Dungeons and Dragons is back at FPL!

Posted on by Clint Johnson

We are very excited to have our Dungeons and Dragons club back at the Falmouth Public Library! Starting on Tuesday, 8/20, Cian McEneaney will bring patrons on an adventure of their own design. The only thing you need to bring is an open imagination. Cian was previously the Dungeon Master at the CapeCon this past June and is excited to bring his enthusiasm, knowledge, and animated self. We gladly welcome him back to continue the adventure!

The program will run every Tuesday from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM in the Young Adult room. The program is designed for patrons 12 and up! Young adults, adults, and anyone else who loves Dungeons and Dragons or would like to learn are welcome. We have a set limit of 5 players at once. Please sign up on our events page:

falmouthpubliclibrary.org/events, or call 508-457-2555 x 7.

If the program is full, please register for the waitlist as some players may leave the campaign for whatever reason. We will then contact you and you are welcome to jump in!

Dungeons and Dragons is one of the longest running role playing games and has been enjoyed by thousands throughout the years. It can be enjoyed by anyone with a wild imagination or someone that is more grounded. They are both important!

As always, Falmouth Public Library is devoted to creating a safe space for all. The Dungeons and Dragons campaign will remain appropriate for ages 12 and above but will not be censored in order for all ages to enjoy!

Creative Writing Workshop with Dominic Cappuccino

Posted on by Clint Johnson

Dominic Cappuccino is partnering with the FPL Young Adult Services to offer a creative writing workshop over the summer! Participants will have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of writing a short – story and their components like setting, character and plot. It will be a great opportunity to practice your creative writing skills over 4 sessions.

No pressure! Judgment free! Just writing with other writers and sharing their creations.

The program is intended to serve students entering grades 7 – 10. Registration is required.

Keep your creativity flowing during the summer!

You can certainly dive deeper into your own identity by writing about a fictional character that is really a reflection of you! Not only does the workshop allow you to grow creatively, it also opens doors to your own self. Like writing in a journal, mashes of words on paper are a great starting point.

Each session will hold a different part of writing your own story. Write in whatever genre and in whatever format you would like:

Writing about what you feel in the moment with your five senses
The creation of dialogue between two characters
The inclusion of our own experiences and emotions within our writing
Individual and group revision in the form of PQP (praise, question, proposal)

Writing is often thought of as a solitary activity but at FPL in the Young Adult room, we pride ourselves in trying new things. So, we can write together! We can look for examples in the literature held in the YA room, or anywhere else.

Each session is very important to the progression of your own story so don’t miss out! The sessions will be held from 10:30 – 12:30 on the dates listed below (all Wednesdays):

July 24th
July 31st
August 7th
August 14

You only need to register for the July 24th session and attend the following.

We look forward to seeing you and learning more about where your individual creativity brings you! When all is said and done, we can keep the stories in the YA room or you can take them home. Hey! We may even be able to bind them…

Tales and Origami for Teens with Motoko

Posted on by Clint Johnson

Wednesday, July 10th from 1:00 PM – 12:30 PM at Falmouth Public Library

Discover Japan, the birthplace of Anime, through magical tales and origami! Award-winning storyteller Motoko will discuss how Japanese folklore has inspired games and anime in the U.S. and around the world. Under her step-by-step guidance, participants will make exciting origami figures, and design their own original anime characters. Come ready to have fun!

This program is funded by a grant from the Falmouth Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Welcome Hiveclass to FPL’s Online Resources

Posted on by Clint Johnson

Hiveclass is an e-learning platform that features bite-sized, engaging videos that teach skills in various sports, physical activities and wellness exercises. The content is led and created by professionals and gives patrons access to practice in their own comfort zone.

Hiveclass is available via FPL’s online resources. Hiveclass provides fun, easy, and high-quality educational videos that walk patrons through improving their skills at field hockey, soccer, and other athletic activities. Along with physical education Hiveclass provides access to video walkthroughs on mindfulness and yoga.

The classes are available in both English and Spanish. It can be accessed on tablets, phones and computers! All you need is your library card number to start your adventure with Hiveclass!

Henry Herbert Smythe Trust Scholarship

Posted on by Clint Johnson

Applications are now available for scholarship aid from the Henry Herbert Smythe Trust Scholarship.

Money is available both to students currently graduating from high school and to those already started in a post-secondary degree or training program. Only applicants who are voting residents (or if parents/guardians are) are eligible for this award. The application deadline is FRIDAY, May 24, 2024 by 12:00 P.M. All supporting documents must be submitted by that date in order for the application to be considered. INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS will not be CONSIDERED. The 2024 Smythe Scholarship Application for the Henry Herbert Smythe Trust Scholarships are available by visiting the Falmouth Public Library website or emailing jcarrara@falmouth.k12.ma.us.

World Language Materials in the Young Adult Room

Posted on by Clint Johnson

A diverse library for a diverse community.

Falmouth is a much more diverse area than meets the eye. Different economic situations, learning and mental differences, ethnic differences, and much more are often overlooked. Unfortunately, many of the overlooked persons of the community are the ones that also face economic problems. Some of these groups do not know what services the library brings to the community and providing a welcoming and safe environment

Literature and other activities bring people together. Places like the library strives to provide ALL their patrons with the materials they need. In the Young Adult room we have begun to expand a world language collection. These additions can improve mental health, social acceptance, quality of education, and communication.

So far we have books in Brazilian Portuguese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Ukrainian. This collection will expand as our community expands! We will be purchasing more materials in the languages we have already begun to touch on and more like Haitian Creole, Mandarin, Japanese, and French. Some will include both English and the world language for immediate and reviewed translations (like the Shakespeare plenty of us read to make sense of his use of the English language!)

Now two people who seem so different have read the same book and a connection is made. Also, literature is not the only way to bridge the gap. Video games, table top games, watching anime with subtitles, and arts and crafts.

The similarities start to trump the differences and show the kiddos how beautiful they each are. The library is an excellent safe place for these connections to begin and grow. We very much look forward to our growing collection and reaching every patron we can in the community.

Some titles just in:

-Harry Potter in both Brazilian Portuguese and Ukrainian

-I Survived Series (both graphic and text)

-Dogman Series

-The Alchemist

Postcards from Falmouth: Portuguese and Cape Verdean American Life in Falmouth

Posted on by Clint Johnson

“Cape Verdean and Portuguese history is Falmouth history,” says Dr. Miguel Moniz, an anthropologist at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon. After leading two Joy of Learning courses, he returns with Postcards from Falmouth to recount personal and community stories that move from the historic family farmsteads of East Falmouth to the cheerful chaos of Heights summers.

Of the Portuguese and Cape Verdean farmers that helped Falmouth grow, he says, “These communities were largely invisible, I think, to a lot of the people that were coming.” But what happens outside the frame of a postcard is just as much a part of Falmouth’s history – so head into the digital exhibit to explore!

Watch the oral history recording here.

Explore the postcard collection here.

Postcards from Falmouth is a local history project of Falmouth Public Library, funded by a LSTA grant and administered by the MBLC.

YT Link

Postcards from Falmouth: Falmouth Schools

Posted on by Clint Johnson

Rites of passage, secret passages, iconic teachers. Let Jim Kalperis and Otis Porter take you on a tour through the history of Falmouth’s schools, from tiny Lawrence Academy to the much newer facilities of Falmouth High School. In conversation with Barbara Kanellopoulos, they recount staff and student stories, and the many transitions that shaped Falmouth’s public school system.

Former faculty member Jim Kalperis remembers that one of those transitions, from the old Lawrence High School to its successor on Lakeview Avenue, was accomplished with a bit of student legwork. “The students all assembled in the old high school,” he says, “and whatever they could bring and carry by hand, they all marched from that school over to the new Lawrence School.” Library staff and visitors now park where the old building stood, and the high school has moved on again – not once but twice.

Watch the oral history recording here.

Explore the postcard collection here.

Solar Eclipse Viewing Party

Posted on by Clint Johnson

On Monday, April 8th bring a chair or blanket and join us on the library lawn from 2pm-4:30pm for games, music and solar eclipse viewing!

In Falmouth, the solar eclipse starts around 2:16pm with a 89.3% max coverage around 3:30pm and ends around 4:39pm. A free pair of solar eclipse glasses (provided by Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries) will be available to attendees while supplies last.

This event is weather permitting.

Solar Eclipse Viewing Party Flyer

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to us at (508) 457-2555 x7 or by email at info@falmouthpubliclibrary.org

Postcards from Falmouth: Falmouth Heights

Posted on by Clint Johnson

Before it hosted iconic hotels and streams of summer visitors, Falmouth Heights was the remote edge of town. Join Valerie Harding to learn about its deliberate transformation into a summer resort at the hands of the Falmouth Heights Land and Wharf Company – and of her own memories of off season life in the Heights, which might not have been picture-perfect, but provided its own kind of fun.

“In the winter when those hotels were closed up, as kids you’d run across the veranda and it looked very ghostly inside,” she said in conversation with interviewer Troy Clarkson. “With the table still set up, you know, with salt and pepper still on the table […] there was not a light on in any house down there.”

Watch the oral history recording here.

Explore the postcard collection here.

Postcards from Falmouth is a local history project of Falmouth Public Library, funded by a LSTA grant and administered by the MBLC.

YT link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2pv64p5EnA

Author: Clint Johnson