Food mavens and fans of haute cuisine, rejoice! Beginning Wednesday [October 1], the Springfield-Greene County Library District and the Springfield Regional Arts Council are pooling resources to present "Sample the Culinary Arts," a four-week series of free programs that celebrate, well, eating.

"Anyone who has lived here for any time at all can't help but notice the abundance of restaurants and fine dining in the Springfield metro," said Library Center Manager Lorraine Sandstrom who coordinated this series of month-long events with librarian Tammy Flippen and Arts Council Education Director Leah Jenkins.

"It's a natural for the library to plan an event like this," says Sandstrom. "One of our most popular and checked-out collections is cookbooks—we have thousands, and librarians like to eat! We also want to celebrate the chefs and the fine local dining experiences you can have in the area."

The first program in the series, "Straight Talk from the Chocolatier," features Shawn Askinosie, founder of Askinosie Chocolate, Springfield's only chocolate factory. He'll explain what it's like to make chocolate products starting from the very beginning with the raw cocoa beans at 7 p.m. on Wednesday [October 1] in the auditorium at the Library Center.

Other upcoming "Sample the Culinary Arts programs" include:

• Monday, October 6, at 7 p.m. at the Brentwood Branch Library: Chef Martin Almaraz from Nonna's Italian American Café will show how he works his culinary magic. The same program will be repeated on Monday, October 20, at the Creamery Arts Center.
  
• Tuesday, October 7, at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium at the Library Center: Rob Weislocher and Brian King, owners of the Mudhouse, will present a coffee cupping, an opportunity to taste coffees from around the world. The duo will also share their knowledge of coffee growing, processing and grading and the art of roasting and brewing.
  
• Saturday, October 18, 2 p.m. at the Midtown Carnegie Branch Library: Rose Habermehl, owner of Rose's Courthouse Café, will give recipe ideas on how to cook with fresh herbs.
  
• Saturday, October 25, 10 a.m. in meeting rooms A and B at the Library Center—Johnson Tan, proprietor of Ocean Zen, will give tips on making sushi and other Pacific Rim cuisine.

This is just a sampling of the events planned for your culinary enjoyment; pick up a copy of Bookends at any of the ten libraries for the complete listing or go online at thelibrary.org.