Weekday Symposium

Weekday Symposium is the Ilsley Public Library’s community lecture series featuring experts on a wide variety of subjects. This series is free and open to the public.

All of the following events will be held at 6:30pm in the Community Room of our beautiful library at 75 Main Street in Middlebury. We hope you will join us to learn!

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FALL 2026 SERIES

  • Thursday, September 17, 2026 – 6:30pm

“Vermont Libraries Resist: What I Have Learned about Community, Democracy, and Civil Rights from Knitting in Every Public Library in Our Brave Little State” (Dr. Hannah K. Miller, Vermont State University Johnson)

During a sabbatical in January 2024, I began a quest to read, write, and knit in each public and academic library in Vermont. Early in the project, libraries offered a place to write. Just a few libraries into the project, I started to witness the ways Vermont’s libraries play a central role in holding up our democracy, fighting for our rights to read, protecting our privacy, and keeping our communities connected. With just one library left to go, I will share a handful of favorite observations, funny people I’ve met along the way, and heartwarming moments that explain why I always feel more hopeful walking out of a library than I did walking in. This talk is a love letter to libraries, librarians, library staff, people who go to libraries, and the Vermont communities that keep our tiny libraries alive.
 

Speaker Bio: Dr. Hannah K. Miller (they/them) is an Associate Professor of Education at Vermont State University Johnson where they prepare educators to enter the profession of teaching. Their research examines the process of social change in public systems of education, with a focus on privilege, power, justice, and liberation. Hannah’s current research project, TeachOut Vermont, is a critical participatory action research project that aims to build social and professional networks for queer, nonbinary, and transgender teachers. During a 2024 sabbatical, Hannah began a quest to read, write, and knit in every public and academic library in Vermont, a project they hope to finish in 2026. Hannah lives in Morrisville with their wife and son where they enjoy playing Wingspan, knitting, birding, and gardening. You can visit them at https://knittinginlibraries.substack.com/. 

  • Tuesday, October 20, 2026 – 6:30pm

“Pins and Pies, Linens and Lamps: Imagining the World of Charity & Sylvia” (Coco Moseley, Henry Sheldon Museum & Dr. Ellery Foutch, Middlebury College)

The publication of Tillie Walden’s recent graphic novel Charity & Sylvia–and its selection as the 2026 “Vermont Reads”–was a wonderful impetus for the Henry Sheldon Museum to rethink how we might feature the story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake in the museum galleries. While we’ve long treasured the Charity and Sylvia archives– their letters, poems, diaries, and the like– their story hasn’t been visible in the museum itself.  In curating Drawing on the Archive, we built a collaborative curatorial team where Tillie Walden’s contemporary illustrations could converse with 19th century objects and archival materials, and interpretation was shared among museum staff and community curators.

 
Speaker Bios: Coco Moseley joined the Sheldon Museum in November of 2023. She holds a Master’s Degree in Women’s Studies/History of Science from UW-Madison, where her research interests focused on the history of health education and material depictions of illness and well-being. She is passionate about community driven organizations that offer their visitors opportunities for reflection, learning and fun. Most recently, she was the Library Director for Lawrence Memorial Library in Bristol, VT. She lives in Lincoln with her partner, daughter and pup.

Ellery Foutch, Associate Professor in American Studies at Middlebury College, teaches classes on the art and material culture of the United States and critical museum studies. She earned her BA in Art History from Wellesley College and her MA from the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art. After completing her PhD in the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania, she held postdoctoral teaching fellowships at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and The Courtauld Institute of Art (London).

  • Tuesday, November 17, 2026 – 6:30pm

“Intro to Mandarin: An Evening with Heritage Speaker Connor Frost” (Connor Frost)

Have you ever wanted to learn Mandarin, the most spoken language in the world? Join Connor Lin Frost, long-time Mandarin teacher, heritage speaker, and Vermont resident for a 90-min workshop where you’ll explore the most commonly used words and phrases in Mandarin to navigate through life’s most crucial scenarios! You’ll learn how to introduce yourself and your pet, order food, and buy clothing, to name a few. You’ll even try your hand at a few Chinese characters, and learn the stories and cultural significance inside each stroke.

 

Speaker Bio: Connor Frost is a musician and educator who has toured internationally. He lives in Vermont. You can learn more about his work at www.connorfrost.com.