Greetings!
I am pleased to share that volunteers will again be providing income tax filing assistance through the AARP Tax-Aide program. However, during the pandemic, it will be done a little differently. Click here for the latest details. We will continue to share information as we receive it.
Two items of note:
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Please call 207-798-1564 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for information or to make an appointment. Appointments are required this year. If you get a recording, leave your name and phone number and you will get a call back within 24 hours. Please do not call the Library to make an appointment.
- The start date for the program is still not set, but it will likely begin in early March.
We're grateful to the AARP volunteers for working out a safe process for providing this invaluable assistance.
Be well.
Lesley Dolinger
Library Director
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Join Us for a Read-A-Thon
February 28 - March 6
We are excited to announce our first Read-A-Thon! We invite our children, our teens, and anyone else who would like to support the library to collect pledges and READ during the week of February 28-March 6.
Our Read-A-Thon is scheduled to coincide with Read Across America and Dr. Seuss’ birthday. We know that schools often have fun reading challenges and events to commemorate Read Across America, and students can count all reading activity towards their reading goal. Participants can earn some fun prizes, including Dr. Seuss prize packs, Wonka Bars and other literary sweets, puzzles, LCD doodle pads, and Amazon Gift Cards.
All of our Read-A-Thon materials are available for download online. We also have pledge packets available at the library – look for them with the "Grab and Go" crafts.
As an added convenience, we're offering a new online fundraising option via Facebook. Be sure to read our FAQs to learn more about contactless, online fundraising. Reading minutes can also be captured online via Beanstack for an eco-friendly experience. We hope you have so much fun with our Read-A-Thon – we can’t wait to celebrate Read Across America with you! In the meantime, start collecting pledges today! Anyone can be a sponsor - parents, grandparents, neighbors, members of your social network - we appreciate the support of one and all.
Correction: Last week's guest column from the West Bath Historical society inadvertently listed an incorrect address. The correct address is PO Box 394, West Bath, ME 04530.
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News and Resources from Adult Services |
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Movie Discussion Group: "Wonder Women!"
Week 3: Pinky
Thursday, February 18, 6:30 p.m. via ZOOM.
“When reviewing Ethel Barrymore movies, Pinky is a film not to be missed. ” (In the Good Old Days of Hollywood website).
In this race-based drama, a light-skinned black woman “passes” for white falls in love with a white doctor while in nursing school in the north. She confronts many harsh realities when she returns home to the south and her mother.
Join movie buff Al Fick for our weekly movie discussions on Thursdays in February. His “Wonder Women” series features classic movies with strong female leads. All you have to do is enjoy the movie before the discussion night! Pinky is available for free through inter-library loan, but you can also stream it through TCM (Turner Classic Movies) or Amazon Prime.
Click here to get on the series email list; we’ll send you the link to the informational meeting and to the weekly movie discussions. You can browse the full movie schedule by clicking here.
Armchair Traveler 2: Antarctica!
Wednesday, February 17, 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Be sure to mark your calendars for our next Armchair Traveler presentation, when adventurer Ed Webster will take us to the natural wonders of Antarctica. A veteran of seven Himalayan expeditions, Ed is one of North America’s best-known rock climbers and mountaineers. Ed’s writing and photographs have appeared worldwide in over 50 magazine articles, and he has written five books, including Snow in the Kingdom: My Storm Years on Everest, his bestselling autobiography.
To join the webinar this Wednesday, use this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88018561478.
Armchair Traveler Series:
Antarctica Book and Movie Discussion
Wednesday, February 24, 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Even if you don’t attend the webinar presentation about Antarctica, you are welcome to join our book and movie discussion.
Book selection: Colin O’Brady’s The Impossible First. Nonfiction. A multiple world-record holder and premier endurance athlete recounts his triumphant recovery from a disabling burn accident in early adulthood and his inspiring 932-mile solo crossing of Antarctica. (2020) Click here to request a copy.
Movie selection: Antarctica: A Year on Ice. Documentary. Guided by nature photographer Anthony Powell, viewers experience firsthand the beauty and brutality of the most severe environment on Earth, along with the hardy and devoted people who call it home year-round. (2013) 93 minutes. Available on DVD through Minerva or on Kanopy, our free video-streaming service.
We also have additional resources on Antarctica on the back page of this flyer.
Adult Trivia Night!
Friday, February 26, 2021, 5:00 to 6:15 p.m.
Who will win the virtual trivia trophy this month? Join us for this informal hour of nerdy fun. Lots of good categories and good company. Click here to register for the event; you will receive the ZOOM invite right after signing up.
Libraries Night Out: Maine Edition
Author Susan Conley Talks with Richard Russo.
Thursday, March 4, 7:00-8:00 p.m. via ZOOM
Join Susan Conley virtually as she discusses her new novel, Landslide, with author Richard Russo. Susan, who grew up in Woolwich and attended Bath Middle School and Morse High School, is the author of five critically acclaimed books. Her previous novel, Elsey Come Home, was a Most Anticipated/Best Book at Oprah Magazine, Marie Claire, Amazon, Pop Sugar, Huffington Post, Southern Living, Fodors, and others. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, and The Harvard Review. She’s on the faculty of the Stonecoast MFA Program and is co-founder of the Telling Room, a youth writing center in Portland, Maine.
Learn more about the event and/or register for the ZOOM link by clicking here.
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News and Resources for Young Adults |
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Community Wide Teach-In and Read-In for Black History Month. This week we featured several contributions from Suzanne Davey's American History class on our daily calendar of stories about black history. Be sure to check out the many interesting submissions about local, regional, and national figures and events that may be lesser known but are no less a part of American history. To see the full calendar, click here.
Laurel's YA blog this week has some great reading recommendations from for Black History Month that are available in our collection. Click here to browse.
"Best in Snow": Literary Snowman Contest. No better time than February break to start planning and assembling props for your frozen creation! Open to all ages. There will be prizes! You can enter as many times as you like.
We will accept photo entries of you and your literary snow creations through February 28. You can email your entry to Roberta at rjordan@patten.lib.me.us; if you have a g-mail account you can submit using this simple form.
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News and Resources for Youth and Families |
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News from Ms. Katy:
Nature Life Drawing Series!
Wednesday, February 17
Wednesday, February 24
Wednesday, March 3
All classes start at 4 p.m.
All you need is a pencil, paper, and the Zoom link to join these drawing classes with Chewonki's Kyle Wonser. Open to all ages. In the first class, he will explore the colorful and curious shapes of arthropods. There will even be live animal models for inspiration! To register for the ZOOM link, click here. For more information, contact Ms. Katy at 443-5141, ext. 16.
This Week's "Grab and Go" Craft!
Last week we had an easy kids' craft and this week we have a more challenging one for the older set. Learn how to weave a heart basket! Instead of going over/under, you will weave around and inside the strips to create a heart pocket. For ages 5 to 10, our grab and go bags will be out at curbside by 1:30 on Friday afternoon. Sponsored by Chewonki.
New "Grab and Go" STEM Bag Available. Roses are blooming in The Children's Room! Request Ms. Sarah's latest STEM Activity by calling 443-5141 extension 11 during curbside hours. Or, you can email Ms. Katy at kdodge@patten.lib.me.us. SMALL PIECES recommended for ages 8-12!
Don't forget the Chickadee Challenge! From now until March 31st, read as many of the 2020-21 Chickadee Award nominees as you can. Track your reading online on Beanstack or on a printable log, and you will be entered in our Mockingbird Bookshop drawing.
Celebrate Black History with a story every day of February! Check out Katy's blog for daily reading suggestions for Black History Month. Pick your favorites, and request a BookMatch Bundle! You can also call 207-443-5141 ext. 11 with your book request, or email Ms. Katy at kdodge@patten.lib.me.us.
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News and Resources from the History Room |
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Town History Series: Woolwich
10:30 a.m. Saturday, February 13
This Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m., Rob Stevens of Woolwich will give the final talk of the 17th annual Town History Series: Woolwich Men and the 1779 Penobscot Expedition.
Or, tune in to Bath Community Television to watch the presentation live!
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Black History is American History, and Local History Too
Local historian Marla Davis learned about Bath entrepreneur George Alexander Tinney Sr. (1885-1936) for the Black History Month Community Teach-In and Read-In. Watch Marla's 2-minute video here, and see above for info about making your own submission to the project!
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Opening Doors in Historic Bath
Sagadahoc Preservation Inc, our neighbors at Winter Street Center, will celebrate their 50th anniversary by offering virtual house tours in March. The preservation organization was founded in 1971, first, to save the Winter Street Church from scheduled demolition and, second, to support the preservation of Bath’s distinctive architectural legacy increasingly threatened by loss. Read the History Room Blog for more information.
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Staff Picks : What We're Reading (and Watching) |
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This week's book review by Jill Piekut Roy praises a short story collection by a Bath native. Alternative Lives was one of eight books written by Roger D. Skillings, who attended Morse High School in the 1950s before going on to graduate from Andover Academy and Bowdoin College. He died in January 2020 at the age of 82; an obituary from a Provincetown, Massachusetts newspaper, where he made his home, called him "a singular stylist and a collector of the poetry of what people say."
To read Jill's full review, click here.
To request a copy, click here.
To access all our "Staff Picks" reviews, click here.
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Patten Free Library | 33 Summer Street | 207-443-5141 | www.patten.lib.me.us |
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