UPDATE: Library Now Open

Darien Library is now open.

David Gurliacci, Patch Staff

Posted Tue, Oct 22, 2013 at 1:45 pm ET|Updated Wed, Oct 23, 2013 at 3:15 pm ET

Update 3:14 p.m.

Darien Library just opened (at 3:13 p.m.). Computers will take some minutes more.

Update 3:11 p.m.

Latest estimate from Alan Gray, Darien Library chief operating officer: "Really soon." About 20 people are outside the Darien Library main door.

Electricians have been readying the Library this morning in order for it to be able to get electricity from a much larger diesel-powered emergency electricity generator, which is scheduled to be delivered to the back corner of the parking lot in early November.

With the new generator, Gray says, the library will be able to be fully powered if another storm knocks out power: During recent, days-long power outages from storms, the Library has been a refuge for many in town, and the goal is to make it a better refuge.

Update 3:01 p.m.:

Still waiting. Not yet.

Update 2:50 p.m.:

"We're going to be opening in five or 10 minutes. The electrician is running late," Alan Gray, Darien Library's chief administrative officer, just told some patrons-to-be at the door.

"We don't have any light safety systems, which is why we're not opening," Gray said.

Update 2:15 p.m.:

Darien Library is staying closed a little longer than originally planned. It's taking longer to get an electrical project finished, a librarian said at the door. It may take up to half an hour more at this point -- until 2:45 p.m.

Signs in front say the library will be closed until 2 p.m., but events apparently have overtaken the written word.

Original article:

Darien Library patrons on Wednesday won't be able to use the place until 1 p.m., but there are other things to do and plan for:

Darien Library will be closed until 1 p.m. Wednesday because electricians "will be completing some electrical work," the library said in a notice posted Tuesday (and earlier on the library website). "The power will be turned off for the safety of the electricians." (See photo.) Need to get to a library? Ferguson Library in downtown Stamford and its Weed Memorial & Hollander Branch (1143 Hope St. in Springdale -- go down Camp Avenue and take a right at the end; then it's on your right) each open at 11 a.m. Rowayton Library opens at 10 a.m. Norwalk Public Library opens at 9 a.m. and on Wednesday, so does the South Norwalk Branch Library.

On Wednesday, see a panel discussion on public policy and food: "Join us for the morning to learn about the dysfunctional politics of food and such topics as industrial agriculture, genetically modified organisms in food, food delivery systems, and the public policy that undergirds them all." Some of the panelists are Dr. Abby Kinchy, Professor in the Science and Technology Studies Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic University and author of Seeds, Science and Struggle; Dr. Robert Paarlberg of Wellesley College and author of Food Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know; and Dr. Bruce Sherman, Director of the Bureau of Inspection and Regulation in the Connecticut Department of Agriculture. Cost: $40, at the Italian Center, 1620 Newfield Ave. -- from an event listing on Stamford Patch

Patricia Wells, author of The French Kitchen Cookbook: Recipes and Lessons from Paris and Provence, will speak at 7 p.m. [Wednesday], Oct. 23 at Darien Library. "Focusing on the fresh, inspiring recipes and lessons from the much-coveted classes held in her beautiful homes in Paris and Provence, Patricia takes you into her life in France, telling the story of how her school began and the many memorable experiences she shared with family, friends, and students." -- from an announcement on the Darien Library website

A talk Wednesday evening on how the financial industry has changed over the decades will be given by Howard Berg, a senior executive with Jackson, Grant Consulting in Stamford. Berg "lived through the industry’s evolution from when the market executed 2 million shares a day to 10 billion. [...] During his career, he managed virtually every brokerage function, from division management, institutional sales and trading, futures, to branch administration, OTC trading, fixed income and unit trust trading, to correspondent services, risk management, branch office automation, to tax shelters." $25 for the presentation, $50 if you want dinner as well at this AAII (American Association of Individual Investors) function. At the Water's Edge at Giovanni's: Socializing starts at 6 p.m., dinner at 7, the talk at 8. -- from an announcement on Darien Patch

"Jason Stearns, writer and journalist, will speak [on "A Crime Without A Culprit? Understanding Mass Atrocities in the Congo"] at the World Affairs Forum on Oct. 23 at UCONN/Stamford. The program will begin at 5:45 P.M. with networking and refreshments, followed by the presentation at 6:15 p.m.. The program will conclude at 7:30." The event costs $20 for the general public and takes place at UConn-Stamford, 1 University Pl. -- from an event listing on Stamford Patch

Have a disability? Looking for a job? Then you're invited "to an event specially designed to help people with disabilities looking for work. The DEAM Job Fair will take place on [Thursday] Oct. 24 at the Holiday Inn, 1070 Main Street in Bridgeport from 2pm to 6pm. The Job Fair is open to all jobseekers." -- from an event listing on Darien Patch

* * *

Traveling on I-95? Concerned about traffic? Here are links to the Connnecticut Department of Transportation traffic cams (“SB” means southbound; “NB” means northbound):