Lucius Beebe Memorial Library » Library News

Friends Quilt Raffle

Mark Sardella — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:47:56 +0000

Once again the Friends of the Library have received the generous gift of a quilt to be raffled off for the benefit of the Friends. This is a full size quilt (79 inches square) in the style of a Baltimore Album Quilt.

The quilt will be on display at the Library from early November to December 5th when the Friends will draw the winning raffle ticket. Tickets will be sold at the Reference Desk.

Please make an effort to stop by and see the quilt hanging in the Main Street Lobby when you are at the library. It is truly a lovely piece and would make a wonderful holiday gift or a beautiful addition to your home.
1 ticket – $2
3 tickets – $5
7 tickets – $10
15 tickets – $20

Recession & What It Means For College Bound Students Workshop

Laura Zalewski — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:30:35 +0000

Tuesday November 17 at 7 p.m.

Jeff Shmase, principal of Eagle Educational Consulting, a college admissions consulting firm, will address how the economy has impacted colleges, and its effect on admissions. Shmase will highlight what colleges are looking for in applicants, and identify ways to make applicants stand out.

Shmase earned his master’s degree in education from Salem State College, and a bachelor’s degree from Boston College. He is a member of the Higher Education Consultants Association.
There is no registration for the program and it is sponsored by Friends of Beebe Library.

Halloween Photos

Mark Sardella — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:23:05 +0000

Images of Halloween 2009 at Beebe Library.

Photos of old Wakefield Town Hall Demolition

Mark Sardella — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:46:45 +0000

Donated to Library by Wakefield native Ronald Girardin
In 1958, the historic old Town Hall in Wakefield, Massachusetts was torn down. It had been given to the town (then known as South Reading) by a leading local industrialist Cyrus Wakefield, owner of the Wakefield Company, manufacturers of rattan furniture. In gratitude, the town in 1868 changed its name from South Reading to “Wakefield.”

The demolition of the old Wakefield Town Hall was chronicled in photographs by Greenwood native Ronald B. Girardin. The then 18 year-old Ron Girardin had just graduated from Wakefield High School and had gotten a job at Lam, Inc., located across Lincoln St. in the Taylor Building. He worked for a year at the lighting manufacturer before heading off to college. It was from the third and fourth floor windows of Lam, Inc., that Mr. Girardin took most of the photos of the Town Hall demolition.

Currently living in Brocton, Mr. Girardin has been kind enough to donate to Beebe Library more than 70 photos documenting the 1958 demolition of Wakefield’s old Town Hall. This collection of photos is probably the most comprehensive collection of photographs documenting the demolition of this historic building. You can see more photos here. The library will continue to scan and add more of this collection to the web site in the coming weeks.
These photos also capture a rare glimpse of downtown Wakefield in 1958. In the background of the photos you will see Pick It Liquors and Steven’s Automotive on Water Street; Cataldo’s Drug Store, W.T. Grant Co., Thom McAn Shoe Store, the Esso gas station, Walker’s Oldmobile dealership and the Wakefield Cinema on Main Street. (Those with sharp eyes can make out the double feature advertised on the cinema marquee: “Brigitte Bardot in La Parisienne” and “The Bachelor Party.”) Other visible 1958 landmarks are the Miller Piano factory, L.B. Evans & Sons shoe manufacturing plant as well as Hart’s Hill and Crystal Lake off in the distance.

The demolition of the old Town Hall was not without controversy. A fire had damaged a portion of the building, and there was much debate at Town Meeting as to whether saving the historic structure was worth the cost of repairs. Ultimately, the decision was made to demolish the Town Hall and “temporarily” move municipal offices to the Lafayette Building, formerly Wakefield High School, at the corner of Common and Lafayette streets. That building still serves as the Town Hall to this day, having been renamed the “William J. Lee Town Hall.”

Mr. Girardin says that the old Town Hall proved more difficult to tear down than people anticipated. “It was an extremely well-crafted structure and did not give up the fight easily,” Girardin says. “First, as the roof was being dismantled, they discovered steel girders and this was a surprise since it was believed that they had not been developed in 1869.”

More photos of the Town Hall demolition.

Early Literacy & Preschool Services

Mark Sardella — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:40:58 +0000

New brochure for parents now available
A baby’s brain is wired to establish language in the first two years of life. Early literacy skills are the foundation for comprehension, speech, reading and later learning. Beebe Library provides programs, materials and services that promote early literacy.

Now, thanks to federal funding provided by the Institute for Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, Beebe Library has produced a colorful brochure for parents outlining the library’s services for preschoolers.

The brochure suggests everyday activities for you and your child that can build early literacy skills around the house, in the yard, in the car or running errands. The brochure also provides information on library programs like story times and sing-alongs and early literacy resources like computers, software, literature kits and reader’s advisory.

Pick up your brochure in the Youth Room and visit the Early Literacy Blog.

Online Databases Make Research Easier

Mark Sardella — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:41:37 +0000

Available 24/7 from home or office
It seems hard to believe that summer’s already over and many of us, kids and adults alike, are going back to school. Beebe Library can make research easier because of its many online databases provided free to you as a library cardholder. These resources are available on the computers in the library and 24 hours a day from your home, school, or office if you have Internet access. The databases include magazine and newspaper articles, encyclopedias, and even book recommendations. Most of them are provided by state or regional funding from the Northeast Massachusetts Regional Library System, of which Wakefield is a member.

EBSCO is a collection of periodical databases that include the full text for over 3,000 U.S. and foreign magazines and newspapers of general interest and also in specialized areas such as health, education, and business.

Gale InfoTrac is similar to EBSCO, and provides the full text from thousands of magazines, newspapers, and other sources. Infotrac also includes databases on literature, authors, book reviews, medicine, general magazines, scholarly journals, biographical information, and business, industry, and corporate information.

NoveList lets you search thousands of fiction books by genre or subject, or by matching favorite authors and titles and finding books that are similar.

Grolier Online provides online access to two popular general encyclopedias. Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (based on the text of the Academic American Encyclopedia) is appropriate for anyone from middle school to adult, and the New Book of Knowledge is specifically designed for young readers starting at grade 3.

ProQuest covers the full text of the Boston Globe back to 1980. It also includes the full text of the Boston Herald, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, the Springfield Union-News, and several other Massachusetts newspapers.

Bigchalk eLibrary is a general online reference database that provides indexing and full text of hundreds of sources including books, magazines, newspapers, pictures, maps, and radio and TV transcripts. eLibrary allows you to search using either keyword or natural language searching. It’s a great source for either adults seeking general information or students working on school assignments.

Informe (Revistas en Español) is the first reference database to provide indexing, full text, and images of the most popular Hispanic magazines in Spanish language.

All of these databases are available on Beebe Library’s website at www.wakefieldlibrary.org. From our main page, choose “Online Databases” from the Quick Links menu on the right. You’ll find links to all our online resources grouped by subject.

‘SOLAR MADE EASY’ PROGRAM TONIGHT
Tonight, (Thursday, September 17) at 7 p.m., the Friends of the Library and the Wakefield Climate Action Project will present “Solar Made Easy,” with Alison McFeeley of groSolar. Learn how solar energy works and determine if it’s right for your home or business. For more information, go to www.wakefieldlibrary.org.

Supper Sleuths Suggests…

Mark Sardella — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:08:06 +0000

Series recommendations for mystery readers
At their last meeting, Beebe Library’s mystery discussion group, Supper Sleuths, compared and contrasted the works of Robert Crais and Rick Riordan. During the summer, members of the group read at least one book from each of Crais’s Elvis Cole series and Riordan’s Tres Navarre series. Some had the pleasure of re-reading and re-connecting with the authors’ PI characters. Others experienced the joy of discovering some new and compelling stories. Most of the group members enthusiastically read many of these authors’ titles throughout the summer.

These two mystery worlds were paired for a variety of reasons. They both revolve around a smart-mouthed, intuitive detective with martial arts experience. Both main characters maintain a sweet/sardonic relationship with a cat, banter continuously and have a soft spot for the underdog—especially children and women in jeopardy. Both Elvis Cole and Tres Navarre live by the “white knight” code of conduct—with ethical lines drawn between who they will work for and what they will do for their clients.

While Crais pairs the sensitive Cole with the darker, silent, enigmatic Joe Pike—a sidekick like Robert Parker’s Spenser’s Hawk; Riordan surrounds his hero, Navarre, with a posse of family, friends, employers, and police contacts who help with his cases and dilemmas. Crais places Cole and Pike in jaded Los Angeles, while Riordan’s Navarre works his cases in culturally diverse San Antonio, TX. Each city brings a unique spin to the stories and the authors make the environments resonate as characters in each series. Add relentless pacing, fresh plot twists, humorous dialogue, and rich thematic arcs—and you have two series that are extraordinary examples of good mystery storytelling.

If Ross MacDonald, Raymond Chandler, and Dashiell Hammett are authors you admire and re-read, then Crais and Riordan as well as Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben, and, of course, Robert B. Parker should be on your list of mystery “read-alikes.” If the humor in the Crais/Riordan books appeals to you, check out Tim Cockey’s Hitchcock Sewell series. Sewell is not a private detective. However, he does possess Elvis Cole’s twisted sense of humor and views his chosen profession with a blend of cockeyed optimism and witty cynicism. Hitch is a mortician who not only has heard every undertaker joke, but he can come up with new ones. Readers who enjoy Cole’s comic commentary, dogged loyalty, and devotion to what’s right and just, will appreciate meeting Hitch in his first outing, “The Hearse You Came In On.” The action takes place in Baltimore where Hitch has his first client, a woman making arrangements for her own funeral; a funeral she will require the next day. This book has great pacing and lively secondary characters to round out the reading experience.

The next meeting of Supper Sleuths takes place on October 13 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the library’s Lecture Hall. This group meets every second Tuesday at 6 p.m. to discuss, compare and contrast mysteries of every genre and type. Feel free to bring your own snack or brown bag lunch with you to the meeting since it takes place in the early evening.

The group will be discussing one title in October: Val McDermid’s A Place of Execution. According to a “Booklist” review, “Readers will be reminded of the real-life Moors Murders and of Stephen King’s eerie-village tales.” McDermid presents Scardale, a village whose hard-bitten inhabitants try to keep the world out and their secrets in. Part of the mystery is set in the 1960s, when several children disappeared and were later found murdered in nearby Manchester. McDermid won the British Gold Dagger Award in 1995 for Mermaids Singing.

If you wish to join this discussion and experience “Supper Sleuths,” copies of this title and handouts are available on the Supper Sleuths display in the library.

New Children’s Story Times Announced

Mark Sardella — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:06:46 +0000

Registration for Fall, Winter & Spring sessions starts Sept. 8
“Mother Goose on the Loose Story Times” is a nationally acclaimed story time program that uses music, movement, books, ritual and nursery rhymes to develop pre-reading skills in infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers. Children who participate in these story time sessions are getting excited about books and stories, hearing new words and ideas, enjoying songs and rhymes, and learning about letters, their sounds and how words are made-up of smaller sounds.

Mother Goose on the Loose Story Times will begin in September. Registration begins Tuesday, Sept. 8. Parents can apply for story time online or register in person or by phone at 781-246-6334, extension 3, beginning Sept. 8. Applicants will be asked to indicate their preferred sessions, first, second, and third choices.
See the Complete 2009-2010 Story Time Schedule and Program Descriptions.

Lapsit is for pre-walkers, 3 months up to a year old and a caretaker. You and your baby will listen to stories, learn songs, finger plays, nursery rhymes and play with other babies. Please make other arrangements for older children so you and your baby can enjoy this special time together.

Walkers and Talkers is for walking children up to 35 months and caretakers. Build your child’s early literacy skills. Children will learn songs, play games, learn nursery rhymes and finger plays, and listen to simple stories. Children must be accompanied by a caretaker.
Three and Four Year-Olds. Help your child build literacy skills. Children will listen to stories, learn songs, finger plays and games, and do a simple craft. Parents must remain in the building while child attends program.

Four and Five Year-Olds. Children will build their listening comprehension and storytelling abilities, learn songs and do a craft. Caretakers must remain in the building, but allow the children to participate in the program alone.

Regretfully, we do not provide library services, including story times, to residents of communities without certified libraries. Nonresidents from communities with certified libraries are wait-listed until five days before the start of a session.

Library Architecture Enhances Collections

Mark Sardella — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:37:20 +0000

Starting with Wakefield’s own Beebe Library
Is what you read art?
The Seattle Library thinks so and they aren’t just focused on literary merit. The city hired visual artists to create pieces of artwork out of the titles of books being read by their patrons.
Let’s take a tour.

As we walk to the Seattle Library’s circulation desk on the ground floor we are walking on an oak floor in which the artist, Ann Hamilton, has included words created in raised letters in the 11 languages that are included in the library’s collection. Those words spell out, backward, the first sentences from books written in those languages.

Look up and you may see one of these books fly by in the library’s automatic book shelving system which uses a system of chutes, conveyor belts, and Radio Frequency Identification Technology.

Head in and enter the building’s central spiral to browse the collection. You are sure to learn the Dewey Decimal catalogue system as you walk along this gently sloping ramp. As you browse the collection, each section of the spiral is labeled with gigantic numbers on the ramp/floor from 000 to 050 through to 990 to let you know where you are as the Dewey Decimal system ascends with you.

Arriving on the 5th floor you will notice the six large LCD screens behind the reference desk upon which words are streaming in different colors and directions. Watching, or asking the nice reference librarians, you will eventually come to see that they have an order. Artist George Legrady has made an art display that visually maps in four different ways the circulation of the Seattle Public Library’s books, revealing the community’s collective reading interests.

The intent behind the library’s artwork is to open up what is hidden in the backbone of the library. Its physical structure (the entire outside is made of glass and there are few walls), shelving and book delivery system, as well as content of the collection are all made transparent.

The Seattle Library is worth a visit if you travel to that city. But first, don’t neglect to visit your own Beebe Library to learn more about its structure and workings. Visitors come from near and far to see the combination of traditional historic and modern architecture merged so beautifully and practically to hold the collection.

Online you can find many photos showing Beebe Library’s exterior and interior architecture, including a spread that was featured in Architecture magazine in 1924, shortly after the library was built.

Island Adventure Close to Home

Mark Sardella — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:33:44 +0000

Boston Harbor Islands
Boston is wonderful place for your “staycation” but if you’re not into the urban scene, use Boston as a starting place for an island adventure. Boston Harbor Islands, a national park area, offers many islands for walking, hiking and camping explorations. Travel by ferry from Boston’s Long Wharf or EDIC Pier, from Quincy’s Fore River Shipyard, from Hingham’s Shipyard and Hull’s Pemberton Point to many of the islands. Often, free connecting service to other Harbor Islands is offered.

Georges Island stands at the mouth of Boston Harbor and includes the National Historic Landmark, Fort Warren. Fort Warren, built from 1833 to 1861, protected Boston from 1861 to the end of World War II. Scramble around the ramparts of the fort, investigate tidal pools, enjoy free ranger guided tours and quench your thirst at the snack bar.

Nearby Spectacle Island offers life guarded swimming, five miles of hiking trails and spectacular views of the Boston skyline and neighboring islands. A green visitors center has a café and exhibits of the island’s nature and history. Enjoy free jazz concerts on Sundays from June through September.

Enjoy rustic camping while in the sight of the Boston skyline on Grape, Lovell, and Bumpkin Islands. Grape Island is a 54 acre wildlife haven. Wild berries account for the many types of birds to be found on the island. Picnic or camp out at one of the ten sites available on the island.

Lovell Island has curved beaches and many types of wildlife. Enjoy scrambling on the remains of Fort Standish or walk along dunes and salt marsh woods. Special events and daily programs feature military history, genealogy, birds and island plants. Eleven campsites ensure the private feel of the island.

Bumpkin Island is surrounded by the blue waters of Hingham Bay and at low tide is almost connected to the Hull peninsula. Hike around the remains of an old children’s hospital and stone farmhouse. The slate and shell beaches and open fields provide a relaxing atmosphere for the camping experience.

For more information about the Boston Islands National Park area, view their website at www.bostonislands.org or check the book Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area edited by Ken Mallory. Borrow it from the library today and start your island adventure tomorrow.