Library News
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Franklin Public Library is currently closed to the public. Curbside Pickup is available Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the vestibule of the entrance at the top of the parking lot ramp. Library Staff are available by phone (508-520-4941) and email (frkill@minlib.net) Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday hours are not available at this time.
In observance of Columbus Day, Curbside Pickup will not be available Monday, October 12th.
No donations are being accepted at this time. Please do not place them in the return bins or outside the building.
Programs for Children and Teens
Weekly Virtual Events for Kids!
Wake Up Wiggles! Mondays 10:30AM on Facebook Live!
Zoom Tummy Time for Babies! Tuesdays @9:30AM
email Miss Caleigh at ckeating@minlib.net to register for Tummy Time!
Zoom Toe Tapping Tuesdays! (Super Silly Dance Class for Ages 2+!) Tuesdays @4:00PM
email Miss Bree at bcomeau@minlib.net to register for Cool Cruisers!
Bookworm Bounce! Thursdays @4:00PM on Facebook Live!
Zoom Book Club for Kids Grades 3-5 (Alternating Saturday 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 3 (The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis) 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!
Special Programs for Families
Halloween Family Friendly Cooking Class: Witch Fingers! Saturday, October 31st @1:00PM!
Join Miss Sandhya of Sandhya's Kitchen for a special zoom cooking class for kids and their grown-ups! We will be making witch finger treats in honor of Halloween!
To register and receive the recipe and zoom link, please email ckeating@minlib.net!
Programs for Adults
Jumpin' Juba Car Concert, Friday, October 9, 3:00 p.m.
Jumpin' Juba mixes blues from Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans with roots-y rock & roll, jazz, calypso, & Latin flavors. Steve Hurl's guitar playing draws from great blues, & early rock & roll. Bruce Ward's piano work recalls such greats as Prof. Longhair & Albert Ammons. For more information please visit www.stevehurl.com or www.reverbnation.com/jumpinjuba .
Please remain in your vehicle or its immediate vicinity while enjoying the concert. Social distancing rules apply. Stay at home if you or a member of your household is sick. Masks covering your nose and mouth must be worn if you are exiting your vehicle. Please maintain a distance of six feet from other participants.
This program is supported by a grant from the Franklin Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
West African Kora presented by Sean Gaskell
Sunday, October 11, 3:00 p.m.
Sean Gaskell features traditional songs on the Kora, a 21 string harp that he learned how to play throughout the course of multiple visits to its homeland in Gambia, West Africa. The music is traditionally played by oral and musical historians known as Griots (Gree-ohs). The Kora is a very melodic and seemingly peaceful instrument, which is contrary to its musical repertoire. Many songs tell ancient stories of war and hardship, while others praise people of high political status and those who helped expand the Mande empire.
While the Kora is only 300 years old, some commonly played songs can be traced back 800 years to the founding of the Mande empire. Gaskell has studied extensively under the instruction of Malamini Jobarteh and Moriba Kuyateh, both of Brikama, Gambia. He was first inspired to play by Kane Mathis, a Kora player formerly based in Seattle who has lead "The Kora Band" and "The Sahel Band". Gaskell relocated from Seattle to Asheville, North Carolina in 2014. He has been featured at a number of music festivals in the US, Gambia, and Senegal.
This performance will take place on our FaceBook and YouTube pages.
Antonio Meucci: Inventor of the Telephone?
Wednesday, October 21, 7:00 p.m.
Most of us grew up learning that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone – in Boston, no less. But there were many others who claimed to have gotten there first or simultaneously, and some of those "other" inventors still have their supporters. One of the "other" inventors with a particularly credible claim was Antonio Meucci, an immigrant from Florence, Italy, who shared a laboratory with Bell for a time but had actually shown a prototype of his own telephone more than a dozen years before Bell claimed his breakthrough. In this Zoom presentation, in honor of Italian History Month, local historian and Sons of Italy member, Alan Earls offers the fascinating story of Meucci (with slides).
This program will take place on Zoom. To register, please visit https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdumorzgsE9FW3nSkNrvYNNhgSIryqyn1 .
Kitchen Table Art Workshop: Beeswax Ink Transfers
Sunday, October 25th, 3:00 p.m.
Transformation is pretty cool! Working in miniature we will explore an ink-onto-wax encaustic-like transfer method that has a magical quality. We will apply, burnish, and mark pigment from recycled magazine pages onto beeswax coated wood. The workshop is for adult and young adult artists, non-artists, and emerging creatives from all fields. No prior art experience is necessary.
Registration is open until October 15th. Priority will be given to Franklin residents. Pre-assembled kits containing materials and tools to be used in the workshop will be available for the first 15 registrants to pick-up curbside at the library. Additional participants may make up their own kit with a provided supply list. After registration closes, you will receive an email with either instructions about picking up your kit OR a supply list to put together your own kit. All registrants will receive the link to connect to the (Zoom) workshop.
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.
Kitchen Table Art Workshops (KTAW) are online open studios intended to foster creativity and encourage experimentation in the safety of our homes while being socially and artistically connected online. We will take turns sharing our creations as we work. 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!
Franklin Public Library Book Club, Tuesday, October 27, 7:00 p.m.
The book for discussion is The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern.
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a rare book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues--a bee, a key, and a sword--that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to a subterranean library, hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians--it is a place of lost cities and seas of honey, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a beautiful barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly-soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose--in both the rare book and in his own life.
To reserve a copy of the book or 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.
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