Category Archives: At the Ilsley

At the Ilsley, Author Talk, Public

Ilsley Library Book Talk: Milk Money by Kirk Kardashian 11/18/2025

Kirk Kardashian is a senior writer at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a freelance journalist who writes about agriculture, business, and the outdoors. None other than Bernie Sanders wrote the forward to Milk Money, published by Brandeis University Press, which asks whether it is right that family farmers in America should toil so hard, produce a food so wholesome and so popular, and still lose money.

At the Ilsley, Educational

Wolf Peaches, Poisoned Peas, and Madame Pompadour’s Underwear: The Surprising History of Common Garden Vegetables

 

Common garden vegetables have long and fascinating histories. Science and history writer Rebecca Rupp will discuss the stories behind many of our favorites, among them the much-maligned tomato and potato, the (mostly) popular pumpkin, and Vermont’s dynamic duo of kale and Gilfeather turnip.  Find out why a lot of us don’t like beets, how a 17th-century pirate named the bell pepper, how carrots won the Trojan War, and how George Washington was nearly assassinated with a plate of poisoned peas.  A VT Humanities Speaker Bureau program.

Recorded 8/7/24

Producer: MCTV

At the Ilsley, The Vermont Book Shop

IPL/VBS First Tuesdays: My Towering Tree by Ashley Wolff

 

Ashley discusses her newest publication, My Towering Tree, and her part in the illustration process.  Discover all the joyful moments and adventures waiting right outside your door in this mindful rhyming picture book celebration of backyard nature.  Ashley Wolff, beloved local illustrator, is the author and illustrator of more than sixty books for children, including the modern classic Miss Bindergarten series by Joseph Slate, and her own celebrated Only the Cat Saw; Where, Oh Where, Is Baby Bear?; Baby Bear Counts One; and Baby Bear Sees Blue.

https://www.vermontbookshop.com

Recorded 8/6/24   

Producer: IPL/VBS 

At the Ilsley, Public, The Vermont Book Shop

IPL/VBS First Tuesdays: The Walker, The Driver and Otto – Wayfaring Strangers on a Continental Roundabout by Fran McIntsoh

 

Don’t miss this chance to hear former local teacher Fran McIntsoh read from and discuss her newly published book The Walker, the Driver, and Otto. It is an absolutely delightful book: equal parts harrowing and heartwarming, beautifully written, and expertly crafted for a pleasant reading experience all around.

You may remember when Don McIntosh, AKA “Mr. Mac,” everyone’s favorite PE teacher, went on his 1987-1988 circumnavigational walk around the continental US. Well, Fran supported him on that walk, in spite of no longer being obligated by marital bonds, as she was, by then, married to David Disque, who owned what was then known as Forth ‘n Goal (now The Middlebury Shop) with Vin Fucile. Though these personal details are not the focus of the book, the history of their triad and the strong family that grew from it does emerge, along with the quiet strength of the woman at its center.

VBS

Recorded 7/2/24   

Producer: IPL/VBS MCTV

At the Ilsley, Author Talk, Public, The Vermont Book Shop

IPL/VBS First Tuesdays: Chris Lincoln The Funny Moon

 

Chris Lincoln
Chris Lincoln of Thetford, a Middlebury College grad, whose book is The Funny Moon, is joined in conversation by Mike McKenna of Weybridge. Lincoln has been recognized with a Clio, advertising’s Oscar. He is also the author of the widely praised non-fiction book, Playing the Game: Inside Athletic Recruiting in the Ivy League. A graduate of Middlebury College and participant at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, he lives in Vermont with his wife. The Funny Moon is his first novel. Recorded 5/14/24   

Producer: IPL/VBS MCTV

At the Ilsley, Public

Sharing the Trail: Get to Know the Mammals of the TAM

 

We all know and love the Trail Around Middlebury; with its streams, wetlands, forests, and fields, it is the perfect place to spend some time outside. But we are not the only animals that use this space. The qualities of the TAM that make us love it so much are the same qualities that animals such as deer, coyotes, foxes, squirrels, and many more need for their habitat. We must learn to share this space with them.

This talk is on the different habitat preferences and activity levels of mammals on the TAM and how human activities can impact them. Explore the activity of these mammals through photos and videos from trail cameras set by Middlebury College students this past fall and hear what they can tell us about the trail’s community. This recreation area is vital for both human and wildlife health, so we must learn to coexist with all its inhabitants.

Producer: MCTV

At the Ilsley, Public

Ilsley 100 Project Team Community Informational Meeting 4/15/24

 

The Ilsley 100 Project Team invites the community to an informational meeting on the library renovation and expansion project. Members of the Project Team and staff from ReArch Company and Weimann Lamphere Architects will: Review the design and renderings of the plan Review the total project budget Share a detailed funding plan and capital campaign progress Share a project timeline Share an informational video on the project Answer questions on all of the above!

to learn more about the project, please visit the project website: https://www.ilsleypubliclibrary.org/about-us/ilsley-100-project-team/. Questions may be sent to Library Director Dana Hart at dana.hart@ilsleypubliclibrary.org.

Producer: MCTV

At the Ilsley, Educational, Public

Extinction Dynamics of North America’s only Flightless Seabird: The Great Auk

 


Lucia Snyderman, Middlebury College research assistant
The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) was hunted to extinction in the year 1844. All that remains for us to piece together its extinction story are skins, bones, a few eggs, and historical testimonies. Investigating human-auk relationships and modeling extinction timing using a combination of historical and radiocarbon data across the seabird’s North Atlantic range provides insight into how its distribution contracted and why certain populations persisted longer than others. Studying the Great Auk’s range collapse also contextualizes trends for current seabirds in decline.

Producer: MCTV

At the Ilsley, Author Talk, Public

IPL/VBS First Tuesdays: “Eat, Poop, Die How Animals Make Our World” Joe Roman

 

A “fascinating” exploration (Elizabeth Kolbert) of how ecosystems are sculpted and sustained by animals eating, pooping, and dying—and how these fundamental functions could help save us from climate catastrophe.  Joe Roman is a conservation biologist, marine ecologist, and editor ’n’ chef of eattheinvaders.org. Winner of the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award for Listed, Roman has written for the New York Times, Science, Slate, and other publications. He is a fellow and writer in residence at the Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont.

Recorded 12/5/23  Producer: MCTV

At the Ilsley, Public, Snapshot Series

Snapshot Series: South Korean Cinema, aka K-Cinema

 

What does South Korea’s vibrant cinema have to say about our understanding of society and the human subject? Hyon Joo Yoo will unpack how South Korean cinema, as an aesthetic response to conditions in South Korea and beyond, reflects upon the universal human subject in the era of global capitalism. Hyon Joo Yoo is Associate Professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of Vermont. Her research and teaching areas include East Asian Cinema, Postcolonial Studies, Psychoanalysis, and Gender Studies. Producer: MCTV

At the Ilsley, Public, The Vermont Book Shop

IPL/VBS First Tuesdays: Genevieve’s debut novel, In The Lobby of the Dream Hotel

 

A recipient of an O. Henry Award, her short fiction can also be found in New England Review, Southern Review, Crazyhorse, Colorado Review, Literary Hub, and The Best Small Fictions 2018.  From Indie Bound – “In the Lobby of the Dream Hotel — a place two lovers who can’t be together in the real world might meet — is a beautiful meditation on love, madness, motherhood, and art. Plunkett’s writing is achingly gorgeous and Portia is a character for the ages.”  We are pleased to partner with Vermont Book Shop for this program

Recorded 11/7/23  Producer: MCTV