|
-
The Makerspace Workshop is now open on Saturdays from 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
-
In this issue: Wellness Week - Adult Programs - Virtual Films at Fowler - Special Collections Program - Annual Book Sale - Children's Programs - Special Collections Highlights
| |
Wellness Week at the Library | |
|
The Library addresses physical, mental, and emotional health with educational programs and services for the community during Wellness Week, May 18 - 25. These programs serve a variety of ages and families, and all programs will take place in the Goodwin Forum at the Main Library.
| |
|
Wellness Week: QPR Training
Saturday, May 18, 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Goodwin Forum, Main Library
QPR teaches three simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life. Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich maneuver help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade and refer someone for help. Teens and adults are welcome to attend. This event is cosponsored by AB Cares and The Eliot Center in partnership with The Concord Free Public Library. [Register for QPR Training]
| |
|
Wellness Week: Opting for Growth by Embracing Stress and Emotions
Saturday, May 18, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Goodwin Forum, Main Library
Dr. Karin Hodges will shed light on the systems and professions that have inadvertently contributed to the rise of childhood mental illness and the widespread mental health crisis. She will explain the mechanisms that grow mental illness versus emotional well-being and describe the essential resources that children require today for health and healing. This program is cosponsored by Raising Moxie and The Concord Free Public Library. [Register for Opting for Growth]
| |
|
Book-A-Mystery
Wednesday, May 15, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Meeting Room, Fowler Branch
Join Madeline from Fowler on the 3rd Wednesday of each month to discuss a range of mysteries, from thrillers to whodunnits. This month we will be discussing The Blackhouse by Peter May. Copies are available at Fowler in both standard and large print formats. [Register for Book-A-Mystery]
| |
|
Meet Cute Book Club
Thursday, June 13, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Trustees Room, Main Library
This is a new Book Group - Join Library staff and discuss the most lucrative genre in publishing: romance. From contemporary rom-coms to romantasy to Regency romance, we will try an array of different subgenres. This month we will discuss Delilah Green Doesn't Care, an FF contemporary romance by Ashley Herring Blake. Mocktails (non-alcoholic) will be served at the discussion. [Register for Romance Book Club]
| |
|
Winter's Bone (2010)
Wednesday, May 22, 7:00 p.m.
(Discussion Date on Zoom)
Ozark teenager Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence, in an Oscar-nominated breakout performance) manages the household and takes care of her two younger siblings. Faced with the prospect of losing their home, Ree sets out on a dangerous quest to find her missing father.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Please watch the film on Kanopy before the discussion. To register for the discussion and receive a Zoom link, send an email to the Coordinator of the program Randall Warniers at FilmsatFowler@concordlibrary.org. This series is sponsored by the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library.
[View Spring 2024 Films at Fowler Calendar]
| |
A Special Collections Program | |
|
The Life of Benjamin Ralph Kimlau - A Presentation by Lt. Col. Geoffrey Love
Thursday, May 16, 6:00 —7:30 p.m.
Goodwin Forum, Main Library
Benjamin Ralph Kimlau (金勞少尉) (April 11, 1918 – March 5, 1944) was a Chinese American aviator and United States Air Force bomber pilot and native son of Concord. Kimlau was born in Concord on April 10, 1918, and lived in the area until he was 14. His father was a chemist, and his mother was an interpreter who had moved to the area from San Francisco.
The family later moved to New York City, and after a visit to China, he studied at Pennsylvania Military College in Chester, Pennsylvania, from 1938 to 1942. Upon graduation, he was promoted to Field Artillery 2nd Lieutenant. With America at war, Kimlau joined the US Army Field Artillery but later transferred to the United States Army Air Forces 380th Bombardment Group of the Fifth Air Force. After training as a pilot, he was stationed at Fenton Airfield in Australia. In Australia, Kimlau flew a B-24 Liberator bomber in missions during the New Guinea campaign. Lt. Benjamin Ralph Kimlau and his entire crew perished during their final mission at Los Negros Island in March 1944. The 380th Bombardment Group was awarded two Presidential Unit Citations for their outstanding performance and gallantry in battle.
Lt. Col. Geoffrey Love of the Massachusetts National Guard has done extensive research to reconstruct what we know of Kimlau's family and the well-documented details of his final mission.
This event is co-sponsored by Concord250, The Massachusetts National Guard Museum and Archives and The Concord Free Public Library's William Munroe Special Collections. [Register for Benjamin Ralph Kimlau Event]
| |
|
Annual Book Sale
Saturday, June 8, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Front Lawn, Main Library
Join us for the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library's 2024 Annual Book Sale on Saturday, June 8 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the Main Library front lawn.
The proceeds from the Friends (June) Annual Book Sale, (December) Holiday Book Sale and on-going Friends Bookshop Book Sale fund the Library programs, museum passes, eBooks, large print and audiovisual materials, and staff professional development.
Rain date: June 9.
| |
Children's Programs at the Main Library | |
|
Spring Storytime Schedule
All storytimes are drop-in.
Mondays: Musical Monday at 10:30 a.m.
Tuesdays: Crafty Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. and Sensory-Friendly Storytime at 4:00 p.m.
Wednesdays: Toddler Time at 10:30 a.m. and Baby Snugglebugs Storytime at 11:30 a.m.
Thursdays: Storytime at 10:30 a.m.
Fridays: Alphabet Storytime at 10:30 a.m.
Saturdays: Yoga & Movement Storytime at 10:30 a.m.
| |
|
Musical Monday: Rockabye Beats
Monday, May 13, 10:30 - 11:15 a.m.
Goodwin Forum, Main Library
Start your week off right by dancing, singing, and having some fun at Musical Monday - Rockabye Beats is a fun, family group whose music is reminiscent of founder Marcos Valles’s Puerto Rico. Enjoy movement, dancing, counting, singing and a little bit of Spanish vocabulary. Generously sponsored by the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library. No registration required.
| |
|
Korean Family Month: Family Crafting | 가족 공예
Saturday, May 18, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Children's Activity Room & The Workshop, Main Library
Join us for three special crafts in celebration of Korean Family Month. In the Children’s Activity Room, learn the art of jongi jeobgi (folding colored paper) with Aeryun Burt and learn to write names in Hangul (Korean language) with Yoon-Kyung Ahn. In the Workshop, learn to paint flowers in a fun way using the materials and techniques characteristic of Korean brush painting with Minhee Kim. These activities are recommended for kids ages 6+ and their caregivers. No registration required.
For more Children's programs at the Main Library, visit here.
| |
Fowler Branch Children's Programs | |
|
Talk Yoga at Fowler (Ages 3-5)
Friday, May 17, 1:00 - 1:45 p.m.
Meeting Room, Fowler Branch
Join Jen for Talk Yoga - Talk Yoga classes incorporate movement, mindfulness, games, and music to boost language, articulation, and sensory awareness. Benefitting children of all abilities, these classes help students connect their minds and body and gain acceptance, confidence, and self-awareness. [Register for Talk Yoga]
For more Children's programs at Fowler, visit here.
| |
Highlights from Special Collections: The Making of Joe Wheeler: A Concord Story | |
|
In celebration of Joseph Coolidge Wheeler, The Concord Free Public Library will host a screening of "The Making of Joe Wheeler: A Concord Story" at 2:00 p.m. on June 2, 2024. This film was produced and directed by Concord resident Susan Orleans Rieder. Please register here.
The event will include an exhibition of selections from the Joseph Wheeler Collection, including manuscripts, photographs, and published material from Special Collections. Several Wheeler family members will also be present.
Relatives and friends are invited to a Joseph Wheeler Memorial Service and Reception on Saturday, June 1 at 10:00 a.m. at the First Parish in Concord, 20 Lexington Road.
Joe was born in 1926 on Thoreau Farm in Concord, Massachusetts, to Caleb Henry and Ruth Robinson Wheeler (the former a farmer, the latter a local historian and journalist). Joe descended from George Wheeler, an early settler of Concord. He entered Bowdoin College in 1944 and received his B.A. in 1948, having taken time away from school for basic training for the Army Air Corps and service as a photo lab technician.
Joe spent his working life away from his hometown in international development and humanitarian aid, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Peace Corps, and the United Nations Environment Program. Still, he returned to Concord in 1992, actively engaging in the town's civic life. A member of the Board of Directors of the Thoreau Society, he was a significant force behind preserving Henry David Thoreau's birthplace on Virginia Road through the formation of the Thoreau Farm Trust, which he served as president. He served on the Concord Historical Commission and helped establish Concord's Community Preservation Committee.
Thanks to his efforts, the William Munroe Special Collections holds extensive collections of Wheeler family papers, including the Ruth Robinson (Wheeler) College Papers, the Caleb Kendall Wheeler Papers, and the extensive Joseph Coolidge Wheeler Papers, processed by former curator Leslie Perrin Wilson, documenting Joe's life in Concord and his working life, including his extensive travels and residences abroad. You can access a 1995 and a 2008 oral history with Joe on the Library's website. The Library of Congress interviewed Joe as part of their Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training in 1998.
| | | | |
