All teens and tweens (ages 12-18) are welcome to Teen Tuesdays!

Teen Improv Workshop

We have a special program for teens on 

August 11 at 2:00 pm. 

Jape Payette, professional acting coach, will be here to teach a Teen Improv Workshop!

Learn how to channel your inner actor through a series of activities and challenges. Become different characters and try your hand at acting!

Sponsored by the Southbridge Cultural Council.

Teen Summer Movie Series

This year's Summer Reading theme is Unmask! To celebrate, we will be showing a superhero movie on Tuesdays at 2:00 pm. (All movies rated PG-13, screenings on the big screen in the Pioppi Room)

August Movie Schedule:

August 4: Guardians of the Galaxy

August 25: Man of Steel                                                                                                                          

All are welcome to join us for a discussion of Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life: A Memoir in the Reading Room. New participants are always welcome (no commitment!) - copies of next month's book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, are available at the Information Desk for checkout.

"This unforgettable memoir, by one of our most gifted writers, introduces us to the young Toby Wolff, by turns tough and vulnerable, crafty and bumbling, and ultimately winning. Separated by divorce from his father and brother, Toby and his mother are constantly on the move, yet they develop an extraordinarily close, almost telepathic relationship. As Toby fights for identity and self-respect against the unrelenting hostility of a new stepfather, his experiences are at once poignant and comical, and Wolff does a masterful job of re-creating the frustrations and cruelties of adolescence. His various schemes - running away to Alaska, forging checks, and stealing cars - lead eventually to an act of outrageous self-invention that releases him into a new world of possibility."
 

Immigration rights, racial tension, violence against women, religious strife - these are realities that face us daily.

The ideas depicted in this exhibit encourage us to think about stereotypes and our perceptions of how we view others. Some posters go further by encouraging not only a change in thinking, but also suggest ways to make changes. 

Organizations in many countries use posters as a way to communicate ideas and messages to their audience. Posters are sometimes used as billboards and are pasted on walls, fences, and poles all over a city. Unions sometimes hang posters in work places to warn of dangers, educate about benefits or inspire actions. Posters sometimes use mainly the written word to communicate a message. Other times they rely on creative art to communicate the idea. It is an art form that is easily accessible to many people. The art goes to the people rather than the people having to go to a museum. It is a communication tool that is less frequently used by unions in the United States.

The posters are from a collection of more than 5300 of Stephen Lewis. He is a long-time activist in the labor movement, and the former Treasurer of his union. Stephen has exhibited at a number of public libraries in Massachusetts, Boston City Hall, and two of the state Heritage parks. He has presented at the annual conference of the National Council on Public History, and on some cable television programs. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or at Facebook under labor/progressive political posters. The posters/photos were contributed by friends, collected at conferences, visits to some of the organizations, and from connections made through the internet.

Local historian and library trustee, Dick Whitney will present a talk on the August 19, 1955 flood that swept through Southbridge.  

Drawing from the large collection of images on his website, Mr. Whitney will set the scene and discuss how this natural disaster affected this community.

All welcome! The Friends of Jacob Edwards Library will provide light refreshments.

Dr. Raider presents the latest clinical research on how meditation can improve our physical, mental and spiritual health. This evening you will have a chance to practice this simple technique that can reduce stress, enhance relaxation and promote inner growth.

Matthew Raider, MD is a, clinical physician and coordinating director of the Geriatric Teaching Program in Family Medicine at Middlesex Hospital in Connecticut. He has been practicing meditation for over 35 years.

All welcome, light refreshments will be served.