We have added back six passes to area institutions. Procedures have changed for most passes. Please see below for special instructions.
Book all passes online through library website, then follow the institution-specific instructions below:
Zoo New England (Stone & Franklin Park) (paper pass): $9 adult, $6 child (up to 6 people).
New England Aquarium (paper pass): 50% off (up to 4 people).
Museum of Science (e-pass): 50% off (up to 4 people)
Museum of Fine Arts (e-pass): $10 (up to 2 adults, children are free)
USS Constitution Museum (paper pass): Free (up to 9 people)
Massachusetts State Parks (pass needs to be returned): Free Parking (1 vehicle)
If you have any questions about passes, please call the library at 781-324-0218.
Make way for Duckling! The weather is getting warmer, flowers and buds are forming, and Panda’s friend duckling is making his grand entrance. Call now to reserve a take and make kit to have a duckling friend of your very own. Call for curbside pick up at 781-324-0218.
YA Adults in the 5th-12th grade join us online to watch a brand new film via zoom, based on the Popular video game series “Monster Hunter”. Starring Milla Jovovitch and Tony Jaa as they gigantic fight monsters in a fantasy world.
This is an online screening and you can join the zoom call by clicking on the link below Friday April 2nd at 3:00 PM:
https://zoom.us/j/92605063612
Young Adults in the 5th through 12th grade its time to destress from school and relax from IRL with free library coloring book bags. Call us at 781-324-0218 starting tomorrow at 10:00 AM to reserve your bag with 6 pages and either color pencils or markers. We have character pages of chibi fantasy art or from the mange “Boku no Hīrō Akademia”
Please limit of one bag per household and feel free to share. Supplies are limited so call and reserve yours this week!
Join Librarians Patrick and Jean to play games online!
These games can be played online and all you need to be able to play is have a computer or smart phone and a way to join the Zoom call. The games are about 20-30 minutes each and skew towards humor, drawing games and trivia topics.
Zoom link is here: https://zoom.us/j/96062012638
YA Adults in the 5th-12th grade join us online to watch a brand new animated film in the DC universe as Batman returns to his roots and trains in martial arts. This is an online screening and you can join the zoom call by clicking on the link below Friday March 5th at 3:00 PM.
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/99426350165
Librarian Jean recommends African American poetry anthologies in this week’s 5 in 5. Check out these and more books by Black poets in our catalog.
If you watched the Inauguration on Wednesday you got to hear National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman read her poem “The Hill we Climb.” And on a day of speeches and performances by many famous people, her poem reminds us how important words and the arts are to our national identity.
While it is not entirely a tradition, the choice to feature a poet or writer at the Inauguration has been a personal choice by several Presidents. John F. Kennedy was the first to invite a poet when he asked Robert Frost to read at his inauguration on January 20th, 1961. Since then only five other poets have had the honor of speaking at this important event. The list includes: Maya Angelou, Miller Williams, Elizabeth Alexander, Richard Blanco and of course Robert Frost and Amanda Gorman. Their inclusion signals a willingness to honor arts and literature as a part of our national heritage and to remind us that literature can unite us in our shared humanity.
If you would like to read the poetry of past and present Inaugurations or would like to see the other works by these honored writers, follow the link to our Bibliocommons list to request works by these remarkable writers. See what these poets felt and wrote that inspired Presidents and people past and present. Also included at the bottom of the post are recordings from each inaugural reading. So watch and listen to the authors reading words at the Capitol.
Robert Frost on January 20, 1961 at the Inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. The Poem is “The Gift Outright” which had a dedication written for the occasion that Frost was unable to read because of the glare, so he recited the poem itself from memory.
Maya Angelou on January 20, 1993 at the first Inauguration of President Bill Clinton. The poem is “On the Pulse of Morning”.
Miller Williams on January 20, 1997 at the second Inauguration of President Bill Clinton. The poem is “Of History and Hope”.
Elizabeth Alexander on January 20, 2009 at the first inauguration of President Barack Obama. The poem is “Praise Song for the Day”.
Richard Blanco on January 20, 2013 at the second inauguration of President Barack Obama. The poem is “One Today”.
Amanda Gorman on January 20, 2021 at the Inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. The poems is: “The Hill we Climb”.