August Events At The New Lebanon Library

Crawly Critters
Rhonda Leavitt of Rhonda’s Reptiles will present animal education using live reptiles on Tuesday, August 2, at 1 pm at the New Lebanon Library. Leavitt’s reptiles include an iguana, bearded dragon, boa constrictor, Burmese python and American alligator. The program is oriented towards children, although people of all ages are welcome.
Leavitt has been active in providing reptile rescue for lizards, snakes and turtles in need of placement for several years. Reptiles require specialized care and adoptive homes can be hard to find. Rhonda’s Reptiles helps with reptiles that have outgrown their living environments or whose owners are no longer able to care for them and also provides temporary care for reptiles and snakes belonging to military personnel deployed overseas
Learn To Draw And Paint Still Life
Michael Cohen, Columbia County artist, will conduct two painting and drawing workshops this summer at the New Lebanon Library. The workshops will be held on Tuesday, August 2, and Tuesday, August 9, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Both events are free and open to the public and are oriented towards teens and adults. Advanced registration is recommended by calling the Library at 518-794-8844 or emailing leb@taconic.net.
The workshop will begin with a discussion on still life paintings and will progress to actual drawing and painting. Participants will explore the techniques and methods used in creating still life and will work from a single subject supplied by the instructor. Participants should bring their own water-based paint, pencil, charcoal, oil pastel or other medium (no oil or acrylic paint, please) and also should supply their own drawing or water color paper, preferably sized 11” x 14”.
Michael Cohen is a landscape and portrait painter who resides in Columbia County. He is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in NYC and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Queens College, NY. He also spent a decade teaching special education in New York City, often using his art skills to inspire the creativity in his students.
Columbia Land Conservancy Children’s Program
The Columbia Land Conservancy will present “Tales of Tails: Amazing Animal Adaptations” on Thursday, August 4, at 2 pm at the New Lebanon Library. The program is oriented to school aged children.
In keeping with the Summer Reading theme of “One World, Many Stories,” participants will hear the Ojibwa legend “How the Beaver Got His Tail” and talk about Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories.  Using puppets and animal skins, they will discuss how animals have adapted their tails for different uses in the wild and how they depend on them.  Participants will create their own crazy creature tails out of a variety of arts and crafts materials to take home.
To register, please contact the Library at 518-794-8844 by August 3.
David Grover To Perform August 4
Renowned Berkshire musician David Grover will perform at New Lebanon Library on August 4 at 7 pm. The event, which is oriented towards teens and adults, is free and open to the public.
Grover has been compared to Paul Simon, James Taylor and Raffi, earning countless awards including a Grammy nomination and Artist of the Year. Grover’s folksy message songs make him irresistible across the generations.  He spent many years as Arlo Guthrie’s lead guitar and band leader and his Big Bear Band has performed at the White House, opened the Goodwill Games, appeared on The Today Show, performed with the Detroit Symphony for their Youth Series and recently played for the delegates of the United Nations.
Book Group To Discuss Donoghue’s Room
The New Lebanon Book Group will discuss Emma Donoghue’s Room at 11 am on Sunday, August 7, at the New Lebanon Library. All are welcome.
Room is told from the perspective of a five year old boy, Jack, who is being held captive in a small room along with his mother. In her review, Lynette Mong said, “Despite its profoundly disturbing premise, Emma Donoghue’s Room is rife with moments of hope and beauty… A stunning and original novel of survival in captivity, readers who enter Room will leave staggered, as though, like Jack, they are seeing the world for the very first time.”
For further information on this free event, please call the Library at 518-794-8844. The Library is located at 550 Rt. 20, ¼ mile north of the yellow blinking light at the intersection of Routes 20/22.