JUNE 2020
In this issue
  • Curbside pickup of library materials
  • Fresh Air Book Shop
  • Ongoing Fresh Air Plant Sale
  • Adult Summer Reading Challenge
  • New CLAMS app
  • Trivia Night
  • Adult Storytime
  • Meet the Author: Lauren Wolk
  • Nature Tidbits
  • Poetry Reading
  • Storywalks
  • YMCA Summer Lunch @ Sturgis Library
  • Not Your Average Summer Reading Program
  • Create miniature books for our collection
  • July Garden Tours

Even though we're not open for inside visits right now, there's so much coming up this summer at Sturgis Library -- for all ages. You won't want to miss a minute!

Read on!
Curbside pickup has begun!
We're happy to announce that Sturgis Library is now offering curbside pickup of books, movies, music, magazines, and other items. In order to make this system work, we need need your help and cooperation.

Staff members are working on a staggered basis on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in order to observe social distancing guidelines. Curbside service will only be available on those days to begin with. Staff will be taking all required precautions to ensure your materials are safe to pick up. All curbside staff are wearing masks, and bags used will have been quarantined for the time period recommended by the CDC.

  • We are filling new hold requests as well as requests made by phone at 508-362-6636 or by email at sturgislibrary@comcast.net. You can place holds on library materials through the CLAMS online catalog using your library card barcode and PIN number. If you are unsure of your PIN number, please contact us. We will respond within 48 hours.
  • Requests are filled in the order in which they were received. Because of our reduced schedule, you may need to wait a number of days before receiving your items.
  • Staff will call you to schedule a time frame for you to pick up your items. Any items not picked up during that time frame will be removed and rescheduled.
  • Please wait for staff to call you before coming to the Library. We will not fill unscheduled service requests.
  • If you are feeling unwell in any way, please do not come and pick up your items. Let us know and we will hold them until you are well.
  • Your items will be placed on a table on the patio near the Library entrance in a bag with your name on it. The items have been checked out to you, and a date due slip will be inside the bag.
  • If someone else is retrieving their items at the same time, please wait until they finish their pick-up before retrieving your materials.
  • All library patrons MUST wear a mask and gloves during pickup.
  • For those who are unable to pick their materials up, we are offering limited front-step home delivery to patrons in Barnstable Village, Cummaquid, West Barnstable, and Yarmouth Port. Please call us at 508-362-6636 or send an email to sturgislibrary@comcast.net. Please request this only if circumstances make it difficult for you to pick your materials up yourself.
  • You can return your library materials in the book drop. If you have items to return that do not fit in the book drop, there will be a bin in front of the book drop for you to place those items. We ask that no one remove items from this bin. All returned items are being quarantined for a period of time before being reshelved or recirculated.
  • Please keep in mind that at this time we can only fill holds placed on items that are in the Sturgis Library's collections. The statewide delivery service between libraries has not yet restarted. You can place holds on items not owned by Sturgis Library, but you may need to pick them up at the owning library.
  • Other libraries on the Cape will be also be providing limited services in the weeks ahead. What each library can offer is dependent on their staffing, their building, and other factors. Please check with other libraries to learn what services they may be offering. Contact information for the CLAMS member libraries can be found HERE.
Fresh Air Curbside Book Shop
In addition to curbside pickup, we are offering our Fresh Air Book Shop on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Carts of Book Shop selections will be available on the patio. We would kindly ask that you observe the same rules as Curbside Pickup -- wear a mask, and wait until the area is clear before you shop. We also kindly ask you to make a donation of cash or check (amount of your choice) if you take books -- envelopes will be available to make your donation, which you can put in the book drop. Our Book Shop revenue is a vital part of our annual fundraising efforts.

We have had a number of questions about donating books and other items at this time, since many of you have spent the last few months spring cleaning. In order to comply with social distancing guidelines, we will not be able to accept donations of books or other items until we reopen our building. Then all donations of materials will be greatly appreciated!
Fresh Air Curbside Plant Sale
Our annual Plant and Garden Sale, which was scheduled for June 6th, has had to be cancelled, but we know that many of you have been dividing and potting up plants and doing lots of gardening.

We will be holding an ongoing Fresh Air Curbside Plant Sale on the patio of the Library. We welcome donations of plants of all kinds. If you wish to donate plants, please pot them up and label the pots with the variety and growing conditions (shade/sun). Also, please price your plants -- decide on a reasonable price that also allows the Library to raise money. The sale will start as soon as we have enough plants. It will be held every day until all plants are sold.

Call the Library at 508-362-6636 or email us at sturgislibrary@comcast.net, and we will set up a time for you to deliver your plants.

The rules of the Fresh Air Plant Sale will be the same as for curbside pickup and the Fresh Air Book Shop. One person at a time will be allowed to shop. Payment should be in cash (preferred) or check, so stop at the ATM before you stop by. Envelopes will be provided for you to make your payment and leave it in the book drop.
Sturgis Library Adult Summer Reading Challenge
Introducing the new CLAMS app
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Sturgis Library is happy to introduce the new CLAMS Library Network app!

Available for  iOS  and  Android , this app has a broad range of features and functions that will make your library experience a whole lot simpler.

The app makes it easy to browse the CLAMS libraries' collections, get details on items, make a selection, place a hold for later pickup, and even renew items previously checked out.

You can check out eBooks and eAudiobooks with the touch of a button, then listen to them in the  Libby  or  OverDrive  app.

If you’re on the go and searching for the nearest CLAMS library, check out the Library Info feature, which shows location addresses and hours nearest to you with links to their websites. CLAMS has also added the Featured Lists so you can browse Top Requests, Coming Soon titles or New York Times Bestsellers and request the ones you want.

The Manage Accounts tool lets you add multiple library cards — a great feature for families! Don’t have a library card? Request one through the app.

Available now in the  App Store  and  Google Play Search for the CLAMS Library Network to download to your mobile device.

This app replaces the current app which is no longer supported as of May 1.
Trivia Night!!!
Tuesday, June 30th, 2020 @ 6:30 PM

Join us for our Digital Trivia !!! We'll be asking participants a series of 25 questions from a range of categories (history, nature, pop culture, etc...) to prove who is the Sturgis Library Trivia Champion.

To sign up, email Corey at SturgisReference@comcast.net.

This trivia night will take place through Zoom. Before signing on, make sure you have a piece of paper numbered 1 through 25 and a writing utensil. This program is for adults and teens ages 14 and up.
Adult Story Time With...
On Monday nights at 7PM, July-October, join us for a digital story time for adults. Award winning authors from many different genres will be reading a complete story or self-contained chapter of their novel through ZOOM. A Q&A and digital book sale will follow. Registration is required.

Email sturgisreference@comcast.net to sign up.

Our first reader on July 6th will be Livia Llewellyn, who will read her Edgar Award winning mystery story, "One of These Nights."

Our second reader for July 13th will be Mary South, who will be reading from her amazing new short story collection, "You Will Never Be Forgotten."

Our third reader will be Isabel Yap, who will be reading from her upcoming speculative story collection, "Never Have I Ever."

Our fourth reader will be Gabino Igelsias, who will read from his award-winning work.

Check our web calendar here to learn the rest of the readers: https://www.sturgislibrary.org/events2/2020-07/
Meet the Author: Lauren Wolk
Thursday, July 9th, 2020 at 6:00 pm via Zoom

A multi-generational event for all to enjoy! Join Newbery Honor-winning and Scott O'Dell Award-winning author, Lauren Wolk via the virtual platform, Zoom! Lauren will be sharing a bit about her writing process and reading from her most recent novel, Echo Mountain . Participants will have an opportunity for questions, too! Registration is required. Please email Christy at sturgiskids@comcast.net
Nature Tidbits

Let’s learn about the plants, creatures, and nature that surrounds us on Cape Cod! Check out Sturgis Library’s Facebook or Instagram page every Sunday for one-minute Nature Tidbit videos for kiddos!
Poetry Reading with Stephan Delbos, Elizabeth Bradfield, and Al Starkey
Tuesday, July 7th, 2020 @ 6:30 PM

Join us for a digital poetry reading with Stephan Delbos, Elizabeth Bradfield, and Al Starkey! This program is free to the public. Email Corey at sturgisreference@comcast.net to sign up. This program will take place through Zoom.

Storywalks at
Sturgis Library
Every Wednesday beginning June 3rd, 2020

Come on down to Sturgis Library for an outdoor reading experience! Each week, a children's book will be deconstructed and the pages of the book will be laminated and placed on wooden stakes around the library grounds. Follow the trail and enjoy the story in the great outdoors! At the end of storywalk, there will be a grab-and-go bag of craft supplies for kiddos to create when they’re back home! 

Stakes will be placed six feet apart and we ask that storywalkers be mindful of social distancing regulations while walking the storywalk trail.
YMCA Summer Food Program
at Sturgis Library
Wednesdays 11:30-12:30 starting June 24th

Kiddos 18 years old and younger can swing by Sturgis Library every Wednesday starting June 24th for a free grab-and-go lunch! YMCA is proud to be serving the children in the Cape Cod community for over 12 years in a row!
Not Your Average
Summer Reading Program
June 22, 2020 – August 24, 2020

The world is a bit different these days but that’s no reason to put a freeze on Summer reading! Sign up and track your reading as the sweet summer days pass by!

To sign up, you can email Christy at sturgiskids@comcast.net – be sure to include your name and age in the email! OR you can fill out a form right outside the library and stick it in the box provided.

Once you’re signed up, you’ll receive a brief description of the program, your Summer Reading Log, a special bookmark, and a hanging star (you’ll learn about the hanging star once you sign up). These will be available for you to scoop up outside the Library near the front entrance.
 We Need Tiny Books for
Sturgis Library's Tiny Bookcase

The British Library is calling on children to write their own small books (about the size of a postage stamp), and Sturgis Library likes the idea so much, we want to do it, too! We invite children and adults to help us stock our tiny bookcase!

We can't wait to see the tiny books you create! It can be whatever you like-- a bedtime story, a factual book, a comic-style graphic novel, a recipe book, a sketchbook, or any other type of book!

We understand if you fall in love with your tiny book and want to keep it but if you’re able to part with your creation, we would LOVE to place your tiny book in our tiny bookcase at the library. You can mail your tiny book and a brief author bio to:

Sturgis Library
Attention: Tiny Bookshelf
PO Box 606
Barnstable, MA
02630

In addition to being displayed on our tiny bookcase, your tiny book could be featured on the library's social media pages!
 
There is no deadline for tiny book creation donations!
Sturgis Library's 2020 July Garden Tours
Sturgis Library’s 2020 garden tours, offered as part of the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival, include a wonderful variety of plantings and landscapes. This year plein air artists will be painting in some of the gardens – watch for them! New this year is our partnership with our neighbors as we feature the gardens of the Barnstable Historical Society and St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. 

The tours will be held on Saturday, July 11 th and Monday, July 13 th , 2020 from 10 am to 4 pm.
This is a rain or shine event. 
Admission is $5 per garden. Cash or check only.
Pay at each garden --
no need to purchase tickets in advance.

All attendees must wear masks, and observe proper social distancing rules.
 
The Genest’s Garden
116 Scudder's Lane, Barnstable Village

Visitors can't see this hidden garden from the street, but as you walk down the long driveway tucked into a turn of Scudder’s Lane, classic plantings of climbing hydrangea, daylilies, and perennials hint at your destination: a modern Queen Anne-styled shingle home and garden that sits directly on the marshes with spectacular, close-up views of surrounding Barnstable Harbor. Serene, shaded gardens flank the path to the front door, while in the back, borders of hydrangeas and perennials meld seamlessly with marsh cattails and Cape grasses. A variety of birds compete for housing in the unique birdhouses that punctuate the grounds, so keep an eye out for interesting birds.  Park at the top of the driveway along Scudder's Lane.


The Parke’s Garden
56 Deacon’s Court, Barnstable Village

Walk up the tree-shaded drive of this charming home and you will enter grounds dedicated to the gardening memories of generations! Enter through the white picket fence and you will be surrounded by perennial beds that incorporate the beloved species of parents and grandparents, as the homeowners have lovingly carried the plants from one home to the next when the armed services transferred them and their gardens across the United States. Clematis, heuchera, varieties of hydrangea (including compact, mopheads, and tree-form), Lucifer plant, and iris abound. A Spirit House from Bangkok shelters the premises and the owners have maintained meticulous schematics of all plantings, so any questions you may have regarding various species will find a ready answer! Sited on the former grounds of the Barnstable County Fairgrounds, this garden carries on the vintage traditions of historic Barnstable Village; one can sense the spirits of ghostly horse races and the preceding generations as one wends a way through these loving, nostalgic gardens.  Park on Deacon’s Court.


Maggie Crowley’s Garden
4181 Main Street, Cummaquid

Bought from Bert French in 1994, Maggie’s extensive historic property runs to 13 acres of mixed fields and woodlands, including Bert’s apple and peach orchards, his blueberry trees and grass fields bordered on the south side by railroad tracks, and his aptly named No Bottom Pond. Please avoid the latter! Maggie has added extensive gardens, mixing vegetables with annual and perennial flowerbeds. Despite a lack of hydrangeas, the gardens produce a riot of color, thanks in part to large clusters of crocosmia, scented lilies and giant dahlias.  Please park along the left side of the very long driveway, making sure to leave room for cars to pass.


Lisa Tulis Blair Memorial Garden
3087 Main Street, Barnstable Village
(Admission to this garden will be split between the Barnstable Historical Society and Sturgis Library)

This is a new garden in progress, attached to the Barnstable Historical Society at the Phinney/Jones House across from the Sturgis Library. A longtime Curator of the Society, Lisa Tulis Blair died on April 1, 2015, and the garden, a blend of grottos and woodland covering 2 ¾ acres, is in the process of being created in her memory. Villagers and Historical Society members have contributed everything from stone steps to three wooden birdhouses, while the local potter has donated a beautiful ceramic bird bath. The village blacksmith has created metal railings and volunteers have rebuilt the stone walls, bringing plant and tree offerings to the wild land as well as to the flower and herb border out back. Please wander along the meandering paths of this calm and peaceful space, to enjoy the results. Parking is available at Sturgis Library and St. Mary’s Church.


St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Gardens
3055 Main Street, Barnstable Village
(Admission to this garden will be split between the St. Mary’s and Sturgis Library)

Originally conceived in 1946 by Rev. Robert Wood Nicholson, St. Marys’ gardens are a hidden treasure of Barnstable Village. Every spring thousands of yellow daffodils bloom throughout the gardens, and as spring moves into summer each month brings a variety of colors that set off the water features, bridges, stonework, and sculptures. There is a lovely memorial garden tucked into the woods where visitors can remember loved ones. A walk through the gardens brings a sense of peace to all who visit there. Parking is available at the Church, or at Sturgis Library.

Please donate today
Sturgis Library has had to cancel three of our annual fundraising events due to the COVID-19 closure -- our spring Library Gathering, our Jewelry Sale, and our annual Plant and Garden Sale. We are unsure if we will have to cancel our fall fundraising events as well. In addition to the cancellations, we have lost the revenue from our Book Shop, which represents a substantial loss of income for us.

Sturgis Library is an independent nonprofit organization, not a Town department. We received only 40% of our funding from the Town of Barnstable in FY2020, and we have learned that our Town funding will be reduced in FY2021.

If you've never donated to the Library before, please consider making a donation now. And if you have donated already, please consider an additional donation to ensure that we can continue to provide quality service to he community.

Thank you so much.
Sturgis Library
3090 Main Street P.O. Box 606
Barnstable, MA 02630

www.sturgislibrary.org
sturgislibrary@comcast.net
508-362-6636