Thomaston Library News

 

Intergenerational Book Club to Discuss Dakota

On Tuesday, December 16th, at 2:30 PM, the Thomaston Public Library's Intergenerational Book Club will discuss Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris.

In this classic study of the spirituality of place, first published in 1993, poet Kathleen Norris writes about life in Lemmon, a small town of 1,600 near the border between North and South Dakota. She and her husband have resided there in the house built by her grandparents in 1923. It certainly takes a rare mixture of hardiness, patience, and resourcefulness to live in this area of the country, which has been dubbed "the American outback." While outsiders tend to view this stark milieu as nothing but "a barren waste," the author finds many marvels to celebrate.

Although Norris was raised a Protestant, she has found the greatest spiritual nourishment during times spent with the monks and nuns of Benedictine communities in the Dakotas. She applies some of the spiritual insights she learns while on retreat to the difficulties and problems of small town living — inertia, fear of change, provincialism, closemindedness, and callous treatment of outsiders. At the same time, she affirms "the holy use of gossip" in a tightly structured community where individuals need to share their tragedies and triumphs.

Dakota: A Spiritual Geography is a bountiful and beautifully written book overflowing with keen insights into nature, community, storytelling, solitude, change, and soulful living.

On the third Tuesday of every month, the Intergenerational Book Club, a group of men and women of all ages, comes together to share their opinions and ideas about the book selection. Extra copies of the books are purchased by the Friends of the Thomaston Public Library from the Annual Appeal funds. We thank you for your donations. All are welcome at the Thomaston Library on December 16th at 2:30  p.m.

If you live in Thomaston and would like to attend but need a ride, please call the library at 354-2453 a week before the discussion date.

 

 

Writing a Readable Memoir Workshop…in December
Sign Up Now

The Thomaston Public Library is currently taking sign-ups for a Writing a Readable Memoir workshop that will take place Thursday, December 4th, from  2 PM to 4 PM. Writer and personal historian Meghan Vigeant will present the workshop, to help writers and non-writers alike write their memoirs.

Everyone has a story worth writing, but creating a memoir that future generations will want to read can present all sorts of challenges. The book must be honed, shaped, and crafted with care. Vigeant will address all of the following big questions: What parts of your life story should go into your book? What parts should you leave out? Will you include photos? How should you put it all together? Vigeant will share some of the basic tenets of a well-told story and how to apply them to one's own life story. She will also give an overview of the steps to turn a completed manuscript into a beautiful bookstore-quality book to last for generations.

This presentation will be of particular interest to those who are contemplating writing a memoir or family history book and to those who have already started writing memories down and want to figure out how to put it all together.

Meghan Vigeant is a writer, documentarian, and personal historian. She helps people to write their memoirs and family histories with her business, Legacy Preserves. Vigeant started her storytelling career as an actress, and then as a documentarian. She has worked with communities to document, preserve, and share their history in books and documentaries. She is the author of Guts, Feathers, and All: Stories of Hard Work and Good Times on Swan’s Island, and the producer of Untouchable Love, a documentary about inter-caste marriage in Nepal. She holds a B.A. in Theater & Speech Communications from Siena Heights University in Adrian, MI.

This workshop is free and open to the public. Signing up in advance is highly recommended. You can call the Thomaston Public Library at 354-2453 or email tpl@thomaston.lib.me.us to sign up.

 

 

Saltwater Film Society Screening of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

On Thursday, December 11th, at 6:30 PM, the Thomaston Public Library will host the Saltwater Film Society screening of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, based on the best-selling novel by Betty Smith. This 1945 Elia Kazan film relates the trials and tribulations of a turn-of-the-century Brooklyn tenement family. The father, James Dunn, is a likable but irresponsible alcoholic whose dreams of improving his family's lot are invariably doomed to disappointment. The mother, Dorothy McGuire, is the true head of the household, steadfastly holding the family together no matter what crisis arises.

The story is told from the point of view of daughter Peggy Ann Garner, a clear-eyed realist who nonetheless would like to believe in her pie-in-the-sky father, whom she dearly loves. Joan Blondell co-stars as the family's brash, freewheeling aunt, whose means of financial support is a never-ending source of neighborhood gossip.

This first film-directorial effort of Elia Kazan scores a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

For more information about the Saltwater Film Society, please see their website, http://www.saltwaterfilmsociety.org/.

Saturday Morning Qi Gong Sessions Resume

Tim English is resuming the Saturday Qi Gong sessions at the Thomaston Public Library beginning Saturday, December 6th, at 11:30 AM. The sessions will take place in the Thomaston Academy gym.

For those who have never attended, "Qigong is an intergration of physical postures, breathing techniques, and focused intentions." It is a lovely, gentle practice, somewhat like Tai Chi.

The Saturday morning sessions are open to all.

Thomaston Public Library Creates

 "Writers' Corner" with $400 Rudman Grant

Thomaston Public Library received a $400 grant this year from the Rose and Samuel Rudman Library Trust of the Maine Community Foundation. The purpose of the grant was to enhance the library's collection in support of its 2014 youth and adult writers' series, a program that brought writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children's literature to the library to read from their works and discuss the writing process. The series was intended to promote writing as enthusiastically as libraries traditionally promote reading.

Before applying for the grant, Head Librarian Ann Harris assessed the library's existing collection of resources for writers. "I found that we already had a fair number of the so-called writing classics, books on the craft, such If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg,  and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.

"We had a few titles on grammar, usage, and punctuation, as well as some older titles on the more psychological or spiritual aspects of writing, topics like inspiration, imagination, and the demons of doubt that afflict so many writers. We had nothing current on editing, marketing one's work, or the publication process start to finish. It seemed to me that with a small investment, we could create a writer's-resource collection that would be outstanding."

Receiving the Rudman Library Grant allowed the library to enhance all areas of its writing collection. "We drew up a list of titles to purchase and solicited suggestions from local writers and teachers. The result is that we now have a fine collection of highly-regarded books on just about every aspect of the writing life, including brand-new 2015 guides to finding agents and editors and marketing your work.

"We have books on everything from editing and formatting to writing your life story, breaking through writer's block, and writing in the 21st century. Midcoast Maine is home to so many writers of all sorts and we want to be a first-rate resource for them."

With offices in Ellsworth and Portland, the Maine Community Foundation works with donors and other partners to improve the quality of life for all Maine people. To learn more about the foundation, visit www.mainecf.org.

 

Holiday Book Sale in Hallway Bookshop

The Friends of the Thomaston Public Library's Hallway Bookshop features a selection of fine fiction and nonfiction on sale this month. Sale books are in mint condition and suitable for gift-wrapping and setting beneath the tree. 

Books are priced individually. Purchase five books and receive a tissue-paper-lined gift bag, available in large and small sizes. Cloth bags printed with the library name are also on sale for $5.00.  'Tis the season for giving books!

The Hallway Bookshop is located in the Thomaston Academy building at 60 Main Street. Items will be available for purchase during all open library hours.

 

Model Trains on Display in December 

Thomaston Public Library's main display case this month features the intricate model-train display of Leroy Jones and Neil Shively, with contributions from Henry Groth and Linwood Lothrop. The model-train display, set within a village setting, has been enhanced this holiday season and features new outbuildings, more vehicles, street and interior lighting, a small petroleum company, a building under construction, a gazebo, and a number of other exquisite embellishments.

The train display includes a Sperry Rail Service car used to conduct rail inspections and a self-propelled rail-diesel car intended to transport train passengers who are continuing to local destinations.

 

Photographs and a key to model-train scales are included in the display. Come take a look and see if you can spot all of this year's enhancements.

 

Thomaston Public Library

Hosting New Year's Reception

The Thomaston Public Library will host a New Year's reception on Friday, January 2nd, from 4:30 to 6:30 PM. The reception provides an opportunity for staff, patrons, Friends, volunteers, the library board, and the entire Thomaston community to come together to toast the new year -- with great food and sparkling cider.

New library cards will be issued to anyone whose new year's resolutions include acquiring a library card! The reception also launches the library's food collection as a part of 2015's Martin Luther King food drive, so canned goods and other nonperishable food items will be welcome at the party.