Lessons Learned from Gluten-Free Baking

Carla Howard is the Senior Circulation Assistant/Marketing and Media Assistant at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Read Carla’s column in the February 21, 2019 issue of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

After struggling with GI issues for many years, I recently have decided to take my diet in hand.  I had previously gone “Dairy-Free” for the same reason and experienced some success, but I still wasn’t where I wanted to be, gastrointestinal-ly speaking.  Gluten, a storage protein in wheat that gives baked goods that elasticity and lightness, has long been touted as a contributor to aforesaid GI issues.  My sister had already gone gluten-free for the same reason.  There was only one thing standing in my way:  my undying and uncompromising love for baked goods.  I didn’t see how I could ever give them up and experience a satisfied diet.  So, I went in search of gluten-free alternatives.

A Fierce Kind of Love

Kirstie David is a Literacy and Outreach Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her article in the February 14, 2019 edition of the Norwood Transcript & Bulletin.

I was running errands at some point around the holidays when I happened to tune in to a radio segment about tarantulas. This is not a subject I’ve ever had any interest in, and I would normally have changed the station at once, but the topic wasn’t immediately clear to me. A woman was describing a furry creature with delicate, pink-tipped feet. I tried to guess the animal, factoring in her obvious admiration. I was hindered by the detail of her holding it in her palm. When one of the hosts of the show expressed his disbelief that a tarantula could be charming, I actually recoiled. My hand, which had been hovering near the radio buttons, yanked back as if a huge spider might suddenly appear there. Who was this lunatic? In short order, I learned that the woman speaking was naturalist and author Sy Montgomery, who has been described by The Boston Globe as, “Part Indiana Jones and part Emily Dickinson.”

Where Are All The Ladies At

Nicole Guerra-Coon is the Assistant Children’s Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her column in the February 7, 2019 edition of the Norwood Transcript.

One day, while I was at home working on a painting, I decided to try to learn through osmosis and put a documentary on. I usually listen to music or have the TV on while I paint or draw, and I don’t really pay close attention since I am focused on my work.  But instead of absentmindedly trying to figure out who the real murderer was on some British mystery, I thought - maybe I could learn something! I always mean to watch more documentaries or read more about the topics I am interested in, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day.  So I picked a topic, Female artists, and selected a documentary on someone I’d never heard of.

Bottoms Up - Beer in New England

Brian DeFelice is the Technology Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood. Read his column in the January 31, 2019 edition of the Norwood Transcript & Bulletin.

When I saw the writing on the crate, I remember getting this rush of excitement. It was an old wooden crate on the floor of my mother-in-law’s cottage in New Hampshire, which was being used as a container for all sorts of miscellaneous newspapers and magazines that had been collected by myself and the family during our many summer visits to the cottage over the years. The sturdy but aged wooden crate was clearly an antique, but to me it had always just been a fixture of the cottage; something that was always there, but never actually warranted a closer look or any further inspection. It was just, to me, an old box with some old papers in it.

Reflections on My Life with Ansel Adams

Nancy Ling is the Outreach Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Nancy’s column in the January 24, 2019 of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

In some ways Ansel Adams confirmed that my husband and I were a match made in heaven. No, I did not know the famous photographer personally. No, he did not arrange my first date with my husband through a Sierra Club app. However, his photography played a role in sealing our fate.

Fishing for Books and Discovering Cats

Charlotte Canelli is the library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Charlotte's column in the January 17,  2019 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

When my husband Gerry was a boy, he loved to fish the lakes and rivers in and about his Framingham hometown. When he was younger, his mother accompanied him. When he was older, he rode his bike to Lake Cochituate with his rod and reel and flirted with the trout stocked by the Department of Fishery and Game. He remembers the dump trucks that released squirmy, tagged fish near the Carling Black Label plant near Route 9.

But, Does It Have Heated Seats?

Liz Reed is an Adult and Information Services Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Liz’s column in the January 10, 2019 issue of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

When was the last time you went shopping for a car? Purchasing a car is one of the single biggest purchases you’ll ever make, especially if it’s a brand new car. But where do you start? If you have the luxury of not needing a car immediately, what time of year should you start looking? Which sources can you trust when researching cars and comparing features? What do you need to know before you go to a dealership, and how do you know you’re getting the best deal when you’re working with the sales person? Lucky for you, dear readers, I had a recent foray into the wild world of car buying, and I want to share a few lessons I learned along the way.

Start the New Year by Reading My Favorite Gift Books of 2018

Charlotte Canelli is the library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Charlotte's column in the January 3, 2019 edition of the Norwood 
Transcript and Bulletin.

As a young girl, one of my preferred gifts at Christmas was a book. Classics like Heidi, Five Little Peppers, Swiss Family Robinson, and Little Women remain some of my most cherished possessions. I’ve always surrounded myself and my family with books and literally poured books into my children’s hands, overflowing the bookshelves in our home.

We all know librarians fancy books. More than that, though, it takes reverence for books to pursue a profession about them. Yet, libraries are evolving places where exciting programs and marvelous things are becoming more and more relevant to a library’s mission. The field is attracting young professionals who are, in addition to clever researchers and keen readers, excited about technology, music, and social synergy.

Grumps, Cranks, and Misanthropes

Kate Tigue is the Head of Youth Services at the Morrill Memorial Library. Read her column in the December 27, 2018 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin. 

Can you stand to read books or watch television programs or movies with unlikable protagonists? It certainly is challenging to connect with characters who do, say or believe things that breach cultural norms,  don't meet our standards of courteousness or are just plain wrong! It’s easy to distance ourselves as readers when we encounter characters who clearly take delight in hurting others and call them villains. But what about characters who are unlikable in the middle of very sympathetic situations, like navigating difficult life circumstances?  It’s more difficult to forgive missteps as a reader when complicated characters don’t meet our expectations, even when they are trying their best.

An Unlikely Advocate of Aromatherapy

Brian DeFelice is the Technology Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood. Read his column in the December 20, 2018 edition of the Norwood Transcript &Bulletin.

Aromatherapy became an interest of mine, oddly enough, after attending a technology conference. A few years back, I was lucky enough to attend the “Computers in Libraries” conference in Virginia. As an Information Technology librarian, I have always loved attending this conference. It’s very exciting to see what other libraries around the country (and beyond!) are doing with technology to better serve their communities.

War in December

Norma Logan is the Literacy Coordinator at the Morrill Memorial Library. Read Norma Logan's column in the December 13, 2018 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

December 7, 2018   marks the 77^th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which led to the United States’ entry into World War II.   The US involvement started in 1941 and lasted until the end of the war in 1945. According to US Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, 496,777 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II are alive in 2018.  We are losing 372 veterans per day.

My 96 year old father-in-law, Bill, is one of the surviving 496,777 WW II veterans.  Although he now sometimes forgets little things, he does remember Pearl Harbor and D-Day vividly.  He was not in the military at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, but he had a vital part in D-Day (June 6, 1944), the day when allied forces invaded northern France by means of beach landings in Normandy.

A Star is Born - One More Look

Charlotte Canelli is the library director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Charlotte's column in the December 6, 2018 edition of the Norwood 
Transcript and Bulletin.

 Aashiqui 2 is the 2013 Bollywood version of A Star is Born. With subtitles in English, the musical is a lovely remake. It stars exceptionally handsome Aditya Roy Kapur - and the even more beautiful Shraddha Kapoor. The music is enchanting, and both conventional Bollywood cinematography and delightful chemistry between the two actors received much critical praise upon its release. Translated to the English "love makes one live," the Hindi Indian film matches the 1976 musical closely – it is the intense and tragic story of two musicians, Rahul Jaykar (or R.J.) and Aarohi Keshav Shirke.

When Bradley Cooper took over the project as director, he hoped his fresh version of A Star is Born - of rising and descending stars – would be a box office success. Although Clint Eastwood had envisioned American songwriter and singer Beyoncé as the leading lady of the next remake, it was upon listening to pop singer Lady Gaga at a benefit concert that Cooper knew that he had found his star in Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga’s real name.

Book Nutrition: Different Ways to Feed the Brain

Kate Tigue is a children’s librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library. Read Kate’s column in the November 29, 2018 issue of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.
Recently, the staff in the Children’s Room has been noticing a trend in children’s and young adult literature: lots of adults take out and read books traditionally written for young people. This is certainly because literature for kids is now being marketed more widely than ever before. Film producers and directors are mining the rich landscape of books aimed at children to find their next big hit on the silver screen. Some books almost seem to be written with the potential optioning of movie rights in mind. It’s no wonder with all that exposure that our collections in the Children’s room have received more adult attention.

Giving Thanks to Our Library (and My Job)

Lydia Sampson is the Technical Services department head at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read her column in the November 22, 2018 issue of the Norwood Transcript & Bulletin.

This Thanksgiving, as per usual, I give thanks to my family, friends, health, the abundance of food on the table, and so on. Coming up on my one year anniversary working at the Morrill Memorial Library though, I feel particularly grateful for my new job. Not only have I come to adore my colleagues and thoroughly enjoy entering our majestic historic building every day, but the shift to public librarianship has rekindled my faith in the future of the beloved free public library in American culture.

Talent Search

Nancy Ling is the Outreach Librarian at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, Massachusetts. Read Nancy’s column in the November 15, 2018 edition of the Norwood Transcript and Bulletin.

We all have a variety of skills and talents. Perhaps we have worked hard to develop these abilities over time or perhaps we were lucky enough to be born with a gift or two. For example when I’m asked to write an article for the weekly library column, I feel equipped to do so. I’m comfortable writing children’s books or poetry.  Crafting words is a skill I’ve developed over time. Likewise, I enjoy entertaining. I become a whirling dervish beforehand, but hosting a family gathering or holiday party is definitely my cup of tea.