Tech Bytes · The Sensory Child Gets Organized Carolyn Dalgliesh Proven systems for rigid, anxious, or distracted kids David and Goliath Malcolm Gladwell Uncovers the hidden rules

On Exhibit: Helen E. Ellis Exhibit Case January: Original 20th century Japanese prints on rice paper accompanied by lovely collection of Japanese dolls. New Bedford Ocean Explorium: Passes 50% discount for up to six guests

Thank you! This  quarter’s  @ the Library  is  supported  by:  Westport  Cultural  Council  through  a  Helen  E.  Ellis  Charitable  Trust  Grant  

administered  by  Bank  of  America  AND  

Dollars  for  Doers  Grant  administered  by  Oliver  Wyman  

What’s New?

Free Wi-Fi SAILS Library Network 24/7 borrowing Homebound Delivery Service Children’s Programs Manton Community Room Library Bridge Club Library Book Club Museum Passes Westport Writers Group Call the Library for more info…

Services

Library Hours Monday 12:00-8:30 Tuesday 10:00-5:00 Wednesday 10:00-5:00 Thursday 12:00-8:30 Friday 10:00-5:00 Saturdays 9:00-4:00 Sunday CLOSED 408 Old County Road Ph 508-636-1100 [email protected] http://library.westport-ma.com

Perspectives: Why to Consider a Friends of Westport Library (FOWL) Membership In 2013 FOWL allocated $11,250 to the Westport Library: $9000 to purchase books, CDs, and DVDs, $1200 for children’s programs, and $1050 for museum passes. Reader please note: the Town’s library budget has not included funds for circulation purchases for more than ten years. FOWL now contributes about a third of monies used for this purpose. FOWL’s largest source of income is books sales with total income for 2013 of about $8500. We sold somewhere between 4,000 and 8,000 used books to reach that number. Membership donations are key to funding our library contributions. Our 2013 membership income increased to about $8,000. Our members are greatly interested in purchase of circulating materials. The Library’s excellent discount program for book purchasing yields an average printed-book price of $12-$13. Each member can take satisfaction in having placed at least one book into the hands of multiple readers. Members helped us to launch this newsletter by partially funding printing of the first issue. Our annual printing costs for @ the Library are $1600, and it has been the best community relations effort for our Library since our book sale started in the 1980s. We do look for income from sources other than asking you to open your wallet. A Helen E. Ellis grant and sponsorships have funded three issues of the newsletter. Lees Community Partners now generates about $150 per month, so please keep those receipts coming. If you have already renewed your membership for 2014, thank you. Recent new 2013 members are extended through 2014. If you're not a member already, please join. It’s a great way to show your belief in the importance of a public library.

Kate Kastner, President, FOWL

[email protected]

Vol. 2, Issue 1: January – March 2014

Director’s Update When I consider the Library’s growing role in the community, it is gratifying to see that many expanding outreach activities have been made possible by the Manton Community Room. Since January 2010, this modern, functional space has enabled clubs, Scouts, tutors, artists, authors, musicians, grant-writers, exam-proctors, historians, sport-leagues, and non-profit organizations to enjoy pastimes, share information, and build their organizations. To schedule individual or ongoing events in the Manton Community Room, please review the usage policy and complete the registration form available on the Library’s Website, or ask a librarian for a copy.

Sue Branco, Library Director [email protected]

Tech Bytes What is the Virtual Catalog? It can be accessed on the SAILS e-catalog site and allows library users to: - Place holds on items unavailable at any SAILS Library. - View items in other Massachusetts Library Networks and University of Massachusetts Libraries in Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell. - Place five active requests on hold at any time. Check It Out!

2

Vol. 2, Issue 1: January – March 2014 @ the Library

Preschool – Grade 2: The Green Bath Mahy, Margaret Sammy's mother tells him to forget about adventures and get cleaned up for his grandmother's visit, but the new bathtub Sammy's father brought home seems determined to have an adventure.

The Tortoise and the Hare Pinkney, Jerry Illustrations and minimal text relate the familiar fable of the race between a slow tortoise and a quick but foolish hare. Eat Like a Bear Sayre, April A bear emerges from her den in April hungry after four months without food. Follow her until November when she hibernates for the winter. Baby Bear Counts One Wolff, Ashley Before curling up with his mother in their cozy den, Baby Bear counts other animals preparing for winter. Grades 1-4: Sylva and the Fairy Ball McNamara, Margaret Sylva isn't old enough to attend the Fairy Ball with her sisters. When a horde of trolls crash the ball, Sylva comes to the rescue. Grades 5-8: Bo at Ballard Creek Hill, Kirkpatrick It's the 1920's and Bo was headed for an orphanage in Alaska until two tough gold miners decide to raise her with the help of the kind folks in a nearby Eskimo village. The Garden of My Imaan Zia, Farhana The arrival of a new fifth-grader who is a strict Muslim helps Aliya come to terms with her own faith. Young Adult: All the Truth That's in Me Berry, Julie Judith can't speak. When her community of Roswell Station is attacked by enemies, Judith is forced to choose: continue to live in silence or recover her voice. Al Capone Does My Homework Choldenko, Gennifer Moose Flanagan, who lives on Alcatraz along with his family, faces new challenges when his father is promoted to associate warden. Hostage Three Lake, Nick Seventeen-year-old Amy, her father, and stepmother become hostages when Somalian pirates seize their yacht. Although she builds a bond with one of her captors, it becomes brutally clear that the price of life and its value are two very different things.

A Chat with… Michael Habib Founding Member, FOWL By Kate Kastner

Michael is the longest-serving member of the FOWL Board, presently serving as VP. From his office in Fall River, he is a lawyer specializing in ‘care and protection’ and personal injury.

Tell us a bit about your early FOWL experience. FOWL was founded in 1982 when I was fairly new to Westport. Anita Baron, the librarian prior to Sue Branco, noticed that I was a frequent Library user and asked me to join as a founding member. At the time I was the youngest Board member; later I became the third or fourth President and served as such until 2011. Probably my favorite type of event we sponsored is poetry readings. They generated a solid audience and rather good poetry of many types. We even created a booklet of a number of the poems and distributed it at no cost. If anyone is interested, I would love to see that revived. What keeps you involved? My early school years were in Buzzards Bay where I attended second grade in one of the last one-room school houses so the town library was very important to me. Libraries really are “the People’s University”. As our Library clearly has financial needs, I still enjoy helping raise funds to help. And for ten years I have been a facilitator in ‘Changing Lives Through Literature’, a program established by the Fall River Juvenile Court as a reading group attended in lieu of doing Community Service. Books do change lives. How have the Book Sales changed? Our early book sales were held in the Library, but we tried the Westport Harvest Festival as our venue for a few years. As the volume of books grew, we decided to stay on the Library property. I started the Specially-priced section of the sale because we often receive books that should not be sold for just $1 or $2, and I really enjoy the research into value. This year we sold a donated book for $200, which was still a good price for the buyer. What are your other hobbies? Reading and cooking. I probably have over 300 cookbooks with my favorites being about ethnic cuisine from which I learn techniques, or some by restaurant chefs. I also read a lot of non-fiction. I am especially interested in the Spanish Inquisition and American history with an emphasis on the history of slavery. Any specific titles to recommend? Currently I am enjoying Ten Hills Farm by C. S. Manegold about slaveowners in Medford, MA. People often fear that non-fiction will be dull, but The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell would be a good, recent choice to disprove this. She presents history accurately, but with a more entertaining approach than that of a traditional historian.

Kid’s Corner

3

Vol. 2, Issue 1: January – March 2014 @ the Library

Library Book Club

Second Friday monthly 11:00-12:00/12:30 For more info contact Karen Nourse at [email protected] January 10: Orphan Train Christine Baker Kline February 7: Stiff Mary Roach March 7: Defending Jacob William Landay

Events For Kids Story Hour for children ages three and up Tuesdays, 10:30-11:15 (begins end of January) A story program with a different theme each week concluding with a take home craft project. Lap-Sit for children under age three Wednesdays, 10:30-11:00 (begins end of January) A parent and child program consisting of several brief stories, finger plays, music, nursery rhymes and puppets. Looking for something to do during February School Vacation Week? Winter themed story and craft program for children ages 5-8 Tuesday, February 18, 1:00-2:00 Family Program: Creature Teachers of Littleton, MA Friday, March 21 at 7:00 Richard Roth from Creature Teachers will present Australian critters. Come meet a blue skink, a wallaby, a kookaburra and some other surprises. Friends of the Westport Library will sponsor this wonderful educational and entertaining event. Refreshments to follow the program. For Adults (in Manton Community Room unless otherwise noted) Bridge Club: Wednesdays 12:00-3:00 FOWL Board Meetings: January 27, 6:30 / March 10, 6:30 - Public Welcome

You can help

Bring your Lees receipts to the Library–every $ counts.

New to the Collection Large Print Non-Fiction The Second-Chance Dog Jon Katz Author's relationship with artist Maria Wulf and his campaign to win over her fiercely protective dog, Frieda, a Rottweiler-shepherd mix who resisted all efforts to tame her. The Bully Pulpit Doris Kearns Goodwin. A dynamic history of the muckracking press and the first decade of the Progressive era as told through the intense friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Music CDs Essential Johnny Cash Johnny Cash Legend Bob Marley and the Wailers Books on CD Daddy’s Gone A Hunting Mary Higgins Clark A dark secret from a family's past threatens the lives of two sisters, Kate and Hannah Connelly. Don’t Go Lisa Scottoline Riveting thriller about a man's search for his wife’s killer. Deadly Stakes J.A. Jance Reporter Ali Reynolds works against the police to add up the clues connecting one frightened teenager, two dead bodies, and $300,000.

Adult Non-Fiction The Coastal Table Karen Covey Recipes inspired by the farmlands and seaside of southern New England The Sensory Child Gets Organized Carolyn Dalgliesh Proven systems for rigid, anxious, or distracted kids David and Goliath Malcolm Gladwell Uncovers the hidden rules that shape the balance between the weak and the mighty, the powerful and the dispossessed. Adult Fiction Takedown Twenty Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum mystery series Spider Woman’s Daughter Anne Hillerman After breakfast with colleagues, Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette Manualito sees a truck squeal into the parking lot and hears a crack of gunfire. When the dust clears, someone very close to her is lying on the asphalt in a pool of blood. With the victim in the hospital fighting for his life, every person in the squad and the local FBI office is hell-bent on catching the gunman. We Are Water Wally Lamb A disquieting and uplifting novel about a marriage, a family, and human resilience in the face of tragedy.

4

Vol. 2, Issue 1: January – March 2014 @ the Library

The Westport Public Library and FOWL would like to thank our 2013 donors

…and thank you to those who sponsored the printing of our 2013 newsletters  Friends of Westport Library Kate Kastner Laurie Marceau Dollars for Doers Grant administered by Oliver Wyman Westport Cultural Council through a Helen E. Ellis Charitable Trust Grant administered by Bank of America

5

Vol. 2, Issue 1: January – March 2014 @ the Library

Tribute to Harold and Virginia Lash By Bob Gormley, Trustee Chair The Library Trustees salute two benefactors: Harold G. and Virginia E .Lash, lifetime devotees of our Library. In their last years they gave us some thoughtful gifts. Virginia passed in April 2008 and, in her memory as our 2009 addition and renovation was being completed, Harold and the family donated our custom-made oak reception desk. A plaque with her name now graces the desk's face. Daughters Gail and Wendy told me how Virginia would gather up the children on Saturday mornings and head for the old Library, upstairs in Town Hall, presently the Selectmen's Office. They recall their joy and their mother's enthusiasm as they spread out books to choose from for the week's reading by themselves and by the parents who always read to them. In 2011 Harold, his son Douglas and I met with Library Director Sue Branco as the Lashes sought a briefing on our needs and contemplated a further gift to help us meet financial goals over the coming years. Later that year the Trustees received a generous grant from the Lash family charitable gift fund. This grant is being used, in conjunction with Town funds, to keep us abreast of changing technology, to add to our collection and, in general, to improve our service to the community. Harold Lash subsequently passed on in August 2013. We welcome this opportunity to thank the family publicly for their generosity and community spirit for this grant is not only for the Library as an institution but also for the town of Westport and its residents.

World of Books The Pedal-Powered Time Machine: Writing a Historical Novel By Beatrice Gormley I have a time-travel device. It really works! In 1773, I’ve shivered in the midnight shadows on Fort William in Boston Harbor, hoping for an explosion. I’ve lurked in the wings of Ford’s Theater on the night of April 14, 1865. I’ve crossed the first-century Mediterranean Sea on a striped-sailed ship, in the poisonous company of Herod Antipas and his new wife, Herodias. Granted, my time machine doesn’t travel very fast. It’s less like hopping a jet from New York to Los Angeles, and more like pedaling a three-speed bicycle the length of Interstate 90. Not only is it slow, but it won’t budge unless I sweat away at it. By slogging along every day for months, I can reach the Washington, D.C. of the Civil War. Getting from here to the ancient Roman Empire takes a little longer. As I headed for pre-Revolutionary Boston to write Friends of Liberty, this was my time-travel process: First, I ingested all the information and impressions I could get. I pored over maps to learn the geography (very different from today’s Boston). I studied the history, especially my characters’ recent past—events they’d remember or have heard about. I wandered through historical buildings, like the Old South Meeting House. At the Museum of Fine Arts, I scrutinized the portraits of Samuel Adams and Dorothy Quincy. What would the characters in my story wear? Paintings and drawings from the 1700s were helpful, but I also needed to know what was under those fitted bodices and gathered overskirts. Sally, the main character in Friends of Liberty, hides an important object in her pocket. I discovered that a Colonial girl’s pocket was tied with strings around her waist—something like an eighteenth-century fanny pack, worn underneath the skirt. What did my characters eat, and how did they eat it? A family supper is a key scene in Friends of Liberty. What did they do with the baby during the meal? To my surprise, at least some Colonists sat their little children up to the table in high chairs. Not Graco Baby molded plastic—these were wooden high chairs with woven rush seats—but no one had to hold the baby on their lap. After I go to all the work of learning the background material, I then have to forget it as I write my story. Forget, that is, that it’s anything remarkable to my characters. To them, their historical period is not a “period” at all; it’s the enormously complicated, unpredictable present moment. Even when they think they know what’s going to happen, they probably don’t. If I’m successful, eventually my finished time travel device—I mean, my book—will appear on the shelf of a library or bookstore. A reader will pick it up, and by flipping a switch—er, turning the page—step into a time past. See www.beatricegormley.com for more about Beatrice Gormley’s books.

Spotlight

“Few pleasures, for the true reader, rival the pleasure of browsing unhurriedly among books: old books, new books, library books, other people’s books, one’s own books – it does not matter whose or where.

Simply to be among books, glancing at one here, reading a page from one over there, enjoying them all as objects to be touched, looked at, even smelt, is a deep satisfaction. And often, very often, while browsing haphazardly, looking for nothing in particular, you pick up a volume that suddenly excites you, and you know that this one of all the others you must read. Those are great moments – and the books we come

across like that are often the most memorable.”

- Aidan Chambers (b 1934) British author of children's and young-adult novels.

Vol. 2, Issue 1: January – March 2014 @ the Library

Board Members:

President: Kate Kastner

Vice President: Michael Habib

Secretary: Linda Olsen

Treasurer: Karen Nourse

Leona Andrade Lisa Arnold Elizabeth Cady Shelley K. Cohen, Ph.D. Suze Craig Ned Daniels Jennie Elias Cheryl Fournier Shelley Lang Laurie Marceau Marianne Sullivan Denise Weaver

FOWL aids the mission of the Westport Free Public Library. All activities are run by volunteers−people who believe in a public library. Funds raised through member dues and book sales go to the Library to purchase books, CD’s, DVD’s, museum passes, and to fund children’s programs. FOWL is the largest funding source for these purchases. In 2013, member dues and book sales contributed over $10,000 to Library funding. If you are not yet a member, fill in the form to the right to join today.

FOWL’s services and activities:

Museum Passes: Boston Museum of Science Museum of Fine Arts, Boston New Bedford Ocean Explorium New Bedford Whaling Museum Bookstore at the Library located in the Library lobby Summer Paperback Book Sale Programs/Special Events Annual Book Sale with Member Preview Night Paperback Exchange Carousel located in the Library lobby @ the Library Quarterly Newsletter

* Membership levels:

$10 Individual $50 Patron

$20 Family $100 Bibliophile

$30 Sponsor $ _______ Other * FOWL is a 501c3 non-profit; your donation is tax deductible

Yes, I would like to volunteer. I am interested in:

____ Book Sale Committee ____ PR/Marketing

It’s easy to donate or renew:

1) Mail: PO Box 842, Westport, MA 02790

2) Drop off form and payment at Library

Name: ____________________________________

Mailing Address:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Phone: ____________________________________

Email: _____________________________________

Become a member − Join today

PO Box 842 Westport, MA 02790 [email protected]