Coming to Light

Nancy Ling is an Outreach Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library. Read the published version of Nancy Ling's column in the March 31, 2016 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

As a mother raising two teenage girls, I find myself thinking about role models quite a bit. These days who do our girls have to admire? I’m grateful for the fact that strong women are out there inventing technologies, running companies, and changing the world. While there are still fences to be climbed and boundaries to be pushed, my daughters’ generation has a growing confidence that they can do anything they put their minds to.

Exploring Mortality with Atul Gawande

Charlotte Canelli is the library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Charlotte's column in the March 24, 2016 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

In 1967 when the Beatles released the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club album, I was finishing my freshman year in high school. That historic album included the hit song written by Beatle Paul McCartney that most of us know all the words to sing along: When I’m Sixty-Four.

Ziggy Played Guitar .. And Read A Lot, Too

Read Kate Tigue's column in the March 17, 2016 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin. Kate is a Children's Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library.

It’s been over two months since legendary rock star David Bowie passed away at the early age of sixty-nine after a near two year battle with cancer. Fans around the world were devastated and shocked as the notoriously private musician didn’t share much about his personal life with the media and his death proved to be no exception. Bowie was so reclusive that it is not even known what type of cancer he had. We do know one thing for sure from Bowie’s public statements and interviews: his love of music was only paralleled by his love of reading. Yup, the world’s biggest rock star was also an obsessive bibliophile. In 1998, Vanity Fair magazine published Bowie’s answers to the infamous Proust Questionnaire. The first question asks “What is your idea of perfect happiness?” Bowie responded simply, “Reading”.

A Librarian’s Approach to Marathon Training

Meredith Ruhl is an intern at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. She is currently in her last semester in the Simmons College Graduate School of Library Science. Read Meredith's column in the March 10, 2016 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

If you drive along Commonwealth Ave. in Newton on a weekend morning in the late winter or early spring, you will likely see hundreds, if not thousands, of people running in the carriage lane next to the main road. Often braving not only the steep terrain of Heartbreak Hill but also subzero temperatures, snow, and ice, these intrepid runners are training for the Boston Marathon. Many are tackling their very first marathon and doing so to raise money for local charities, as I am this year.

Just One Bite, or the Mantra of a Mother of a Picky Eater

Diane Phillips is the Technical Services Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library.  Read Diane's  column in the March 3, 2016 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

I've been thinking a lot about food lately.  It's not due to any diet plans or anything fun like planning for a party.  I’m finding that I'm becoming obsessed with food choices, calorie counts, nutritional values and meal plans because I live with a "picky eater.