This week on Seasoned, we’re talking with people connected to our state’s libraries who mix their work with a passion for food, drink and community.

The downtown branch of the Hartford Public Library may be closed for renovations, but that hasn’t stopped Andréa Hawkins and Doug Barber from opening up a coffee shop on the light-filled first floor of the library. They talk with us about how the shop fosters community.

And, pairing wine with cheese and charcuterie is too obvious. What wine might pair with Virginia Woolf’s Orlando? How about Madame Bovary or Anna Karenina? Shannon Barillari, of the Russell Library in Middletown, talks with us about how she pairs wine with books.

Plus, how does Youth Services Librarian Kristen Slepecki get kids excited about the library's Teen Test Kitchen program? "I bribe them with food," she says. "Sugary treats are, for sure, the way to go." We talk with Kristen and Christine Michaud, the Durham Library's director, about the intrinsic value of the library's Cookbook Club, which is part book discussion, part pot luck.

Also, some city and town libraries in our state have what's called a Library of Things. Home cooks, ask your librarian if you can borrow a Barbie cake pan, cookie cutters, an air fryer, rice cooker or pizza oven! Bridget Quinn, President and CEO and Head Librarian at the Hartford Public Library describes the awesomeness of the Library of Things.

GUESTS:

• Andréa Hawkins and Doug Barber: Co-owners of Berkins on Main, the coffee shop on the first floor of the Hartford Public Library. They also own Berkins Blend Cafe in Glastonbury, Conn.

• Shannon Barillari: Head of Digital and Emerging Technologies, Russell Library, Middletown, Conn.

• Christine Michaud: Director of the Durham Public Library and the leader of the library’s Cookbook Club.

• Kristen Slepecki: Youth Services and Teen Librarian at the Durham Public Library. She runs the Teen Test Kitchen program, where teenagers participate in fun taste tests and make edible experiments.

• Bridget Quinn: President and CEO, and Head Librarian, of the Hartford Public Library.

Interested in the book and wine pairings Shannon Barallari suggests?

• The Guest by Emma Cline - Bajta

• Kerouac by Ann Charters - Château Redortier, Beaumes de Venise 

• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - Chateau Thivin (producer) Cote de Brouilly (one of the twelve appellations in Beaujolais) – Les sept vignes

• T. R. The Last Romantic by H.W. Brands (Teddy Roosevelt Biography) - Elijah Craig Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

• Orlando by Virginia Woolf - Bodet-Herold Crémant de Lorie Physis

This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Meg Dalton, Katrice Claudio, Stephanie Stender, Tagan Engel, and Meg Fitzgerald. Scout Raimondo is our intern. Sabrina Herrera, Francesca Fontanez, Martha Castillo, Katherine Jimenez and Janae Spinato are our Social team.

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