News You Can Use
from
your
library
April 2020
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Springtime in Vermont
credit: creative commons - bobw235
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To Friends and Patrons,
Jennifer Belton, former director and stalwart supporter of NWPL, sent me an article by Michael Geerson, "When We Come to the End of our Strength the Universe Will Hold Us." [
Washington Post
3/23/20.] And I wanted to share it with you and hope you find comfort in the following excerpts:
"Can the quiet serve some constructive purpose? Not the kind of purpose found in reorganizing your spice rack, but in living a better life. Can the silence also bring some contentment, serenity and peace?
"Here I can only speak from experience and respond with a hearty: Maybe. Occasionally. Partially.
"The mind is like a whirling hamster wheel of worry and ambition. Stopping it for just a moment to focus on the moment — on the hidden beauty of just being — is a healthy act. It feels like the reset that results from interrupting a circuit.
"There is refuge in inhabiting — even for a few moments — a calm, grateful, embodied present. And it would improve our lives if we lived there more often. We are facing an unprecedented threat, but facing it together, with medical advances beyond the dreams of previous eras. We can continue large chunks of our lives in virtual ways. We can be present to one another through extraordinary technologies. These are reasons for gratitude.
"There is a wonderful, simple poem ('First Lesson') by Philip Booth about teaching his daughter to float in the ocean that concludes: 'As you float now, where I held you/ and let go, remember when fear/cramps your heart what I told you:/ lie gently and wide to the light-year/ stars, lie back, and the sea will hold you.'
"We should oppose it [fear] with all we have, for as long as we can. But when we come to the end of our strength and lie back, the universe will hold us.
Kathy Beaird
Interim Co-Director
Norman Williams Public Library
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What's On Your Nightstand
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Meets the first Tuesday of every month except July-August. To find out more,
click here.
Tuesday, April 14,
will be held online. Registration is limited
.
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Recite! Tuesday, April 7, 5:30 pm online - Registration needed
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Recite! meets the first Tuesday of each month. This month, for the first time, we will meet online using Zoom. If you wish to attend or participate, please email Meg at
meg@normanwilliams.org by Monday, April 6. "Seating" is limited to 20. You will then receive an email with a link to participate.
Professional poets, amateurs, and first-timers all join in, as well as those who want to just come and listen. Join us in celebrating the spoken word! Bring along original and/or favorite works.
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Norman Williams Public Library
Youth Book Discussions and Preschool Storytime
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On April 6, we will begin hosting bi-weekly children’s book discussions.
Have you read any good books lately? What are you reading now? What do you want to read? Join us to discuss all things books. The first groups will meet:
- Monday, April 6, at 3:30 pm - children ages 9-11,
- Tuesday, April 7, at 3:30 pm - children 12-14.
- Tuesdays, 10:30 am - weekly Preschool storytime
Each session will be about 45 minutes long and hosted on Zoom. If you're interested, please contact Clare McFarland
clare@normanwilliams.org
and we will send you an invitation to join us at the appropriate time.
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With kids at home and parents looking for educational activities, many of our favorite authors are offering
online read-alouds and activities
on social media. We’ve rounded up over 50 of the best virtual author activities below!
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Book Lovers: Reviews
NWPL patron, avid reader, and former librarian
Janis Murcic
penned a brief review of one of her recent reads,
Victim 2117
A Department Q Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen.
The latest in the Department Q crime series, "Victim 2117," may well be Danish writer Jussi Adler-Olsen's most riveting, nuanced story of present-day global terrorism which has Detective Morck and his colleague Assad caught up in thwarting an international terrorist plot in Germany, while other colleagues in Copenhagen work frantically to prevent domestic terrorism. The drama is all the more compelling because Adler-Olsen succeeds in convincing the reader that his psychological portraits of the terrorists committed to violence at any cost indeed feel real and authentic. -
Submitted by: Janis Murcic
Watch for more book reviews here -- and send us one of yours!
What's on Your Nightstand?
Recommendations from participants in the March reading group.
Click here to read or save
for future reference. Did you miss February's group recommendations? Click here for
February's
.
Lit Hub
(
https://lithub.com
) is a site readers can rely on for smart, engaged, entertaining writing about all things books.
(highly recommended by staff!)
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Friends Don't Let Friends Pass Up a Great Bookstore
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Did you know you can "self-respond" to the US Census?
You don't have to wait to get a form in the mail. Just go to the
2020 Census website
and click "respond now." It only takes about 10 minutes.
School lunches. Plans for highways. Support for firefighters and families in need. Census results affect your community every day.
Vermont receives around $2.5 billion dollars in Census guided federal funds, that works out to about $3,963 per person
. Making sure we count every person in Vermont during this 2020 Census matters a lot.
SHAPE YOUR FUTURE. It starts with each of us doing our part. We do this by completing the 2020 Census questionnaire. You can do it online or by phone.
You can complete the questionnaire at any time
without the census ID by going to the official Census website,
my2020Census.gov
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What Staff Meetings Look Like Now!
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This week's photo comes to us from staff member Meg Brazill, showing a recent staff meeting via videoconference.
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"Art is always a refuge for me and even more so in this vortex of isolation. I wanted to share with you six amazing art exhibits and installations that are closed but you can still view on Google Arts and Culture."
"Start with
Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s “Floating Piers” across Lake Iseo in Italy. You can “walk” on water! Or explore Alcatraz with Chinese artist Ai Wei-Wei as he encourages a dialogue about liberty and justice, personal rights and responsibilities inside one of America’s most visited National Parks." - submitted by Meg Brazill
image:
Floating Piers
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Resources: Free eBooks and Audiobooks
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As always, you have online access to
ebooks
and
audiobooks
through the
Green Mountain Library Consortium
or through
Libby
. Click on any of the underlined links in this email to find the respective website.
Guess what? We now have
added
items that
only NWPL patrons can view. That means you can access some books faster and be able to choose from more books.
Do you
need help
setting up an account, remembering your library card number, or help using one of these systems? If so, please call or
email
the library and we will get back to you as soon as we can! The library can be a great resource, especially when it's necessary to spend time indoors.
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Useful and Important Sites During COVID-19
VT Dept of Health Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Keeping Woodstock Safe
Daybreak
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Questions? Please call us at 802.457.2295 or
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Norman Williams Public Library
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