Category: Events

Cue The Sun!

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Consider this your invitation to read and discuss narrative nonfiction with us! In the Narrative Nonfiction Book Club we will be reading across the genres of nonfiction, from history to adventure, memoir/biography, and beyond with books that read like a novel.

Join us on Saturday, August 2nd at 11am in the Hermann room as we discuss our latest book pick, 2025 Andrew Carnegie Finalist, Cue The Sun! The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum. 

This book club is free to the public and copies of the book are available at the adult service desk one month prior to our book club meeting.  To register to attend, CLICK HERE.

Cue the Sun! Synopsis:

“The rollicking saga of reality television – an ambitious cultural history of America’s most influential, most divisive artistic phenomenon, from the Pulitzer Prize – winning New Yorker writer.

Who invented reality television, the world’s most dangerous pop-culture genre?  Any why can’t we look away?  In this revelatory, deeply reported account of the rise of “dirty documentary” – from its contentions roots in radio to the ascent of Donald Trump – Emily Nussbaum unearths the origin story of the genre that ate the world, as told through the lively voices of the people who built it.  At once gimlet-eyed and empathetic, Cue the Sun! explores the morally charged, funny, and sometimes tragic consequences of the hunt for something real inside something fake.

A shrewd observer who adores television, Nussbaum is the ideal voice for the first substantive history of the genre that, for better or worse, made America what it is today.”

About the Author:

“Emily Nussbaum is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she’s worked since 2011, originally as the magazine’s television critic.  In 2016, she won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism.  Previously, she was the culture editor for New York, where she created the Approval Matrix.  She is also the author of I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution, which was a finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay.  She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Clive Thompson, and their two children.”

 

Local Travel Guidebooks Talk and Book Signing

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Join us at the Falmouth Public Library on Tuesday, August 5th at 6:30pm in the Hermann meeting room for a local travel guidebooks talk followed by a Q&A and book signing with authors Linda Humphrey and Kim Foley MacKinnon! 

Linda will be discussing her local travel guidebook Secret Cape Cod and the Islands: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure and Kim will talk about her 100 Things to Do in Massachusetts Before You Die and 100 Things to Do on Cape Cod and the Islands Before You Die guidebooks. 

Copies will be available for purchase at the event by Eight Cousins.  All are welcome!  To register to attend, CLICK HERE or visit/call the library’s adult services desk at 508-457-2555 x7.

Linda Humprey’s Secret Cape Cod and the Islands

“Secret Cape Cod and the Islands reveals the best and most unexpected aspects of the region and shows you how to experience them for yourself. Want to know where to find the best places for watching a sunset, swimming in hidden ponds, savoring a chef-prepared feast in a farm field, making your own jam, or seeing a play with Broadway-level talent? Veteran journalists Linda Humphrey and Maria Lenhart, aka the Hard News Travel Team, left no scone unturned while spending countless hours investigating the secret treasures of a region they have known and loved for many years.”

Linda Humphrey is an award-winning writer and editor based in Falmouth and New York City. A former editor at Cosmopolitan and Travel Weekly, she is the co-author of Secret Cape Cod and the Islands: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure (Reedy Press), which won the Lowell Thomas Silver Award (second place) for the best travel guidebook of 2024. Sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, the Lowell Thomas Award is the highest national recognition for travel journalists.

Kate MacKinnon’s 100 Things to Do

“Explore the Bay State, from rich historic sites in Boston to stunning beaches on Cape Cod to a world-class arts scene in the Berkshires, and learn about the state’s must-see spots, from museums to markets and everything in between in 100 Things to Do in Massachusetts Before You Die.  While miles of gorgeous beaches are the calling cards of Cape Cod and the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, there is so much more to these Massachusetts gems.  100 Things to Do on Cape Cod and the Islands Before You Die offers visitors and locals alike a chance to try and taste the very best, with itineraries and seasonal ideas for the whole family.”

Kim Foley MacKinnon is a freelance food and travel writer who has lived in Boston for more than 25 years. Kim’s other books include Secret Boston: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure and 100 Things to Do in Boston Before You Die, 2nd edition. She is also the executive editor of Girl Camper magazine. Other writing credits include the Boston Globe, Food Network, Forbes Travel, Travel + Leisure, Cruise Critic, and U.S. News & World Report, among others.

‘Blink’ Documentary Screening

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Falmouth Public Library will be screening the 2024 National Geographic | Documentary Films documentary Blink on Friday, June 6th at 3:00pm in the library’s Hermann Room.  This documentary screening is free to the public and is courtesy of National Geographic | Documentary Films.  All are welcome to attend!

Blink, directed by Edmund Stenson and Daniel Roher, is a powerful documentary about a family that embarks on an epic journey to show their children the beauty of the world before it vanishes for good after three of their children are diagnosed with an incurable eye condition.

“ “Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier first noticed their daughter, Mia, was having vision problems when she was 3 years old. The diagnosis took years to pinpoint but, by the time Mia was 7, they had identified it as retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic condition that causes a loss or decline in vision over time. It skipped their second child, Léo, but both their younger sons, Colin and Laurent, received the same diagnosis. “We don’t know how fast it’s going to go, but we expect them to be completely blind by mid-life,” said the parents. The school’s vision impairment advisor suggested they fill Mia’s visual memory looking at pictures in books. “I thought, ‘I’m not going to show her an elephant in a book; I’m going to take her to see a real elephant,” Edith explains. “And I’m going to fill her visual memory with the best, most beautiful images I can.”

As the Canadian-based family began making plans to spend a year traveling around the globe, they canvassed the children’s opinions on what they wanted to do. Four-year-old Laurent said he wanted to drink juice on a camel. “We never found out where this crazy idea came from, but it was very dear to him and made us all laugh,” his mother said. Nothing was off limits. That bucket list became their North Star.

From the frozen fields of Nunavik to Egypt’s haunting White Desert and beyond, the film team spent 76 days with the family and created lasting bonds. “It was as if we had known each other for a long time,” said Edith. In addition to these new ties, the Pelletiers took as many pictures as possible to ensure that even when their children have lost most of their sight, they will still have something to look back on. “Maybe they’ll be able to look at the photographs and the pictures and they will bring back those stories, those memories, of the family together.” “

Blink is rated PG and has a running time of 1 hour and 27 minutes. English subtitles will be used if available. To register to attend, CLICK HERE or visit/call the library’s adult services desk at 508-457-2555 x7.

Perkins Library Informational Session

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Come learn about the Perkins Library from Mr. Erin Fragola and the services that they have to offer you or someone you know on Friday, May 16th at 3:30pm in the Hermann Room!  This event is free to the public and everyone is welcome.  Click here to attend.

 

Talking Book Player & Book Cartridges

The Perkins Library is a free, accessible library for Massachusetts residents who are unable to read standard print due to visual, physical, or reading disabilities. It provides audiobooks, braille, large print books, and playback devices at no cost via mail. The collection includes fiction, non-fiction, magazines, and audio-described DVDs. They also offer Tele-Fun, a remote social program with games, films, and group activities held by phone or computer. Materials and services are available to adults, teens, and children.

Mr. Erin Fragola is the Marketing and Outreach Manager at Perkins Library in Watertown, the Regional NLS Library providing accessible resources for people living in Massachusetts who have print disabilities as well as the institutions that serve them. Erin has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Worcester State University and a masters degree in Library and Information Science (LIS) from Valdosta State University in Georgia with a focus on information access and accessibility.

Do you have questions about Perkins Library and their services but can’t make it?  Call Perkins Library toll free at 1-800-852-3133 or email them at library@perkins.org.

All We Carry Documentary Screening

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

In partnership with the Falmouth Jewish Congregation, the Falmouth Public Library will be screening the 2024 documentary All We Carry on Thursday, May 8th at 6:30pm in the library’s Hermann Room.

“This feature documentary All We Carry follows a young Honduran family as they flee persecution—migrating in cargo trains across Mexico, claiming asylum at the US border, and enduring separation in detention before being released in Seattle. There, a local synagogue sponsors the family for two years while they await the final decision on their asylum case. As the family tries to settle into their new home, they navigate countless life-altering and every-day moments where memory, joy, and grief collide.”

This documentary screening is free to the public and all are welcome.  All We Carry is Not Rated and has a running time of 1 hour and 28 minutes.  CLICK HERE to register to attend!

Check out the trailer below!

The Christmas Tree Shops with Anthony Sammarco

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

The Christmas Tree Shop was not just an icon of New England, it was a destination with stores that boasted a diverse assortment of merchandise from seasonal decorations, home decor, housewares, food, giftware and just about everything else that the public just had to have. These were items you never thought you needed before stepping through the door, but who could resist a bargain?

Interested in learning more about the history and local charm of the Christmas Tree Shop? Come join us on Saturday, January 25th at 1pm in the Hermann room as local author Anthony Sammarco presents an illustrated lecture on his newest book, The Christmas Tree Shops: Don’t You Just Love A Bargain? After the lecture, there will be a book signing with books available for purchase by Eight Cousins.

Referred to as the “Balzac of Boston History” by the Boston Globe, Anthony Mitchell Sammarco is a noted historian and author of many books on the history and development of Boston, and he lectures widely on the history and development of his native city. He commenced writing in 1995, and his 89th book, published in 2024, was The History of the Christmas Tree Shops. He received the Bulfinch Award from the Doric Dames of the Massachusetts State House, the Washington Medal from Freedom Foundation, a lifetime achievement from both the Victorian Society and the Gibson House Museum. He is president of the Osterville Village Library; past president of the Bay State Historical League and he served as a corporator of the New England Baptist Hospital for a decade. He lives in Boston and in Osterville on Cape Cod.

This event is free to the public and is sponsored by the Board of Library Trustees. Register to attend by CLICKING HERE or by visiting/calling the adult service desk at 508-457-2555 x7.

New Library Events Calendar!

Posted on by Kristin Nelson

Discover Our New Library Calendar!

We’re excited to announce that we’ve updated our calendar software to make it even easier to find and register for events at Falmouth Public Library! You’ll notice a few changes that we hope will improve your experience as you browse and plan your visits.

With our new Assabet Interactive calendar, event listings are now cleaner and more user-friendly. Each month is laid out in a grid, with each day’s programs listed for quick reference. Clicking on an event opens a pop-up window where you’ll find detailed descriptions, easy registration links, and more.

One of our favorite new features is the improved search and filter options. You can search for events by age group, category, and other criteria, helping you quickly find the programs that are most relevant to you. You’ll also see a list view option if you prefer scrolling through events that way.

We’re committed to providing a smooth, intuitive experience so you can stay connected with everything happening at the library. Check out our calendar for November and explore all the exciting events we have in store for you!

If you have any questions, please call us at (508) 457-2555 or send an email to info@falmouthpubliclibrary.org 

November Movie Showings

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

The library will be showing two newly released movies movies in November!

Scroll below to find out which movies will be playing, view the movie trailers and register to attend as seating is limited.  Children must be accompanied by an adult.

All movie showings are free to the public and are supported by the Friends of the Falmouth Public Library.  English subtitles will be used if available.

Fly Me To The Moon (2024)
Friday, November 1st, 3pm-5:15pm . . . . . . REGISTER HERE
Hermann Meeting Room

“Fly Me To The Moon is a sharp, stylish comedy-drama set against the high-stakes backdrop of NASA’s historic Apollo 11 moon landing. Brought in to fix NASA’s public image, sparks fly in all directions as marketing maven Kelly Jones wreaks havoc on launch director Cole Davis’s already difficult task.  When the White House deems the mission too important to fail, Jones is directed to stage a fake moon landing as back-up and the countdown truly begins…”

Twisters (2024)
Friday, November 15th, 3pm-5:05pm . . . . . . REGISTER HERE
Hermann Meeting Room

“Kate Carter, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years, now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City.  She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi to test a groundbreaking new tracking system.  There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens, the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better.”

 

Understanding and Responding to Dementia-Related Behaviors

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Join us at the Falmouth Public Library for an Understanding and Responding to Dementia-Related Behaviors education program presented by Jennifer Hoadley from the Alzheimer’s Association on Friday, October 25th at 3pm in the Hermann meeting room.

Behavior is a powerful form of communication and is one of the primary ways for people with dementia to communicate their needs and feelings as the the disease progresses and the ability to use language is lost. However, some behaviors can present real challenges for caregivers to manage.  Come learn how dementia can change a person’s behavior, possible triggers and person-centered care approaches to address behaviors. 

Specific topics is this Alzheimer’s Association Empowered Caregivers Series education program will include learning how dementia affects behavior, identifying and understanding possible triggers, non-medical and medial approaches to addressing behaviors and four steps for managing behaviors.

Jennifer Hoadley is the regional manager of Southeastern MA for the Alzheimer’s Association with 10+ years of experience in memory care and a personal connection to the disease.

This event is free to the public and registration is required as seating is limited. CLICK HERE to register online or visit/call the adult services desk at 508-457-2555 x7.

Investing for Seniors Seminar

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Every time that the stock market goes down, do you have a sense of fear?  Do you know that losses or gains are realized only when you sell stocks or funds?  Join us at the Falmouth Public Library on Thursday, October 24th at 3pm in the Hermann Meeting Room for an Investing for Seniors Seminar with John Densler.  These and other issues affecting seniors including financial fraud, unsuitable investments recommended by “advisors,” and stock market history will be discussed.

John Densler has a BSEE and MSEE from Worcester Poly Tech Institute in addition to a MBA with distinction from Babson College.  While at Babson College, he studied Investments with Bob Coleman.  Mr. Densler also taught Management at Bridgewater State University and Mount Ida College where he designed a financial management course for students.  He does not represent any firms and will not endorse any specific securities or investment companies.  

This event is free to the public and registration is required as seating is limited. CLICK HERE to register online or visit/call the adult services desk at 508-457-2555 x7.