Prepare for pure comic chaos! Join us at the library for Monkey Business (1931), where the Marx Brothers sneak aboard an ocean liner and turn it into a nonstop parade of gags, disguises, and delightfully ridiculous mayhem.

From the late 17th century to the dawn of the 20th, the magic lantern transformed storytelling into an enlivened visual experience. By the late-Victorian era, the magic lantern was an important and ubiquitous visual medium. Eventually eclipsed by the coming of the movies, the wonders of this once-familiar entertainment are rarely experienced by the modern audiences.

Magic lantern performers Dawn Elliott and Joel Schlemowitz have been bringing this fascinating medium back to life, presenting award-winning magic lantern shows using period-era glass slides, magic lantern projectors, music and narration.

The program encompasses a variety of magic lantern entertainments: “Belle Belton’s Bicycle Adventure,” the anthropomorphic antics of “The Educated Cats” (reminiscent of the illustrations of Louis Wain), a magic lantern circus, and a variety of astonishing moving image mechanical slides: lever slides, slip-slides, gearwork slides, chromatropes.

Join Monroe Free Library for our Spring Community Yard Sale on Saturday, April 18 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (rain date: May 2). Community members are invited to reserve vendor space and sell gently used items, handmade goods, collectibles, and more.

Each vendor space includes a 6-foot slot. The first slot is $20, and additional slots are available for $10 each. Space is limited, and reservations must be made in person at the library by asking for Joanne.

Please note: No refunds will be issued. Vendors are responsible for bringing their own tables and chairs.

Don’t miss this opportunity to declutter, discover great finds, and enjoy a fun community shopping day at the library!