Aside from April being the host month of National Library Week, Reference Librarian Jean Schweid said it’s also the Groton Public Library’s second year of participating in the “World of Words” program, which is funded by the Connecticut Center for the Book at the Hartford Public Library.
“We happen to be an affiliate…so different libraries across the state come together for this World of Words celebration,” Schweid explained. “Every library that participates picks a different country to study.”
Schweid said the library picked China this year, because of the growing Chinese-American population in the area—and because its culture is so different than American culture. Coordinating a month of festivities to surround the program, she said planning started in August and had to be finished by December of last year.
At the beginning of the month, a children’s program titled “Family Stories and Fun - China, the Chinese Zodiac, and Chinese Paper Cuts” taught participants about Chinese zodiac signs. The program was accompanied by stories, snacks, crafts, and other activities. The Asian Performing Arts Company brought music, song, and dance to the library, and an associate professor of Chinese at Connecticut College read excerpts of Chinese women’s literature and led a book discussion of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie.
And that was only in the first two weeks of the program.
“We’re going to have exhibits all month in the display cases,” Schweid noted. “We’ll have artifacts in the cases, like pottery and clothes.”
She added that the work by students of local artist Eva Leong also will be displayed on the library’s walls. Leong will visit the library Wednesday, April 16, to discuss Chinese art.
“I’m from China,” Leong said. “I left China in 1982.” Growing up around different forms of painting, Leong naturally pursued painting at the Parsons School of Design in New York. Now a resident of Mystic, Leong is a visiting artist, who teaches at different magnet schools and leads special workshops and programs across Connecticut. At the Groton library, she will discuss how to capture the essence of objects or subjects through big brush strokes.
“It’s the type of painting that paints the mind, body, and soul…A couple strokes can look like a horse,” Leong explained. “With just very few strokes, something can jump out. That’s what I teach. So I teach kids a different lifestyle. In other words, I teach them to look at things differently…Kids have to feel the difference between each object so eventually they begin to look at the world differently.”
“She’s going to give an introduction of what Chinese watercolors are about, give a demonstration, and then at the end of the program she’ll let the audience participate,” Schweid added, “but it won’t be a one-on-one art lesson. I think this is something that she’s very popular for and she does incredible work. I think there will be quite a crowd.”
Children’s Librarian Sue Palmieri will read about and teach children how to make Chinese characters during the library’s “Family Stories & Fun - Chinese Characters” program on Thursday, April 17, and Wednesday, April 23. Schweid said there will be a Tai Chi and Qigong overview, as well, instructed by Mystic resident Gary Donovan.
A Tai Chi and Qigong teacher for 13 years, Donovan said he’s taught throughout Mystic and at senior centers in Groton, Westerly, Pawcatuck, and North Stonington. He also teaches privately, and will be the master of ceremonies this year for the World Tai Chi and Qigong Day celebration to be held at Waterford Town Beach in April.
“I have both a ‘modern’ certification: 200 classroom-training hours with written material requirements and continual study obligations,” Donovan said. “I have a ‘traditional’ certification, as well, whereby Grand Master Jiang Jian-ye of Albany, N.Y., has deemed me a teacher of his Health Preservation Series of Tai Chi and Qigong material. It is rather unusual to hold both types of certifications.”
Donovan said his journey of getting involved with the different ancient Chinese exercises and movements began in the 1980s when he suffered a back injury.
“Some years later I severely re-injured my back and was told by my orthopedist to avoid a second surgical intervention [and] that it would not be as successful as the first,” he explained. “I noticed on a flyer in Westerly that the study of Tai Chi was being recommended to help with back problems and pain, and I began my study in North Stonington at that time.”
He said the practices helped ease his pain and after deciding to become a full-time teacher of Tai Chi and Qigong, he entered the Tai Chi teachers’ certification program. He said the National Institute of Health has determined the practices lead to improved health for many people and have no negative side effects.
After participating in his program at the library, Donovan hopes people will feel more empowered about their own health and the health of others.
“After all, each of us has the opportunity, if not the responsibility, to make healthy choices of what and how much we eat, when we retire for the evening, and what activities we bring into our lives.”
After many other programs, the month of festivities about China ends Monday, April 28, with a special celebration.
“It’s a multi-ethnic celebration, and it’s a time to really try to focus of the culture and literature of the world,” Schweid said. “So many people in America have come from somewhere else…This also helps us focus on where their roots are and especially on the roots of literature…Last year, we did India. We had a great success with that and big crowds and hopefully this year will go well, too.”