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Adults, Teen Mania (Grades 6-12), Imagination Station (K – Grade 5), and Pre-K
IN PERSON: Who Was Bathsheba Spooner?
MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2022 at 6:00 pm @ the Richard Sugden Library, Spencer
Who Was Bathsheba Spooner? At the Richard Sugden Library, Spencer, on the Main Floor. Hear stories about Bathsheba Spooner’s life as Ed Londergan, award winning author, shares from his newest book “Unlike Any Other”. Based on a true story, the events that follow Bathsheba’s life, her decisions, and her ultimate demise will show readers that Bathsheba Spooner was, in fact, Unlike Any Other.
Traveling Resource Center for Young People Experiencing Homelessness
TRAVELING RESOURCE CENTER FOR YOUNG PEOPLE (under 25 years old) EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS
Fitchburg……….Saturday, June 17 from 11am-1pm Jacob Edwards Library 236 Main St
For more information contact LUK Worcester County Youth Action Board at 800-579-0000 or YAB@LUK.org.
HYBRID: Pause, Mindfulness Meditation
Learn about & practice mindfulness, & discuss using these tools to enhance our relationship with ourselves and others. Drop-in when you’re available. You do not need to come every week. Facilitated by Wendy O’Leary. Wendy O’Leary is hosting HYBRID: in-person at the Richard Sugden Library, Spencer, and online via Zoom meditation which meets every Tuesday at 9:00 am – 10:00 am. If you would like to participate contact Wendy O’Leary <woleary25@gmail.com>.
IN-PERSON: Social Chats at the Library: Spencer History
Every Monday from 10:30 am – 11:30 am join us for fun chats at the library.
The social time begins with Spencer history and goes where the conversation leads!
VIRTUAL: The Adventures of Two Grannies on the Road
TUESDAY, JUNE 13 10:30—11:30 AM Online
**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**
They’re not ready for the rocking chair yet! Two young-at-heart grandmothers will share their love of exploration and adventure, showing that they can be business owners, wives, grandmothers, and still have fun! Join “Grannies” Beth Sobiloff and Marcia Rothwell as they share stories and reflect on their adventures touring all over the Commonwealth. Whether it is a restaurant, a statue, a historic building, library, museum, art, llamas, farms, mountains or the sea, they have visited it all and have gotten to know the people who live there. Come hear their story about how they’ve reinvented themselves later in life, and are living their retirement years to the fullest!
Led by two grannies — Beth Sobiloff and Marcia Rotcwell. Beth has three children and six grandchildren. At the age of 50, she changed careers and opened her own web design business, Birchwood Web Design. Beth is a past president of the Hanover Chamber of Commerce, and now serves on the Boards of the National Marine Life Center and the Herring Ponds Watershed Association. When she’s not designing websites, Beth enjoys knitting, kayaking and cake decorating, as well as spending as much time as possible with her grandchildren. Marcia has four children and six grandchildren. She retired from Hartford Hospital after 46 years as Director of Integrative Medicine. She grew up in Connecticut and spent part of each summer in Sagamore Beach Highlands where she resides now. Marcia enjoys crocheting, art, Zentangle and being creative. When she’s not busy with the Grannies or hosting retreats, you can always find her biking, swimming, walking or working in the yard. Learn more about Beth and Marcia HERE.
Register directly on Zoom HERE. Sponsored by the Corning Foundation and the Friends of the Library.
NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 24 hours of the program.
VIRTUAL: Bert & Lou -- The Story of the Herbert Hoover Family with the Hoover Presidential Library
TUESDAY, JUNE 13 2:00 PM Online
Learn more & register HERE: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1716832396762/WN_N1vr287WQI-zlLVHN3AX5w
VIRTUAL: A Celebration of Massachusetts Libraries -- A History of Libraries In The Bay State
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14 7:00—8:00 PM Online
**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**
From the early days of European settlement to the present, Boston and Massachusetts have been friendly to the printed word. In fact, the first printing press in British North America arrived at Harvard in 1636. Libraries — private, public, and academic — quickly followed. Massachusetts author and historian Alan Earls will present a slideshow and discussion of some of the important milestones, architectural gems, and key figures in this story as well as an overview of just how richly endowed we are with libraries of all kinds today. Highlights include Ben Franklin’s gift to found the first free public library in Franklin; the first library for industrial workers; the first children’s library; and the first tax-payer funded town and city libraries, as well as pioneering cataloging systems, philanthropists, architects, and more.
Register directly on Zoom HERE. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 24 hours of the program.
Registration required via Zoom link.
VIRTUAL: A Trip To Scotland -- Finding the Underwater Gannet in the Shetland Islands
TUESDAY, JUNE 20 10:30—11:30 AM Online
**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**
Follow Ken Carlson’s journey to the Shetland Islands in Scotland as he searched for a way to photograph the graceful Northern Gannet seabird diving underwater to fish. Not being a scuba diver made this a challenge, but Carlson finds a way after following up on a clue. Carlson is a nature, landscape and Fine Art photographer living in Harrington, Maine, after living and practicing veterinary medicine in Ipswich for 43 years. He is a presenter, judge, educator, and traveler. Carlson has traveled to more than 40 locations for his photography, including four trips to Scotland, of which two were to the Shetlands. See his work HERE.
Register directly on Zoom HERE. Sponsored by the Corning Foundation and the Friends of the Library.
NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 24 hours of the program.
VIRTUAL: Interrogating Presidential Photos with the Ford Presidential Library
TUESDAY, JUNE 20 2:00 PM Online
Learn more & register HERE: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3816832396852/WN_G2lkVBgWSO-8dNYvCWB7hw#/registration
VIRTUAL: Explore Massachusetts -- Off The Beaten Path
TUESDAY, JUNE 20 7:00—8:00 PM Online
**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**
Author Maria Olia will discuss her brand new book, Massachusetts Off the Beaten Path, in this ZOOM webinar.
About The Book: Discover some of Massachusetts’s unique offerings with this guide: Visit a wooden-boat shop that has been in business since 1793; admire the pressed-glass galleries at the Sandwich Glass Museum, or travel back in time at the nineteenth-century Old Sturbridge Village.
About The Author: Maria Olia is a travel writer and essayist. She has written extensively about Boston and New England and has authored several travel books on the region. Her articles and essays have appeared in the Boston Globe, Working Mother and the Christian Science Monitor, among other publications. Maria has lived in the Boston area since arriving as a college student to study at Northeastern University more than 30 years ago. She resides with her husband in Newton, just outside of Boston, where they raised their three sons and daughter. Maria has a passion for American history, Cape Cod beaches, the Boston Symphony and the Red Sox. She will always call Massachusetts home.
Register directly on Zoom HERE. Sponsored by the Corning Foundation and the Friends of the Library.
NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 24 hours of the program.
Registration required via Zoom link.
VIRTUAL: The Story of Route 1 in Maine, New Hampshire & Massachusetts
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21 7:00—8:00 PM Online
**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**
Author Susan Mara Bregman will give a presentation based on her new book, Along Route 1: Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, in this ZOOM webinar.
About The Book: Along Route 1 in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts is an unapologetic combination of historic gravity, exuberant entertainment, unexpected juxtapositions, and wonderfully kitschy roadside attractions. New England road trippers will encounter roller coasters and candlepin bowling, lobster rolls and homemade pie, colonial-era taverns and granite fortifications. An orange dinosaur overlooks the highway in Massachusetts, a neon whale casts its glow in New Hampshire, and a statue in Maine memorializes a celebrity harbor seal. Motor courts once welcomed weary travelers, and drive-in theaters entertained vacationers on starlit summer nights. A geodesic dome is dedicated to the Maine wild blueberry, and a quirky museum documents the history of the state’s sardine industry. A club in Massachusetts showcased jazz greats, and a movie theater in Maine was named after a celebrated racehorse. Mile after mile, Route 1 tells a story about history, survival, loss, and change.
About The Author: Writer and photographer Susan Mara Bregman is the author of Arcadia Publishing’s New England Neon and New England Candlepin Bowling. A native New Yorker, she moved to Boston after graduating from college and never left. The remarkable photographs in this book came from historical societies, museums, libraries, universities, and private collections.
Register directly on Zoom HERE. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 24 hours of the program.
VIRTUAL: Out Of The Archives - A Look Back At The Marshall Plan with the Truman Presidential Library
TUESDAY, JUNE 27 2:00 PM Online
Learn more & register HERE: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/7216832396931/WN_0E3H3yAgSt-V2UDIBOaDRg
VIRTUAL: The Original Dropkick Murphy with The Boston Globe's Emily Sweeney
TUESDAY, JUNE 27 7:00—8:00 PM Online
**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**
Author Emily Sweeney will discuss her new book, Dropkick Murphy: A Legendary Life, in this ZOOM webinar.
About The Book: This book chronicles for the first time the unbelievable life of Dr. John “Dropkick” Murphy, a professional wrestler who put himself through medical school during the Great Depression and then opened Bellows Farm, a one-of-a-kind institution that served as both a facility where elite athletes could train as well as a secluded place where down-on-their-luck alcoholics could go to sober up discreetly. The celebrities who frequented Dropkick Murphy’s farm were many, and numerous professional athletes would go there to focus on their training and work out in his state-of-the-art gymnasium. As a result, Bellows Farm featured an unrivaled and revolving cast of colorful characters who brought it to life. Drawing on years of research and interviews, author Emily Sweeney goes behind the scenes to reveal the untold story of Murphy’s life, his farm, and the legendary events that unfolded there.
About The Author: Emily Sweeney is a staff reporter at The Boston Globe and author of the books Boston Organized Crime and Gangland Boston. A proud native of Dorchester, she also appears in “Bloody Boston,” a two-part documentary special on the Reelz channel; “Stranger Than Fiction: The True Story of Whitey Bulger, Southie, and The Departed, “a bonus feature on the DVD of the Oscar-winning movie “The Departed;” and the forthcoming Netflix series “How To Become A Mob Boss.”
Register directly on Zoom HERE. Sponsored by the Corning Foundation and the Friends of the Library.
NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 24 hours of the program.
Virtual - Author T.R. Johnson discusses ``New Orleans: A Writer's City``
Thursday, June 29, 2023 7:00 – 8:00 PM Online
If you are a fan of classic literature and love a hurricane with your beignets while you’re reading, join us for this conversation with author & professor at Tulane University, T.R. Johnson as he discusses his book “New Orleans: A Writer’s City” which unfolds a book-lover’s map of this unique city, inviting us to experience what it means to live in a great city of literature
About the Book:
The neighborhoods of New Orleans have given rise to an extraordinary outpouring of important writing. Over the last century and a half or so, these stories and songs have given the city its singular place in the human imagination. This book leads the reader along five thoroughfares that define these different parts of town – Royal, St. Claude, Esplanade, Basin, and St. Charles – to explore how the writers who have lived around them have responded in closely related ways to the environments they share. On the outskirts of New Orleans today, the city’s precarious relation to its watery surroundings and the vexed legacies of race loom especially large. But the city’s literature shows us that these themes have been near to hand for New Orleans writers for several generations, whether reflected through questions of masquerade, dreams of escape, the innocence of children, or the power of money or of violence or of memory.
Part of the Imagining City Series, we were pleased to host author Christopher Morash in April where he discussed his book, “Dublin: A Writer’s Series”. You can view the talk on our YouTube Channel.
About the author:
T. R. Johnson is a Professor of English and Weiss Presidential Fellow. He has taught at the University of New Orleans, Boston University, and the University of Louisville, and has been teaching at Tulane since 2004. He is the author of The Other Side of Pedagogy: Lacan’s Four Discourses and the Development of the Student Writer (2014), and A Rhetoric of Pleasure: Prose Style and Today’s Composition Classroom (2003); he is the editor of New Orleans: A Literary History (2019). His current book is New Orleans: A Writer’s City, which was published by Cambridge University Press in early 2023. Since 2001, he has hosted a contemporary jazz radio program in New Orleans at WWOZ 90.7 FM.
Please register HERE for this event and you’ll receive the link in the confirmation and reminder emails – make sure to check your spam folder for them, the email will be coming from ashlandprograms@minlib.net. We’re thrilled to be collaborating with a multitude of MA Libraries to bring this program to our communities. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library.
Fierce Self-Compassion Book Group
Discuss and practice using the concepts and the activities in the book. Read assigned chapters prior to each month’s discussion.
Please plan to attend all sessions (1/month)
To be held the following Wednesdays from 2:30 pm –4:00 pm
December 14, January 11, February 8, March 8, April 12, May 10, June 14.
Sign up required. To register, contact Wendy O’Leary: woleary25@gmail.com