This year’s seminar centers on A Moveable Feast, Hemingway’s posthumously published sketches about his life in 1920s Paris, exploring the people, places, and atmosphere that shaped his early writing. Over two and a half days September 4–6 participants will engage in talks, discussions, and film screenings that examine both the Paris years and the later period in Ketchum where Hemingway revised the work. The seminar begins with a keynote on Thursday evening, continues all day Friday and Saturday, and concludes with a closing reception; tickets are $95 and space is limited, with registration opening May 12.
Hemingway Distinguished Lecture: Hampton Sides
The annual Hemingway Distinguished Lecture is presented each July, honoring the month of Ernest Hemingway’s birth and death. The event celebrates the power of words and the creative spirit in a landscape that Hemingway loved. This year, The Community Library welcomes HAMPTON SIDES, best-known for his gripping non-fiction adventure stories set in war or depicting epic expeditions of discovery and exploration. He is the author of the bestselling histories Ghost Soldiers, Blood and Thunder, Hellhound On His Trail, In the Kingdom of Ice, and On Desperate Ground, a chronicle of the extraordinary feats of heroism by Marines called on to do the impossible during the greatest battle of the Korean War. His latest history, The Wide Wide Sea, was published in 2024 and was named one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by the New York Times. The lecture will be presented outdoors on the Library’s Donaldson Robb Family Lawn. Chairs will be set up for this event, so attendees do not need to bring their own. A book signing with Iconoclast Books will follow. This program will be livestreamed, and the recording will be available for two weeks. Seating is limited, so registration is required to join …
SIHA Summer Series: Being Indigenous in the Modern Day
Join the Sawtooth Interpretive & Historical Association at our 18th annual summe series at the Stanley Museum: expanding your understanding and appreciate of the Sawtooth & Salmon River country since 1972. Being Indigenous in the Moder Day the presented by Bobette & Russell Haskett Bobette and Russell will share their experiences teaching and sharing cultural lifeways and they will share a brief history of the Shoshone and Bannock Tribes in the Sawtooth area. Stay tuned for details about additional Shoshone-Bannock programming on Saturday, July 12. Bobette and Russell Haskett are both members of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and reside on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in SE Idaho. They enjoy traveling and doing presentations about their tribal and cultural ways. They both believe that traditional knowledge is important to remember and are active in practicing their cultural ways. Bobette has a love for history, especially Indigenous history, culture, and traditional practices. She participates in many local Native youth and tribal events, educational institutions teaching and sharing her knowledge of weaving techniques, traditional clothing, and beadwork instruction. Her hobbies include beading for family and friends, weaving and making baskets, harvesting plant materials for weaving, and gathering traditional wild foods, like berries, roots, …
How Dark Is It? with UCLA Students
Defined as the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive artificial lighting, light pollution pervades 80% of global skies in the form of skyglow, or artificial brightening of the night sky. Its deleterious effects extend beyond astronomy — impacting the health of natural ecosystems, the behavior of energy consumption, and human circadian rhythms. So, what can we do about it? In cooperation with the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, UCLA student researchers will share information about the impacts of light pollution in Idaho, the different ways to measure light pollution, the results of their monitoring studies throughout the Reserve since 2021, and ways you may be able to get involved in tackling light pollution!
“The Paris Novel”
A Community Speaker Series event, in partnership with the Sun Valley Writers Conference. Registration required. Ruth Reichl, one of our best-known and most well-loved food writers, is the author of five memoirs, including Tender at the Bone and Save Me the Plums. She is also a captivating novelist, and, as you might imagine, her fiction is full of many sensory pleasures. In her delightful new book, The Paris Novel, the protagonist Stella is left with an unusual inheritance: a one-way plane ticket and a note reading “Go to Paris.” But Stella is hardly cut out for adventure; a traumatic childhood has confined her to the strict routines of her comfort zone. Reichl will talk to The Community Library’s executive director, Jenny Emery Davidson, about this novel that celebrates the city she adores and the many reasons for living deliciously, taking chances, and finding your true home. Photo credit: Shannon Greer.
“Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue”
A Community Speaker Series event, in partnership with the Sun Valley Writers Conference. Registration is required to attend. When Pamela Churchill Harriman died in 1997, she was often written off as a courtesan and social climber known for her glamorous life and many erotic adventures. But in her delicious and comprehensive new biography, prize-winning author Sonia Purnell helps set the record straight in the captivating story of a woman who was at the center of power over five decades and two continents. In conversation with The Community Library’s director of programs and education, Martha Williams, Purnell will share the details of Harriman’s glittery and strategic life: how at age 20, as Churchill’s beloved daughter-in-law, she became a “secret weapon” during World War II, and how, later in the United States, she hand-picked Bill Clinton and helped propel him to the presidency.
Robots, Telemetry, & the Sex Lives of Sage Grous
Animals use a dizzying array of sounds, smells, colors, dances, electrical fields and seismic vibrations to convince each other to mate. These elaborate courtship signals were a mystery until Darwin’s time—after proposing his theory of natural selection, Darwin was left with the question of how the flamboyant peacock could be shaped by the same process that makes the peahen so perfectly camouflaged. There is now strong support for Darwin’s answer to this question, the process he termed sexual selection, proposing that the courting sex must be elaborate because the courted sex demands it. But how can we study the conversations males and females in non-human animals have about mating? One way to do this is to participate, controlling one side of the conversation with a robot. Gail Patricelli, a professor of evolution and ecology from the University of California Davis, will talk about using robotic females and other technology to study courtship behaviors in the greater sage-grouse, and how such research informs conservation of this iconic North American bird and its habitat. Registration recommended to join us in person, and registration required to receive the Vimeo link to watch online.
The U.S. Constitution in Today’s Political Climate
Dr. David Adler, president of The Alturas Institute, renowned constitutional scholar and former Professor in the University of Idaho College of Law, will deliver a talk that explores – within a historical context – current tensions in American constitutional law prompted by recent executive orders and interpretations of the Constitution. Adler will review the implications for the rule of law from the current administration’s assertions of executive power, which raise threats to the separation of powers, checks and balances, and the enumeration of powers. Adler will also address the import of the defiance of judicial orders within the context of the duty of the judiciary, as declared by Chief Justice John Marshall, “to say what the law is.” Q & A to follow. This program will be livestreamed and available to watch later on the Library’s Event Archive. Registration recommended to join us in person, and registration required to receive the Vimeo link to watch online.
Nature Time: Lucy Loken Park
Off-Site Nature Time: Lucy Loken Park In-Person Enjoy a morning in nature off-site at Lucy Loken Park. Meet up with other toddlers, thier parents/gaurdians, and Haley! We will explore nature, read a story & make new friends. We will meet up at Lucy Loken Park at 10 am. This program is geared towards young children, and supervision is required. Spots are limited, so registration is required. Call the library at (208) 726-3493, option 3 if you need assistance with online registration.
Story Time
Join us on Mondays at 10:30 am for Story Time at The Community Library. Story Time is best suited for preschool age children. Story Time is followed by a special craft in the Children’s Library. No unattended children in the Library, please.