Back to Table of Contents


The Gleason Public Library, Carlisle received a grant for an educational program series titled "Carlisle Forests: Past, Present and Future" from the USDA Forest Service and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. The events include:

  • October 20th, 7 PM, Hollis Room, Gleason Public Library Forests of Today. Guy LaChance, Bureau of Forestry, Massachusetts DCR & Michael Dixon, Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  • October 28th, 1PM, Sleeper Room, 145 Church St., Carlisle Council on Aging Luncheon. Ray Faucher, Great Brook Farm State Park
  • November 17th, 7PM, Hollis Room, Gleason Public Library Planning and your land. Si Balch, New England Forestry Foundation
  • January 19th, 7 PM, Hollis Room, Gleason Public Library Community. Ken Pruitt, Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissioners
All events are open to the public. Please call the Gleason Public Library, 978-369-4898 with any questions.

Gloucester High School: Hundreds 'skip' class - to talk books

Recently at Gloucester High School, the school's nearly 1,300 students did not attend their usual classes. They all went to special classrooms where they met with either a teacher or a community member to discuss books ranging from Dracula to The DaVinci Code.

Gloucester High librarian Mary Saunders organized the effort to try to engage students in reading, a subject that competes with the high-tech attraction of video games, the Internet and television. Book discussion groups ranged in size from one student to the 45 students who discussed Dracula with the English teacher.

Some of the groups had to be broken down into several classrooms because of the popularity of the book. Thirty residents from Gloucester and Rockport signed up to lead discussion groups.

Students who participated in a discussion and filled out a questionnaire will receive an equivalent of an A for a quiz. There is no consequence for those who failed to participate. The event gave teachers from other subjects a chance to participate in the reading effort.

Cindi Williams, the Young Adult librarian at Sawyer Free Library, helped greatly by circulating the high school books as well as the public library resources so that students could use books without having to buy them.

Grand Opening and Dedication of the Merrimac Public Library
September 19, 2004, at 1:00 p.m.


From Left to Right: Anne Larsen, Associate Library Building Consultant, Donald MacMillan, Library Director, and Deborah Hill Bornheimer, Commissioner, MBLC


Two young singers from the Pentucket Fine & Performing Arts


Participants filled the Meeting Room of the Merrimac Public Library.

"An Evening with Anchee Min," Sponsored by the Reading Public Library Foundation
Friday, November 5, 2004

Did you miss Anchee Min's extraordinary appearance at last spring's MLA Annual Conference? If you did, here's another chance to meet this amazing author and performer in person. The Reading Public Library will be presenting an evening with Anchee Min on Friday, November 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Anchee Min's public appearances bear little resemblance to the typical author "reading." It is hard to describe how honestly and powerfully Anchee recounts her personal experiences in China, her flight from China, and her life in America as a writer. Hearing her tell her own story is an extraordinary experience.

Here's a quote from MLA Conference Co- Chair Michael Colford on his experience of attending her presentation at the Annual Meeting: "Anchee Min deserves a one-woman show on Broadway! I was utterly transfixed for her entire performance. Never has an author lecture moved me from laughter to tears, and Anchee Min, with her eloquent and powerful stories of her youth, does so with ease. What an amazing woman!"

For those of you who missed her previous appearance at MLA… and for those of you who would like to see her again…please join us at the Parker Middle School, 45 Temple Street, Reading, MA on Friday evening, November 5 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 each, or two for $25. Tickets are available at the door or in advance at the Reading Public Library. To purchase tickets by mail, please send a check made out to the Reading Public Library Foundation, along with a stamped self addressed envelope to:

Reading Public Library
Attn: Anchee Min Program
64 Middlesex Avenue
Reading, MA 01867

For more information about this event, please go to www.readingpl.org/ancheemin.html. It's going to be a great evening, and one you won't soon forget!

Deborah Froggatt is the new LMS for the Danvers Public Elementary Schools: Riverside School, Highlands School, Great Oak School, Thorpe School, and Smith School. Deborah was formerly the LMS of Beverly Middle School.

Lyn Holian is the LMS of the new Village School, in Marblehead, new NMRLS member.

Nancy Anthony is the new LMS at Marblehead Veterans Middle School. She replaces Beth Brooks.

Laura Harrington is the LMS of North Reading Middle School, new NMRLS member.

Marcia Jansson is the new LMS of Peabody High School. She replaces Leo Espindle, who has retired.

Christine Steinhauser is the new LMS of Coolidge Middle School in Reading. She replaces Mary Hichborn, who has retired.

Patty DiTullio, is the new Assistant Library Director, Tewksbury Public Library. She was formerly the Librarian at the Stoneridge Children's Montessori School, in Beverly.

Lorraine Miller is the new LMS of Salem High School. She replaces Janet Burt.

Maria Mastrocolo is the LMS of Winthrop School in South Hamilton, new NMRLS member.

Heidi Wakeman is the LMS of Buker Elementary School in Wenham, new NMRLS member.