Library News

Jacob Edwards Library

March 2025

Library Hours

Monday & Thursday 9 am - 8 pm

Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday 9 am - 5 pm

Saturday 9am - 1 pm

Curbside pickup is available during library hours!

Mass Center for the Book 2025 Reading Challenge

The Jacob Edwards Library is thrilled to be partnering with Mass Center for the Book to promote their 2025 Reading Challenge. Pick up cards and bookmarks at the Circulation Desk and participate by following the steps below.

Library staff will happily help you find a book that fits the monthly theme - also, see the display on the main floor for monthly suggestions. NovelList Plus is a great resource to utilize, as well (library card required). Happy reading!

How it works:

• Choose a book that fits the monthly challenge.
• After you read, fill out this form to tell them about the book. 
• Using the submission manager, you will be able to log in and access the entries you’ve logged throughout the year.
• Dedicated readers will be invited to a year-end celebration hosted by Mass Center for the Book.
• If you read a book in each of the 12 months, you will be entered in a drawing to win 1 of 2 totes filled with books. Additionally, they will be drawing two names on the last day of each month to win a free book!

hoopla Spotlight

Chess Club

Saturdays

9:30 - 11:00 am

Reading Room

Join instructor Ben Marinelli for this drop-in club. All skill levels welcome!

Mindfulness Meditation

Fridays, March 7th, 21st, and 28th

2:00 - 3:00 pm

The Jacob Edwards Library is pleased to host Iris Vega, certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher and mentor, to present a series of sessions.

Inviting Mindfulness Meditation into your daily routine is an opportunity to cultivate awareness and presence.

You may bring your Yoga mat if you prefer doing the practice lying down.

Sponsored by Friends of Jacob Edwards Library.

Women's Handwork Show

Artist Meet & Greet

Thursday, March 6th

6:30 - 7:30 pm

In honor of Women's History Month, the Library is pleased to present the work of local artists.

Sponsored by Friends of Jacob Edwards Library.

Dr. Estelle Glancy: An Optics Pioneer

Thursday, March 13th

6:30 - 7:30 pm

The Jacob Edwards Library is pleased to host a presentation on Dr. Estelle Glancy by Dick Whitney in honor of Women's History Month.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Estelle Glancy was the only female scientist in eyewear lens design. A brilliant mathematician and dedicated researcher, Glancy helped create the most significant advance in vision correction of the 1920s. Many years after her death, she is finally gaining recognition for her innovations.

Dick Whitney graduated from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) in 1973, where he earned his BS degree in Astronomy. He started work with American Optical in their Central Testing laboratory in September of 1974 and has recently retired after 49 years of continuous service.

Dick has been very active in ANSI and ISO standards work since 1991. He is Chair of ANSI Z80.1 spectacle lens committee and has been very involved in ANSI /ISO / Vision Council committee work for 30 years. Dick chaired the Vision council Lens Technical committee, a role he has held since 1997. He was inducted to the Vision Council Hall of Fame in Las Vegas in Sept. 2016.

Dick is also the Executive Director of the Optical Heritage Museum in Southbridge. The Museum was originally founded in 1983 to celebrate AO’s 150th Anniversary. Dick has worked to restart and grow the Museum for nearly 20 years, and thanks to Zeiss it reopened 11 years ago. It has greatly expanded and more info can be found at www.opticalheritagemuseum.com

Dick lives in Southbridge with his wife Peg Whitney, who he married in 1977. They have two grown children, Christopher and Erica, and a 9 year old Grandson Nolan. He is the former Chair of Jacob Edwards Library Board of Trustees in Southbridge, member of the Board of Directors of Venture (an agency which serves handicapped individuals) and founding Board member of the Southbridge Business Partnership.

Sponsored by Friends of Jacob Edwards Library and Optical Heritage Museum.

In March, the group will discuss Finding Freedom: A Cook's Story - Remaking a Life from Scratch by Erin French.

From the publisher:



"Long before The Lost Kitchen became a world dining destination with every seating filled the day the reservation book opens each spring, Erin French was a girl roaming barefoot on a 25-acre farm, a teenager falling in love with food while working the line at her dad's diner and a young woman finding her calling as a professional chef at her tiny restaurant tucked into a 19th century mill. This singular memoir - a classic American story - invites readers to Erin's corner of her beloved Maine to share the real person behind the 'girl from Freedom' fairytale, and the not-so-picture-perfect struggles that have taken every ounce of her strength to overcome, and that make Erin's life triumphant.

In Finding Freedom, Erin opens up to the challenges, stumbles, and victories that have led her to the exact place she was ever meant to be, telling stories of multiple rock-bottoms, of darkness and anxiety, of survival as a jobless single mother, of pills that promised release but delivered addiction, of a man who seemed to offer salvation but in the end ripped away her very sense of self. And of the beautiful son who was her guiding light as she slowly rebuilt her personal and culinary life around the solace she found in food - as a source of comfort, a sense of place, as a way of bringing goodness into the world.

Erin's experiences with deep loss and abiding hope, told with both honesty and humor, will resonate with women everywhere who are determined to find their voices, create community, grow stronger and discover their best-selves despite seemingly impossible odds. Set against the backdrop of rural Maine and its lushly intense, bountiful seasons, Erin reveals the passion and courage needed to invent oneself anew, and the poignant, timeless connections between food and generosity, renewal and freedom."

[Latino Poetry Program]

Thursday, March 27th

6:00 - 7:30 pm

This program is presented as part of Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home, a major public humanities initiative taking place across the nation in 2024 and 2025, directed by Library of America and funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective.

The Jacob Edwards Library is pleased to present the second part of the Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home. This program is presented as part of a major public humanities initiative taking place across the nation in 2024 and 2025, directed by Library of America and funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective.

Please note the earlier start time of 6 pm. The event will close at 7:30 pm

An evening of poetry led by a poet who will share some of their work. This is a participatory event and there will be an opportunity for poets in the audience to share their work too! Please feel invited to bring your poetry to read at the event.

Music by Gian Carlo Buscaglia on guitar. A recognized troubadour who travels in the New England states, as well as having established residencies in Boston and Providence.

For nearly five centuries, the rich tapestry of Latino poetry has been woven from a wealth of languages and cultures. With distinctive rhythms, lyricism, and candor, and nuanced understandings of place, history, and origin, Latino poets have brought dazzling insight to what it means to make a home in America.

Recognition of the beauty and power of this tradition has grown in recent years, with Latino poets receiving two national and twelve state Poet Laureateships, two Pulitzer Prizes, and three National Book Awards. At the same time, the perennial questions confronted by Latino poets - of exile and belonging, language and identity, struggle and solidarity, and labor and landscape - have become ever more urgent.

What does Latino poetry reveal about America? How might it help us imagine a more just, joyful, and capacious future? Places We Call Home seeks to foster nationwide conversation on this vital literature through a groundbreaking new anthology edited by Rigoberto González, events around the country, an online media archive, and a wealth of library resources meant to spur in-depth reflection and discussion on key figures and themes.



Funded with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Emerson Collective, Places We Call Home is directed by Library of America and presented in partnership with the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures; the Academy of American Poets; Cave Canem; Poetry Society of America; and the National Book Foundation, among others.

Library of America is a nonprofit organization that champions our nation’s cultural heritage by publishing America’s greatest writing in authoritative new editions and providing resources for readers to explore this rich, living legacy.

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Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home (Lugares que llamamos hogar) es una gran iniciativa pública en el campo de las humanidades, que se proyecta para el 2024 – 2025. Es dirigida por Library of América con el generoso apoyo del Fondo Nacional para las Humanidades y Emerson Collective.

Desde hace cinco siglos, una gran variedad de lenguas y culturas se vienen entretejiendo para formar ese colorido tapiz que es la poesía latina en Estados Unidos. Los poetas latinos nos han permitido ver a Estados Unidos como un hogar a través de originales ritmos, gran lirismo y candor; nos han brindado sugerentes visiones de lo que llamamos “lugar,” “historia” y “origen.”

En años recientes, la poesía latina viene adquiriendo el reconocimiento que se merece por su belleza y su añeja tradición. Evidencia de ello es el hecho de que varios poetas latinos han sido merecedores de dos galardones a nivel nacional y doce a nivel estatal, dos premios Pulitzer y tres Premios Nacionales del Libro. Asimismo, las preguntas existenciales y los retos sociales que enfrentan estos poetas— el exilio y la pertenencia, el lenguaje y la identidad, la lucha y la solidaridad, la labor y la tierra—se vuelven cada vez más urgentes.

¿Qué nos revela la poesía latina sobre los Estados Unidos ? ¿De qué manera nos ayuda a imaginar un futuro más justo, jubiloso, y esperanzador ? Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home (Lugares que llamamos hogar) busca fomentar una conversación de impacto nacional sobre la poesía latina a través de una nueva antología sin precedentes, eventos por todo el país, un archivo multimedia, y una gran cantidad de recursos bibliotecarios destinados a inspirar discusiones e interpretaciones de fondo sobre figuras y temas imprescindibles.

Places We Call Home es un proyecto financiado por el Fondo Nacional para las Humanidades y Emerson Collective, dirigido por Library of America. Es presentado en colaboración con the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures; the Academy of American Poets; Cave Canem; Poetry Society of America; y the National Book Foundation entre otras organizaciones.

Library of America es una organización no lucrativa que se dedica a enaltecer el legado cultural norteamericano a través de la publicación de obras imprescindibles en ediciones autorizadas. También procura apoyo y recursos al público lector con el fin de mantener y enriquecer la vida de esta gran herencia.

Girl in a Band: A Memoir

Kim Gordon

"Kim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth, fashion icon, and role model for a generation of women, now tells her story - a memoir of life as an artist, of music, marriage, motherhood, independence, and as one of the first women of rock and roll, written with the lyricism and haunting beauty of Patti Smith's Just Kids.

Gordon takes us back to the lost New York of the 1980s and '90s that gave rise to Sonic Youth, and the Alternative revolution in popular music. The band helped build a vocabulary of music—paving the way for Nirvana, Hole, Smashing Pumpkins and many other acts. But at its core, Girl in a Band examines the route from girl to woman in uncharted territory, music, art career, what partnership means—and what happens when that identity dissolves.

Evocative and edgy, filled with the sights and sounds of a changing world and a transformative life, Girl in a Band is the fascinating chronicle of a remarkable journey and an extraordinary artist." - From publisher

Tuesday Morning Fun

9:30-10:00 am for our littles from

birth to age 2.5 years

March 4, 11, 18, 25 and April 1, 8, 15



Sponsored by the Olive I. and Anthony A. Borgatti Jr. Donor Advised Fund at the Greater Worcester Community Foundation

A 30 minute creative movement group for ages birth through 2.5 with a grown-up. Group is focused on adult and baby spending quality time together, fostering attachment, and baby interacting with others their age. Get groovy to upbeat music with props, instruments, and a story.

Katelyn graduated from Antioch University, New England, where she earned a Master of Arts degree in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling. She studied psychomotor development of children, along with focuses on the intellectual/developmental disability and autistic communities, and older adults. Katelyn has been providing dance experiences to Massachusetts and Northeastern Connecticut for 15 years as well as working in various day habilitation and residential programs. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a minor in Disability Studies from Springfield College where she focused her studies on choreography, modern dance and improvisation, and pedagogy. Katelyn teaches dance classes to all ages at several studios.

Sat March 1, 2025 at 10:30

Author Kristi Mahoney Story Time

reading of "Alpacas Make Terrible Librarians"

Q&A about the book/being an author

Activity sheets (coloring sheets, maze, word search)

Personalized book signing for anyone that wants to purchase

Book summary--The last thing you expect when you go to the library is to see your librarian has been replaced with an alpaca. BEWARE! Alpacas make terrible librarians! You'll learn all sorts of things about alpacas that you never knew you wanted to know. And when rules are broken, WATCH OUT! Because when alpacas get angry....things get messy.

Bio: Kristi Mahoney lives in MA with her husband, son, daughter, and eight fur-family members. She loves animals of all kinds (including alpacas), enjoys visiting libraries, and believes life is better with a bit of laughter. Her picture book, ALPACAS MAKE TERRIBLE LIBRARIANS, is out now with a sequel, OWLS MAKE TERRIBLE TEACHERS, to follow in Spring 2026 (Gnome Road Publishing).

Socials:

Website: www.kristimahoneybooks.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristimahoneybooks/

Twitter/X: https://x.com/kristi_mahoney

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/kristimahoney.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086319960933



Board of Trustees Meeting

The next meeting of the Board of Trustees is on March 25th at 12 pm.

Details will be available on the Town of Southbridge website, under Public Meetings Calendar, for all public meetings.

All meetings are open to the public.

The next meeting of the Friends is on March 3rd at 2 pm.

The mission of the Friends of the Jacob Edwards Library is to be the advocacy and fundraising arm of the Library. We raise money for items such as library programs, books, subscriptions, museum pass memberships, and other materials, as needed. 

New members are always welcome! Our membership dues go directly toward supporting the Jacob Edwards Library.

See you at the library! Come check out some of the staff displays - always something new to admire!

Jacob Edwards Library

508.764.5426

jelibrary@cwmars.org