One never knows what is going to catch someone’s interest when you post a photo to the photo sharing site flickr. We’ve got a library flickr page and recently I had posted some photos of student art that had been on exhibit in the library. The art had been inspired by poems, and the husband…

Over the past few months we have had more than one reference question about a novel that features a fish named Roccus. I’ve gotten so interested in this book that I’ve done a little sleuthing on the author Win Brooks. Here is what The Fireside Book of Fishing said about WIn Brooks and his book:

“What Haig-Brown and Williamson…

Yes, that’s right! There is a short video on youtube of Len Miele discussing Katharine Lee Bates. Len’s new book is Voice of the Tide: the Cape Cod Heritage of Katharine Lee Bates. We hope to have a copy added to our…

In today’s Falmouth Enterprise you’ll read an article about Alice Hall and her poetry. Today we’re sharing three poems that Alice wrote.

Poetry by Alice Hall
90 year old poet of JML

My Bob

My Bob, my love has gone away,
I miss him more every day.
His love and…

We recently were asked the question who discovered the zebra fish? In searching the Encyclopedia of Life I kept seeing the phrase “Hamilton, 1822” next to the “danio rerio” (aka the zebra fish). Wondering who this Hamilton was, I searched WorldCat and discovered that Hamilton was Francis Hamilton who had published in 1822 “An…

Lawrence School students: Shaylee Dutra, Molly Texeira, and Holly Shanahan
Morse Pond Students: Matt Crocker and Joel Hitchins
The committee will advise Donna Burgess, Teen Services/ Reference librarian on scheduling programs that have teen appeal.
Some of their suggestions: a Hula Hoop Contest, Karaoke, Gaming programs such as Wii, Dance, Dance Revolution, Rock Band,…

When is a reference book NOT a reference book?  When it is only useful outside the Library!  Case in point:  one of our new acquisitions is the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EARLY AMERICAN & ANTIQUE SEWING MACHINES, third edition with identification and values.  I don’t know about you, but I’d have a hard time hauling one of those old treadle machines into…

Laura Ford remembers this poem from elementary school and the vivid images it evoked.

Mother to Son
by Langston Hughes

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
…

Save next Wednesday, April 22nd on your calendar for a great celebration of Earth Day at the library. Eat Fresh, Buy Local! Ready to give up on the food industry? Our EAT LOCAL panelists will talk about the growing locavore movement. Our speakers will be Ron Smolowitz of the Coonamessett Farm…

Not only is this National Library Week, it also happens to be one of our quartlerly zip code survey weeks. As a Regional Reference Center we are asked to conduct quarterly zip code surveys to see how many of our questions are coming from other towns. As a Regional Reference Center we…

Beginning today we are instituting some changes in our computer use procedures. Visitor Passes for computer use will now cost $1.00. A computer session is now one hour. All printing remains twenty cents a page. All CLAMS library card holders only need their library card and pin number to sign onto the Internet computers. Wireless is still available throughout the…

Today’s Poem is a favorite of Shelly Farrar, administrative assistant for the Falmouth Public Library Foundation. Shelly enjoys reading (and acting out!) poems to her young son,John.

This poem is from Falling Up: poems and drawings by Shel Silverstein:

People Zoo
I got grabbed by the elk and the caribou.
They tied…

... with help from Cape Cod librarians. In their current issue they list 30 of the best books about Cape Cod and the Islands. The Falmouth Public Library staff contributed our own list of the 30 best books about Cape Cod, and Faith Lee, one of our reference librarians is actually quoted in…

On a recent rainy afternoon a library patron, Bruce Eldridge, came in to look at an article from the Falmouth Enterprise from 30 years ago. The front page of the February 28, 1978 newspaper featured articles and photos of the fire at a cottage at the Oak Crest Inn complex on Falmouth Heights Road where Mr. Eldridge lived at the…

We’ve just added a new Reference Question Box on our web page. It looks like an Instant Message box, and when there is a librarian from Massachusetts available to answer your question (which could be one of us) you can just type in your question and connect to a librarian immediately. If there isn’t a Massachusetts…

Hyacinths to Feed Thy Soul

If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,
And from thy slender store two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.

Attributed to…

The Children’s Department has ordered a new book you are going to LOVE!

Practice your best singing voice for Oh My Darling, Porcupine and Other Silly Sing-along Songs created by Bruce Lansky and illustrated by Stephen Carpenter.

Here are two favorite songs:

Tinkle, Tinkle Little Bat
(sing to the tune of “Twinkle,…

April is National Poetry Month!

Every day we’ll have a Poem for Your Pocket at the Circulation and Reference Desks. Please be sure to take one. Today, April 1, the pocket poem is
Spring Grass
Spring grass, there is a dance to be danced for you.
Come up, spring grass, if only…