Author: Sue

Joy of Learning, April 2021!

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Come join us in April for our ever-popular Joy of Learning series!  The Falmouth Public Library has offered Joy of Learning classes for many years, in April and October. Due to the pandemic, these classes are held on Zoom.  Registration is required-please go to falmouthpublic.library.org/events to register for any or all classes! Description are below.

Joy of Learning classes are taught by educators and other experts on a volunteer basis and are free to the public.  They are designed for adults or for teens at a high school/college learning level. Come learn something new and have fun! This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Falmouth Public Library.

NOTE:  Downloading the Zoom application before the start of the class is required to participate.  If you need assistance with this, please contact the reference department at 508-457-2555 x 7. 

Discussion of Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God 
Mondays, April 5, 12, 26 and May 3, 2021, 10:00 AM -11:00 AM (doesn’t meet 4/19)

Hurston’s poetic language, female hero, and folk traditions combine to tell the powerful story of a woman who defied all that was expected of her.

Through shared inquiry, participants will explore the ideas, meaning, and themes presented in Their Eyes Were Watching God with a focus on the language and folklore, which Hurston uses to explore Janie’s search for her authentic self and for real love.

Joanne Holcomb, retired English teacher of 35 years and English/language arts department head for 14 years at Falmouth High School, will lead a 4-session discussion on Zoom. She has taught several literature classes for us at Joy of Learning!

You are encouraged to obtain your copy from the CLAMS library system-you can do that online, or contact the reference department if you would like assistance with that. Please read the first five chapters before the first session-a more detailed syllabus will be emailed to you before the class, as well as the Zoom link, after registration. As it is a literature discussion class, space is limited to 20 participants, so please register early to ensure that you can attend.

 You’ve Got Soul
Tuesdays, April 6, 13, 20 & 27, 2021, 7:00 PM -8:00 PM

A look at the Black American musical roots of American popular music, and the intersection of Black music genres and social conditions that led to the rise of Soul music in the late 1950s.

The rise of the record industry in the early 1900s reflected the racial and social segregation of American society, creating music categories: Pop, Hillbilly (later called Country) and Colored. While the names changed over the years, the genres and social attitudes remained the same.

As Black America began to actively question the human rights violations of a racist society, the music began to reflect the experiences and pride of a people and heritage of survival.

Why does Soul music sound so different in different parts of the country? What happened to soul music? Who are some legendary and contemporary soul artists?

Instructor Mwalim (Morgan James Peters) is a multi-award-winning storyteller/spoken word artist, playwright, oral historian, musician, filmmaker, and educator. Born in Bronx, NY and raised in both New York and Mashpee, MA, he is a trained violist, jazz pianist and composer. As an iconic part of the east coast underground art and music scenes for over 35 years, his stages have included theaters, schools, street corners, libraries, galleries, museums, festivals, powwows, jails, nightclubs, temples, community centers, and colleges throughout the country. His latest works include a novel, Land of the Black Squirrels and a forthcoming album projects by his multi- Grammy nominated soul-funk band The GroovaLottos, and a solo jazz album. He is a tenured Associate Professor of English & Communications and Black Studies at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Sensing in Aquatic Animals

Thursdays, April 8, 15, 22 & 29, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.

This class will be offered by Jelle Atema, PhD, professor emeritus at Boston University, and guest scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Dominance, memory, courtship, navigation, homing, feeding behavior…what information do marine and freshwater animals need and how do they extract it? This series of four lectures addresses the sensory biology of aquatic animals based largely on four “model species”: lobsters, sharks, catfish, and larval reef fishes, one species per lecture. For example, can lobsters really remember the smell of another individual? Can sharks really sense a drop of blood a mile away? Why can catfish smell and taste under water? How can half-inch long fish larvae avoid being carried away in the big ocean? The lectures are based primarily on research in the “Atema Lab” in Woods Hole, as well as other labs and field studies in Australia and Cape Cod.

 

Falmouth-themed fun!

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This crossword puzzle, designed by Josh from our Circulation Department, will exercise the part of your brain that loves to think about Falmouth! Scroll WAY down for the answers…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
1. Armpit, 2. Cannonball, 3. Great Hill, 4, Tony Andrews Farm, 6. Sippewissett, 7. Fifty
 
Across:
4. Tourists, 5. Cornwall, 8. Pacific Guano Company, 9. Cranberries
 

Chess for All Ages

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We are delighted to welcome chess expert Glenn Davison, on Tuesday evening, March 30th at 7 pm, for a Zoom lesson, organized by the Falmouth Public Library!

Partly due to a very popular (and Golden Globe-winning!) show on Netflix called “The Queen’s Gambit,” about a woman who breaks gender barriers in the male-dominated world of chess, chess has undergone a bit of a renaissance: many shops have sold out of chess sets! As Glenn says, there are many good messages in the show including reading, studying, preparation, learning, and practice.

Glenn is a lifelong chess player who has taught dozens of chess classes in Massachusetts resulting in hundreds of chess players and multiple chess clubs. He specializes in animated online chess classes that everyone can enjoy, often with grandparents learning at the same time as their grandchildren.

This online class teaches the fundamentals of chess. In one hour you will learn the basics of playing chess including setting up, using the pawns and other pieces, special moves, tips and even how to win a game of chess in four moves.

Since teaching is done online with examples, interaction, animations and quizzes, a chess set is unnecessary.

This event is free and appropriate for adults, teens and children ages 8 and up, and is sponsored by the Trustees of the Falmouth Public Library.  Registration is required before the event. Please register online by clicking here, or contact the reference department at 508-457-2555 x 7.

Birds at the Beach: A Look at Shorebirds and Gulls on Cape Cod

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We are delighted to welcome Christine Bates from Mass Audubon, on Wednesday afternoon, March 18th at 2 pm, for a Zoom presentation!

Get to know the most common shorebirds that visit and nest on Cape Cod including sandpipers, plovers, and oystercatchers. We will also talk about the gulls that grace our beaches- and parking lots!

Christine Bates is a naturalist, and the Visitor Experiences and Community Outreach Coordinator with Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Prior to working for Wellfleet Bay, Christine was an Interpretive Park Ranger at the Cape Cod National Seashore. Christine has a passion for ornithology and is a skilled birder. A native Cape Codder, Christine was born and raised in Orleans. She holds a BA and MS in Environmental Studies. 

This event is free and appropriate for adults and teens, and is sponsored by the Friends of the Falmouth Public Library.  Registration is required before the event. Please register online by clicking here, or contact the reference department at 508-457-2555 x 7.

The Garden Tourist

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Update: this event is currently full. 

We are delighted to welcome garden designer and author Jana Milbocker, on Tuesday afternoon, March 9th at 2 pm, for a Zoom presentation by the Falmouth Public Library!

Do you enjoy beautiful gardens? In this armchair tour of some of the best public gardens and hidden gems of the Northeast, you will learn about each garden’s history, horticultural highlights and special events that will inspire you to plan your own visit!

Jana combines horticulture, design, and travel tips to educate, inspire and delight both new and seasoned gardeners. She loves to visit gardens and historic sites in the U.S. and abroad, and share her trips through her books, photos and blog. She published The Garden Tourist: 120 Destination Gardens and Nurseries in the Northeast in 2018, and The Garden Tourist’s New England in 2020, both available at the library.

She has lectured at flower shows in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New York and New Jersey, as well as a multitude of horticultural societies, garden clubs, and libraries in the Northeast. She is the owner of Enchanted Gardens, a landscape design firm in the Boston area. She is the past president of the Holliston Garden Club, and she is active in the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and GardenComm International.

This event is free and appropriate for adults and teens, and is sponsored by the Friends of the Falmouth Public Library.  Registration is required before the event. Please register online by clicking by going to falmouthpubliclibrary.org/events. or contact the reference department at 508-457-2555 x 7. Update: this event is currently full. 

Mass Audubon: “Coming to a Suburb Near You”

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We are delighted to welcome Ian Ives from Mass Audubon, on Wednesday afternoon, February 10th at 2 pm, for a Zoom presentation by the Falmouth Public Library.

He will explore the increase in abundance of deer, coyote, fisher, turkey, bobcat and osprey and the conflicts, management measures and ethical considerations that arise as a result. 

Ian Ives is the Director at Mass Audubon’s Long Pasture, Ashumet, Barnstable Great Marsh and Skunknett River Wildlife Sanctuaries on Cape Cod. His job responsibilities include overall management of the sanctuaries and staff, community outreach, advocacy, environmental stewardship and education. He holds a Master’s degree in conservation biology from Antioch University – New Hampshire.

Ian has a strong background in wetland restoration and endangered species management and is leading environmental advocacy and conservation projects across the Cape to help protect rare wildlife and threatened natural resources they depend on. Formerly, Ian was a Field Biologist for Hyla Ecological Services in Concord MA, and was a zookeeper at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. 

This event is free and appropriate for adults and teens, and is sponsored by the Friends of the Falmouth Public Library.  Registration is required, by 1 p.m. on the day of the event. Please register online at falmouthpubliclibrary.org, or contact the reference department at 508-457-2555 x 7.

Jumpin’ Juba-a Zoom musical event!

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Listen online to a special offering from Steve Hurl and Bruce Ward of Jumpin’ Juba, on Tuesday evening, February 2nd, starting at 6:30 pm!

Jumpin’ Juba mixes regional blues from Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans together with roots-y rock & roll, jazz, calypso, and Latin flavors. It features Steve Hurl (guitars, vocal), whose playing draws from the great acoustic blues finger-pickers, and from the blues-y string benders of the 1950’s. Bruce Ward’s burly piano work recalls such greats as Prof. Longhair, Otis Spann, and Albert Ammons. The band’s two CD releases (Bumpity Bump and Slap Happy) have received regional and overseas airplay, and have garnered many favorable reviews in MA and beyond. Read more about the band on their page, here!

This is a free event, sponsored by the Falmouth Cultural Council! Registration is required to get the Zoom link. You can register online, by 5 p.m. on the day of the event by clicking here, or by calling the reference department at 508-457-2555 x 7.

Falmouth Public Library Reading Challenge 2021

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Happy New Year!  If you are looking to get outside your literary comfort zone this year, join our reading challenge group on Facebook – “Falmouth Public Library Reading Challenge 2021”. 

We are encouraging people to read one book a month, each from a different category.  We hope the group will function as a loose book club – a place where people can recommend books to others and find their next read.  The category for January is “Autobiography, Biography, or Memoir”.  

(Visit the group by clicking here,  to see all 12 categories!) If you’re looking for a jumping off point, check our Facebook Group for recommendations from the staff.  If you’ve got one you’d like to share, visit our group and feel encouraged to post it!  This is a public group, and you certainly don’t have to read a book from each category to participate.  The goal is simply to create a space for readers to find books they might not otherwise have picked up, and to share highlights with each other.  

Christmas in Ireland presentation

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We are pleased to welcome Irish historian Sean Murphy on Wednesday afternoon, December 16th, at 2 p.m., for a Zoom presentation! Sean was here in March for a wonderful History of Saint Patrick talk. 

This presentation includes a history of the emergence of the Christian annual celebration in Ireland, and explains how some of the earlier pagan traditions in Ireland became incorporated. It also looks at some aspects of the development of the Christmas holiday in a wider European and historical context.

Much of the presentation will focus on how Christmas has been celebrated in Ireland in recent memory, and will incorporate recorded music and video to create a holiday friendly atmosphere.

This event is free, and geared for adults, although all ages are welcome!  Registration is required, to receive the Zoom link. Please register online by clicking here,  by 1 p.m. that day, or contact the reference department at 508-457-2555 x 7.

 

Child Bride, with author Jennifer Smith Turner: a Zoom book event

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We are pleased to welcome author (and Vineyard resident) Jennifer Smith Turner, on Tuesday evening, December 8th, at 7 p.m., for a Zoom presentation!

Child Bride is about a young girl who grows up in the segregated South. “Turner’s warm and personal narrative brings to life the vigor and interdependence of black communities in both the South and the North of the mid-20th century…uplifting and dynamic…” (Kirkus reviews). The book was named best fiction e-book for 2020 by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, and BiblioBoard, and has recently received the 2020 New York Big Book Award. 

Ms. Smith Turner lives full time in Oak Bluffs. She is a published poet, and she is currently working on her third collection of poetry. Her work has been included in Vineyard Poets, an anthology of poems by Martha’s Vineyard writers, and in numerous literary publications. She has been featured on N.P.R. and on Connecticut Public Television. She has been a featured speaker at Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania Kelly Writer’s House. She has also worked extensively in the public and private K-12 schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut, bring poetry to students and educators. She recently served as interim CEO of the Newman’s Own Foundation, where she is a board member.

This event is free.  Registration is required, by 6 p.m. on the day of the event. Please register online at falmouthpubliclibrary.org/events, or contact the reference department at 508-457-2555 x 7.