March 2023 News

New CLAMS Software Launching on February 27th

CLAMS Libraries will soon unveil a new catalog.

We are moving to the Aspen Discovery platform to enhance and enrich your user experience.

Aspen makes searching for books and resources easier, pulling all library resources together in

one search. Patrons can create and share lists of materials and online content or peruse curated lists created by their local library staff. Readers can easily find a title in every format available,

read book reviews, and even rate items and see how others rated them. If a book or other item

is unavailable, a “While you wait” feature offers suggestions for similar titles.

These are examples of the many features in Aspen.

The CLAMS Aspen Discovery catalog will launch on February 27th.

To learn more and take tutorials on the features of the new system, CLICK HERE.

Attention Overdrive/Libby users -- you will need to log into the new Aspen Catalog

or stop by the circulation desk to update your password/pin on or after February 27th.

New Carpeting and Flooring Complete

Our new carpeting and flooring is now complete, and we're back open for regular business. We also have newly refurbished and painted circulation desk, the staff kitchen has been upgraded, and we have some new comfy chairs.

Many thanks to Ideal Floor and Design, Captain's Crew Painting, Roy Tolliver Construction, and A-Dad's Plumbing for their work on this project.

And thanks to you, our patrons, for your patience!

Donate your Jewelry and Accessories

We hold our annual Jewelry and Accessories sale the first two weeks of April, and we're looking for donations of gently used and new items: earrings, necklaces, bracelets, brooches and pins, sunglasses scarves, hats, purses and bags, jewelry boxes, and more! Donations may be left at the circulation desk during regular library hours.

Understanding Our History: A Lifelong Learner Series

Come to one or all of the sessions in this five-part reading and lecture series to learn about little-known or often misunderstood areas of US history.

Each session, led by a subject matter expert, is designed to give participants a deeper understanding of their shared history as Americans.

Participants can engage more fully with the lectures by reading the selected reading material ahead of time. Copies will be available at the Library's circulation desk at least one month prior to the session dates.

For more information or to register, email Gabrielle at [email protected]

Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 2:00pm

Sailing to Freedom: The Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad with Timothy D. Walker, Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth

Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 6:00pm

The History of Voting Rights in America with Claudine Barnes, Professor of History at Cape Cod Community College

Tuesday, May 30, 2023 at 6:00pm

The Black Freedom Movement with Sara-Ann Semedo, Academic Coordinator at Cape Cod Community College and host of Intentional Critical Conversations

Date in June TBD

Nation to Nation: Trade Commerce and Diplomacy Among Tribal Nations of New England with Hartman Deetz, enrolled member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and owner of Ockway Bay Wampum

Antique Sampler and Embroidery Exhibit

Sturgis Library is partnering with Barnstable Historical Society, the Nye Museum in Sandwich, and several individual collectors to offer an exhibit of antique samplers and other needlework throughout the months of February and March, 2023.

This impressive exhibit features pieces owned by the Library, Historical Society, Museum, and from privately owned collections. The exhibit will feature samplers that date back to the early 1800s, embroidered furniture, tools of the trade, and more.

According to the Smithsonian, the earliest known American sampler was made by Loara Standish of the Plymouth Colony about 1645. By the 1700s, samplers depicting alphabets and numerals were worked by young women to learn the basic needlework skills needed to operate the family household. By the late 1700s and early 1800s, schools or academies for well-to-do young women flourished, and more elaborate pieces with decorative motifs such as verses, flowers, houses, religious, pastoral, and/or mourning scenes were being stitched. The parents of these young women proudly displayed their embroideries as showpieces of their work, talent, and status.

Join us at Sturgis Library for the opening celebration of the Antique Sampler and Embroidery Exhibit on Tuesday, February 7th at 6pm. Marcia Brown Smith will be speaking briefly about the historical importance of needle arts in historic terms. Wine and tea will be available during the opening celebration.

Sailing to Freedom: The Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad

Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 2:00pm

Until now, Underground Railroad scholarship focused almost exclusively on overland escape routes from the antebellum South.

Historian Timothy D. Walker's groundbreaking new research expands our understanding of how freedom was achieved by sea and what the journey looked like for many African Americans.

Join Dr. Walker as he highlights little-known stories about escapes made along the East Coast to safe harbor in northern cities like New Bedford and Boston.

To register email Gabrielle at [email protected]

This program is part of a five-session reading and lecture series called Understanding Our History: A Lifelong Learner Series. Each lecture, led by a subject matter expert, sheds light on areas of US history that are little known or often misunderstood. Participants can engage more deeply with the lectures by reading the selected reading material ahead of time.

The article for this lecture is available here or at the Library's circulation desk.

Sturgis Library's Seed Library

Sturgis Library's Seed Library is fully stocked for the season! Come on in and help yourself to a HUGE variety of organic seeds!

We kindly request a limit of four packets per person/family.

Questions? Email Christy at

youth.adult@sturgis

Sketch & Breakfast

March 4th; 10:00am-11:30am

Artists of varying ages and abilities gather at Sturgis Library, chat, sip coffee and tea, nibble on breakfast treats, and (of course) sketch.

Artist and naturalist Mary Richmond will be leading this month's session.

The library will provide art materials but artists are welcome to bring their own materials and own sketchbooks.

Registration is not required. Space is ample but not limitless; first come first serve. Questions? email Christy at [email protected]

Coming soon... Tea & Sketch

10:00am until 11:00am on:

April 1st
May 6th
June 3rd
July 1st
August 5th

The Sketch & Breakfast series may be coming to an end in March but fear not, sketchers! The good times will continue to roll with Tea & Sketch beginning in April!

Join us at Sturgis Library for this five-part series that combines tea and art. On the first Saturday of the month, artists of all ages and skill levels are invited to gather, sip tea, and sketch.

Different blends of tea represent different moods and evoke different feelings. The featured tea during the sketch session will be used as inspiration for the sketch prompt.

Basic materials will be provided by the library but participants are welcome to bring their own art supplies if they prefer.

Registration is not required. Space is ample but not limitless; first come first serve. Questions? email Christy at [email protected]

Spring into Yoga Series

Saturdays from 9:30am until 10:30am on:

March 11th
March 18th
April 8th
April 22nd
May 13th
May 27th

Join Yoga Neighborhood at Sturgis Library for Yoga this Spring!

Yoga Neighborhood fosters health and wellness across the community through compassionate and empowering yoga that is available to all regardless of age or fitness level.

Registration is not required.

Suggested donation: $5.00

Questions? Email Christy at [email protected]

Virtual Event

19th Amendment: How Women Won the Vote

Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at 11:00am

A National Constitution Center museum educator will lead viewers on a LIVE guided tour of the Center's newest exhibit that traces the triumphs and struggles leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The tour will help viewers to better understand the long fight for women's suffrage, and will also highlight some of the many women who transformed constitutional history - including Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, and Ida B. Wells. Plus, viewers will get an up-close look at some of the one-of-a-kind artifacts on display, including a ballot box used to collect women's votes in the 1800s and Pennsylvania's ratification copy of the 19th Amendment.

Registration is required for this virtual program.

Email [email protected] to register.

Barnstable Council on Aging:

Brain Training and Nutrition

March 21, 2023 from 10:00am-11:30am

Join Stacey Cullen for a brain training class. This class will review memory, fun games to weed out the cobwebs, and pointers to understand how our brain ages.

In addition to the brain training class, Stacey will discuss what experts are saying about nutrition based on the National Institute on Aging.

Questions? Contact Stacey Cullen at

[email protected]

or call 508-862-4765

Author Talk with Stephen Prothero

Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 6:00pm

From New York City Editor to Sturgis Library President : Eugene Exman and the “Religion of Experience”

Join New York Times bestselling author Stephen Prothero for a discussion of his book, God The Bestseller.

Come learn about the fascinating life of Eugene Exman, former Sturgis Library Board president and NYC editor, who altered the course of religion in the United States.

Stephen Prothero is Professor of Religion at Boston University. His numerous books have been published on five continents and translated into eight languages.

For more information click here.

To register email [email protected].

History & Society Book Group

Meets on the Third Thursday of the Month at 2:00pm

This book group looks at history, politics, and society through literature. Books are available for checkout at the library. No registration is required. For information, please contact Maria at [email protected]

Book Line Up:

March 16th

The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong

April 20th

Democracy in Chains by Nancy MacLean

May 18th

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

by Katherine Boo

June 15th

American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis

by Adam Hochschild

July 20th

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

by Jane Mayer

Cookbook Club

Tuesday, March 14, 2023 at 4:00pm

Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 4:00pm

Tuesday, May 9, 2023 at 4:00pm

The Sturgis Library Cookbook Club chooses a different cookbook, cookbook author, spice, or ingredient each month! Members make recipes of their choosing from the cookbook (or using the selected spice/ingredient), and then meet on the second Tuesday of the month to discuss favorite recipes and other food-related topics.

Interested parties can contact Christy at [email protected]

Writers' Group

Meets every Tuesday at 6:00pm

Adults and young adults of all skill levels are invited to Sturgis Library to share their writing!

Writers will gather, share their writing, and be sent home with a writing prompt to work on to share at the next gathering.

Registration is requested. Please email Christy at [email protected]

Fireside Puzzles

Final Gathering!

Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at 5:30pm

Gather with friends and bask in the coziness of Sturgis Library all Winter long!

Enjoy...

wine
cheese
tea
wooden jigsaw puzzles
and crossword puzzles

...all by the glow of a cozy fire.

Free and open to all! (Must be 21+ to sip wine.) Questions? Email Christy at [email protected]

Weekly Storytime

Wednesdays at 10:30am

Swing by to read a story, illustrate a picture, talk with little friends, and learn about nature at Sturgis Library's Storytime!

Geared to ages 2-4 but all are welcome to attend.

Registration is not required.

Questions? Email Christy at [email protected]

Lego Club

Meets on the fourth Wednesday of the month from 3:30-4:30ish

Master Builders are invited to gather at Sturgis Library to imagine, create, and make friends!

No registration is required. Questions? Email Christy at [email protected]

The Sprightly Bright Book Club

Held in-person on the first Wednesday of every month at 4:00pm

Are you between the ages of 8ish to 12ish years old? Do you love to read? If you answered yes to these questions, then The Sprightly Bright Book Club is the place for you.

Let's choose, read, and discuss books together.

The discussion will take place on the first Wednesday of every month at 4:00pm.

Registration is required!

For more information and to register, please email Christy at [email protected]

Adult Fiction to Check Out This Month

Celebrate Women's History Month with one of these historical fiction novels.

Hang the Moon

by Jeannette Walls

Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is her father’s daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother’s son, timid and cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out.

Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That’s a lot more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and lawlessness. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger.

You will fall in love with Sallie Kincaid, a feisty and fearless, terrified and damaged young woman who refuses to be corralled.

Click here to reserve

The Woman with the Cure

by Lynn Cullen

She gave up everything— and changed the world.

A riveting novel based on the true story of the woman who stopped a pandemic, from the bestselling author of Mrs. Poe.

In 1940s and ’50s America, polio is as dreaded as the atomic bomb. No one’s life is untouched by this disease that kills or paralyzes its victims, particularly children. Outbreaks of the virus across the country regularly put American cities in lockdown. Some of the world’s best minds are engaged in the race to find a vaccine. The man who succeeds will be a god.

But Dorothy Horstmann is not focused on beating her colleagues to the vaccine. She just wants the world to have a cure. Applying the same determination that lifted her from a humble background as the daughter of immigrants, to becoming a doctor –often the only woman in the room--she hunts down the monster where it lurks: in the blood.

This discovery of hers, and an error by a competitor, catapults her closest colleague to a lead in the race. When his chance to win comes on a worldwide scale, she is asked to sink or validate his vaccine—and to decide what is forgivable, and how much should be sacrificed, in pursuit of the cure.

Click here to reserve

Moonrise Over New Jessup

by Jamila Minnicks

It’s 1957, and after leaving the only home she has ever known, Alice Young steps off the bus into the all-Black town of New Jessup, Alabama, where residents have largely rejected integration as the means for Black social advancement. Instead, they seek to maintain, and fortify, the community they cherish on their “side of the woods.” In this place, Alice falls in love with Raymond Campbell, whose clandestine organizing activities challenge New Jessup’s longstanding status quo and could lead to the young couple’s expulsion—or worse—from the home they both hold dear. But as Raymond continues to push alternatives for enhancing New Jessup’s political power, Alice must find a way to balance her undying support for his underground work with her desire to protect New Jessup from the rising pressure of upheaval from inside, and outside, their side of town.

Jamila Minnicks’s debut novel is both a celebration of Black joy and a timely examination of the opposing viewpoints that attended desegregation in America. Readers of Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half and Robert Jones, Jr.’s The Prophets will love Moonrise Over New Jessup.

Click here to reserve

Adult Nonfiction to Check Out This Month

Rebel With a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian by Ellen Jovin

An unconventional guide to the English language drawn from the cross-country adventures of an itinerant grammarian. When Ellen Jovin first walked outside her Manhattan apartment building and set up a folding table with a GRAMMAR TABLE sign, it took about thirty seconds to get her first visitor. Everyone had a question for her. Grammar Table was such a hit--attracting the attention of the New York Times, NPR, and CBS Evening News--that Jovin soon took it on the road, traveling across the US to answer questions from writers, lawyers, editors, businesspeople, students, bickering couples, and anyone else who uses words in this world. In Rebel with a Clause, Jovin tackles what is most on people's minds, grammatically speaking--from the Oxford comma to the places prepositions can go, the likely lifespan of whom, semicolonphobia, and more.

Click here to reserve

The Beatles 1963: A Year in the Life by Dafydd Rees

At the start of 1963, The Beatles were a successful local Liverpool band with one hit single; twelve months, two albums, and the arrival of Beatlemania later, they were on the cusp of world domination. Featuring daily entries covering every pivotal event, The Beatles - 1963 draws on hundreds of new eyewitness accounts and provides numerous unseen photographs. Meticulously researched, this is the definitive account of the momentous year that sent John, Paul, George, and Ringo to stratospheric heights.

Dafydd Rees has been writing music books for over 40 years. He lived on Cape Cod.

Click here to reserve

Orchid Muse: A History of Obsession in Fifteen Flowers by Erica Hannickel

The epitome of floral beauty, orchids have long fostered works of art, tales of adventure, and scientific discovery. Tenacious plant hunters have traversed continents to collect rare specimens; naturalists and shoguns have marveled at orchids' seductive architecture; royalty and the smart set have adorned themselves with their allure. In Orchid Muse, historian and home grower Erica Hannickel gathers these bold tales of the orchid-smitten throughout history, while providing tips on cultivating the extraordinary flowers she features.

Click here to reserve

Kids' Books to Check Out this Month

Wretched Waterpark by Kiersten White

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes her middle grade series debut! Part Scooby Doo , part A Series of Unfortunate Events, and entirely genius! Meet the Sinister-Winterbottom twins, who solve mysteries at increasingly bizarre summer vacation destinations in the hopes of being reunited with their parents-or at the very least finally finding a good churro.

For ages 8-12

Click here to reserve

Where Happiness Begins

written and illustrated by Eva Eland

This follow-up to When Sadness Is at Your Door suggests that happiness can always be found by looking within. This helpful picture book is a great introduction to mindfulness and emotional literacy.

Perfect for kids and for adult readers tackling these feelings themselves!

Click here to reserve