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Library Lines April 29,
2020
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Everything You Always
Wanted to Know About OverDrive
But Were Afraid to Ask
We've been telling you for the past month all about OverDrive/Libby. Start here to browse our collections of e-books, audio books, TV programs, movies, and instructional videos.
Many of us are finding it a challenge to get enough exercise while we're parked in front of a screen for so much of our day now. We told you a little bit about our OverDrive video collection last week but wanted to highlight some workout videos this week. These titles are just a sampling. Click here to browse for more options.
If you're new to borrowing e-books and digital audio books from the Library's OverDrive collection, start
here
at the "Help" pages. For assistance, email Reference Librarian
Libby Fox
and she'll get back to you and try to help.
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Even MORE Great Online Collections for You to Browse
1. Let's face it -- we're all running out of interesting things (read, things we WANT to do) at home. Why not go down that rabbit hole of nostalgia by looking at old pictures of your former classmates? Your parents? Your former science teacher, principal or shop instructor? You can access 90 years of digitized Middleboro High School yearbooks, from 1929 to 2019, right from our website. Whether you knew it as Timaron, the Centennial, the Orange and Black, the Orange Peal, or the Memorialite, start the fun here.
Every page from each yearbook can be viewed, enlarged and searched. Searchable terms are highlighted for easy finding on the page. In addition, the visually impaired can click on an audio button to have any text read out loud.
The digitization of the MHS yearbooks was made possible by the Middleborough Public Library, the Boston Public Library and Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.
2. While you're on the yearbook site, you might notice there also are copies of past
Town of Middleboro annual reports. They've also been digitized, and you'll find reports from 1895 through 2015. Those of you fascinated by a look back at history might want to go right to
page 132 in the 1918 edition to read the report of the Board of Health detailing how the town was affected by the 1918 influenza pandemic.
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April Showers...are Great Days for
Virtual Visits
with the Library!
Here's Children's Librarian Miss Amanda's collection of weekly online activities for your kids to have fun with until the Library reopens.
Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. -
- Story time on
Facebook
! Who needs a haircut? Send in your silly hair photos pre- or post-haircut and/or color refresher to Miss Amanda to be featured on the Library's website and Facebook page. Then, on
April 29 ,
tune in for a recorded reading of When Your Llama Needs a Haircut by Susanna Hill. In celebration of National Poetry month Miss Amanda will also read a stellar selection of poems that really shoot for the moon. Can you guess what they are about?
Tech with Tiny Tots on Thursdays -- I
f you've got a
baby or toddler at home, take a lunch break with Miss Amanda this week at noon on April 30 for her Zoom group. Enjoy a short story, rhymes and songs plus time to socialize with other caregivers. Learn tips on how to encourage early literacy skills appropriate for your child's brain development and gain support during this difficult time. Crying, hungry, tired and sleeping kids are all welcome! Everyone will be muted during the story time part of the program.
Please register here
.
We'll meet every Thursday through May 14.
Friday Fun with Miss Lori's Puzzle/Challenges --Join Miss Lori this week, starting
May 1,
for Fun Fridays by sending in your favorite joke. Here's mine: Where do the cows go on Friday nights? To the moo-vies.
Tuesday Lego Challenges --
May the 4th be with you again on the 5th. On May 5, we're calling all Jedis, Wookiees and intergalactic travelers! Build a Star Wars inspired creation, then post your pics on the Library's Facebook page or email them to Miss Amanda.
Be sure to look for another newsletter, coming out on
Wed., May 6, for next week's fun programs with Miss Amanda!
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Teen Reads, Tips, & To-Dos
Each week, we'll share new and notable books, tips on topics and resources relating to you, or themed craft
and activity ideas to help you get through this tough time.
This Week's Spotlight: Science Fiction
2020 BEST SCI-FI PICKS FROM
YALSA
The Kingdom
by Jess Rothenberg
Ana, a half-android, half-human employee of a futuristic fantasy theme park, the Kingdom, faces a charge of murder in a tale told through flashbacks and court transcripts. Westworld for teens. Grades 8-12.
Check
ebook
availability.
Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah
Enduring a subterranean existence beneath the ruins of a submerged London at the end of the 21st century, a teen joins a prestigious submersible race in the hope of clearing her father's name before unexpected corruption exposes devastating truths. Grades 8-
12.
Check
ebook
and
audiobook
availability.
SERIES STARTERS
The Angel Experiment
by James Patterson
(Maximum Ride, Book 1)
After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "birdkids," who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose. Grades 7-12. Check
ebook
and
audiobook
availability.
Mortal Engines
by Philip Reeve
(Mortal Engines, Book 1)
In the distant future, when cities move about and consume smaller towns, a 15-year-old apprentice is pushed out of London by the man he most admires and must seek answers in the perilous Out-Country, aided by one girl and the memory of another. Grades 7-12.
Check
ebook
and
audiobook
availability.
Unearthed
by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
(Unearthed, Book 1)
Scholar Jules Addison and scavenger Amelia Radcliffe join forces to unravel secrets of a long-extinct civilization, only to discover something that could spell the end of the human race.
Grades 8-12. Check ebook and audiobook availability.
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo and all things Mexican!
Cinco de Mayo, observed on May 5, is often mistaken for Mexican Independence Day, but instead commemorates the Mexican army's victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican war in 1862.
Here are four ways you can experience the culture and heritage of Mexico right from home:
4. Craft an Ojo de Dios, or God's Eye. These ancient protective and spiritual symbols were made by the Huichol Indians of Mexico to help them connect to the natural world. For a more in-depth tutorial, log into Creativebug with your Middleborough Library card and search "God's Eye."
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"Your Two Cents Worth"--
Quick Tips to Help Manage
Your Account
Look here for tips to help you manage your library account from home.
1.
Suspending your holds: Did you know you can place a hold on a library item any time but request that it be sent to you weeks or months from now? When placing a hold on that book or DVD you heard about but don't have time to read/watch right now, you have the option to choose the date you want it sent out to our Library. Just
log into your SAILS account and place a hold like you normally would, then go into "My Account" and view your holds. Check the box next to the items you want to suspend, then click the "Edit/Suspend Holds" button above your list. Select the current date to start the suspension, and the date you'd like the item to be shipped out to the Library. The item will arrive about a week after your "end suspension" date.
2.
What happened to items I ordered before the Library closed?
OK, you're thinking. I didn't know there was going to be a pandemic, and placed
a lot of things on hold without suspending them before you closed. Don't fear. SAILS has got you covered. Items that had arrived at the Library for you
before
we closed are still there and will remain there for pickup until May 15, assuming we're open by then. Items placed on hold
after
the closure have not been shipped, but will be delivered once we re-open.
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"Silly Shots" Photo Contest
Every week in April, we've asked you to submit your pictures on our Facebook page with a different weekly theme. Well, now we have some news.
The bad news? The stay-at-home order is still under effect in Massachusetts.
The good news? With the Library unable to welcome you back inside yet, we're going to keep this contest going online into May.
For the final contest in April, we're calling all of your furry family members. Starting on Wed., April 29, share the love by posting a picture of you
and/or your pet (or stuffed animal, if you don't have a live one) on our Facebook page.
You'll have seven days to post your pic, and every submission will be entered in a drawing to win one of five $10 Amazon gift cards, to be awarded once we re-open.
One entry per person per week, please.
Keep your eye out for
snaps from our staff, too.
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This Week's Marvelous
Museum Pass"
Did you know that there's truth to the old adage, "laughter is the best medicine?" Well, it's true. Laughing releases endorphins into your body and helps reduce levels of stress.
If there was ever a time when we could all use a good laugh, it's now, so this week's virtual museum visit takes us to Jamestown, NY, birthplace of Lucille Ball and the home of the National Comedy Center. You can experience the healing power of laughter from the comfort of home with online exhibits like "The Stand-up Lounge," "Laughing Matters," and "Late-Night."
Start here with a video about the late-night host's monologue featuring brief clips of hosts from Johnny Carson and David Letterman to Jimmy Kimmel.
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Boredom Busters
In each of our April newsletters we've offered you something silly and/or fun to do here.
For April 29, we look to the outdoors for the hope that warmer weather and sunnier days can bring to our souls. Many organizations, like the National Gardening Association (NGA), are offering tips on getting a home garden started.
The NGA writes, "Gardening during a pandemic is for everyone, regardless of whether you live in an apartment or on a large farm. Victory Gardens during WWII supplied homes with fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs, and Pandemic Gardens today can do the same. Gardening also gets you out in the fresh air (while respecting social distancing), adds positive energy into your life, gives you something fun to do, and gives a new activity that the whole family can participate in." Here's a good place to start for beginners.
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"Book Blurbs" --
What We've
Been
Reading While Home
Every week, we're bringing you a brief Book Blurb from the staff to fill you in on what they've been reading. This week we bring you a duo of reviews from some of our library technicians.
Library Technician Amy Woodward--
Into Thin Air,
by Jon Krakauer (1997)
Into Thin Air
is the true story detailing a Mount Everest climb taken by the author and many other climbers which quickly turns to disaster. I found Krakauer's writing to be immersive yet elusive at the same time - there is no lack of detail about the situation at hand, yet it seems intensely, painfully clear that it's a completely different world when you're over 29,000 feet in the sky. As I read, I found myself shivering with the climbers and wondering to myself what would I do if I was standing in their boots. It's a book about dreams, perseverance, survival, and ultimately one man's attempt to make sense of it all once it's over.
Available in both ebook and audio book format
here
.
Library Technician Kaye Duquette - -
Uncanny Valley: A Memoir, by Anna Wiener (2020)
When author Wiener eagerly took a nebulous "contractor" job at an eBook app startup, she didn't know what she was getting herself into. This unfamiliarity allowed her to approach her strange new environment with the distance of an anthropologist studying an isolated culture.
I can't get enough of memoirs written by Silicon
Valley "refugees," especially by former employees who spent their tech days feeling like square (j)pegs. In droll and incisive prose, Wiener tells her story and gives readers an observational explanation, assessment, and, resultantly, indictment of the general culture of tech startups, and of their impact on the broader cultures of American business, politics, and interpersonal relationships.
Place a hold on either the ebook or audio book versions of this title here.
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Musical Moment
of
the Week
Here's another online musical collaboration, created while in
quarantine by 80 different c
ast members and musicians from multiple productions of "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" playing in theaters around the world.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy the incredible creativity, skill, and technology that made this possible. Just click here.
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Did You Know...?
Get to know a little bit more about our staff this April.
Which staff member
states that her favorite song is "Dream On" by Aerosmith, and
professes a love of rock spanning the decades from Beck, Train, and Cage the Elephant to Santana, Lady Gaga, and Elton John?
Never one to be compartmentalized, she also adores musical theater and has seen almost every notable Broadway show ever produced.
Would you be surprised to learn it's none other than Library Technician Sharon Davis? For more than 20 years, "Miss Sharon" has been a beloved presence in the Children's Room. She loves helping young people use the library, spreading her joy of reading and literature.
When she's not "raising the roof" at TD Garden, Sharon
also can be found in her third "home"-- the classroom, teaching 9th and 10th graders at Bridgewater High School. You might guess, from the picture to the right, that her favorite place to be outside of work is the beach.
Sharon's sense of humor, big heart and love for the Library and our youngest patrons shines through in everything she does.
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Book News From Around the Country: Fantastic Fiction
Fantastic Fiction (FF) is an online catalog of authors and books for those of you who are devoted fans of reading fiction. This site has several really useful features:
1. Author Pages:
Each author has their own page so you can see everything they've written and, what we love, it's presented in the order in which they were published. It also includes any new or forthcoming books.
2. Series: Each series is listed in sequence on the authors' pages. In addition, if you follow a series written by many different authors, like the Star Wars novels, you can find them by using the drop-down menu on the home page search box.
3. Discover new authors:
FF can help you find new authors in two ways. Start by scrolling down to the bottom of each author's page. There, you'll find both the author's recommended reads and titles other readers have suggested that you might enjoy.
We're guessing these two gentlemen never had a parent tell them to "get your nose out of book and go do something!" Although good for a chuckle, we do NOT endorse using all those old books around your house as a face mask.
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COVID-19 Critical Content
We know you've got lots of sites where you can go to get information on the Coronavirus pandemic, so each week, we'll provide links to a few trusted and respected sources.
1.
COVID-19 Testing: Everything
you need to know about testing for COVID-19 in Massachusetts. Click here.
2. Now that the CDC recommends everyone wear a face
mask
in public when
social distancing isn't possible, look
here
for their recommendations about how to properly wear, wash, and safely remove one.
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Lost Your Card?
If you've lost your library card, or just can't find it right now, and want to tap into all of the great online library resources,
SAILS has got you covered. You can register online for a temporary card that will work for two months. Click
here
to register for a temporary card. Once we open, you'll have to come visit to get a permanent card, but this will allow you to access all we have to offer in the meantime.
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Middleborough Public Library
102 North Main St., Middleborough, MA 02346
508-946-2470
Currently -- Closed until further notice, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When we re-open:
Monday--Thursday: 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Sundays: noon - 4:00 p.m.
Closed on Fridays
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