Triple Dog Dare
Waltham has recently said goodbye to Covenant Congregational Church after 122 years in the community. The last service was held on November 21.
The church kindly donated to the library’s Waltham Room many items of interest from their collections. These include histories, photos and copies of deeds and record books, some even in Swedish from the early days of the Swedish Congregational Church.
They also generously donated a calligraphy of the history of the Piety Corner Chapel, the meeting place of the church. It was lovingly done in 1963, probably by Reverend Roger Palmquist, and shows beautiful attention to detail in the drawing of the church and the illuminated lettering. It currently makes a pretty display, along with some other of the items that were donated, outside the Waltham Room.
posted by Janice
Has anyone noticed how small everything is getting…The Corporate World
isn’t just downsizing its work force, it is downsizing in little tiny increments too.
Many years ago I noticed that the weight of a can of tuna had gone down.
Lately, it seems, more of the items we use are being pared down.
I thought I had found an exception, recently I had to purchase some salt, which I don’t buy very often; actually I can’t remember the last time I had to buy salt. I noticed the price on the container, in my cupboard, was 69 cents. It was so old it had been “stamped” using the old fashion purple ink pad system.
At the grocery store, I was surprised to find that the price for salt was still only 69 cents. When I got the new container home, I noticed the weight on the old container was 26 ounces and the new container of salt listed the weight as 22 ounces; so it may be the same amazing price of 69 cents; BUT it weighs 4 ounces LESS!
Funny when you listen to the news, it’s all about people being overweight…you’d think with all the food package downsizing we’d be losing weight!
One place they haven’t been downsizing is at the fast food joints…
”Do you want to Super Size that?” (Sure just apply it directly to my thighs…sigh!!!)
Who can resist a bargain?
If you are looking for a bargain with fewer calories, stop in at the Waltham Public Library;
where you will find just about everything you are looking for and if we don’t have what you want we can usually locate the item at another location; either in our network or from a library out of our system. If you order a book from within the network, we can have it delivered to the Minuteman Library of your choosing for convenient pick up.
Sure we’ve got books but we have so much more than that, we also have DVDs, CDs, audio books, Internet access via in-house computers, as well as wireless connection throughout.
Programs are available for people of all ages, whether it be story hour and playtime in the Children’s Room or Opera, how-to seminars, book discussions, appearances by entertainers and civic group meetings in the Lecture Hall; there are many diverse opportunities offered at the library.
So come on in and try to resist our bargains!
posted by Jeanette
On the third Thursday of every month but December, a delightful group of readers gathers in the Trustees Room of the Waltham Public Library to discuss a book. We come away from these meetings with a richer understanding of the books and admiration for the insights of the other participants.
Every year, I create the list of books for the coming year based on the group’s suggestions. This year, as always, we’re mixing it up with a range of titles from near and far, now and then:
If you would like to receive monthly reminders about book club meetings, you can subscribe to the list on the library’s web page under Subscribe to Library News.
Our first meeting in 2011 will be on January 20th, at 7:30 PM. We’ll talk about Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, the story of an old man passing on family stories and secrets to his very young son. Copies of the book will soon be available at the Circulation Desk on the 1st floor. For more information about the Book Club, see the library’s webpage. All are welcome — no need to sign up in advance.
Kate
Recently, the Waltham Public Library acquired many new databases.
These databases along with other library materials can be very helpful to students working on school assignments or anyone researching a particular topic. Our newest databases cover many subjects including History, Business, Literature, Biography, and Science.
All databases are available at the library for all users or from home to all Waltham residents who have a Minuteman Network library card. To access the databases from home you must visit the Waltham Public Library website and click Online Research. You will be asked to enter your library card number. Databases are listed alphabetically or by subject.
Our new databases include:
For more information about any of these databases please call the Reference Department and a Reference Librarian at 781-314-3425 and a Reference Librarian will be happy to help you!
Posted by Paula
Looking for a stocking stuffer for the Waltham Public Library patron in your life? Try Rental Bucks!
$5 gets you 6 $1 coupons good toward Friends of the Waltham Public Library Rental items! That’s right, 1 is free!
Stop by the AV Room, Children’s Room or either Circulation desk to buy yours today.
Do you have an account at Watertown Savings Bank? Watertown Savings is holding its 15th Annual Customer’s Choice Awards, and will be giving away a total of $50,000 to a variety of local non-profit organizations. Customers have until January 15 to vote for their favorite organizations, such as the Friends of the Waltham Public Library. The non-profit group, Friends of the Library, support the library’s museum pass program, the summer reading programs, the cultural events, the notebook computers for use in the library, and a variety of other library enhancements. Please show your support for this group by picking up a Customer Choice Award Ballot at our circulation desk or by visiting www.watertownsavings.com.
Thank-you! Happy Thanksgiving.
Did you know the library offers free wireless access? Come into the library and log into the walthampubliclibrary network with your laptop or other device. Don’t have a laptop or something similar? No problem. You can “check out” a laptop from our front circulation desk with your library card and photo ID and use it anywhere in the building for up to two hours. Need some peace and quiet while you’re working away on your laptop? That’s not a problem, either. Reserve one of our five study rooms at the reference desk and work in silence for up to two hours.
And, now, we’re very excited to offer wireless printing! You can now print directly from a laptop computer anywhere in the library (for only 10 cents a page). Your printouts will appear at a printer in the library’s reference area. If you’re printing from a library owned laptop, just send your document to print. If you’re printing from your own laptop, you will need to download software (once) in order to print. Come to the reference desk for a CD-Rom and downloading directions. Don’t have a CD-Rom drive or want to download the software before you come to the library? No problem! Get the software here: http://tinyurl.com/wplprint.
Did you know that the library has a Facebook page? We are currently running a promotion, encouraging our Facebook fans to become more interactive and let us know what they like about the library. Check out our Facebook page and you can get coupons for free movies and other treats.
Bibliotherapy? We’ve got it here
Recently, I was reading about an organization in London, England called The School Of Life. They actually have people on their staff called bibliotherapists. My guess is that one needs to pay for their services. Well, guess what? The Waltham Public Library can provide you with bibliotherapy at no charge.
We are open seven days a week and we have knowledgable, educated staff who can get you the prescription that you are needing. Whether you need a quiet place to think and read, a downloadable book for your ipod, or that work out video that you have been thinking about, 735 Main Street is the place for you.
The staff here are specialists in matching you up with whatever it is in your “school of life” that you need. If you need to escape with an adventure flick, some chic lit, or a funny book by your favorite humorist, we will help you find it. If you are looking to reduce that holiday stress, we can get you up to the minute articles, books, audiobooks, DVDs and more.
We will provide the literary prescription that you need and it has no calories. Zero. That stress management book, that video on Yoga For Wimps, we lend them to you because we want you to thrive.
There is no charge for our services. Many of us have gotten Master’s degrees so that we could really be good at getting you what you want. Here at the Waltham Public Library, bibliotherapy is one of our raisons d’etre.
posted by Louise