November 2021 Library News & Events
All programs are free of charge unless noted otherwise. Learn more at friendsofroslindalelibrary.org. All BPL branches will be closed on Thursday, November 11 in observance of Veterans Day and Thursday, November 25 for Thanksgiving.
Roslindale Branch Reopening
The Roslindale Branch is scheduled to reopen on Saturday, December 4. We will have more information in the coming weeks.
BPL Library Reopening!
All branch libraries not currently under reconstruction are now open for in-person services. All reopening plans 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 and children who cannot yet be vaccinated. For more information, see https://www.bpl.org/news/reopening/.
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! Due to the book shortage at all bookstores caused by global supply chain delays, Rozzie Bound highly recommends that you order your books from them sooner rather than later to ensure that your recipients get their gifts on time this holiday season. Because of this, they strongly recommend that you use priority mail for any gifts. Orders shipped through Standard USPS Media Mail may be subject to unforeseen delays. Find all our holiday booklist here: https://bookshop.org/shop/rozziebound
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.
Online Race and Inclusion Book Discussion:
400 Souls
Saturdays, November 6, 13 & 20
9:15 - 11 AM (Morning) or 2 - 3:45 PM (Afternoon)
Back by popular demand! We had so much interest in this discussion last May that we will again discuss the collaborative book, Four Hundred Souls, a unique one-volume “community” history of African Americans. (We will discuss different chapters than the ones we read last May.) The editors, Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain, have assembled ninety brilliant writers, each of whom takes on a five-year period of that four-hundred-year span. The writers explore their periods through a variety of techniques: historical essays, short stories, personal vignettes, and fiery polemics. They approach history from various perspectives: through the eyes of towering historical icons or the untold stories of ordinary people; through places, laws, and objects. We will also discuss the controversial debate around book banning in schools and libraries, especially recent pushback against Kendi's books, the 1619 Project, and Toni Morrison's Beloved.
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 Roslindale Branch librarian Jennifer Hawes at [email protected]. Please write "400 Souls 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.
- Jennifer 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 Jennifer, please assume that you are not registered.
This discussion is co-sponsored by the Friends of the JP Branch Library.
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. Some books of note coming out soon include Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo (Oct 5), Until I Am Free by Keisha Blain, Shelf Life by Nadia Wassef (Oct 5), and Dear Memory by Victoria Chang (Oct 12). You can also ask the BPL to purchase these books. Learn more about library purchasing here.
Online Rozzie Reads Poetry and Open Mic on Zoom
Thursday, November 18, 7 PM
Featured readers: Matthew Henry and Connie Norgren
For Zoom link, contact [email protected]
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].
Native Lives, Native Stories
This month, Boston Public Library will honor Native American Heritage Month with its first annual “Native Lives, Native Stories” booklist and special events. The booklist features 63 works published in the last year concerning the experiences of the Native and Indigenous communities throughout North America. Copies are now available at all library locations, and the list also appears on the BPL website. Events will also be held including author talks and a book group discussion, and pieces from the BPL collection will be highlighted on social media throughout the month.
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: Indigenous Newspapers
Newspapers, ranging from historic pressings to contemporary periodicals, explore nearly 200 years of Indigenous print journalism.
The Snowy Day Documentary Review
By Friends Co-President Constance Martin
Do you remember the first time someone read The Snowy Day to you? You probably recall the cover, particularly. For those who don’t know, author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats (1916-1983) changed children’s books in 1962 by writing this picture book about an African-American child and putting him unmistakably on the cover. The book beautifully captures a small child’s joy playing in the snow and the imagination that makes it fun.
Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his iconic artwork, and The Snowy Day was the first picture book with an African American protagonist to win a major children’s book award. Keats was ahead of his time in recognizing that children should be able to see themselves in the books they love. He wrote and or illustrated more than 85 books but this was his masterpiece and received the most awards. He created the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, which champions diversity in children’s literature, and endowed it with his royalties. His original artwork and his papers are housed at the de Grummond Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi.
The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation recently released Tell Me Another Story, a 30-minute documentary film that describes the dedication of writers who have advanced diversity and multiculturalism in children’s books. The film is 30 minutes long and can be accessed for free below. It features authors such as Somerville’s Grace Lin, Christopher Myers, Andrea Davis Pinckney, Pat Cummings, and more.
I invite everyone to enjoy this film, which may help you add to your “To Be Read” pile or get an early start on holiday shopping. Remember that any of the books in this newsletter mentioned can be ordered through our partner RozzieBound or borrowed from the BPL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNry9keQcfI&feature=emb_imp_woyt
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