Published April 20. 2021 8:23AM
Otis Library in Norwich will host a free virtual event, Evening with an Author: An Intimate Conversation with Lidia Bastianich at 7 p.m. May 7.
Bastianich is the author of 15 cookbooks and the Emmy Award-winning host of Public Television’s Lidia’s Kitchen, which airs internationally. She is also a judge on MasterChef Junior Italy. Lidia owns Felidia, Becco, and several other restaurants and is a partner in the acclaimed Eataly. Additionally, she has her own pasta and sauce line sold nationwide.
Joined by Norwich native Cecilia Vardar, Bastianich will discuss her book My American Dream: A Life of Love, Family, and Food, which tells the story her family’s immigrant experience.
Published April 09. 2021 8:42AM
Kevin Gorden, Special to The Times
Otis Library has been open by appointment only since July, and it doesn’t appear things will change anytime soon. “That model has been working very well. The public has adapted,” said library Director Robert Farwell.
Farwell says recent relaxations of restrictions on library operations in Connecticut won’t change things right now at Otis. “We’re going to continue to rely on this (appointment) model, and proceed very carefully, cautiously, with opening on any broader basis.”
Activities such as large group meetings, and one-on-one teaching sessions remain suspended.
Twice-a-year annual book sales, a major fundraiser for the library, have also been temporarily halted, which makes a recent restaurant collaboration welcome.
Otis Library: April an exciting and busy month norwichbulletin.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from norwichbulletin.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Norwich City Manager John Salomone has proposed a combined city and school budget totaling $138.6 million with a 4.39% spending increase that would require a 1.5% citywide tax increase.
Salomone’s proposed 2021-22 budget, presented to the City Council Monday, includes an $86.3 million school budget which calls for a $2.1 million or 2.5% increase.
That is less than the 3.95% increase requested by school officials but more than the city manager’s usual 2% increase for the schools.
The general government budget also contains funding for a fire services director recommended in a recently released fire services study. The general government budget of $48.7 million calls for a $2.7 million or 5.95% increase.
Julie Menders and Elanah Sherman
For The Bulletin
This April at the Otis Library on Main Street in Norwich, Harris Sisters Month recognizes the courage and achievements of Norwich natives Sarah and Mary Harris.
The sisters were among the first Black students at Prudence Crandall s Canterbury school; indeed, the root of this experiment in integration was Sarah s request in 1832 which Crandall granted to take classes at the then all-white academy. The consequences, including violence and the eventual closing of the school, constitute one of the most significant chapters in American abolitionist history.
Following the closing of the school, Sarah and Mary continued to lead distinguished lives marked by audacity and purpose, Sarah as an abolitionist in Rhode Island and Mary as an educator in Louisiana.