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A Note from the Director
As we enter the homestretch for summer 2017, things stay "hot" at the library! This August, we are joining other libraries in Eastern CT by taking part in the 15th Annual One Book, One Region (OBOR) community reading event. This year's selection, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is sure to encourage thoughtful discussion. Copies of the book are available at the library. Please take part in our two events scheduled for August - on Monday, August 14, the screening and discussion of the PBS Documentary Traces of the Trade, and our book discussion, led by Gail Turgeon, on Wednesday, August 16. Details on both programs are provided below.
Beginning August 23, we are pleased to provide a hands-on
Conservation Quest® Mini Exhibit
on loan from the Stepping Stones Children's Museum. The exhibit will be available during normal operating hours through Monday, September 18. Be sure to stop in to learn about Energy Conversation and how you can help protect the planet and promote healthy living!
Of course, our friendly library cat, Mito, is always happy to visit with you on the 2nd floor of the
library. Follow all of Mito's library adventures on Instagram @mitothelibrarycat.
If you have a suggestion, compliment, or question, please feel free to stop by the library or
email me anytime.
I'll see you at the library!
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Join Us!
The Library's Fall Fundraiser is
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
You'll want to join us for a relaxed, fun and social evening at the
Engine Room,
right here in Mystic from 6:30-9:30 p.m.!
Help us kick off the library's 125th Anniversary Year (in 2018) by being a part of this special and social event.
Thank you to these generous donors that have confirmed
their sponsorship of our special event!
(860) 572-8191 to learn more about our sponsorship opportunities.
**Please note the Library will close early at 5:00 p.m. on September 27**
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One Book, One Region
Monday, August 14, 5:30-8:15 p.m.
The subject of the film, the United States slave trade, ties in closely with the themes of Homegoing, a 2016 novel by author
Yaa Gyasi
and this year's One Book, One Region selection.
Ms. Sturges Llerena is inviting participants to arrive early to meet with her prior to the screening from 5:30 until 6:00 p.m.
The film will be introduced at 6:00 p.m. followed by the screening of just under one hour. There will be a short break and then a guided discussion.
In Traces of the Trade, Producer/Director Katrina Browne tells the story of her forefathers, the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. Given the myth that the South is solely responsible for slavery, viewers will be surprised to learn that Browne's ancestors were Northerners. The film follows Browne and nine fellow DeWolf family members on a remarkable journey which brings them face-to-face with the history and legacy of New England's hidden enterprise.
To view the trailer for this film, please click here.
This program is free and open to the public; no registration is required.
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| Elizabeth Sturges Llerena |
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Homegoing Book Discussion
Wednesday, August 16 at 7:00 p.m.
The library will also host a discussion of the novel
Homegoing, a brilliant new novel by author Yaa Gyasi and this year's recent
One Book, One Region (OBOR) official selection. L
ocal educator Gail Turgeon will moderate this discussion.
Homegoing
follows the paths of two sisters and their descendants through eight generations.
This extraordinary novel shows how the memory of captivity has been inscribed on our nation.
This program is free and open to the public; no registration is required.
One Book, One Region is celebrating its 15 year of bringing together public libraries, schools, colleges and interested readers in Eastern Connecticut in a community reading event based on a recently published thought provoking work. Learn more about regional programs scheduled at http://onebookoneregion.org/
This year's program will culminate with author Yaa Gyasi's appearance at Connecticut College in the Palmer Auditorium on Wednesday, September 27 at 7 p.m.
OBOR is possible due to generous funding from Connecticut Humanities, Connecticut College, private foundations and the support of your local library.
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Edible Landscape Project:
A Visiting Art Exhibit
Open until August 18 in the Ames Room
The Edible Landscape Project is the result of a collaborative semester-long study visualizing edible landscapes for social impact. The projects showcase a partnership between FRESH New London, Spark Makerspace, and Connecticut College's ART 310 Design: Public Practice Studio.
Students and community partners created interactive tools to help visualize the potential of the natural environment in New London, particularly with plants that produce food. All components were created by Connecticut College students, FRESH staff and youth, Spark members and neighborhood residents.
This project was directed by our very own Library Trustee and Professor of Art,
Andrea Wollensak, the Judith Ammerman '60 Director, Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology at Connecticut College.
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All book club meetings are scheduled for the Ames Meeting Room at M&NL. All readers are welcome to join any of these groups. There are no fees, and the Library works to provide copies of the books being discussed. Note: CLAMs participants purchase their books.
Afternoon Book Club
(first Wednesday of the month at 1:00 p.m.)
No meeting in August... happy Summer!
September 6:
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Evening Book Club
(usually first Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m.)
August 16:
Homegoing
by
Yaa Gyasi (One Book, One Region Special Event)
Captain John Porter Civil War Book Group
(third Wednesday of the month at 6:00 p.m.)
August 16:
T
he Cotton Kingdom
by Frederick Law Olmsted
September 20: Lincoln's Boys: John Hay, John Nicolay
by Joshua Zeitz
History Book Club
(second Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m.)
August 8:
Alexander Hamilton (Chapter 13 - 26) by Ron Chernow
September 12: Alexander Hamilton (Chapter 27 - Epilogue)
CLAMS (Classic Literature at Mystic) Book Club
(Mondays at 7:00 p.m.)
September 11
: Book discussion resumes with The History of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
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Summer Reading Programs & Fun!
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Wrap up your awesome summer calendar of fun
at M&NL!
Our summer reading challenge finishes
Saturday, August 5 at 12:00 p.m.!
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Wii U Gaming
Tuesdays, August 1 and August 8
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Our summer has brought many cool things to the Mystic & Noank Library, including a Wii U Gaming Cart! Stop by Tuesday afternoon for some fun among friends.
The Wii U Gaming Cart will be available from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. with a new challenge from our collection each week.
Games are appropriate for ages 9 and up.
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Evening Teen Movie
Tuesday, August 1 at 6:30 p.m.
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Harry Potter Trivia Night!
Monday, August 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the Ames Room
Enjoy Harry Potter-themed snacks while testing your Hogwarts knowledge during this fun-filled evening!
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Ready, Set, Code!
Wednesdays, August 2 and 9
6:30-8:00 p.m.
Students will learn the concepts of coding through
Gamefroot, a free online gaming platform that allows coders to create games that are both challenging and artistic-and then publish them on the web!
This exciting new class will allow students to complete a new project every week following a certain theme. In each class, kids will pick up new technical skills while exercising their imaginations.
This program is free and open to children ages 10 and up; registration is required by contacting Rachel Taylor (860-536-7721 or [email protected]).
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Today! @ 2:00 p.m.
Bring a friend and bring your enthusiasm--
Free and open to all!
August 1:
Sparky's Puppets: Build a Better World
This program is generously brought to you by the
Friends of the Mystic & Noank Library
--thank you!
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Friday Family Matinees
Start at 3:00 p.m.
Bring your favorite snack and a covered drink!
Funding generously provided by the Friends of the Mystic and Noank Library--thank you!
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Sunny Day Astronomy
Saturday, August 19 from 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Come be part of a project that shows you a new way to look at our solar system! It will forever change how you see where we live!
We will meet in the Ames Room for a short orientation and then go outside for the rest of the project.
Presented by volunteer Bill Gill.
Best for those from age 8 to 108**.
**Anyone older or younger who is interested in this topic is welcome to join in too.
Rain date Monday, August 21 (10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.)
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Conservation Quest
On display
August 23-September 18 during regular library hours! Free and open to all.
We are
thrilled to present this dynamic display for little hands and eager minds to explore! Learn about energy--what it is, where it comes from, how we use it and why it is important to use energy wisely!
Conservation Quest
delivers important energy conservation messages, inspiring visitors to make thoughtful choices about energy use to help protect the planet and promote healthy living.
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This weekly club is for kids interested in learning fun and interactive Scratch programming! Participants will have the opportunity to create virtual games, music videos, art projects and more - all of their own digital design!
Children ages 10 and up are welcome.
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Fall Preschool Drop-In Storytimes
Fall Storytimes begin the last week in September (Week of September 25th).
Registration will be available on EventKeeper mid-August!
StoryTimes are scheduled to meet weekly Mondays through Thursdays, classes consist of stories, finger-plays, crafts, and songs.
Due to demand registration is required and class size is limited. Registration will be available soon on
our website, or please call (860) 536-7721. In the case of over-enrollment classes will be determined on a first-come, first-served basis.
StoryTime sessions last for eight weeks and are free and open to the public.
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Register for 1KBK TODAY
We are so pleased to have received a grant from the
Groton Education Foundation to start our own 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Program.
The program is available to all families with children
be
tween the ages of birth to 5 years old. The goal is to read 1000 books together prior to the child's start of formal schooling or Kindergarten.
Sound impossible? It's not!
Three books a day for one year is
over 1000 books!
Families commit to recording how many books they read together on a Reading Log (provided by the library). As the child reaches certain milestones (100 books, 200 books etc.), the child receives a small prize! We will also create a special bulletin board in the library to mark the progress of participants!
Reach 1000 books and the child takes home a special book of their own to keep! In addition, a book will be dedicated in the child's name for the library's collection.
Sign up in the Children's Room during regular library hours--it's FREE!
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| Marvelous Marvin's Brain Circus |
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Thank You, Sponsors!
What an incredibly lively (and sometimes LOUD!) summer we have had at M&NL!
We were able to host many fun, engaging and entertaining program providers (like Marvelous Marvin's Brain Circus, left) thanks to generous grant and gift support from these wonderful sponsors!
If you took part in some of our programming, please consider supporting these special sponsors. Thank you.
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News, Meetings & Programs
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Trustee Spotlight
Take a moment to read about
Rose Corbett Gordon this month as our featured library Trustee. Rose joined the board in 2016 and has been a welcome addition to our fundraising efforts through our Development Committee.
What 3 words would you use to describe M&NL?
Warm, welcoming, historic
Describe an ideal day for you:
Well, I will assume this ideal day is in Mystic, so I can't count on going to the theater for both a matinee and an evening show with gallery visits/gourmet meals in between, as I would at my favorite vacation spot: Stratford, Ontario. And I am not in East Boothbay, where I certainly
could
look out at beautiful Maine, but mainly keep my head down attending to complications with our house there.
So an ideal Mystic day: I love to wake early without an alarm. Any day feels better if I am in the middle of a good book: one that tumbles to the floor as I get up because I have fallen asleep reading it.Then I like a quiet, unscheduled morning to look round the garden and see what new is coming up there. A nice long walk is essential to my well being - and, living in this village of Mystic, I always encounter dear friends along the route. I usually pass through the bookstore, if only to remind myself how lucky I am to live in a town with a bookstore - an excellent bookstore. But, of course, the very best days are when my daughter, who
mostly
lives abroad, is coming to visit.
Why have you chosen to be on the M&NL Board?
I love the library. I have to be trite: no matter how far-ranging or frenzied the book I might be reading, when I am reading it in this library, I feel sheltered and at peace. As for my role on the Board, I've been assigned to the Development Committee and expect my role to unfold over time.
You're stranded on a desert island. What 3 books do you want with you?
When you threaten to desert me on an island with only books, I long for something like A Quick Guide to Boat-Building without Tools and Celestial Navigation for Idiots. Then, as back-up, in case the first two should fail me, I'd take along Finnegans Wake; that would surely finish me off.
But in keeping with the true spirit of the question, I will instead choose the
Complete Works of Shakespeare
,
Ulysses
and maybe
Middlemarch
. If asked on another day, I might pick three others.
Tell us what you do in your 'real' life outside of being a Library superhero:
Since 2013, I have been involved in family affairs, specifically the Gordon Family Trust, for which among other things I curate and represent the art of my late mother-in-law, Jean Swan Gordon. On the personal side, I have become very involved with some of the M&NL Book Clubs; in fact you could say that they have become my extended family.
Until a couple years ago I freelanced as an Art Editor, with assignments mainly from publishers in NYC and Boston. I worked on book covers and also produced art programs for book interiors - especially educational books on historical subjects. Many were adult books, like The Riverside Shakespeare, but more were illustrated histories for younger people - titles like Life In Victorian England and Japan in the Days of the Samurai--some of these books are on the shelves of the M&NL!
I had studied History and Art History, and fairly soon after college and a year in France, I began as an Art Editor and Researcher at Houghton Mifflin; after 16 years there, I left as the Art Editing Manager and took up freelancing as described above. All in all, I have worked on or overseen hundreds of book covers, and am frequently asked why book covers are often at odds with the books content: that is a question I can answer.
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An 'Intern'-al Thank You
Many M&NL patrons will recognize our 2017 Summer Intern, Lora MacLaughlin, who has been an integral part of our staff for yet another busy summer season!
Lora not only covers the Children's Desk but is responsible for introducing programs, managing supplies, assisting our Youth Services Director as needed and generally serving as an all-around 'go-to' when called upon! Lora has a wonderful ability to recommend the perfect book, greets everyone with a smile and is a whiz at technology, too. We've been lucky to have such a positive (and busy) person on staff while she has been pursuing her Masters in Library & Information Science at the University of Rhode Island.
The Sidney Gross Memorial Fund has generously supported Lora's stipend this year, and we extend a sincere thank you to the Gross Family and friends for this sponsorship. Some patrons may have known Sidney and her husband Roger from their Mystic days and know how much the Library meant to Sidney, even after she and Roger relocated out of the area.
It is a privilege for the Library to serve as the beneficiary of the Gross Family's gifts. We are proud to honor Sidney's memory by enabling meaningful programming, increased capacity and excellent library service by having a trained summer intern on staff.
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NEW! Brain HQ: Brain Training Software
The library is pleased to now provide access to BrainHQ - cutting-edge, research-based, brain training software.
Thanks to generous funding from the Mystic Rotary Club and the library's Kroeger Porter Fund provided by longtime library supporters Captain John D. Porter and his wife Mary Katherine (Kroeger) Porter, this important resource is available to cardholders of all three Groton Libraries - Mystic & Noank Library, Groton Public Library and Bill Memorial Library.
To access BrainHQ, you must have a current library card to one of these three libraries and have set-up a PIN using the
"My Account" link.
Learn more about BrainHQ from PositScience.
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Cribbage Club Continues
Thursdays at 3:00 p.m.
Do you know how to play cribbage or are ready to learn?
Join us each week at M&NL! Cribbage is a great way to keep your mind sharp and meet new friends. For more information, please call Donna Anderson at (203) 470-4566 or email
[email protected]
.
Knitters Unite
Knitting Club meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. each month (August 8 and 22). All levels are welcome. Please join us!
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Bereavement Counseling
August 1 and August 15 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. (ongoing on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month)
These sessions are open to all who are coping with the loss of a loved one
and led by caring professionals from the Center for Hospice Care of Southeastern CT. Sessions are free but do require pre-registration. Please call (860) 848-5699 to register.
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Lyman Allyn Museum |
Museum Passes Available
There are plenty of summer days left for local adventuring!
Stop by the Children's Room to review the passes and discounts available.
More information on our website
here!
We thank the Friends of M&NL for their generous support of the museum passes.
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Book-A-Librarian
I
n Need of Technology Tutoring?
If so, please consider the Mystic & Noank Library's Book-a-Librarian program, in which you sign up for an individual one (1) hour session with a librarian and receive a private tutorial on whatever technological query you may have!
Lesson topics have included Windows 10, web design, Microsoft Office, and the use of devices such as Smartphones, iPads, e-readers and social media! New topics include employment websites, resumes and cover letters, web design, and more!
To register, please call the library at (860) 536-7721 or use our online form here!
Appointments must be requested AT LEAST one day ahead of the desired date; they will be scheduled according to the patron's and the librarian's mutual availability.
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Wowbrary!
Don't forget to register for our information service,
Wowbrary
by
simply clicking here!. Be sure to then check your email for the verification message.
With Wowbrary, you will receive a weekly email on Saturday mornings highlighting any new book, audiobook, DVD or CD titles added to our collection in the previous week. A smart link directly into the library catalog will allow you to easily place a reserve on any titles that you wish to check out!
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Make Your Plans for Next Month
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A Preview of M&NL
September
Programs
Details to follow next month.
Saturday, September 9: Regular Library Hours Resume (open 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m)
AARP Defensive Driving
Saturday, September 16 at 10:00 a.m.
Harriet Beecher Stowe Program
Thursday, September 21 at 3:00 p.m.
Friends of the M&NL Annual Craft Exchange
Saturday, September 30 from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
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125th Anniversary Kick-Off Fundraiser at The Engine Room
(14 Holmes Street, Mystic)
Wednesday, September 27 from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Help us update & improve our active Children and Teen Spaces with your gift!
**Please note the library will close early at
5:00 p.m. on September 27**
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We have more than 125 bricks ordered and are closing in on completion for this project--
thank you!
Do you need a special gift for a graduate? Your parent? A veteran? Don't miss this opportunity to make a gift of a commemorative brick at M&NL in honor of a loved one, a special anniversary or to promote your business.
We are proud to display these meaningful messages on our beautiful entryway
and would love to add your personalized brick to our ever expanding special sidewalk.
Download the order form
here.
There is space to engrave up to 3 lines with 16 characters per line, and each
paver is $125.00. Installation of engraved bricks will be done in sections on a rolling basis.
Questions? Contact Karen Bradshaw at (860) 572-8191.
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Call for Library Trustees
Our M&NL Board of Trustees is currently seeking new members. We seek a diverse team of Trustees with varied backgrounds, skills, experiences, and geographical distribution to best represent our community and plan for our library's future.
If you are interested in being considered for a three year term on the M&NL Board of Trustees, please contact Chris Johnson, our Library Director,
via email or phone at 860-536-7721.
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Our Annual Fund closes on September 30th---have you made your gift yet?
If you've been at the library this summer for one (or many!) of our wonderful programs, please consider making a gift to our Annual Fund. Your tax-deductible donation supports all of the above programming, strengthens our collection and ensures our viability in our wonderful Mystic community.
Please make it easy for the Library to continue its valued and valuable services for you and your family.
Make your donation to the Mystic & Noank Library TODAY
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Support the Library with Amazon Smile
AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon which offers many of the same things as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice!
Thank you for choosing Mystic & Noank Library as your designated non-profit when you shop at AmazonSmile!
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Monday-Wednesday 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Thursday-Friday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Summer Saturday Hours 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
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Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.
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