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- The Concord Free Public Library will be closed from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. on Friday, May 10 for staff training.
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The Makerspace Workshop is open on Saturdays from 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
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In this issue: Library Sustainability Certification - Poetry at the Library - Adult Programs - Virtual Films at Fowler - Special Collections Programs - Gallery Exhibition - Scholarship Opportunities - Children's Programs - Special Collections Highlights
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We Are Now a Certified Sustainable Library - the First in Massachusetts! | |
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The Concord Free Public Library has been designated a “Certified Sustainable Library” through the Sustainable Libraries Initiative’s (SLI) award-winning Sustainable Library Certification Program.
From the SLI Press Release - After joining the Sustainable Library Certification Program in 2022 as a component of their ambitious 5-year sustainability plan, the Concord Free Public Library has successfully achieved certification. Their work with the Sustainable Libraries Initiative officially began in February 2023, and has demonstrated tremendous growth that transcends the walls of their library: bringing awareness and motivation for sustainable practices to their entire community.
On certification, Concord Library’s Green Team Chair Reni Cunningham (front row, second from the right) said: “The Concord Free Public Library has made sustainability a priority since 2020. When the SLI opened up the certification process to include libraries outside of New York, we saw it as the perfect framework for our sustainability goals and as an opportunity to set an example here in Massachusetts. I am very proud of the hard work accomplished by the Library's staff Green Team and grateful for the Concord community's support that has empowered us to acquire this certification, the first of its kind in Massachusetts!” (Links and picture/note were added for this newsletter.)
[Read the Complete Press Release from the Sustainable Library Initiative]
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Poetry at the Library: Charles Coe, John Hodgen & Henry Walters
Sunday, May 5, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Goodwin Forum, Main Library
Join us at our capstone event for the 2023-24 season with nationally acclaimed poets Charles Coe, John Hodgen, and Henry Walters. The poets will read and engage in a Q & A, followed by book signings and light refreshments.
Charles Coe, poet, prose writer, musician (vocals and didgeridoo) and filmmaker, reads from his newest collection, Purgatory Road (Leapfrog Press 2023), “a contemporary urban Spoon River Anthology” writes poet and critic Richard Hoffman. John Hodgen, the Writer-in-Residence at Assumption University in Worcester, MA, and Advisory Editor for New Letters at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, reads from his sixth collection, What We May Be (Lynx House Press 2024) described as “a cry of love and pain (and he makes them almost indistinguishable) on behalf of the human race, its history, its future, its lovely possibilities that seem always out of reach." Henry Walters reads from his second poetry collection The Nature Thief (The Waywiser Press 2022), finalist for the Sixteenth Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize.
Poetry at the Library is sponsored by the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library. [Register for Poetry Reading]
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Meet Cute Book Club
Thursday, June 13, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Trustees Room, Main Library
This is a new Book Group - Join Library staff and discuss the most lucrative genre in publishing: romance. From contemporary rom-coms to romantasy to Regency romance, we will try an array of different subgenres. This month we will discuss Delilah Green Doesn't Care, an FF contemporary romance by Ashley Herring Blake. Mocktails (non-alcoholic) will be served at the meeting. [Register for Romance Book Club]
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The Kid with a Bike (2011)
Wednesday, May 8, 7:00 p.m.
(Discussion Date on Zoom)
Abandoned by his father and left in state care, an eleven-year-old boy spends his days trying to reach his father, either by phone or on his beloved bicycle. Unsuccessful, he finds a new friend in the town’s hairdresser (Cécile de France), a caring stranger who agrees to foster the boy on weekends. Co-winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes.
Please watch the film on Kanopy before the discussion. To register for the discussion and receive a Zoom link, send an email to the Coordinator of the program Randall Warniers at FilmsatFowler@concordlibrary.org. This series is sponsored by the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library.
[View Spring 2024 Films at Fowler Calendar]
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A Special Collections Program | |
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The Life of Benjamin Ralph Kimlau - A Presentation by Lt. Col. Geoffrey Love
Thursday, May 16, 6:00 —7:30 p.m.
Goodwin Forum, Main Library
Benjamin Ralph Kimlau (金勞少尉) (April 11, 1918 – March 5, 1944) was a Chinese American aviator and United States Air Force bomber pilot and native son of Concord. Kimlau was born in Concord on April 10, 1918, and lived in the area until he was 14. His father was a chemist, and his mother was an interpreter who had moved to the area from San Francisco.
The family later moved to New York City, and after a visit to China, he studied at Pennsylvania Military College in Chester, Pennsylvania, from 1938 to 1942. Upon graduation, he was promoted to Field Artillery 2nd Lieutenant. With America at war, Kimlau joined the US Army Field Artillery but later transferred to the United States Army Air Forces 380th Bombardment Group of the Fifth Air Force. After training as a pilot, he was stationed at Fenton Airfield in Australia. In Australia, Kimlau flew a B-24 Liberator bomber in missions during the New Guinea campaign. Lt. Benjamin Ralph Kimlau and his entire crew perished during their final mission at Los Negros Island in March 1944. The 380th Bombardment Group was awarded two Presidential Unit Citations for their outstanding performance and gallantry in battle.
Lt. Col. Geoffrey Love of the Massachusetts National Guard has done extensive research to reconstruct what we know of Kimlau's family and the well-documented details of his final mission.
This event is co-sponsored by Concord250, The Massachusetts National Guard Museum and Archives and The Concord Free Public Library's William Munroe Special Collections. [Register for Benjamin Ralph Kimlau Event]
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Munroe Gallery May Exhibition | |
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Art of the Korean Calligraphy (한글 서예 전시)
May 4 - 31, 2024
Munroe Gallery, Main Library
The exhibition features Korean Calligraphy scrolls and books by Seong Ryul Chung and his students. Seong Ryul Chung is a calligraphy teacher at the New England Korean School in Newton where he has been teaching for over 18 years. Seung Ryul Chung grew up in the atmosphere of Confucius Scholastic. He started calligraphy at the age of 13 and practiced various calligraphy styles. His style is influenced by Ahn Jin-kyung.
Opening Reception is Saturday, May 4, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. in the Munroe Gallery, followed by a Calligraphy Demo in the Commons, next to the Children's Library.
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Scholarship Application Deadline Extended | |
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The Williams Scholarship Committee, an initiative of the Concord Free Public Library Corporation, is still accepting scholarship applications from college-bound High School Seniors residing in Concord, MA, for this year's The Charles Williams Scholarship for Excellence in Music and The Charles Williams Scholarship for Excellence in the Visual Arts.
The amount of each Scholarship for Excellence in Music or for Excellence in the Visual Arts will range from $3,000 to $5,000. Scholarship awards received by Williams Scholars may be renewable annually for the remainder of the student’s undergraduate career.
The deadline for applications for both scholarships has been extended to May 7, 2024. [Read More About the Scholarships and How to Apply]
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Children's Programs at the Main Library | |
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Spring Storytime Schedule
All storytimes are drop-in.
Mondays: Musical Monday at 10:30 a.m.
Tuesdays: Crafty Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. and Sensory-Friendly Storytime at 4:00 p.m.
Wednesdays: Toddler Time at 10:30 a.m. and Baby Snugglebugs Storytime at 11:30 a.m.
Thursdays: Storytime at 10:30 a.m.
Fridays: Alphabet Storytime at 10:30 a.m.
Saturdays: Yoga & Movement Storytime at 10:30 a.m.
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Korean Family Month: Calligraphy Demo & Alphabet Workshop
Saturday, May 4, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Children's Activity Room, Main Library
Join teacher Gia Kang in the Activity Room for a Hangul | 한글 (Korean language) alphabet workshop. There will be a live calligraphy demonstration (붓글씨 구경) by Seong Youl Chung on the Social Stairs outside of the Children's Library following the workshop. This alphabet workshop aims to familiarize participants with the basics of Hangul | 한글 as a unique phonetic writing system. Participants will learn to read and write simple Korean words. No registration required.
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Fowler Branch Children's Programs | |
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Storytime with Author Bunmi Emenanjo
Saturday, May 4, 3:00 - 3:45 p.m.
Meeting Room, Fowler Branch
Join author Bunmi Emenanjo and Barefoot Books for a special storytime - Bunmi will share her debut picture book I'll See You in Ijebu, illustrated by Diana Ejaita. In it, a Catholic girl growing up in the bustling city of Lagos, Nigeria takes a trip to spend a week with her Muslim extended family in the countryside town of Ijebu to celebrate Eid al-Adha. Her days in Ijebu are filled with celebrations, traditions and special time connecting with family. [Register for Storytime]
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West Concord Family Bike Fest at Bradford Mill
Sunday, May 5, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Bradford Mill (43 Bradford St, the back parking lot)
Grab your helmets and water bottles, and pedal on over to Bradford Mill. We will have bike safety courses and tips, bike checks, bike decorating, and more. Get ready for Safe Routes to School's Bike to School events in early May. We will have skill-building workshops beginning at 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. for children of all skill levels. [Register for Bike Fest]
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Highlights from Special Collections: Rest in Peace, Henry! | |
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Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817–May 6, 1862)
"The country knows not yet, or in the least part, how great a son it has lost. It seems an injury that he should leave in the midst his broken task, which none else can finish, —a kind of indignity to so noble a soul, that it should depart out of Nature before yet he has been really shown to his peers for what he is. But he, at least, is content. His soul was made for the noblest society; he had in a short life exhausted the capabilities of this world; wherever there is knowledge, wherever there is virtue, wherever there is beauty, he will find a home."
An excerpt of Ralph Waldo Emerson's tribute to Henry David Thoreau, August 1862 issue of The Atlantic Monthly.
When Thoreau died on May 6, 1862, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a short obituary that appeared two days later in the Boston Daily Advertiser. Funeral services, organized by Bronson Alcott, were held at Concord's First Parish, on May 9, where Alcott read passages from Thoreau’s writings, Ellery Channing wrote a hymn, and Emerson delivered the eulogy. Thoreau was buried in the family plot at Concord's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.
Emerson revised and expanded his address for the Atlantic Monthly, published in August 1862. After additional revision, the address served as the introduction to Thoreau's Excursions, which Emerson helped to edit in 1863. Finally, Emerson's "Thoreau "was included in the twenty-volume Houghton Mifflin "Walden Edition" (1906) of Thoreau's writings.
Special Collections holds the largest and most important collection of primary Thoreau material in New England and extensive collections documenting Concord as Thoreau knew it. The Library's Special Collections include Thoreau's "Walking" in manuscript, nearly 200 land and property surveys by Thoreau, his volume of surveying field notes, and a series of more than 350 letters from early Thoreau scholar Samuel Arthur Jones to Alfred Winslow Hosmer of Concord.
Concord's collections also include important examples of Thoreau iconography, such as the famous 1854 crayon portrait by Samuel Worcester Rowse and photographic records of Thoreau's Concord, among which are thousands of images by Alfred Winslow Hosmer and Herbert Wendell Gleason. In addition, the H.D. Thoreau Collection includes more than forty books, many presented by Thoreau’s sister Sophia, once belonging to Thoreau or members of his family.
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