The New York Times, Publisher's Weekly, Amazon, and even NPR have come out with their Best Books lists for 2011. We figured, why not the Friends?
Some readers seem never to be able to get to the end of their personal 'must read' lists. But if you're more of a, "What do I read next?" type, we have some ideas for you. Take a look at our new feature in the sidebar to the right of the page. We're going to keep a rotating list of recommendation from the Friends' Board posted there, and we're starting with our own Best Books of 2011. (See disclaimer below.)
Happy 2012 and, as always, see you at the library.
Disclaimer: Not all of the books on our list were published in 2011, but we promise that we read them in 2011!
There are always great things happening at the library! For more information on how you can get involved with the Friends and help to support our Cambridge libraries click here.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Holiday Book Drive - It's a Wrap
The donated books have been wrapped and delivered! Thank you to the 21 volunteers to came to the library to cut, fold, tear and tape. You made the holidays happier for about 600 needy children this year.
Daryl Mark, head of Children's Services for the CPL and coordinator of this event has this message for all of you, "In truth, we never could have accomplished this wrapping project without each person’s help."To read more about the history of this program and where the books go once they are wrapped, click here.
There are always great things happening at the library! For more information on how you can get involved with the Friends and help to support our Cambridge libraries click here.Epilogue/Prologue
Does that sound backwards to you? Read on and we'll make sense of it.
If you've been reading our blog or any of the Friends' promotional materials, you know that we are the sole financial sponsor of Cambridge Reads, our city-wide book club. This year's book, War by Sebastian Junger, was the centerpiece of a series of events that made up the library's 'Season of Remembrance' programming. We are proud to report that in addition to reading his book, 387 people were present at Sanders Theater in October to hear Mr. Junger speak. An additional 1000 people visited the Civil War encampment on the library lawn in early November and 90 people attended at least one of the five companion films screened at the library.
And the programming didn't end there. On Tuesday, January 10, Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust will present Telling War Stories: Reflections of a Civil War Historian at 7 p.m. in the Main Library's lecture hall. You can read more about this lecture and how to RSVP at http://www.cambridgema.gov/cpl/aboutus/newsandannouncements/2011/10/upcomingspecialevents.aspx .
To learn more about Cambridge Reads, click here.
There are always great things happening at the library! For more information on how you can get involved with the Friends and help to support our Cambridge libraries click here.
If you've been reading our blog or any of the Friends' promotional materials, you know that we are the sole financial sponsor of Cambridge Reads, our city-wide book club. This year's book, War by Sebastian Junger, was the centerpiece of a series of events that made up the library's 'Season of Remembrance' programming. We are proud to report that in addition to reading his book, 387 people were present at Sanders Theater in October to hear Mr. Junger speak. An additional 1000 people visited the Civil War encampment on the library lawn in early November and 90 people attended at least one of the five companion films screened at the library.
And the programming didn't end there. On Tuesday, January 10, Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust will present Telling War Stories: Reflections of a Civil War Historian at 7 p.m. in the Main Library's lecture hall. You can read more about this lecture and how to RSVP at http://www.cambridgema.gov/cpl/aboutus/newsandannouncements/2011/10/upcomingspecialevents.aspx .
To learn more about Cambridge Reads, click here.
There are always great things happening at the library! For more information on how you can get involved with the Friends and help to support our Cambridge libraries click here.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Looking Back
At this time of year, as the days shorten, it seems that our memories lengthen, sending us back to thoughts of our earlier years. For many members of the Friends of the CPL, those memories include a library somewhere. Eva Adler, one of the Friends' board members shares her memories of ...
If you take the interior stairs down to the Children’s Room at the Lake Placid Library, you will pass a portrait of Mrs. Florence S. Lamb, librarian from 1949-1961. I arrived in this country in 1956 at the age of eight with no previous knowledge of the English language. Mrs. Lamb was one of the most influential people in my acculturation.
During my five years in Lake Placid I visited the library often, and I usually found Mrs. Lamb sitting at a table facing the entrance door so that she could acknowledge each child who entered. She always greeted me with enthusiasm - I am so happy to see you dear! – and always with a compliment – I love your pretty dress. In the early days, she recommended the beginning readers in the Bobbsey Twins series. I read every one of them and was especially mesmerized by The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore. I had never seen the sea. As I grew, Mrs. Lamb suggested the life stories of famous people. That hooked me on biographies for life. At the time I was under the spell of childhood prodigies and insisted on dressing like Mozart for Halloween. I can assure you that no one has worn a Mozart costume in the elementary school parade before or since!
I left Lake Placid at the age of twelve, one year before Mrs. Lamb retired. Although I made frequent visits to the town, I did not often return to the library until I had children of my own. Then, on every return trip we spent long sessions in the children’s room. They sat in the same little rocking chairs overlooking the lake in which I had read my first books in English, and I would tell them stories about Mrs. Lamb and my trips to the library. I still visit Lake Placid on a regular basis – fifty-five years after I met my first librarian – and on these occasions I take my two grandchildren through the main room, past Mrs. Lamb’s portrait, and down the stairs to that very room that opened onto the lake and to my new world.
You can find other reminiscences of reading, books, libraries and the characters who populate them in our book Cambridge Voices: A Literary Celebration of Libraries and the Joy of Reading, available at Porter Square Books, Harvard Book Store, and Nomad.
There are always great things happening at the library! For more information on how you can get involved with the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library click here.
My First Librarian
During my five years in Lake Placid I visited the library often, and I usually found Mrs. Lamb sitting at a table facing the entrance door so that she could acknowledge each child who entered. She always greeted me with enthusiasm - I am so happy to see you dear! – and always with a compliment – I love your pretty dress. In the early days, she recommended the beginning readers in the Bobbsey Twins series. I read every one of them and was especially mesmerized by The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore. I had never seen the sea. As I grew, Mrs. Lamb suggested the life stories of famous people. That hooked me on biographies for life. At the time I was under the spell of childhood prodigies and insisted on dressing like Mozart for Halloween. I can assure you that no one has worn a Mozart costume in the elementary school parade before or since!
I left Lake Placid at the age of twelve, one year before Mrs. Lamb retired. Although I made frequent visits to the town, I did not often return to the library until I had children of my own. Then, on every return trip we spent long sessions in the children’s room. They sat in the same little rocking chairs overlooking the lake in which I had read my first books in English, and I would tell them stories about Mrs. Lamb and my trips to the library. I still visit Lake Placid on a regular basis – fifty-five years after I met my first librarian – and on these occasions I take my two grandchildren through the main room, past Mrs. Lamb’s portrait, and down the stairs to that very room that opened onto the lake and to my new world.
You can find other reminiscences of reading, books, libraries and the characters who populate them in our book Cambridge Voices: A Literary Celebration of Libraries and the Joy of Reading, available at Porter Square Books, Harvard Book Store, and Nomad.
There are always great things happening at the library! For more information on how you can get involved with the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library click here.
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