The Library Without Walls - Kids on the Move

Read Jean Todesca's column in the April 28, 2016 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin. Jean is the Head of Children's Services at the Morrill Memorial Library.

            We’re so excited!  The MBLC Preschool STEAM Grant has given the Children’s Department the chance to flex its creative muscles.  STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics.  Since November, we have provided many opportunities to examine these subjects.  Now nature is our upcoming point of interest!

            Our next adventure is three storytimes to be held at Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary in Sharon.  We are taking our programming outside the library walls!  On Wednesday, May 11, 18 and 25, our young patrons ages 3-6 will have the opportunity to learn about frogs, butterflies, and songbirds.  Patti Austin will guide through the activity. 

            “Touch & Feel” of specimens, stories, and a nature walk will round out the programs.  We are hoping to see some frogs!  The sanctuary provides natural items for the children to examine.  We ask the adults to expand the child’s experience by using the K-W-L Strategy.  Before you arrive, ask the child-“What do you know about frogs?”  After they respond, ask-“What do you want to learn about frogs?”  Finally, after the event, ask-“What did you learn about frogs?’  These conversations will enhance the child’s observation skills as well as create a fun family discussion and shared experience. 

            Our Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary programs will illustrate that reading and learning can expand outside of the brick and mortar buildings.  The library isn’t just for books anymore!

            If you and your preschooler would like to join us, email norchild@minlib.net.  Space is limited and you must provide your own transportation.  We are planning on beautiful weather, but as New Englanders we never know.  So, dress for the weather. 

            The Children’s Department is happy to provide these unique experiences.  So, see you there!

A Writing Life

Charlotte Canelli is the library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Charlotte's column in the April 21, 2016 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

I started writing newspaper columns in 2001when I was a librarian at the Peterborough Town Library in New Hampshire. All four professional librarians on staff there shared the writing task and I was assigned every third week of the month. I joyfully wrote about children’s books and programs that we offered to the youth of Peterborough. Sometimes, I volunteered for an additional week because it was the part of my job that I loved best.

The Etymologist by Night

Liz Reed is the Adult and Information Services Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Liz's column in the April 14, 2016 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

    The library building may be open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, but being a librarian involves a set of skills that aren’t always easy to switch off. When I’m not being a librarian in the workplace, I find that I’m most often engaged as an etymologist for friends and family. In other words, I’m the go-to person when someone wants to know the history of a word beyond the simple definition. Luckily for them, I find etymology, or the history of words, fascinating.

Beyond My Job Description

Samuel Simas is the technology assistant at the Morrill Memorial library; he is a graduate student at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Library and Information Studies. Read Sam's column in the April 7, 2016 issue of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

When I worked at the Washanuck Library there was a wasp-nest humming in its eaves; a football sized wasp-nest that discharged angry bullets (or were they wasps?), which, if they could have spoken, would have said, “Stay away from our hive.”

I carried overdue books, a backpack, and a water-bottle up to the front door where I didn’t notice the yellow fiend, dart side pointed skyward, who had positioned itself on the door-handle.  The eaves weren’t enough; the hive wanted the whole building, the books and their vanilla scented pages, the crisp air-conditioning, the new computers and DVDs.  I imagined the queen sitting in her glob of honey, rubbing her prickly feelers, humming,