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Thanksgiving

Elizabeth Thomsen — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:09:16 +0000

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November as a time of gratitude, as well as a celebration of history and harvest. It’s a time to gather with family and friends for a feast and a time to give thanks for our blessings.

It’s also a time to tell the story of the Pilgrims and Indians at Plymouth, as depicted here in the painting The First Thanksgiving by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris.

Thanksgiving — Here’s a page of links to Thanksgiving information, including recipes, decorating ideas, crafts and more.

Day of the Dead

Elizabeth Thomsen — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:40:24 +0000

Day of the Dead — In Mexico, November 2 is celebrated as El Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. This page has links to Day of the Dead information, including recipes and crafts.

Halloween

Elizabeth Thomsen — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:53:31 +0000

Halloween is coming! Here’s a list of links to help you celebrate with ideas for costumes, recipes, books and more.

Columbus Day

Elizabeth Thomsen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:30:48 +0000

On October 12, 1492, a sailor on board the Pinta sighted land. The next day, 90 crew members of Christopher Columbus’s fleet stepped ashore in the Bahamas, ending a ten-week voyage from Spain and beginning a new era of European exploration and expansion in the Americas.

Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Columbus Day weekend is a great time to celebrate the beauty of autumn in New England, especially the beautiful fall foliage.

Columbus Day — Check out our Columbus Day page for links to more information about Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day.

Hilary Mantel Wins the Man Booker Prize for Fiction

Elizabeth Thomsen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:30:09 +0000

English novelist Hilary Mantel has been awarded the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction for her new novel “Wolf Hall,” based on the life of Thomas Cromwell, adviser to Henry VIII. “Wolf Hall” will be released in the United States on October 13.

Books by Hilary Mantel — Booklist with links to the catalog to make it easy to find and request Mantel’s books from your library
Booker prize goes to Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall — News story from the Guardian, with a video of Mantel
Hilary Mantel — Author profile on Macmillan Books website

Flu Season

Elizabeth Thomsen — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:50:34 +0000

Flu season came early this year, and this year we have Swine Flu (H1N1) as well as the normal Seasonal Flu and other strains to worry about. Here are some websites to help you get news and information about different strains of influenza.

Swine Flu Resources –News stories and background articles from Boston.com
H1N1 (Swine) Flu Website — Information from the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services
Flu: What You Can Do — The goal of this site from the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services is “to provide the public with information and tools to care for persons with influena at home, including during a flu pandemic.” Resources here include a 33 page printable guidebook called “Flu: What You Can Do, Caring for People at Home” available in several languages.
WebMD Flu Guide — “Here you’ll find answers to all your flu questions along with a wealth of health resources to help you prevent flu. You’ll also learn how to treat flu symptoms if you or any of your family members get sick.”
Flu.gov — “‘One stop’ for flu information featuring critical, current information on seasonal and H1N1 flu”
2009 H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) — Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Influenza: Evidence-based Information Portal — Resources from the Medical and Nursing editors of DynaMed, Nursing Reference Center and Patient Education Reference Center, courtesy of EBSCO Publishing. The Patient Information includes guides in several languages.

Hispanic Heritage Month

Elizabeth Thomsen — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:29:38 +0000

September 15 – October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrating the culture and traditions of Americans with roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

Hispanic Heritage Month — This page has links to more information about Hispanic Heritage Month, including lesson plans and other resources for students and teachers.

Digital Bookmobile coming to Beverly Public Library!

bwillis — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:34:03 +0000

As part of its national tour, the Digital Bookmobile, will be visiting at the Beverly Public Library, 32 Essex Street, Beverly on Monday September 14, from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM. Readers of all ages are invited to explore digital downloading through interactive demonstrations and experience the North Of Boston Library Exchange’s (NOBLE) audiobook download service at this free event. NOBLE library card holders can also check out and download digital titles any time, anywhere by visiting the NOBLE Digital Catalog.

The Digital Bookmobile is housed inside 74-foot tractor-trailer and is equipped with broadband Internet-connected PCs, high definition monitors, premium sound systems, and a variety of portable media players, all of which help visitors explore NOBLE’s download service. While NOBLE’s collection only includes audiobooks at this time, the interactive learning stations give visitors an opportunity to sample eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video, as well as search the library’s digital media collection, and use supported mobile devices. Read more about it.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn more about this popular audiobook service. Bring your mobile devices and start downloading!

September is Library Card Sign-up Month

Elizabeth Thomsen — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:34:31 +0000

Libraries are busier than ever these days, and people who have a library card consider it one of their most valuable possessions. Your library card can provide you with a wide variety of books for information, education, entertainment or inspiration, as well as DVDs, CDs and more.

But your library card can also provide you with free access to licensed databases of high-quality reference sources and articles from newspapers, magazines and journals that are not otherwise available free anywhere on the Web. You can also use your library card to checkout free audiobooks that you can download and listen to from your home computer or transfer to your MP3 player. Your own library may have other services, including museum passes you can borrow, book groups, story hours, training classes, study rooms and much more.

If you haven’t checked out your library lately, this is a good time to drop by your library (in person or online) and see what’s going on, and spread the word to your fellow students, friends and neighbors!

Reference Database | Downloadable Audibooks | NOBLE Member Libraries

President Obama’s Summer Reading

Elizabeth Thomsen — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:32:43 +0000

President Obama and his family are spending their vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, where, among other things, the President plans to catch up on his reading. Here are the five books we know the President brought with him, linked to the library catalog in case you’re interested in checking them out yourself:

Pelecanos, George P. – The way home : a novel
Price, Richard – Lush life
Friedman, Thomas L. – Hot, flat, and crowded : why we need a green revolution, and how it can renew America
McCullough, David G. – John Adams
Haruf, Kent – Plainsong

Source: Barack’s Book Bag: What Obama’s Summer Reading List Says about Him — By John Dickerson, Slate, August 24, 2009,