- The Concord Free Public Library will be closed at 1:00 p.m. on Dec. 24 and all day on Dec. 25, 26, Jan. 1 & 2. We wish you a happy and safe holiday season.
-
In this issue: Staff Restored a Victorian Dollhouse - Special Collections Highlights - Adult Events - Teen Events - Children's Events
| |
Staff Restored a Victorian Dollhouse | |
|
Our wonderful Library staff, led by Cynthia DiRenzo (pictured), have spent countless hours renovating the Library's Victorian dollhouse over the past year. We are grateful for their amazing efforts.
Here are Cynthia's comments about the dollhouse -
"I feel grateful and humbled to be able to be part of the history of the dollhouse that has greeted people entering the Concord Free Public library for generations.
This is the third renovation of the dollhouse since it was given to the Library. My mother remembers it on her weekly trips to the Library with her father in the 1950s. Growing up in Concord, stopping at the Library when we would walk downtown, the dollhouse was always something you would stop and look at on your visit. The dollhouse was something special I could share with my children on our visits to the Library. Now my grandchildren visit it when they come to the Library. So many generations have memories and stories about the dollhouse at the Concord Free Public Library. It never ceases to captivate all who stop to look at it, both young and old. May it continue to make memories for generations to come".
The Victorian dollhouse is located next to the new Children's Library and Garden.
| |
Special Collections Highlights: On View in the Gallery: Selected Portraits from the Art Collection | |
|
The Concord Free Public Library is home to a unique art collection that emphasizes Concord, Massachusetts's history, people, and culture. From its founding in 1873, art has had a special place within the Library. The Library immediately began taking in the art upon opening the doors with art pieces like David Scott's Ralph Waldo Emerson, Daniel Chester French's bust of Simon Brown, and William James Stillman's The Philosophers' Camp in the Adirondacks. Today, The William Munroe Special Collections holds over 200 pieces of art, including sculptures, paintings, and lithographs. From portraits of Emerson, Thoreau, and Alcott to visions of Concord's buildings, byways, and bridges, Special Collections has much to discover. We invite you to view images of the entire collection HERE.
For the remainder of this month, in the Gallery on the second floor of the Main Library, we are featuring a selection of portraits from the collection, including some that have not been on public view for some time including works by Ethan Allen Greenwood, Charles Hovey Pepper, Stacy Tolman, and Mary Colman Wheeler.
For centuries, the only way one could capture a person's likeness was through a portrait. Whether a drawing or painting, before the advent of the photograph, a portrait could memorialize a person for posterity. While complete realism is a more recent concept, a portrait would often be a flattering representation, which showed the inner essence of the subject, and provide a glimpse of a person's character. For a long time, portraits remained the domain of the wealthy and powerful. Many of the portraits in Special Collections are of male town leaders as well as historically powerful men. While there are multiple portraits of women in our collection, many of them are unnamed.
| |
|
Book-A-Mystery at Fowler
Wednesday, December 21, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Fowler Branch
Join Madeline from Fowler on the 3rd Wednesday of each month to discuss a range of mysteries, from thrillers to whodunnits. This month we will be discussing A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie. Copies of the book are available at Fowler. [Register]
| |
|
FREE Online Group Meditation with Be Well Be Here
Thursday, December 22, 8:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Zoom
Join Be Well Be Here for a 30-minute morning meditation practice with the Concord Free Public Library and start your day with a moment of ease. Discover mindful tools that center the body, settle the mind, and open the door to wellbeing. [Register for Zoom Link]
| |
Virtual Films at Fowler: True Stories | |
|
Films at Fowler continues in winter 2023 with True Stories. For 26 years Concord film viewers gathered on winter evenings at Fowler Library to see some of the most interesting and stimulating examples of current and classic cinema from around the world. That movie series, now called Films at Fowler, changed to an online video streaming format in 2021 and continues in that format in 2023. Because we no longer meet in person, we now watch—on your own schedule—selected movies on Kanopy, a free streaming service available to Library patrons. We will then gather on Zoom on scheduled evenings for a lively movie discussion. The theme of the movies this winter is True Stories. The movies in this series are based on real events, and have varying degrees of surprise, suspense, compassion, and drama at their heart.
The Wages of Fear (1953)
Wednesday, January 11, 7:00 p.m. (Discussion Date on Zoom)
In Henri-Georges Clouzot’s existential classic four hapless workers drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin across a dangerous mountain pass.
Please watch the film on Kanopy before the discussion. To register for the discussion and receive a Zoom link, send an email to the host of the series Randall Warniers at FilmsatFowler@concordlibrary.org.
The series is sponsored by the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library.
| |
|
Make Your Own Videogame with Coderdojo
Sunday, December 18, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Teen Lounge, Main Library
The Library is excited to invite videogame designer and master coder Matthew Mackowski for the first installment of a monthly program Make Your Own Videogame with Coderdojo. Teen participants will have the opportunity to learn the basics of coding and get an inside look at the videogame industry and what it takes to become a designer. Or if you already have projects you are working on, bring them in for consultation. No registration required. Ages 7-17 welcome.
| |
|
Teen Dungeon and Dragons
Wednesday, December 21, 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Teen Lounge, Main Library
Teens - Join Dungeons and Dragons. Play casual one-off games or start a campaign with others. Beginners are encouraged. Experts expected to help out. No registration required. Ages 11-18 welcome.
| |
|
Teen Board Game Advisory Board
Thursday, December 22, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Teen Lounge, Main Library
Teens - Join The Board Game Advisory Board. Register now and visit the Teen Lounge on Thursdays this winter. Receive your very own Board Game Board Member membership card. Choose from our game selection at the Library, plan which games we purchase in the future, or bring your own from home (board games, table top role playing, card games Magic, Pokemon, etc). Popcorn will always be provided. [Register]
| |
Children's Events at the Main Library | |
|
Musical Mondays with Rockabye Beats
Monday, December 19, 10:30 - 11:15 a.m.
Goodwin Forum, Main Library
Rockabye Beats is a fun, family group whose music is reminiscent of founder Marcos Valles’s Puerto Rico. Their songs offer a range of styles from rock n’ roll to calypso to funk and even blues. Enjoy movement, dancing, counting, singing, and a little bit of Spanish vocabulary. Their music will have you bopping and moving along in no time! Sponsored by The Friends of the Concord Free Public Library. No Registration Required.
| |
|
Concord Puppet Theatre at Main
Friday, December 23, 10:30 - 11:00 a.m.
Goodwin Forum, Main Library
Each week we will feature different puppets, new songs to learn and sing along to, and occasional crafts. Feel free to bring your own puppet (sock or otherwise) or instruments from home to join in on the fun. No registration required.
For more Children's events at the Main Library, visit here.
| |
Fowler Branch Children's Events | |
|
Fowler Baby Time, Ages 0-12 months
Monday, December 19, 11:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Fowler Meeting Room, Fowler Branch
Join us for songs, stories, and a chance to chat with other parents. No registration required.
| |
|
In Person Fowler Storytime
Tuesdays, 10:00 - 10:45 a.m. & 11:00 - 11:45 a.m.
Fowler Branch Large Meeting Room or
Labyrinth Garden at West Concord Union Church
Join us at Fowler for storytime. We will share stories, songs, and rhymes and do a simple hands-on activity. Rain location: Fowler Large Meeting Room. No registration required.
| | | | |
