Get Hyped for CapeCon!

Posted on by Clint Johnson

We have 3 programs this coming June to get ready for CapeCon!

Pokemon Snap Hunt starts on June 4th

Hunt the library for 20 different pokemon! Some include the elusive Charizard, Gengar, Magikarp, Mew, and of course! Pikachu! Take pictures of you with the pokemon and for every five pokemon you snap, come show Professor Clint so that he can reward you with an official gym badge! There are 20 pokemon hiding around the library…A badge for every 5 snapped! Can you snap them all??? The Professor would love some photographs hanging around the Young Adult room for all to study.

Anime on the Big Screen

Every other Wednesday from 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM in the YA Room we will be showing numerous episodes of anime like…

6/5: Spy Family

7/3: Demon Slayer

7/13: Dragon Ball Super

7/31: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

8/14: Trigun

8/28: One Piece

No need to register! Just come on in! Check it out on our calendar!

Zoom Talk – Magical Girls and Fighting Dreamers: Queer Representation in Manga and Anime

Tuesday, June 18th at 7:00 EST

We are thrilled to be partnering with the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood for this fantastic program! Join fellow anime-enthusiast and MML Youth Services Librarian Dina Delic to learn about the history of queer representation in manga and anime! This program will give an overview of queer representation throughout various series, from The Rose of Versailles to Yuri on Ice, and will answer your most pressing questions: What is shipping? What is the difference between yaoi and yuri? Why are the greatest love stories in anime always platonic?

Please register for this event and you’ll receive the link in the confirmation and reminder emails – make sure to check your spam folder for them. The email will be coming from Zoom.

This virtual event is hosted by the Norwood Public Library and a collaboration between the several Massachusetts libraries. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library.

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.

CapeCon at Falmouth Public Library

Posted on by Clint Johnson

On Saturday, June 29th from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Falmouth Public Library brings CapeCon to Falmouth! All ages are welcome and encouraged! Free admission for all, and please cosplay or dress up if you like! The event will take place on the library lawn and inside the library.

Some of the events include:

Voice acting with live-reads and Q&A
A cosplay presentation, creation station, AND a cosplay contest. Any age is welcome to participate and there will be prizes! The contest will be separated into beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
Comic strip making and other arts and crafts
Polaroid Photoshoots in front of your favorite backdrops
Presentation on smart collecting. This will include purchasing on a budget and keeping your comics safe! Or in Clint’s mind, his action figures and all those boxes full of boxes!
Presentation on how much graphic novels and manga can help someone who struggles with mental health.
History of Manga Presentation and Origami (prior registration suggested. Register here!)
Dungeons and Dragons Drop-Ins
Magic the Gathering Standard and Commander Drop-Ins
All day Nintendo Switch with a few guest retro systems!
A Super Smash Bros. Tournament (make sure to sign up at the gaming table the day of the event!)

Please contact Clint Johnson, the FPL Young Adult Librarian with any questions! He can be reached at cjohnson@falmouthpubliclibrary.org

If you are interested in getting involved, we would love to have you!

Registration is helpful but by no means required!

You can register here!

Check out these great Zoom talks in May!

Posted on by Sue

We have some great Zoom talks in May, some from the Library Speakers Consortium (funded by the Library Support Fund)! Click the links after for details and registration. These are virtual only, and do not take place at the library.

Wednesday, May 1st at 3 pm: Genius, Power and Deception on the Eve of World War I. Join a chat with Douglas Brunt, author of The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I. This book reveals the hidden history of Rudolf Diesel, one of the world’s greatest inventors, and his mysterious disappearance on the eve of World War I. Click here for more details, and to register!

Wednesday, May 8th at 7 pm-two different Zooms! (If you are interested in both, register-at least one of them will probably be recorded, and you can listen later)

Mother-Daughter Murder Night: You’re invited to join Nina Simon online as she chats about her lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths, Mother-Daughter Murder Night. Click here to register.

Romance Book Recs and Conversation: Welcome to Romance Book Recs and Conversation with Lorelai of Lorelai’s Lit Lair! If you know romance, you probably know Lorelei! Affectionately referred to as a passionate Romance Ambassador, Lorelei has been offering book recommendations, author spotlights, giveaways and connecting authors with readers through social media since 2010. Click here to register.

Tuesday, May 21st at 7 pm: Author of Yellowface, Rebecca F. Kuang! We welcome you to register for a thrilling conversation as she chats with us about her New York Times bestselling novel. Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. Click here to register!

Thursday, May 23rd at 5:30 pm: Avoiding Election Misinformation. Join this virtual Cape-wide community discussion with the News Literacy Project and WCAI’s The Point host Mindy Todd to learn how to access trustworthy news and avoid election misinformation traps. Learn tried and true news literacy techniques that anyone can learn to find credible information about candidates, issues, and electoral processes. Click here to register.

Thursday, May 23rd at 7 pm: The Environmental and Health Benefits of a Plant-based Diet.

With Sara Sezun,Chair of the Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter Plant-based Planet Team. Animal food production, which encompasses raising livestock for meat, dairy products and eggs, as well as commercial fishing, has serious environmental impacts. You will learn how animal food production results in greenhouse gases and pollution, while using lots of land and water. Eating a healthy plant-based diet can lower your environmental footprint, while improving your health. Click here to register.

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

Special Zoom talk, Productive Conversations Without Confrontation

Posted on by Sue

When was the last time you had a conversation about current events with someone who holds an opposing view? If that experience left you feeling frustrated and shut down, join this virtual Cape-wide discussion with the News Literacy Project (click here for their site) to learn tools for speaking about current events and listening across divides. The discussion will take place Online via Zoom on Thursday April 25 at 5:30pm-click here to register. Please note that the library will be closed and you are expected to join the Zoom from your home.

In today’s divided political climate it can feel impossible to hold civil conversations about current events – especially when misinformation and conspiracy theories abound. However, learning a few news literacy skills can help you keep conversations grounded in fact while maintaining the civility that is essential in a thriving democracy. About the News Literacy Project:

The News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit, is building a national movement to advance the practice of news literacy throughout American society, creating better informed, more engaged and more empowered individuals—and ultimately a stronger democracy.

Zoom talks this April!

Posted on by Sue

We are fortunate to have many exciting Zoom talks in April! Please note that these talks are virtual only, and will not take place in the library (some talks may be recorded, and you can view the recording later by registering). Click the links for details and to register.

From the Library Speakers’ Consortium, we have three great author talks! These talks are funded for us by the Library Support Fund. Click here for a more detailed list of their upcoming talks!

Last week was Paula Johnson, author of “Smithsonian American Table: The Foods, People, and Innovations That Feed Us.“-you can view the talk now by clicking here!
Tuesday, April 9th, 1-2 pm, authors of American Mother
Wednesday, April 17th, 7-8 pm, Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Anita de Monte Laughs Last

Also, we have these talks, generously shared by other Massachusetts libraries, and sponsored for us by the Library Board of Trustees

April 16th, 1-2 pm, A Brief History of the Coast Guard with Captain Greg Ketchen (also part of our Falmouth Reads Together series) , click here to register.

April 24th, 7-8 pm, Author of Find More Birds: 111 Surprising Ways to Spot Birds Wherever You Are, click here to register!

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

Category: Education