Warwick Free Public Library
Warwick Free Public Library
The
Library is closed to the general public. Front door is locked - no
walk-ins.
Staff available during regular hours (Mon 10-4, Tues 1-8,
Thurs 5-8, Sat 10-12:30).
Trash bags: available during regular
hours.
All returned or handled collection items are being
quarantined/sanitized.
CURBSIDE DELIVERY
Books, DVDs and CDs can be obtained as follows:SEARCH the Warwick Library's collection online at CWMARS.org. You will need your member/card # and password - contact the Library if you need that info or other help. Refine your search using "Keyword/ Title/Author" and "Format" dropdown menus; to search by genre, use a keyword such as Western, Mystery.
ORDER available items by emailing the Library at warwick@cwmars.org or calling 544-7866 during regular hours (no anchovies, sorry). This includes Trash Bags.
PICK-UP: I will notify you when your "order" is ready for pickup during regular Library hours. Items will be brought out to you at the curb.
HOME DELIVERY: Volunteers may be available if you cannot arrange a pickup yourself.
RETURNS: Place all items (gently) in the book drop. Please return Warwick Library items in a timely manner so they are available to others.
NEW: LIMITED BROWSING BY APPOINTMENT BEGINS
The Library plans to offer limited browsing by appointment starting in November. Browsing will be limited to one person or party at a time for 20-minute periods, Tuesdays 3:30 - 7:30 pm and Saturdays 10 am - noon. Appointments will be made on the hour or half hour: Contact the Library. 20-minute computer station appointments will also be available on the hour or half hour. Mask wearing and hand sanitizing will be required to enter the building; there will be a supply at the door.
Patrons are encouraged to continue to order items remotely and use curbside delivery. For everyone's safety, please stay home if you have any reason to believe you may be ill or a carrier. With Covid cases now seeing an uptick in western MA, the Library may decide to suspend browsing by appointment in the future to help protect public health. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!
* From Tumblebooks: Free ebook access --just download/install the app. Below are Direct Links for each account, which do not require library cards or authentication! The links will log users in with the click of a button. Patrons can read as many books as they want, when they want, and on any device. There are no check-outs, holds, or bulky downloads. Books are available instantly. Access will continue until August 31, 2020.
www.TumbleBookLibrary.com - K-6 children's ebook database
Direct
Link:
https://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/auto_login.aspx?U=tumble735&P=books
Username: tumble735
Password: books
www.TumbleMath.com - K-6 math ebook database
Direct Link:
https://www.tumblemath.com/autologin.aspx?U=tumble2020&P=A3b5c6
Username: tumble2020
Password: A3b5c6
www.TeenBookCloud.com - gr 7-12 ebook database
Direct Link: https://www.teenbookcloud.com/autologin.aspx?U=tumble2020&P=A3b5c6
.
Username: tumble2020
Password: A3b5c6
www.AudioBookCloud.com - all ages audio book database
Direct
Link:
https://www.audiobookcloud.com/autologin.aspx?U=tumble2020&P=A3b5c6<
br> Username: tumble2020
Password: A3b5c6
www.RomanceBookCloud.com - a huge collection of steamy Romance novels
for the older crowd!
Direct Link:
https://www.romancebookcloud.com/autologin.aspx?U=tumble2020&P=A3b5c6
Username: tumble2020
Password: A3b5c6
Our library is a vital source of information and entertainment. Aside from books, CDs, DVDs and videos, there are infra-red and Go-Pro cameras to borrow, toys in the Children's Section, a telescope, binoculars, free faxing, and copies at $0.10 each! The library subscribes to close to 20 different magazines and journals. There's free high speed wi-fi for your own laptop, or use one of the three library computers (two are new!). Through inter-library loans you can get any book, CD or DVD from another library.
Tuesday, November 10th @ 7 pm - Museum Of Bad Art: "Tough Times - Having a Bad Day to Dystopian Apocalypse" (Zoom): Warwick Library is pleased to co-sponsor this event with several area libraries. Art has always helped get us through difficult times. Since 1994, MOBA has acquired works that deal with good times and bad. In this presentation we explore some of the ways our artists react to small and large, real and imagined, disasters. Registration is limited: contact the Library to be sent the Zoom link. MOBA collects, exhibits, and celebrates art that will be seen in no other venue. This is art too bad to be ignored!
Library Catalog:
You can find out if the book, CD, DVD or video you are looking for is in the Warwick Library or any other Central or Western Massachusetts library by clicking here: search the Warwick library's collection or any other CWMars library - or search them all. Order books on-line through CWMARS and have them delivered to Warwick.
Library Policy:
Policy for the Public Use of the Internet
2020 Public Libraries of Western Massachusetts Calendar available: The Warwick Free Public Library has been included in a new 2020 calendar featuring color photos of a dozen attractive public libraries in western MA taken by Priscilla White-Tocker, a former librarian and current Shelburne Falls resident. All the libraries selected are in buildings over 100 years old. The calendar sells for $16, with $4 going to the Library. Don't wait till the last minute - you can reserve one by letting me know.
First library in America: from the Nov. 8th Writer's Almanac: On this day in 1731, a group of young men in Philadelphia pooled their money to set up the first library in America. The idea for a library came about when Benjamin Franklin started a club with about 50 friends so they could debate about politics, morality, and the natural sciences. The group was called the Club of Mutual Improvement. When they disagreed about a topic, they liked to consult books. But books were expensive in those days, so they combined their resources to found a subscription library. They called it the Philadelphia Library Company. The rule was that any "civil gentleman" could browse through the volumes, but only subscribers were allowed to borrow them. The library expanded over the years. Later it moved to Carpenter's Hall, the building where the First Continental Congress met in 1774. Franklin said that after the library opened, "reading became fashionable, and our people, having no public amusements to divert their attention from study, became better acquainted with books."
Statewide Library Resources: On October 11th I attended a workshop at UMass Amherst to learn about the many resources and services available to state residents through the Boston Public Library and UMass Libraries. I can only mention some of them briefly here: details, web addresses and contact info can be found below.
Darwin on Worms: Also on October 11, 2019 - from the Writer's Almanac: On this day Charles Darwin published The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms on this date in 1881. It was his last scientific book, and his most successful. In it, he explains that the very ground we walk upon has passed through the bodies of worms and emerged as castings. He also estimated that there are more than 53,000 worms at work in any given acre of land, and reported that they had turned a rocky field behind his uncle's house into smooth soil over the course of many years. He was fascinated by the work of the earthworm, which he called an "unsung creature which, in its untold millions, transformed the land as the coral polyps did the tropical sea." On the surface, the study of earthworms seems to have little to do with the work on evolution and natural selection that made him famous. But this book, too, was about the inexorable processes of nature that, over long spans of time, can bring about dramatic changes.
For Parents and Educators: Two new educational resource books have been added to the collection: The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Abstraction, by Meghan Cox Gurdon; and Middle School Matters: The 10 Skills Kids Need to Thrive in Middle School and Beyond - How Parents Can Help, by Phyllis Fogell. Several top fiction CD audio books and a slew of excellent non-fiction books have also been added to the Children's Section, courtesy of educator extraordinaire Brian Snell (look for more additions next month!). Check the new additions section further down on this page.
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream: A new addition to the collection, this 2009 award winning childrens book (ages 10 and up) chronicles the quixotic efforts of 13 women to win admission into NASA's initial astronaut training program in the early 1960s. The women were all pilots (one, Jerrie Cobb, had more hours in the air than John Glenn or Scott Carpenter), earned high scores in preliminary tests, and even counted a senator's wife among their number. But resistance came from all directions. Properly noting, however, that losing "depends on where you draw the finish line," the book closes with chapters on how women did ultimately win their way into space.
2019 marks the 100th Anniversary of the Warwick Free Public Library in its current building. It was gifted by the Baptist Church, which had experienced a serious decline in enrollment, and the Library moved across the street from Town Hall, where it had been housed in the present-day Assessors Office since that building's construction in 1894. We'll be celebrating later this summer!
A visitor from Worcester recently returned an old copy of The Door by Mary Rhinehart. Its age drew my attention, which led the traveler to remark that he'd wanted to take a drive, and he told me and another Warwickian that he'd become curious about Rhinehart after her name appeared as a Jeopardy! clue in connection with the phrase "The butler did it." He said she was the American equivalent of Agatha Christie - before Agatha Christie. The Warwickian, being a mystery fan, decided to take it out on the spot. And, as she was leaving, another patron walked in to return Christie's Easy to Kill. Cycle complete!
Ongoing work on the Historical Collection has uncovered, among other treasures, a clean 1937 edition of Audubon's "The Birds of America". This classic, full of color plates of his original drawings, is now on display - take a look!
A generous donor has gifted the Library with a copy of Lost Words, an artistic rendering of 20 common nature words among the 40 dropped from a recent edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary. The lost words include such familiars as acorn, dandelion, fern, heron and newt. Their replacements include such more modern familiars as blog, broadband, bullet-point and voicemail. This self-described "spell-book" has, the publishers, say, "begun a grassroots movement to re-wild childhood across Britain, Europe and North America".
A striking book of colorized historical photographs called The Paper Time Machine was on display when I began, and the time came to switch it out with one of the many other impressive large format art-related documentary volumes from the shelf below. Before putting this one to bed I opened it at random (of course) to a photo c. 1912 titled "A young woman uses a hand-cranked battery charger to power her electric Columbia Mark 68 Victoria automobile." The accompanying text notes: "At the beginning of the 1910s, around 38 percent of all cars in America were electric." I decided to take it home and found it needed to be catalogued. When I tried to catalog it I learned it was the only copy of the book in all of Central and Western Mass! And on the following page - a photo of the massive iceberg thought to have sunk The Titanic.
How's that ebook revolution going? Messy, complicated. Ebooks aren't only selling less than everyone predicted they would at the beginning of the decade. They also cost more than everyone predicted they would - and consistently, they cost more than their print equivalents. If you want to know more about the state of ebooks - and the entire book market - see the 12-23-19 Vox article by Constance Grady titled "The 2010's were supposed to bring the ebook revolution: It never quite came," go here.
Authors speak - Library of Congress videos from the 2019 National Book Festival: Click here to find dozens of presentations by esteemed authors of adult and teen books, including such favorites as Richard Powers discussing The Overstory and Barbara Kingsolver discussing Unsheltered.
New - Story Time from Space: Yep, you can now watch astronauts read stories from the Space Station! The newest video features astronaut Scott Kelly reading "Mousetronaut Goes to Mars," written by his brother, New York Times bestselling author and retired NASA astronaut Commander Mark Kelly (9 minutes).
New - Reading Champions: 6 short video clips from CSLP supporting "A Universe of Stories," the 2019 Summer Reading Program's space theme. Featuring astronaut Kjell Lindgren, astronomer Seth Shostak and others.
Book donations: Please check with me before you donate books to the Library. Don't leave them in the book drop. We do not take old text books, magazines or other library discards. Hospitals or nursing homes are better bets when looking for homes for books - most people are looking for brand new books at the Library.
C/W MARS app: The latest version of the CW/MARS app for mobile devices is now available. You can find it in the Google Play Store (for Android devices) and in the Apple Store (for iOS devices). You'll recognize it by the name "CW/MARS Libraries" and logo. You'll see the author as either "apps by kenstir" or "Kenneth Cox. The app is easy to use, great on the go, well rated, and free! Use it to search the catalog, place holds and set how you want to be notified, see your checked out items, see your holds, see your fines, and see your "My Lists." Another useful feature is "Show Card", the ability to display your library card barcode right on your device for scanning.
DVD and music CD collections: If you have any suggestions for the DVD film collection or the Wallace Music collection, please let me know. And, if you'd like to donate any old films or CDs that are in excellent condition, please check with me before you drop any items off.
DVD courses: Major Transitions in Evolution, Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy, The Nature of Earth: An Introduction to Geology and Understanding the World's Greatest Structures. Each course has DVDs, course book and transcripts of the lectures.
Electronic resources: To access OverDrive's extensive collection of
ebooks and audio books via C/W MARS, simply visit https://cwmars.overdrive.com/
and login with your C/W MARS library card. Contact me at the Library if
you have questions about Overdrive, or are interested in using it. All
you need to get started is a library card - or at least your account #
(on file).
To access the statewide database of millions of full text
articles from magazines and newspapers, visit https://www.galepages.
com/mlin_w_warwick. There are great resources for school research
and for hobbies and leisure. No login should be required as long as you
are in Massachusetts.
Heat loss camera: The Library's infrared camera can show you where you are losing heat in your home. It's easy to use and you may check it out for a week at a time.
Items to borrow: Infra-red camera, museum & State Park passes, Go Pro camera, telescope, ukuleles, Watt Meter - and books, too!
Library cards: If you don't have a CW/MARS card from the Warwick Library or another library in our region, stop in and fill out an application. A CW/MARS card or account is needed to check out items at the Library. If you already have a card at one of the other CW/MARS libraries, these will work as well.
Library for the Commonwealth: Through Boston Public Library's (bpl.org) Library for the Commonwealth program you can register online for an eCard - https://www.bpl.org/ecard: enjoy instant access to online services, including a broad selection of online resources, e-books, downloadable audio books and music, streaming services with audiobooks, music, television shows, and movies. An eCard provides access to over 100 databases and electronic resources. There are also Skill Building and Workplace Development resources for test prep, languages, resume creation, and "everything from web development to marketing." Contact BPL's Research Services team at 617-536-5400 or ask@bpl.org.
Museum & Park passes available: Eric Carle Museum, Clark Museum, Magic Wings, MA State Parks, Mass MOCA, Springfield Museums (until April 2019 only) with Dr. Seuss museum and gardens, Tower Hill Botanic Gardens and Worcester Art Museum.
Program/Workshop ideas wanted: What types of programs would you like to see at the Library? For adults? For young people? Let's get creative, have some fun, and maybe even learn something!
Puzzles: Thanks to generous donations from town newsletter readers, a collection of puzzles of various size and complexity is available for borrowing.
Reading group: Meets the second Wednesday of each month to discuss a book read by all. Books are provided by the Library and a facilitator helps move the discussion along.
Rare Children's Books - now available for free online: The Library of Congress has digitized dozens of rare children's books published in the United States and England before 1924. The books "are no longer under copyright, and free to read, share, and reuse however you'd like." The collection includes classic works still read by children today and lesser-known treasures. The oldest book in the digital collection is A Little Pretty Pocket Book, originally published in 1744 by John Newbery and considered to be the first book written specifically for children. Highlights of the collection include examples of the work of American illustrators such as W.W. Denslow, Peter Newell, and Howard Pyle, as well as works by renowned English illustrators Randolph Caldecott, Walter Crane, and Kate Greenaway. As historical documents, these books reflect the attitudes, perspectives and beliefs of different times.
Saturday socials: The Library serves coffee and snacks during Saturday morning open hours from 10 am to 12:30 pm - except for when it's closed during the summer. Come relax and schmooze with your neighbors, get trash bags and/or grab a book or movie!
Trail maps: New England Trail Maps and Guides for 10 hikes each in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Stop by and borrow this waterproof map and take a hike!
Trash bags for the Transfer Station: $3.00 for 33 gal. size or $1.50 for 13 gal size.
UMass Library Services include:
Young Reviewers Initiative from Tanglewood Press: All Tanglewood books are vetted by young readers to ensure authenticity of voice and a fun read. Now, they are looking to expand and make it more official. If you are parents with kids (8-12) and teens (13-18) you think might be interested in the initiative, please contact me at the Library and I'll forward the follow-up information.
"Something for everyone" - "The Complicated Role of the Modern Public Library": Check out this fascinating article in the current (November) issue of Humanities magazine.
Where Libraries are the Tourist Attractions: "To attract visitors from home and abroad, many libraries have advanced, even quirky amenities. They have rooftop gardens, public parks, verandas, play spaces, teen centers, movie theaters, gaming rooms, art galleries, restaurants and more. The new library in Aarhus, Denmark, has a massive gong that rings whenever a mother in a nearby hospital gives birth" - from the 8-10-19 New York Times.
The Library Land Project: Here's what happens when two
fan(atic)s decide to visit every public library in Massachusetts
(Boston Magazine, 4-24-19).
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2019/
04/24/visit-every-library-massachusetts-library-land/.
A (Visual) History of the American Public Library: A stunning exploration of how a critical piece of social infrastructure came to be, from Citylab (citylab.com).
A great discussion of the powerful role that libraries play in our communities can be found on a recent 99% Invisible podcast (3-19-19). The program features Eric Kline, the author of Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/palaces-for-the-people/
A recent episode of This American Life focuses on ways that public libraries meet very specific needs. Libraries are compared to the Room of Requirement from the Harry Potter series. For you non-Potters out there, the room magically becomes exactly what a young wizard needs when they want it. You can hear the full episode here .
Also worth a listen is the " The Librarian is LIVE" episode of The Librarian is In! It's another great discussion on the inherent value of libraries and the social capital they provide for communities.
Warwick Library - June 2020 additions to collection
(new/recently released items in bold)
Books (print)
Adult Fiction: Walk the Wind, by David Baldacci; The Boys from the Woods, by Harlen Coben; American Dirt, by Jeanne Cummins; This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone; The Companions, by Katie M. Flynn; Death by Chocolate Frosted Donut, by Sarah Graves; Camino Winds, by John Grisham; The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix; The Book of Longings, by Sue Monk Kidd; Hammer to Fall, by John Lawton; The Girl With Seven Names, by Hyeonseo Lee; Bubblegum, by Adam Levin; Lady Derring Takes A Lover, by Julie Anne Long; The Chain, by Adrian McKinley; Red, White & Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston; Last Couple Standing, by Matthew Norman; Dead Land, by Sara Paretsky; Last Day, by LuAnne Rice; The Sea Glass Cottage, by RaeAnne Thayne; Redhead by the Side of the Road, by Anne Tyler; Sharks in the Time of Saviors, by Kawai Strong Washburn;
Adult Non-Fiction: Conflagration: How the Transcendentalists Sparked the American Struggle for Racial, Gender and Social Justice, by John Buehrens; Principles, by Ray Dalio; The Cup of Coffee Club: 11 Players and Their Brush with Baseball History, by Jacob Kornhauser; The Impossible First: From Fire to Ice--Crossing Antarctica Alone, by Colin O'Brady; Recollections of My Nonexistence, by Rebecca Solnit; Open Kitchen: Inspired Food for Casual Gatherings, by Susan Spungen; Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America; Essays, by Eric Thomas
Children's Fiction: The Mitten Tree, by Candace Christiansen (preS - Gr. 1); Anti/Hero, by Kate Karyus Quinn and Demetria Lunetta (graphic novel, Gr. 3-6); Float, by Daniel Miyares (preS - Gr. 3); The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter, by Aaron Reynolds (Gr. 3-6); Crossing the Farak River, by Michelle Aunt Thin (Gr. 6-9);
Children's Non-Fiction: Not Playing by the Rules: 21 Female Athletes Who Changed Sports, by Lesa Cline-Ransome (Gr. 3-5); Planet Earth: Visual Factfinder, by Neil Curtis and Michael Allaby; Nature Smart: Awesome Projects to Make, by Gwen Diehn et al; Gutsy Girls Go for Science: Paleontologists, by Karen B. Gibson (Gr. 3-5); Earthquakes and Volcanoes; Life in a Coral Reef, by Hayley M. Haugen; Life in a Pond, by Stuart A. Kallen; The Next President: The Unexpected Beginnings and Unwritten Future of America's Presidents, by Kate Messner (Gr. 2-5); Skeleton, by Steve Parker; Hey Water, by Antoinette Portis (preS - gr. 2); How to Solve a Problem: The Rise (and Falls) of a Rock-Climbing Champion, by Ashima Shiraishi (Gr. 1-3); Forces of Nature, by Chana Stiefel; Trending: How and Why Stuff Gets Popular, by Kira Vermont (Gr. 3-6); Dragon Hoops, by Gene Luen Yang (graphic novel, Gr. 8-12);
Adult Films/DVDs - Fiction: A Simple Favor, American Animals, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Bombshell, Cunningham, Dark Waters, The Farewell, Ford V. Ferrari, Gross Point Blank/High Fidelity, The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie, Just Mercy, Little Women, Miss Congeniality 2, Now You See Me, Now You See Me 2, Outlander - Season 4, Parasite, Queen & Slim, The Rest of Us, Richard Jewell, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Uncut Gems
Adult Films/DVDs - Non-Fiction: Aquarela, Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock n' Roll, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, Egypt: Eternal, The 11th Hour, Niall Ferguson's Networld (PBS), Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West, Runaway Universe (NOVA), The Real Vikings, Roving Mars, The Universe: Our Solar System (History), The Woman Who Loves Giraffes.
Children's/Family Films/DVDs: Agent Cody Banks 2, Because of Winn-Dixie, The Cat in the Hat: The Wonders of Water, Christmas with the Cranks, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Elf, Eye of the Dolphin, Frozen 2, Gnomeo and Juliet, The Great Alaskan Race, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Monster House, The Never Ending Story II, The Pagemaster, Princess Diaries II, Race to Witch Mountain, Second Chances, The Shaggy Dog, The Secret of Kells, Teen Wolf/Teen Wolf Too, The Three Musketeers, The War.
Music CDs: Tribulation, by Appalachian Road Show; Your Life is a Record, by Brandy Clark; Four of Arrows, by Great Grandpa; Walking Proof, by Lilly Hiatt; Long Look, by Indigo Girls; Kingfish, by Christone Ingram; When Carolina Comes Home Again, by Jim Lauderdale; Logan Ledger (eponymous); Ilana, by Mdou Moctar; In a Roomful of Blues, by Roomful of Blues; Sorry You Couldn't Make it, by Swamp Dogg; Forever Just Beyond, by Clem Snide; 400, by Avery Sharpe; Elwan, by Tinariwen
A small Warwickian enjoys the children's section
Jim McRae tries out one of the ukuleles
Our new librarian!
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