•  UNH Law Professor Sarah Redfield on the constitutional issues surrounding sexting and cyberbullying (St. Johnsbury, April 3)

***See communities at right for the full 2012-2013 schedule***

First Wednesdays talks always include a question and answer time, offering a chance for the audience to interact with the speaker. The talks bring vitality and the opportunity for lifelong learning to Vermont’s communities.

2012-2013 First Wednesdays Statewide Sponsor:

Vermont Department of Libraries (First Wednesdays is supported in part by the Institute of Museum & Library Services through the Vermont Department of Libraries)

Listen to First Wednesdays on VPR or watch on community television

Vermont Public Radio and Vermont community TV stations have covered many First Wednesdays talks. See a listing of talks available at VPR Presents and on the local TV sites. Listen, watch, download, or find out more information.

 Image: Phares des Baleines Lighthouse stairs, Isle de Re, France, by TisseurDeToile