Intermediate English skills are suggested. If you do not speak English, please fill out the VITAL Services form to learn about programs for beginners. Conversation Groups are drop-in and no registration is needed.

If you have not attended a VITAL program before, please stop by the office for more information (Downtown Library, second floor).   

Join us on the third Thursday of the month to discuss a dynamic mix of fiction and nonfiction. This month's selection is The Fraud by Zadie Smith. Age 18 and up. Please register.

Summary:  

Eliza Touchet, William Harrison Ainsworth's sharp-witted cousin by marriage, has long been essential to the writer's existence as, at very least, his muse, confidante, housekeeper, protector, first reader, and copyist. In 1873, William's novels are no longer best-sellers and funds are low, but at 63 he's marrying his 26-year-old maid, Sarah, with whom he has a young daughter, further complicating Eliza's fraught situation.  Rigorous Eliza can't resist accompanying down-to-earth Sarah to a London courtroom to witness a case that has captivated the country as an Australian butcher pursues his claim that he is a long-lost British aristocrat, supported by gripping testimony from Andrew Bogle, a formerly enslaved Black man. 

Dine Out for the Library at FARMbloomington on Tuesdays, February 13 and 15, and Thursdays, February 20 and 22. Enjoy a set three-course dinner for $30 (not including tax, tip, or beverage), and FARM will donate $15 to the Friends of the Library to help support Library programming. Each dinner will include salad to start and a cobbler for dessert, as well as your choice of two entrees: a vegetarian pasta dish or a pork, beef, and bison meat loaf with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. Gluten-free and other dietary needs may be accommodated. 

Make your reservation by completing this form to choose your preferred date, and to let us know your preference for the meatloaf or the pasta dinner. Arrive by 6 PM to enjoy a delicious meal and a fun night out with friends.