This month we will be decorating book tote bags.
For more information, please call 508-548-6340 or email efal_mail@clamsnet.org
Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl album is dropping this Friday and we are celebrating with three virtual Taylor Swift programs in October! From appreciating the artist that is Taylor Swift through her fashion eras and insightful literary lyrics, these programs are sure to delight Taylor Swift fans.
Scroll down for more information on our Taylor Swift programs and to register!
Harvard professor Stephanie Burt will deliver a fascinating presentation based on her brand new book, Taylor’s Version: The Poetic and Musical Genius of Taylor Swift.
Burt, who is a poet and literary scholar, will offer an insightful and heartfelt critical appreciation of Taylor Swift, her body of work, and the community that her art has fostered. Drawing from her 2024 Harvard course, Taylor Swift and Her World, as well as from her years as a Swiftie, Burt will examine Swift’s particular form of genius – not the destructive genius of tortured poets, but the collaborative and joyful genius of an artist who has mastered her craft.
Burt is the Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor of English at Harvard University. Her work appears in the New York Times Book Review, the New Yorker, and the London Review of Books, among others. Her other books of poetry and literary criticism — fourteen in all — include We Are Mermaids, Advice from the Lights, and Don’t Read Poetry: A Book About How to Read Poems.
Author Sarah Chapelle will deliver a fascinating presentation based on her recent bestselling book, Taylor Swift Style: Fashion Through the Eras.
For Taylor Swift, fashion and music go hand-in-hand — each playing a powerful role in shaping the narrative of this generation’s most prolific storyteller. From cowboy boots to teetering heels, fairytale dresses to bleach-tinged tresses, and the many memorable moments in between, learn the fashion story behind every single Taylor Swift album, tracing Swift’s musical evolution along with her ever-changing personal style.
Chapelle, creator of the successful Instagram and blog Taylor Swift Style, has spent more than a decade documenting Swift’s fashion choices and the intention behind each ensemble.
Authors Rachel Feder and Tiffany Tatreau will deliver a fascinating presentation based on their recent book, Taylor Swift by the Book: The Literature Behind the Lyrics, from Fairy Tales to Tortured Poets.
Taylor Swift’s lyrics are filled with literary connections. Learn about the novels, poems, and plays that influence her songwriting. Let a literature professor and a musical theater artist guide you through the Taylor Swift canon—from Shakespeare to the Brontë sisters to Daphne du Maurier!
Feder, the author of five books, is an associate professor of English and literary arts at the University of Denver. Tatreau is an actor, singer, and teaching artist who has starred in various musicals across the country and is best known for her portrayal of Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg in the musical and original cast album Ride the Cyclone.
Please note that these programs are online via Zoom only and may take place after library hours. These virtual programs will be recorded and all registrants will receive the recordings via email within 48 hours of the programs. These programs are sponsored by and are in collaboration with Tewksbury Public Library.
Join us in the Falmouth Public Library’s Hermann Room on Tuesday, October 7th at 6:30pm for a documentary screening of The Secret Apartment (2024) from Executive Producer Jesse Eisenberg and acclaimed Director Jeremy Workman! This documentary screening is free to the public and is supported by the Library Board of Trustees. To register to attend as seating is limited, CLICK HERE or call us at 508-457-2555 x7.
WINNER OF NINE FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS OFFICIAL SELECTION SXSW, HOTDOCS, IFFBoston, Cleveland Film Festival, Melbourne Film Festival, Vancouver Film Festival
“In 2003, eight young Rhode Islanders created a secret apartment in a hidden space inside the Providence Place Mall and lived in it for four years, filming everything along the way. They snuck in furniture, tapped into the mall’s electricity, and even secretly constructed a brick wall with a locking door, smuggling in over 2 tons of cinderblock. Far more than just a wild prank, the secret apartment became a deeply meaningful place for all its inhabitants – a personal expression of defiance against local gentrification, a boundary-pushing work of public/private art, and finally, a 750 square foot space that sticks it to the man! Featuring never-before-seen footage of the space and revealing the identities of all the participants for the first time, Secret Mall Apartment is more than just a bonkers true story.”
The Secret Apartment is rated Not Rated and has a running time of 1 hour and 31 minutes. English subtitles will be used if available.
“A hugely entertaining and insightful doc about issues/art that will force you to think while you laugh.” –Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns
“Secret Mall Apartment unspools a wild story full of relatable wish fulfillment and social commentary, making for a highly entertaining treatise on artistic expression.” RottenTomatoes “Critic Consensus”+
“Deliriously entertaining and moving… Watching Secret Mall Apartment, I was reminded at times of Man On Wire.”” –Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
“Can an apartment be art? Yes, the movie suggests — if you understand art to be fused with life, a way of existing rather than just something you make and sell.” -Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times
“Unexpectedly inspirational” –Los Angeles Times
“Delightful… Moving… Issues of urban renewal, the value of public art, the difficulty of being married to an obsessive artist and lots more run through Workman’s film. It’s consistently, thoughtfully engaging. And, yes, often very funny in its open-hearted embrace of the DIY spirit, legal or otherwise” -Michael Philips, Chicago Tribune
“Secret Mall Apartment is a true tall tale.” –Film Inquiry
“Fascinating.. A delightful, thought-provoking movie that’s about a lot of things at the same time. It’ll make you see the world with fresh eyes.” –Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
“Based on the vibrant true story of a young girl, chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi. In the slums of Katwe, Uganda where she is forced to abandon her schooling at the age of nine, Phiona is introduced to the game of chess at a youth-outreach program. A result of the support she receives from her family and community, Phiona is instilled with the confidence and determination she needs to pursue her dream of becoming an international chess champion.” Rated: PG; Running Time: 2hrs 4mins
“Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.” Rated: PG; Running Time: 1hr 44mins
Cosmic Dawn is the incredible true story of the James Webb Space Telescope – humanity’s largest and most powerful space telescope – on a mission to unveil the early universe, against all odds.
On Tuesday, September 23rd at 6:30pm in the library’s Hermann Room, come join us as we watch this NASA+ documentary that brings viewers on an unprecedented journey through Webb’s delicate assembly, rigorous testing, and triumphant launch, showcasing the sheer complexity and breathtaking risks involved in creating a telescope capable of peering billions of years into the past. Follow the telescope from an idea developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center all the way to the launchpad in French Guiana, with never-before-seen footage captured by the Webb film crew offering intimate access to the challenges and triumphs along the way.
This documentary screening is free to the public and all are welcome!
Cosmic Dawn is Not Rated and has a running time of 1 hour and 36 minutes. To register to attend, CLICK HERE or visit/call the Adult Service Desk at 508-457-2555 x7.
Are you new to the game Mah Jongg? Has it been a long time since you played and you need to practice? Come join our Fall open play sessions on Monday afternoons!
September 8th: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
September 15th: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
September 22nd: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Rm
September 29th: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Rm
October 6th: 1pm-3pm in the Bay Room
October 20th: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
October 27th: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
November 3rd: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
November 10th: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
November 17th: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
These sessions are intended for players who are familiar with the rules of American Mah Jongg and are looking for a casual and supportive space to practice and improve their mahjong skills by playing with other beginner players. No formal play instruction will be provided.
Players must provide their own Mah Jongg sets and National Mah Jongg League cards. We’ll provide the tables and chairs!
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, September 6th at 11am in the Hermann room as we discuss our latest book pick, 2024 National Book Award Finalist, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie.
This book club is free to the public and copies of the book are available at the circulation and adult service desks one month prior to our book club meeting. To register to attend, CLICK HERE.
“From internationally renowned writer and Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie, a searing, deeply personal account of enduring a brutal attempt on his life, thirty years after the fatwa that was order against him.”
“On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man wearing black clothes and a black mask rushed down the aisle toward him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are.
What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond. Now, for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of that day and its aftermath, as well as his journey toward physical recovery and the healing that was made possible by the love and support of his wife, Eliza, his family, his army of doctors and physical therapists, and his community of readers worldwide.
Knife is Rushdie at the peak of his powers, writing with urgency, with gravity, with unflinching honesty. It is also a deeply moving reminder of literatur’s capacity to make sense of the unthinkable, an intimate and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art – and finding the strength to stand up again.”
“Salman Rushdie is the author of fifteen novels, including Midnight’s Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), Shame, The Satanic Verses, The Moor’s Last Sigh, and Quichotte, all of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize; a collection of stories, East, West; a memoir, Joseph Anton; a work of reportage, The Jaguar Smile; and three collections of essays, most recently Languages of Truth. His many awards include the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel, which he won twice; the PEN/Allen Foundation Literary Service Award; the National Arts Award; the French Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger; the European Union’s Aristeion Prize for Literature; the Budapest Grand Prize for Literature; and the Italian Premio Grinzane Cavour. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University, and a former president of PEN America. His books have been translated into over forty languages.”
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.
“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.”
“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.”
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.
“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.
“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.
Are you new to the game Mah Jongg? Has it been a long time since you played and you need to practice? Come join our Summer open play sessions on Monday afternoons!
July 7th: 1:30pm-3:30pm in the Hermann Room
July 14th: 1pm-3pm in the Bay Room
July 21st: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
July 28th: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
August 4th: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
August 11th: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
August 18th: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
August 25th: 1pm-3pm in the Hermann Room
These sessions are intended for players who are familiar with the rules of American Mah Jongg and are looking for a casual and supportive space to practice and improve their mahjong skills by playing with other beginner players. No formal play instruction will be provided.
Players must provide their own Mah Jongg sets and National Mah Jongg League cards. We’ll provide the tables and chairs!
These sessions are drop-in so no registration is required.