Dr. Shaw Memorial Library May 2018

“Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library.  The only entrance requirement is interest.”                                           Lady Bird Johnson

Every year Alice puts together our annual statistics required for all public libraries in Maine.  Here are a few of the numbers she tracks:  we held 16 programs in 2017, including our summer reading program and various adult programs we sponsored, or co-sponsored with the Grange & Community Center; there were almost 3900 visits to the library last year, and about 11,200 items circulated.  Adding up all of the print, audio, and video materials in our collection, we have approximately 16,000 individual reading & viewing items which we offer to our community.  That doesn’t include baking pans for loan, puzzles, or the Seed Exchange as extra resources we offer.  We are happy to be a part of an active community of people who borrow our materials and offer suggestions for more items and for programs!

The annual Bird Walk is almost here!  Once again our two lead birders, Dona Seegers & Linda Smith, will take us around the village to watch for song birds, water birds, whatever flies or perches in a tree or glides on the water!  We will gather down below the library, in front of the Masonic Hall this year, on Monday, May 14^th, at 4pm.  Bring a pair of binoculars if you have them, and dress for black fly weather.  Bring a friend or family member, and we’ll see you there!

This summer’s theme for children’s programs is “Libraries Rock”.  Alice has been busy planning timing of the programs (probably Wednesday afternoons throughout July, but we’ll have definite dates soon), and she’s lining up her usual creative array of activities to do with the kids.  Stay tuned!

Some online resources for you this month:
The Maine Lion’s Club offers both vision and hearing aids for elders who are struggling financially and need some help.  You can go to this link for phone numbers or more information, and for online application forms for assistance:
https://www.mainelions.org/eye-glass-contacts     This resource is listed, along with other resources for seniors, on our library website at www.drshawlibrary.org .  Just look at the tabs along the top of the page, hover over “research”, then scroll down to see the list.

We may have noted this site before, but the naturalists among us might enjoy noting it again – there is a biodiversity library available online, with information on all kinds of odd information like the history of cats, the art of science, Antarctic exploration, and more.  You can link to them here:  www.biodiversitylibrary.org/browse/collections .

And, we linked to this one on our Facebook page this month:  www.storytimefromspace.com – astronauts reading picture books aloud!  Definitely try this one, a nice reminder of how we can connect with one another, even across the wide expanse of space.

I finished Winspear’s latest Maisie Dobbs mystery, To Die But Once (good, as always), and have just delved into The Overstory, the latest novel by the powerful writer Richard Powers (we have one of his earlier novels, Orfeo in our collection).  This is a series of stories about the long history of various characters and their relationships with trees.  I’ll put it in the library collection as soon as I’ve finished it!  What are you reading or listening to as you celebrate the daffodils, the bluettes, the dandelions, and listen to the music of loons & peepers?