Library News
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Franklin Public Library will not be resuming Sunday hours in September.
The Franklin Library is open for Curbside Pickup! Make your request online in our catalog. Wait until you receive an email, text or call that your holds are ready. You may also check your Minuteman account online. If the items are checked out to you, they are ready for pickup. Pick up is in the vestibule at the Parking Lot Ramp entrance Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If you need assistance, please call the Circulation Desk at 508-520-4941. The building is still closed to the public, but staff are available to answer questions and emails Monday through Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
In observance of Labor Day, Curbside Pickup will not be available Monday, September 7th.
No donations are being accepted at this time. Please do not place them in the return bins or outside the building.
Miss browsing the Library's stacks? Need some new book recommendations? We have you covered! Sign up for NextReads Newsletters and receive customized new book reccommendations. Visit NoveList Plus to find readalikes and genre lists for fiction, nonfiction and audiobooks for all ages.
We are living in a time in history that will be remembered and discussed for generations. The Library would like to collect images of Franklin's experiences, ranging from the good to the challenging. Please share with us images of your experience during the Covid-19 pandemic and staying at home. Add your images to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #FranklinStaysHome. We will get through this together!
Programs for Children and Teens
Weekly Facebook Live Events for Kids! (https://www.facebook.com/FranklinPublicLibrary/)
Wake Up Wiggles! Mondays 9:15AM
Tummy Time for Babies! Tuesdays @9:30AM
email Miss Caleigh at ckeating@minlib.net to register for Tummy Time!
Zoom Cool Cruisers! (Music and movement!) Tuesdays @4:00PM
email Miss Caleigh at ckeating@minlib.net to register for Cool Cruisers!
Tummy Time for Babies! Thursdays @9:30AM
email Miss Caleigh at ckeating@minlib.net to register for Tummy Time!
Bookworm Bounce! Thursdays @4:00PM
Zoom Book Club for Kids Grades 3-5 (weekly on Wednesday afternoons at 3:30PM)
Kids in Grades 3-5! Join us for awesome book discussions and fun activities! We are currently reading the 39 Clues Book 2 (One False Note by Gordon Korman) and having a blast trying to solve all the mysteries and make predictions with this thrilling series! Email ckeating@minlib.net to get involved!
Reader's Choice Zoom Book Club for Teens!
Join a group of avid readers as we choose a YA book or series to read together and then discuss over zoom! This casual book club meets on zoom at the convenience of the members, and we decide what to read together, and LOVE getting recommendations! Email ckeating@minlib.net to get involved!
Teen Advisory Board, 2nd Wednesday of the Month on Zoom @7:30PM!
Teens! Want to get involved at the library from a distance? Join us as we plan teen-centric events, book displays, revamp our website and more! The perfect way to earn community service hours remotely! Email ckeating@minlib.net to get involved!
Stay tuned for our NEW Fall Storywalk, coming to DelCarte Reservation this month!
Enjoy a socially distant story out in the fresh air with your loved ones!
Programs for Adults
Kitchen Table Art Workshop: Gel Printing, Sunday, September 27, 3:00 p.m.
Gel plate printing is a simple and spontaneous way to produce your own original prints! Each time we want to "pull a print" we will ink-up a gel plate (provided) and mark a design in textures and patterns. The workshop is an intro to printing art papers for collage, wrapping paper, mono prints for an accordion book and more. The process and projects are limitless.
Kitchen Table Art Workshops (KTAW) are on-line open studios intended to foster creativity and encourage experimentation in the safety of our homes while being socially and artistically connected. We will take turns sharing our creations as we work together in an on-line meeting. Participants are asked to help create an atmosphere where we all feel open to exchange conversation and inspire each other's individual freedom of expression. So – let's say yes to our creativity by coming together online to make art!
Each workshop experience is unique. For each workshop a special kit of materials and tools to create during the workshop is supplied. Artists are welcome to add their own tools and materials and will sometimes be asked to supply items commonly found around their home. The workshops are for adult and young adult artists, non-artists, and emerging creatives from all fields. No prior art experience is necessary, but experienced artists may self-select how they would like to proceed after I have presented my methods.
The number of kits for each workshop are limited to the first 15 confirmed registrants. Additional participants may make up their own kit with a provided supply list and participate in the on-line meeting. Zoom will be the platform used for the meetings.
Registration is required. Once registered you will receive a confirmation email followed shortly by another email with either instructions about picking up your kit OR you will receive a supply list to put together your own kit. All registrants will receive the link to connect to the (Zoom) workshop.
Kits will be available for pick up 1-2 weeks before the workshop. The kits for the Franklin Public Library sponsored workshops will be available to pick-up curbside at the library.
To register go to www.thecreativitycurator.com . Email questions to Jacqueline Volpe at thecreativitycurator@gmail.com. Please register early if you would like to receive one of the pre-made kits since quantities are limited, likewise, register early so you have time to collect items on the supply list to make your own DIY kit.
Franklin Public Library Book Club, Tuesday, September 22, 7:00 p.m.
The book for discussion is The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett
At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. Cyril's son Danny and his older sister Maeve are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another.
A limited number of copies of the book will be available for checkout at the Circulation Desk. For more information, please contact Assistant Library Director Kim Shipala at kshipala@minlib.net . To register, please visit https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEscuqupjgoGd0XAfQuUAIIChGwkzLwWWsx
Online Resources
Even though we are closed to the public, the Library still has so much to offer! Here are updates and information regarding the Library's services during this closure:
Our digital library is still open! Explore our collection of audiobooks, ebooks, and more at https://minuteman.overdrive.com/ . On your phone or tablet, download the Libby and Minuteman Library Network apps!
- Try out Kanopy, hoopla, Creativebug, and Consumer Reports on the Featured Databases page (exclusively available to Franklin residents).
- Learn something new, find articles for school assignments, read newspapers like the New York Times, or pick up a new skill using the links on our Databases & Research Resources page.
- Don't have a Library card? Apply for one online here https://library.minlib.net/selfreg ! This will give you access to all of our online resources and apps.
- Tune in to our Facebook page for streaming storytimes, book discussions, and other live programs. https://www.facebook.com/FranklinPublicLibrary/
- For email Reference service, or help with your library account, send questions to frkill@minlib.net . Inquiries will be answered within 24 hours.
Fun free apps for book fans: Litsy is Instagram for bibliophiles. Post photos of your favorite books, write a review, share a quote, and create a "stack" of TBRs. Catch up on your classics with Serial Reader! This app breaks up classic novels into short, 20 minute or less, reads. If you allow notifications, it will alert you when it's time to read the next chapter.
Would you like a virtual escape to a world class art museum? Check out Google Arts & Culture. Walk the halls of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence or the London's Victoria & Albert Museum with just the click of your mouse. You can also search by artist or art movement.
