Marjorie Laboy-Vagell of Tolland is the winner of the Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader that the Tolland Public Library Foundation raffled off on April 1 at the library’s grand re-opening.
Here she is with Foundation Vice President Dani Titterton, at left, and Library Director Barbara Pettijohn. If you haven’t visited the newly expanded Tolland Public Library, it’s a must-see!

Nook winner Marjorie Laboy-Vagell of Tolland, center, with Foundation Vice President Dani Titterton at left and Library Director Barbara Pettijohn.

P.W. Catanese of Columbia, the author of ten young adult novels, will make a return appearance in Tolland on Thursday, June 15 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss his latest book, “Donny’s Inferno: Down in Flames.
The free talk, to be held in Conference Room A of Tolland town hall at 21 Tolland Green, is part of the Tolland Public Library Foundation’s Eaton-Dimock-King Authors Series.
This is the second in the Donny’s Inferno series that follows the adventures of Donny Taylor, a boy on the run who visits the underworld with a bewitching supernatural being named Angela Obscura. Catanese says this adventure is even bigger, better and funnier than in the first book. Souls have gone missing, and it’s Angela’s job to find out who’s taking them while Donny needs to survive capers that grow more dangerous by the day.
He says you don’t have to have read the first book to enjoy the second one.
School Library Journal says Catanese writes with a “memorably dry, witty tone.” It says the latest book is a “satisfying sequel sure to please readers of the first book, in a series that appeals to fans of the tones struck by Rachel Renee Russell and Rick Riordan.”
A graduate of the University of Connecticut who works in advertising, Catanese has seen all of his books published by Simon and Schuster/Aladdin and several, including “The Thief and the Beanstalk,” translated into other languages and published abroad. For details, visit pwcatanese.com.
He is making a return engagement in the EDK series, which has also brought writers as varied as Susan Campbell, Denis Horgan, Jeff Goldberg, Caragh O’Brien, Cindy Rodriguez, Susan Schoenberger and Lucy Anne Hurston to town.
The talk is free, but registration is required. To register or for more information, call the Tolland Public Library at 860-871-3620.

P.W. Catanese

The Tolland Public Library Foundation and Greater Hartford SCORE’s Small Business Academy will offer a free talk May 1 on “How to Manage Risk in a Small Business.”
Registration and networking will take place from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Conference Room A of Tolland Town Hall. The workshop will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The event will feature attorney Patricia DeLeo of Glastonbury and John P. Cody, a vice president of The SIG Insurance Agencies of Stamford. The speakers will cover organizational options, contract management, litigation management, protection of intellectual property, cyber liability, professional liability, workers compensation and risk management.
The event is free, but registration is required. To register, call the library at 860-871-3620 or register at tolland.org/library using the online events calendar.
The foundation was established in 1996 to receive donations to benefit the Tolland Public Library and to enhance library services beyond what the town budget provides. Tax-deductible donations can be sent to the Tolland Public Library Foundation, Inc., 21 Tolland Green, Tolland, CT 06084.
Greater Hartford SCORE was started in 1964 with the mission of matching the experience of seasoned business owners and managers with small business owners. Its Small Business Academy was organized in 2016 to provide workshops to those clients.

Children’s author and illustrator David Biedrzycki, whose books include the Ace Lacewing, Bug Detective, series and “Me and My Dragon,” will give an interactive talk at the Tolland Public Library on Thursday, May 25.
The free talk by Biedrzycki, who gives 70 talks at schools and libraries each year, is sponsored by the Tolland Public Library Foundation. It will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Conference Room A at Tolland Town Hall at 21 Tolland Green.
Biedrzycki’s program is geared to inspire students in Kindergarten through fifth grade and is technology-based. He will show the children how he creates stories and art on the computer and sometimes revises a story up to 30 times before it is done.
Biedrzycki will show how he uses shapes to create a beetle and beetle family and will get the children involved by having them learn about colors, symmetry and horizontal and vertical placement. He will leave a jpg file of the created art for students and parents to print up later.
The event is free, but registration is required. To register, call the library at 860-871-3620.

David Biedrzycki

Tolland residents, be sure to visit the newly expanded Tolland Public Library by closing time Saturday, April 8 and register to win a Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader.
The Tolland Public Library Foundation is holding the raffle to celebrate the opening of the expanded library at 21 Tolland Green.
The winner will be notified next week. Call the library at 860-871-3620 for details.