Calendar

We know you love Minecraft — we can’t keep our books about it on the shelf — so come play with us! Meet other Minecraft enthusiasts and work together in a shared world to build fantastic creations! Some accounts will be available for new players, but you’re encouraged to use your own if you have one. Recommended for ages 6-12.

Lois is back with more awesome art projects! Join her each Tuesday during the Summer Reading Program to explore your creative side with open-ended art projects based around building! Recommended for ages 5-12.

The Boston Science Museum visits the Library for the first of TWO SESSIONS of this out-of-this-world workshop. Participants will create an air rocket that launches across the room, and engineer a way for a payload to return safely to Earth. This hands-on workshop explores the science behind rockets and space exploration. Use your imagination to plan, build, and test your own design. Recommended for ages 5-12.

The Boston Science Museum visits the Library for the second of TWO SESSIONS of this out-of-this-world workshop. Participants will create an air rocket that launches across the room, and engineer a way for a payload to return safely to Earth. This hands-on workshop explores the science behind rockets and space exploration. Use your imagination to plan, build, and test your own design. Recommended for ages 5-12.

Lois is back with more awesome art projects! Join her each Tuesday during the Summer Reading Program to explore your creative side with open-ended art projects based around building! Recommended for ages 5-12.

What does that mean?! Join Moira for our third and final building challenge of the summer. We’ll learn how, using a few basic supplies, we can make artificial hands with moving fingers, just like ours! Recommended for ages 8-12.

Sean Gaskell will give a performance and educational demonstration on the kora, an ancient 21-stringed harp from West Africa.  He will feature traditional songs that are the heart and soul of the kora’s musical repertoire in addition to some of his own personal compositions.  All ages are welcome!

The Kora is native to the Mande peoples who live within the countries of Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and Guinea Bissau. The music is traditionally played by oral and musical historians known as Griots (Gree-ohs). The Kora is a melodic and seemingly peaceful instrument, which is somewhat contrary to its musical repertoire. Many songs tell ancient stories of war and hardship, while others praise people of high political status and those who helped expand the Mande Empire. While the Kora is only 300 years old, some commonly played songs can be traced back 800 years to the Mande empires’ founding. Gaskell has studied extensively under the instruction of Malamini Jobarteh and Moriba Kuyateh of Brikama, The Gambia, and Kane Mathis of Brooklyn, NY. Gaskell has been featured at numerous festivals in the US, Gambia, and Senegal.

For a preview, check out this video of Sean performing.

This is a drop-in slide show, presented by local author and illustrator Blanche Cybele Derby. Blanche will talk about how some common, early spring weeds can be used as food. You’ll discover how to identify and use often overlooked plants for delicious additions to your meal.
Blanche Cybele Derby is author and illustrator of My Favorite Plants, My Wild Friends (out of print) and More My Wild Friends, and creator of the film trilogy Edible Plants: Wild and Tame (Spring, Summer, and Fall). She has led numerous walks, lectured extensively and regularly includes wild plants in her meal.

Check out her website to learn more!

In collaboration with the Dreyfus Foundation and the National Science Foundation, the Mount Holyoke College Passport to Chemistry program presents: “Put Your Resources to Work”! Join us to experience the “power” of chemistry… Parent/child teams will explore hands-on experiments to learn about different ways that energy can be created by putting their brains, arms, lungs, and a source of light to work. Following the event, Chemistry Kits will be available for patrons to check out to continue the adventure at home!

David Daley, former Editor-in-Chief of Salon, joins the library on June 14th to talk about his book, Rat F**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count. With much political and judicial debate around gerrymandering in today’s news cycle, we are thrilled to have the man who wrote the book uncovering the GOP-organized REDMAP program to reshape districts and legislatures in favor of Republican interests. Copies of Daley’s book are available at the library for checkout. Daley will be talking about his book with local author Seth Harwood, answering your questions, and signing books. Join us for tea and coffee to follow.