The Women Who Drew My Childhood

Nicole Guerra-Coon is the Assistant Children’s Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her column in the December 26, 2019 edition of the Transcript & Bulletin.

When I was about three or four years old, my parents took me to my first movie in a theater - Disney’s “Snow White.” They weren’t sure if I would be able to sit still, or if I would be overwhelmed by the darkness or the sound. But I sat there, completely entranced, for the entire film.  Only when it ended and the lights came up, did I start to sob.  My parents were startled, and as they ushered me out of the theater, they kept reassuring me, “It was just a movie! The witch isn’t real!” But as I sobbed through the parking lot, the adults within earshot burst into laughter as I choked out “I…just...didn’t want it...to end!”

This is a memory that has stayed with me, and I have always thought about it through the lense of storytelling and its universal power.

A Year in Reading

Kate Tigue is the Head of Youth Services at the Morrill Memorial Library. Read her column in the December 12, 2019 edition of the Transcript and Bulletin. 

I’ve never been big on New Year’s resolutions. I find them a little depressing, knowing I’ll likely never keep them.  I don’t know what it is about the word “resolution” but it has such a negative connotation for me that I always avoid them. I prefer to set goals. Having goals sounds way more positive to me than making resolutions. Goals are things you can work toward, resolutions are things you have to keep.

I am a member of GoodReads, a social media centered around books and reading. When I first joined, I primarily used GoodReads as a way to keep track of the books I’ve read and the titles I wanted to read. But several years ago, GoodReads start challenging it users to a yearly reading goal in January of the new year. Participants can set the number of books they wish to finish reading by the end of December and a member’s homepage will track their progress toward their goal. I’ve set a goal every year since this feature was introduced and mostly met them. This year, I was very ambitious and hoped to read 25 books. I might fall a few short of that goal as I’ve only read 22 and December is halfway over!

Florida's Carl Hiaasen

Charlotte Canelli is the library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Charlotte's column in the December 5, 2019 edition of the Transcript & Bulletin.

Carl Hiassen wrote the little book, Assume the Worst (2018), as the "graduation speech you'll never hear." He wrote it to his son, Quinn, upon his commencement from high school that year.  The advice as far as Hiaasen is concerned is meant for anyone. It might be a bit too honest, and perhaps a tad pessimistic, for many of us. Hiaasen argues against some of the favorite adages we hear all the time, like "Live Each Day As If It's Your Last" and "If You Set Your Mind to It, You Can Be Anything You Want to Be."  His conflict with these sentiments? If you lived every day like it was your last, you'd undoubtedly be broke, irrelevant, and possibly in prison. And can you really be the next Willy Mays or Bill Gates? Probably not. Hiassen's adage? "Self-delusion is no virtue."

Hiaasen proclaims that it's more important to "figure out what you're good at and get better at it." Or, more simplistically and realistically, "live each day as if your rent is due tomorrow."