Calendar

Are you as fascinated by Virtual Reality as we are? Want to learn more about this budding technology? Help us welcome back Arthur and Peter Evans of Makerspace Workshops, who will share their two-player VR system with us. PLUS we’ll reveal exciting plans that the Library has to make VR more accessible to YOU!

This program is geared toward teens is grades 7-12, and registration is strongly encouraged.

“Teen Tech Takeovers” are brought to you with federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

Learn about the Libby app for smartphone or tablet. We’ll also review the OverDrive Digital Catalog borrowing process. Bring your mobile device.

Join us for this special event — A Meat for Tea author reading with Andrew Varnon! Andrew will read his essay “The Other Side of the Net”. This event is drop-in. 

In “The Other Side of the Net,” writer Andrew Varnon imagines playing tennis with the ghost of David Foster Wallace, the author of the monumental novel Infinite Jest. Wallace committed suicide in 2008, but has a devoted following of readers and fans. In his essay, Varnon describes how he came to read Wallace’s novel Infinite Jest through his interest in tennis. The novel is partially set at the fictional Enfield Tennis Academy in Massachusetts. In the tennis community, Wallace is also known for his essay on tennis icon Roger Federer, “Both Flesh and Not,” and is widely credited with the appellation for tennis as “chess on the run.” In his essay, Varnon engages Wallace’s writing style – complete with end notes – and explores the idea of how the activity of reading and writing is, in fact, like playing tennis.

Writer and teacher Andrew Varnon lives in Greenfield with his wife and family. He is the boys tennis coach at Greenfield High School and an active recreational tennis player. He is also a journalist and an award-winning poet. “The Other Side of the Net” was originally published online at The Smart Set (www.thesmartset.com/the-other-side-of-the-net/) and was republished locally in Meat for Tea. Varnon presented a portion of his essay to the David Foster Wallace Conference in Normal, Illinois, this June.

Author and artist Grace Desmarais is back! Grace will give background on her medical experience and then discuss her comic Spoons: a dairy on chronic illness, Tubes: diaries from the hospital and her up-coming book Healing Year. She will then hold a Q&A. At the end, attendees will have an opportunity to buy her mini comics and have them signed.

Artist Bio: 
Grace Desmarais is a French-Canadian illustrator and cartoonist. She currently lives in Eastern Massachusetts and spends most of her time drawing.

Grace Desmarais primarily self-publishes auto-bio comic while also being involved in a variety of anthologies. Most of Grace’s work is rooted in subjects like art history, dis/ability and personal experience. Her long-term goal is to be a published author/illustrator with a committed comics publisher.

At this introductory workshop, we’ll help students create free accounts and explain the basics of sprites, costumes, and coding with visual blocks to create engaging, interactive stories. Students will learn to incorporate rich, multimedia into their projects. We will be focusing on the theme Code Your Hero. This workshop is funded by the Public Policy and Advocacy Office of the American Library Association. Ages 7+. Space is limited, registration required.

Using Scratch, we will  make a name come to life through animation, sound and music. It can be a nickname, the name of a favorite sports team, place, activity or anything else you can think of-use your imagination! Space is limited, registration is required. Ages 7+