In honor of Poetry Month, the Friends of the Chatham Public Library are sponsoring a poetry reading on Saturday, April 25 at 3:30 pm. This is the first Chatham Reads event of 2009 and admission is free. Everyone is invited to attend at the Chatham Library on Woodbridge Avenue.
Three local poets will read favorite poems from their own works, both published and unpublished.  They are:
David Kerdian of Spencertown, an internationally known author, has been published in 13 languages around the world.  His many awards include the Newbery Honor Book Award, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award and a nomination for the American Book Award. 
 Cynthia Richardson of Old Chatham has taught English and Creative Writing at Chatham High School and the Albany Academy of Girls. Her poems have been published in The Threepenny Review, The Amherst Review and The Berkshire Review, among others.
 Oliver Grannis, of Chatham, a retired professor of linguistics, has translated poetry and been published in Esquire Magazine. A collection of his poems is nearing completion.
 A reception, including refreshments, will follow the reading. Those attending will have an opportunity to meet and talk with the poets.  

April is National Autism Awareness Month. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report (PDF) stating that 560,000 children in the country have some form of autism. To help educate people about autism and its related spectrum disorder partner, Asperger's Syndrome the Albany Chapter of the National Autism Society of America recently donated $250 to the Chatham Public Library to fund the purchase of newly published books on the subject. 

Here is a sampling of the books purchased:

 

Autism and Me: Sibling Stories