Archive,

December, 2003

Unless noted otherwise, all events take place at the Library's Main Branch. 
All events are free and open to the public.

Do you want to view a past month at the Library? If so, please click here for the Archives. 
(Available for April, 2001 and on.)
DECEMBER, 2003
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1
Children's Book Writers Group, 7pm 		2
Main Hall reception, 6:30pm
______

Short Fiction Writing Group, 7pm		 3
 Contemporary Books Discussion Group, 7:30pm
_______

Nonantum Book Talk, 11am 		4
Gallery reception, 7pm 		5

6
Booksale, Auburndale, 10am - 3pm
7
Booksale, Auburndale, Noon - 3pm
_______

Concert of Latin Music & Cabaret, 2pm


8
Author Tracy Kidder, 7:30pm
_______

Newton Camera Club, 7:30pm
 		9
Puppet Sale, 10am - 7pm
_______

Great Books Group, 7:15pm

10
Sequences Group, 10am
_______

Legal Series, 7:15pm

11
Book Review, 7:30pm		 12
 		13

14
Family Concert, 2pm

 15
Short Story Dicussion Group, 7:30pm

16
Board of Trustees Meeting, 8:30am

 17
African Lit Group, 7:30pm
_________

 Children's Book Writers Group, 7pm

 		18
Newton Symphony Youth Competition, 3-8pm 		19


Chanukkah 		20
The Writer's Workshop 10:30am
21
 Winter Solstice Concert, 2pm 		22
Newton Camera Club, 7:30pm

23








 		24
Library closed at 4pm for Christmas 		25

Library closed ALL DAY for Christmas 		26
 		27
28

 		29

 		30

 

31
Library closed at 4pm for New Year's Eve

JANUARY 1


Library closed ALL DAY for New Year's Day

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For more information on any of the Library events, 
please call the Library at (617) 796-1360
DECEMBER, 2003

Gallery & Main Hall Hours

Monday to Thursday 9:00 am to 9:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am to 5:00pm           
Sunday Noon to 5:00 pm

Closed Sundays in July & August

A R T   E X H I B I T    I N F O R M A T I O N

Are you interested in exhibiting your artwork at the Library? The Newton Free Library presents monthly exhibits by regional artists in the Gallery and Main Hall of the main library, a state-of-the-art facility which 11,000 people visit weekly. Please click here for more information.
G A L L E R Y

Pao-Fei Yang: Images
December 2 - 30, 2003
Reception: Thursday, December 4, 6-8:30PM

Winter Woods / Pao-Fei Yang

Using primal images of eggs, a ring of planets or rain falling, Yang evokes a delicate, mystical world. Because the outcome of the saggar firing process she uses is unpredictable, she does not know exactly how her clay tablets will emerge from the kiln and must trust the fire, an element of nature, to assist her in her vision.

"Nature is always my inspiration," she states, and now she has added city images to her body of work as well as the subject of creation, our origins. She finds her neighborhood walks a great influence, gathering impressions of bare branches in winter, lily pads floating on the mirrored surface of a pond, a pattern of leaves on snow, a hazy sun.

What is unique is her composition of elements. Each work is composed of boxes, whether a triptych, a checker-board or a variety of square and rectangular shapes. Within each is a different pattern or shape – scratched by wire or burnt into the surface in pale pink, gray, rust and black.

Wrought iron designs have entered her work since her visit to Morocco as has the geometry of windows, vehicles and structures; these are tantalizingly contrasted with the soft fullness of organic shapes in adjacent boxes. Subjects of varying sizes are also juxtaposed side by side creating an intriguing quilt of symbols.

Yang has exhibited in Taipei, Taiwan as well as at the Library and galleries in Cambridge, Wellfleet, Lexington and other Greater Boston locations.

 
M A I N   H A L L 

Villa Group: Painting from Observation in the Garden City
December 2 - 30, 2003
Reception: Tuesday, December 2, 6:30 - 8pm

Marian Dioguardi

 

This small, devoted group of professional artists and trained amateurs meets weekly in Newton to paint, discuss and critique works. Their interest centers on figurative painting from observation and includes traditional still life, figure, portrait and landscape subjects.

Led by noted artist and teacher Ed Stitt, the group is composed of Marian Dioguardi, Marilyn Edelson, Edward Friedman, Will Kirkpatrick and Dennis McQuillen who will be represented at the Library show, as well as newer members. They have a variety of backgrounds and influences from illustration and architecture to yoga and decoy carving. The Villa Group’s exhibit as part of last spring’s Newton Open Studios was well received.

Stitt teaches at Massachusetts College of Art and has taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. In addition to regular exhibits at Gallery NAGA, his work has been shown at many other galleries in Boston and elsewhere throughout the Northeast.

 
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Library groups meet at the Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton Centre, unless otherwise noted. All meetings are free and open to the public.
African Literatures Discussion Group
Led by Anne Serafin, this group explores the rich variety of writings from Africa. The group meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 7:30PM in Meeting Room A. Meeting Date: December 17: Desert Dawn, a memoir by Waris Dirie of Somalia. For further information, call 527-1072.

 
Children's Book Writers Group
Meetings are held on the first Monday or usually on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 7:00PM. This group is for writers who have work in progress. Pre-registration required. Please call Jacqueline Davies at 781-455-8334 or Karen Day at 244-4830 for more information. Meeting Dates: Monday, December 1 in Meeting Room A or Wednesday, December 17 in Meeting Room B.

Contemporary Books Discussion Group
Meetings are held the first Wednesday of the month, 7:30PM in Meeting Room A. Participants should read works in advance. Group coordinator: Marilyn Miller. Meeting Dates: December 3: Damage by Josephine Hart; January 7: No Other Life by Brian Moore.
To view the booklist for Sept, 2003 - June 2004, please click here
Great Books Discussion Group

Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month at 7:15PM in Meeting Room A. Members read books from the Great Books Foundation (available at the Library). Meeting Date: December 9: excerpts from Genesis from the Bible, Great Books 1st Series, volume I, 808.8 GREAT.
To download a printable booklist in pdf format for Sept, 2003 - June, 2004,
please click here.
To download a pdf, you must have Adobe Acrobat. To get Adobe Acrobat, please click on the icon or here to get it.
Newton Camera Club
Meetings are held at 7:30PM on the second and fourth Mondays of the month at the Nonantum branch. Group coordinator: John Pruente: (603) 315-9735, www.newtoncameraclub.org. Meeting Dates: Dec. 8: Karl Schanz on "Travel Adventures Far and Near;" Dec. 22: Program to be announced.
Sequences: Women Tell Our Stories Group
In this women’s workshop, participants read, discuss and write about literature by women. The group meets the second Wednesday of each month from 10 - 11:30AM in Meeting Room A. Leader: Robin Mayer Stein. Meeting Date: December 10.
Short Fiction Writing Group
This workshop provides an atmosphere of expert support to polish short fiction. It is geared for published writers as well as those who are actively pursuing publication. Pre-registration is required: 617-965-8835. The group meets the first Tuesday of each month, in Meeting Room A, 7:00PM. Meeting Date: December 2. Please bring 5 copies of work to the meeting. Coordinator is Halcyon Mancuso.
Short Story Discussion Group
Meetings are usually held on the second Monday of the month at 7:30PM. Group co-leaders are Mary Lanigan and Barbara McGinley. For further information: 527-1505. Meeting Date: December 15 this month in Meeting Room B: Robert Penn Warren, "Christmas Gift" and Michael Chabon, "Along the Frontage Road."
To download a printable booklist in pdf format for Sept, 2003 - June, 2004,
please click here.
To download a pdf, you must have Adobe Acrobat. To get Adobe Acrobat, please click on the icon or here to get it.
The Singing Group
This group will next meet in January.
The Writer's Voice Group
This writing group combines support and time for practice, reading samples and receiving feedback. Led by Tom Yee, the group meets on the third Saturday of the month, 10:30 – Noon in Meeting Room A. Pre-registration required: Call 630-0742. Meeting Date: December 20.

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All concerts are free and open to the public. For directions to the Library, please click here.
DECEMBER, 2 0 0 3

Winter Solstice Concert with Lorraine & Bennett Hammond

Photo by Susan Wilson



Celebrate the Winter solstice as we go "From Darkness to Light" at the turning of the year with folk musicians Lorraine and Bennett Hammond. Accompanying themselves on guitar, harp, banjo and Appalachian dulcimer, the Hammonds will return to the Library with a joyful program of seasonal music from many traditions. From stark medieval English and elaborate French carols to Hanukkah songs, African-American hymns and original music by the duo, the concert will lighten our spirits as we gather together and sing along. The concert will take place at 2:00PM on Sunday, December 21.

Lorraine, renowned master of the Appalachian dulcimer, is also an expressive singer, songwriter and teacher. Bennett is a superb finger-style guitarist who, with his wife hosts a Brookline Cablevision show, "Great Acoustics" and performs regularly at coffeehouses and folk festivals throughout the country with extended tours ranging as far as the British Isles. The Boston Globe calls them "a dazzling, witty, eclectic, delightful duo." They can be heard on more than thirty recordings, most recently on "Love Has a Life of its Own" and "Hell Up Coal Holler," which features Lorraine with fiddler Gerry Milnes.

 

Concert of Latin Music and Cabaret



Mezzo soprano Ana Maria Ugarte and pianist Scott Nicholas will bring a concert of Spanish and Latin American jewels combined with the sophisticated music of classical cabaret to the Library on Sunday, December 7, at 2:00PM.

The raw and passionate beauty of the Argentinian vocal tango, the Spanish jota and the Latin American bolero by such composers as Falla, Grever and Lara will create a seamless transition to the dramatic energy of cabaret by Weill and Bolcom in this concert. The duo provides a political, social and personal background for each composer, creating a thought-provoking afternoon.

As a soloist Ugarte has performed in many of the great oratorio and orchestral works by Vivaldi, Handel and others. An innovative concert recitalist she has appeared throughout the U.S. and last year made her international debut in Guatemala as a guest artist at the Festival Mosaico. She has just recently returned from concertizing in San Salvador where she was invited to perform by the First Lady of El Salvador. Her dramatic talents have also taken her to various opera stages with leading roles in works by Puccini, Mozart and others. As a member of both the Latino and blind community, she not only specializes in Spanish and Latin American literature, but has also been able to bring much needed funds and attention to the many political and social issues of blindness.

Nicholas has collaborated in recitals throughout Europe, Central America, Bermuda and the U. S. including an engagement as guest artist with the Borromeo String Quartet at Jordan Hall in 2001. He has most recently returned from San Salvador where he performed at the Teatro El Presidente and the Teatro Luis Poma. In addition to maintaining a private piano and vocal coaching studio, Nicholas is currently a faculty member of Emerson College and the Franklin School for the Performing Arts. He performed previously at the Library with harpist/singer Kathryn Manning.

 

Newton Symphony Youth Competition



More than a dozen outstanding Newton elementary, middle and high school musicians have been chosen to compete for the Newton Symphony Orchestra's Henry and Gertrude Lasker Young Soloist Award on Thursday, December 18, from 3 - 8:00PM at the Library. The competition, where each musician will perform an audition piece, is open to the public. The winners will be featured as soloists at the orches-tra's annual youth concert in February.

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DECEMBER, 2 0 0 3

Pulitzer Prize-Winner Tracy Kidder to Speak

Twenty years ago Paul Farmer set out to heal the world. In his new book, Mountains Beyond Mountains, Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Kidder tells the true story of this gifted man and his extraordinary accomplishments. Kidder will speak at the Library on Monday, December 8, 7:30PM, followed by a booksigning with books from New England Mobile Book Fair.

Renowned infectious-disease specialist, Harvard professor, anthropologist, recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant and world-class Robin Hood, Paul Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life’s calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Mountains Beyond Mountains shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer – brilliant, charismatic, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti – blasts through convention to get results. At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb “Beyond mountains there are mountains”: as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.
Described as a “master of the non-fiction narrative” by the Baltimore Sun, Kidder has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Award, among other literary prizes. The author of The Soul of a New Machine, House, Among Schoolchildren, Old Friends and Home Town, he lives in Massachusetts and Maine.

 

Remember the Library in this Season of Gift-Giving

As the year draws to a close, please remember the Library when making your charitable contributions. Your money will help expand the Library's collection so that you as well as future generations will benefit.
Please include your name and address with your check payable to the Trustees of the Newton Free Library. Send or bring to: Development Office, Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street, Newton, MA 02459. If you would like to make your gift in honor or memory of someone, please include that information as well as an address for acknowledgment. If you have questions, call 965-7702.

Annual Puppet Sale

Stop by our Puppet Sale in Druker Auditorium on Tuesday, December 9, 10AM - 7PM. Fred Reidy will bring an amazing assortment of puppets for holiday shopping. This sale is sponsored by the Friends, with proceeds benefiting the Library.

Get Gift Book Recommendations from the Pros!

Can't figure out what to get for your darling niece, best friend or Dad? Come to the Library on Thursday, December 11, at 7:30PM, and get the best recommendations on new adult and children's fiction and non-fiction books from Children's, Reference and Circulation librarians. Whether it's a political thriller, short story collection, biography, coffee table gift book or picture book you have in mind, we'll have ideas for you.

Friends' Booksale & Gift Cart



Drop by the Friends' Booksale at Auburndale December 6 & 7 for great deals on books, videos and more to give as gifts or keep for yourself! The sale runs 10AM - 3PM Saturday and Noon - 3PM on Sunday. Proceeds benefit the Library.

This holiday season, shop at the Friends Gift Cart in the lobby of the Main Library. New this year... iridescent slinkys, laser tops and fruit journals with scented pens. Friends' aprons, mugs, note cards and note pads always make great gifts and totebags have just been reduced to $5.00. Literacy pins are also available with proceeds benefiting the Library's literacy program.

 

Family Holiday Program

Join Diane Edgecomb for tales of wintertime enchantment on Sunday, December 14, at 2:00PM. "Once Upon a Wintertime" draws on stories from many cultures ranging from the lyrical "Snow White and Rose Red" to tales of New England escapades. Edge-comb has delighted audiences in performances throughout the Northeast during the past ten years.

Library Legal Series

The Library Legal Series begins its ninth year with a program on how to “Protect Your Ideas & Trade Secrets.” Led by New-ton attorney Seth H. Salinger, the talk and ensuing discussion will take place at 7:15PM on Wed., December 10.
Whether one is starting a business, writing a script or developing a software product, legal advice is often needed to help protect and enforce original ideas, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets. Salinger will speak on how to keep competitors, potential publishers or one’s own employees from stealing and using intellectual property as well as what to do if it has already happened and what one should do if accused of misappropriation. Salinger's advice will be useful for businesses, prospective businesses and individuals alike.
His practice is in business litigation, intellectual property and entertainment law. He also prosecutes trademark and copyright applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Copyright Office.
Upcoming Legal Series programs this spring will cover topics in "How to Hire a Contractor," "Balancing Privacy, Freedom of Information and Safety" and "Identity Fraud."

MORNING PROGRAMS AT THE LIBRARY
Newton Corner's book talk will NOT meet this month.
At the Waban branch, there will NOT be a book talk this month
The Nonantum branch will host a book discussion of The Tortilla Curtain by T. Coraghessan Boyle on Wednesday, December 3, 11AM. All are welcome.
Library Fundraisers Support Technical Upgrades

The Library recently raised $25,000 from the elegant literary Library Lovers' Evening as well as the sizzling Barbe-que featuring elected officials as chefs. Funds will be used to upgrade technology including buying all new computers for the Information Technology Training Center.

The Library thanks BBQ organizers Herb Regal and Judy Austin and hosts John and Sandy Butzel, Library Trustee.

Welcome New Trustees

The Library welcomes two new Trustees recently appointed by Mayor Cohen: Leonard Goldberg and Audrey Cooper.
Goldberg will serve as our Treasurer. A CPA and partner at Gold and Goldberg in Newton, he has been a member of the Friends of the Library, served on the telecommunications advisory board for the City and was involved with Newton East Little League as a Board member and coach.
Cooper has a long association with the Library and is a former Board Member of the Friends. Honored by the Women's Commission in 2000, she has been active with Newton Community Service Center and in the creation of the Senior Center where she served as the first President of their Board.

Children's Room Win Award

Congratulations to Children's Assistant Supervisor Debbie Foley and Children's Librarian Louise Marshall who along with NewTV producer Michael Padden recently received the First Place award in the Children’s category at the Alliance for Community Media, Northeast Region, Annual Video Festival. Their Storytime episode in the Library's monthly cable TV series was beautifully executed.

Please Don't Save Seats!

When attending a Sunday after-noon concert, please do not save more than one seat as this deprives others of attending the concert. The rule is first come, first served.
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