March 29, 2024

News & Notes from the Blanding Library

Posted

Library Temporarily Closed
As of this writing in late December, Goff Hall, including the Blanding Library, is temporarily closed to visitors due to high positivity rates for COVID-19 in our area. In order to protect the health and safety of our community and reduce transmission of COVID-19, please pick up books and other library materials curbside. We also ask that you continue to return library items directly into the book drop instead of to staff members.

Meeting space in both the library and Goff Hall remains unavailable at this time. Our ongoing book sale in the hall is on hold for now as well. At this time, items requested from other libraries will still be delivered. You will receive notification of their arrival as usual, and you can call the library to arrange for pick-up. For updated information, check the library’s website or call 508-252-4236.

Coming Up in January
Join Miss Joyce as her virtual Storytime Adventures continue through the winter months. Also, a new winter-themed Take & Make craft will be available to pick up soon.

 “Through Me to You” Puppetry with Newton will be back with new stories to tell and songs to sing. Put on your winter coat, hat and mittens to read Eileen Spinelli's picture book “Now It Is Winter” page-by-page around our Story Walk outside the library, while enjoying the brisk winter weather.

Take note of NASA's website, nasa.gov, for some great winter sky happenings, from phases of the moon to the "great conjunction" of planets.  Did you know if you have a library card, you can reserve the library's telescope for a closer look at the winter night sky?  Call the library for details.

All of these fun and free events are listed on the library's website calendar and on the Facebook page. When parents/teachers aren’t able to visit the library in person, Blanding staff will be happy to select the materials you need and have them ready for check out.  Just give us a call.

New Books Available
Sir David Attenborough’s “A Life on Our Planet” is the companion volume to the recent series on Netflix. Sir David calls his book “My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future” because he has been in a unique position to observe the natural world and to see how it is changing alarmingly for the worse over the past few decades. In this important book, the distinguished TV presenter also describes how we can reverse this destruction by what he calls “rewilding” the earth and its seas.

Bill Bryson, popular author of “A Short History of Nearly Everything”, has a new book called “The Body: A Guide for Occupants”. This is not a diagnostic medical manual, but an informative guide to how our bodies work, told in Bryson’s unique and sometimes breezy style.

On the fiction side, the many fans of Alice Hoffman’s magical realism will enjoy “Magic Lessons”. The author describes this as the “prequel” to her earlier book, “Practical Magic”.  You might also call it historical fantasy. It tells the story of Maria Owens, whose life takes her from Essex, England to Essex, Massachusetts by way of the Caribbean, back in the late 17th century. Maria’s special powers and healing herbs draw attention in Salem, where it is a very bad time to be called a witch.

Admirers of the late poet Mary Oliver will be pleased to find a new collection of her poems called “Devotions.” 

For more information on library hours, curbside pickup or any other questions, you can visit our Facebook page or www.blandinglibrary.net or phone 508-252-4236. Thanks for your patience and cooperation at this difficult time.

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