December 2021 Library News & Events
Roslindale Branch Reopening
Reopening Ceremony
The Roslindale Branch will host a reopening ceremony on Saturday, December 4, 10 AM - 12 noon. Mariachi Estrellas de Boston will begin the program by performing Christmas songs in Spanish, followed by a ribbon-cutting with Mayor Wu and other officials from the BPL and the City of Boston and community members. The Friends will also have a table to distribute library information and take volunteer sign-ups.
Branch Hours (Starting December 6)
Starting next week, the Roslindale Branch will be open Mondays - Wednesdays 10 AM - 6 PM; Thursdays 12 PM - 8 PM; Fridays 9 AM - 5 PM. The branch is scheduled to remain closed on Saturdays until February 5, when it will be open 9 AM - 2 PM. It will only be open this Saturday for the reopening ceremony.
Branch Programs
There is currently no in-person children's programming and online children's programming will continue until further notice. Adult and teen in-person programming may take place when the library is open.
Branch Space Use
The branch has a conference room that can be reserved in advance. It seats 10-12 and has a large video screen with laptop connectivity. Reservations are on a first-come, first-serve basis (Library or City-sponsored meetings have priority). It also has two study rooms in the teen area which each seat two persons and are intended for teen and tutor use. (When school is in session adults may use the study rooms.) Currently, reservations are not required for these spaces.
Welcome Our New Library Assistant Aaron Wong
Aaron graduated from the University of Massachusetts of Boston with a bachelor of science in information technology in 2019, where he worked part-time at the Healey Library. He was an active participant in his college's Asian American Success Program. He likes reading online manga as well as video game strategy guide books. He also enjoys playing PC and PlayStation games like Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. He likes helping people and spending time with family and friends.
BPL Library Protocols
All branch libraries not currently under reconstruction are now open for in-person services. All branches follow the latest city and state public health guidance. While there will be no capacity limits or social distancing required, patrons using the library buildings will still need to wear masks since the library serves vulnerable populations. For more information, see https://www.bpl.org/news/health-and-safety-guidelines/.
BPL COVID-19 Resources
Looking for reliable information about COVID vaccines? The BPL has put together a resource guide to help answer your questions.
BPL and Supply Chain Issues
Have you heard about the international shipping crisis? The news has been hard to miss. You can read more here about how this global problem is affecting library operations.
Holiday Book Shopping!
We collaborated again with Rozzie Bound to create our Holiday Gift List. To make your shopping experience easier, we gathered some of our favorite giftable books from a wide variety of genres and interests for adults, young adults, middle grades, and young children. The Friends will receive 50% of sales of all books sold from the lists to support future programming in the newly renovated branch! Find all our holiday booklists here: https://bookshop.org/shop/rozziebound. Thanks again for supporting your local public library and locally-owned independent bookstore!
Holiday Shipping Deadlines
For Christmas & Kwanzaa:
STANDARD (USPS Media Mail): no later than December 6, 2021
PRIORITY (USPS Priority & UPS Ground): no later than December 10, 2021
Buy Bulbs, Support The Friends
We are fundraising again with Dutch Mill Bulbs to earn money for our future renovated branch. All items are guaranteed to grow and bloom, and our group earns 50 percent of the profit on every sale. It’s easy! Make your selections, provide billing and shipping information, and enter the Friends in the group name. Please go to our fundraising page to make purchases. The items you select will be sent directly to the shipping address you provide, and shipping fees will be added to each order. You can even order and send them as gifts to other addresses.
Roslindale Library Program Survey
The Roslindale Branch is scheduled to reopen in the fall with a new head librarian. The Friends plan on collaborating with staff to bring a robust series of programs to the new space, and we are looking for community input about what types of programs would interest you. Please check any topic that would be of interest, indicate whether your interest is for adults or youth, and feel free to provide more details or other suggestions here.
BIPOC Author Preorders
As part of the ongoing conversation about improving equity in the publishing industry, we have worked with Rozzie Bound to create a virtual shelf featuring upcoming books by authors of color that you can preorder now. By preordering, you help drive up sales and possible placement on bestseller lists and help make publishers pay attention to and better support and uplift authors of color and their readership. The shelf currently lists a number of books from different genres coming out this fall and early winter and will be updated regularly. You can also ask the BPL to purchase these books. Learn more about library purchasing here.
Online Preschool Storytime
Tuesdays, 4:30 PM
Join Children’s Librarian Celeste Bocchicchio-Chaudhri on zoom for Preschool Story Time for ages 3-5. Each week we will read 2-3 stories and do songs and fingerplays to build early literacy skills. Please go to https://tinyurl.com/BPL-
Bouncing Babies in Adams Park
Tuesdays, 10 AM
As long as the weather cooperates, Miss Celeste will continue to run her weekly storytime for babies birth to age 2 in Adam’s Park on Tuesday mornings. Miss Celeste reads a short book and leads families in songs, bounces, and rhymes for early literacy skills. She has a number of yoga mats available for seating, but feel free to bring your own blanket. Bundle up! Miss Celeste will hold storytime as long as it is not raining or below freezing. To be added to the Bouncing Babies mailing list, email Celeste at [email protected].
Homework Assistance Program (HAP)
Mondays & Wednesdays at 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
We will have an in-person after-school Homework Assistance Program (HAP) Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:30 - 5:30 pm beginning Monday, December 6. HAP is a free service led by teen mentors that offers homework help, mentorship, and activities for students in grades K–8. No registration is required. The program runs through May 12, 2022.
Online Race and Inclusion Book Discussion:
Beloved
Saturdays, January 8, 22 and 29
9:15 - 11 AM (Morning) or 2 - 3:45 PM (Afternoon)
We will discuss Toni Morrison's Beloved. This magnificent Pulitzer Prize-winning novel--first published in 1987--brought the unimaginable experience of slavery into the literature of our time and into our comprehension. Set in post-Civil War Ohio, it is the story of Sethe, an escaped slave who has risked her life in order to wrench herself from a living death; who has lost a husband and buried a child; who has borne the unthinkable and not gone mad. Sethe, who now lives in a small house on the edge of town with her daughter, Denver, her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, and a disturbing, mesmerizing apparition who calls herself Beloved. We will also discuss the controversial debate around book bannings in schools and libraries, especially recent pushback against Morrison's books and other antiracist books.
The discussion will happen on Zoom and will be led by local educator Josh Frank. You can get the book from bpl.org or an online bookstore like Rozzie Bound, which has the book listed on the Friends "Black Histories and Futures" adult virtual bookshelf. The Friends will receive 50% of proceeds from each book sold. You can find the virtual shelf here: https://bookshop.org/shop/rozziebound.
We will have two sessions with 20 participants each on the three dates. Times: Morning session at 9:15-11 AM and an afternoon session at 2-3:45 PM.
To register, please email Jamaica Plain Branch librarian Laura Pattison at [email protected]. Please write "Beloved Discussion" in the subject line when you RSVP.
- You only need to register once for all three dates, even if you think you might miss a date.
- Please choose the morning or afternoon time, and you will be registered for that same time for each date.
- Laura will register the first 40 people, 20 each for the morning and afternoon groups. You will get an email if you are registered. If you do not get an email from Laura, please assume that you are not registered.
This discussion is co-sponsored by the Friends of the JP Branch Library.
Future Readers Club
The Future Readers Club is for children ages birth to kindergarten and their caregivers, a club to support reading aloud to the very youngest children with a goal of reading 1000 books together before the child begins kindergarten. The Club includes programming like Preschool Storytime and Bouncing babies as well as an app to track the books you are reading with your little one and opportunities to receive free books to keep. We want your help to make the Future Readers Club even better! Please respond to our survey as we plan FRC programming for the fall and beyond. More info: bpl.org/future-readers-club.
Attention Local Authors!
Do you have a book coming out in 2021 or 2022? Please keep us updated so that we can share the news with Rozzie residents in our newsletter and ask our partner at Rozzie Bound to link to the book online. Rozzie Bound generously shares a portion of sales with the Friends. Email us at [email protected] the book title, author, format, ISBN, and a brief description.
Volunteer Restockers Needed
The Roslindale Community Library network needs some volunteers to keep some of our business and home-based little libraries stocked. You can take responsibility for one or more. It involves checking every few weeks and picking up and delivering books as needed.
Calling all newly installed little library owners!
The Friends maintains a map of available little libraries in Roslindale and if you recently installed your own, you may not be on it. If you would like to be listed, please email your address to [email protected].
Little Library Program at the Food Pantry Seeks Volunteers
Since early January, the Friends have been setting up a Little Library at the Roslindale Food Pantry. The Pantry runs out of the Congregational Church (25 Cummins Highway) from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. every Saturday. The Pantry serves between 75 - 90 individuals/families every week. Before the Pantry opens, our volunteers set up a portable bookshelf and stock it with adult, young adult, early reader, and children’s books. The volunteer is responsible for returning to the church at 4:00 p.m. (at the close of the Pantry) to break down the Little Library and store the shelf and books. If you are interested in volunteering for this program, please e-mail Laura Sitterley at [email protected]. You do not need to commit to a certain number of Saturdays a month. Thank you!
BPL Online Resource Highlight: Newspapers Online
Explore our collection of online newspapers, historical and current, local and international, specific and wide-interest.
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