What was the best book published in the past year? Tell us what you think. Go to our Facebook page and post your choice on our wall for Best Book of 2011.
Or if you prefer, you can email your best Book choice to Leane Ellis at the library: ellis@noblenet.org. We will publish the list on our website in January 2012. Please feel free to include why you think the book qualifies for the Best of 2011.

The fall of 2011 has been very good to some first-time novelists. Already well-received–Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding is about a baseball star at a small college near Lake Michigan who launches a routine throw that goes disastrously off course and inadvertently changes the lives of five people. Library Journal hails this title as a “highly enjoyable and intelligent novel [that] offers several coming-of-age tales set against the background of an exciting and convincing baseball drama. Continue »

The books on the Wakefield High School Summer Reading Lists are currently on display at Beebe Library. Summer Reading Lists for incoming freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors at Wakefield High School are now available online. Paper copies of each list are also available at Beebe Library.
Galvin Middle School Summer Reading Lists are now online for grades 5, 6, 7 and 8. Continue »

Travel to “Novel Destinations” with Beebe Library
Sign up for Novel Destinations, Beebe Library’s 2011 Summer Reading Program for adults.

1. Receive your “passport” when you sign up at the Reference Desk.
2. On the pages of your passport, provide at least three “reviews” to qualify to win one of several Novel Destinations prizes.*
3. You may “review” any material, program or service available at or through Beebe Library. (See examples below.)
4. Drop your completed passport in the Novel Destinations box at the Reference Desk by August 20 to eligible for the raffle.

What is a review?
A “review” is simply a paragraph describing your opinion, experience, insight and/or recommendation of any material or service provided by Beebe Library. If you allow us to share your reviews, your opinions may be included in library information sources like our web site, Facebook page or booklists.
What will you review? It’s not just about books! Explore any of the many things offered at the library and record your experiences in your passport. Consider reviewing any of the following Beebe Library offerings: Continue »

Print Awareness, understanding that print has meaning, knowing how to handle a book and being aware that we live in a world of printed messages, is a foundational literacy skill.
Understanding that print has meaning begins with pictures. When you sit with an infant and a board book, you begin by pointing to pictures of objects familiar to that child, balls, babies, cars, etc. The child is learning that a two dimensional drawing of an object can represent that object. This seems obvious, but it is really a major intellectual development. Over time, as you continue to read to the child, the child learns that “car” can be represented by a picture or by the letters c-a-r.
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Discussion begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall
The next gathering of Beebe Library’s book discussion group, Books By the Lake, is on November 17, 2010 in the Lecture Hall at 7:30 p.m. for the discussion of the title: Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin.
This book discussion group combines the enjoyment of reading a single title and the desire to share insights, observations, and feelings about that one book with others who have read it. So many novels create a need in some readers to share their reactions about the book with others, as well as an opportunity to personally grow from the discussions of related themes and common experiences.

Proclamation issued by Governor Deval Patrick
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
A PROCLAMATION
His Excellency Governor Deval L. Patrick
“Whereas Parents are their children’s earliest and most continuous teachers, and are full partners with teachers, principals and administrators in the education of their children; and
“Whereas Along with schools and local communities, parents are critical to the success of education reform and responsible for the future of education in the Bay State; and
“Whereas Families benefit from learning together and being involved in literacy and educational activities; and
“Whereas It is essential that communities, libraries and schools provide families with opportunities for family literacy and reading activities that encourage families to read with their children and use public libraries; and
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