Newton Free Library Events

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.)

June, 2004
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
		1 Short Fiction Writing Group, 7pm	2 Contemporary Books Discussion Group, 7:30pm	3 Young Adult Workshop, 4pm	4	5 Booksale, Auburndale, 10am - 3pm
6 Violist concert, 2pm _______ Booksale, Auburndale, 10am - 3pm	7 Children's Book Writers Group, 7pm _______ Adult ADD Talk, 7:30pm _______ Open Forum, 7:30pm	8 Great Books Group, 7:15pm	9 Sequences Group, 10am	10 Great American Songbook Concert, 7:30pm _______	11	12 Singing Group, Noon
13 Latin & Spanish Music Concert, 2pm	14 Short Story Dicussion Group, 7:30pm _______ Green Decade, 7pm	15 Board of Trustees Meeting, 8:30am _______ Elderhostel Talk, 7:30pm	16 Consulting Talk, 9:30am _______ "Amber Room" Author Talk, 7:30pm _______ African Lit Group, 7:30pm	17 Informal Concert, 10:30am _______ Spirituals Program, 7pm	18	19 Writing Workshop 10:30am
20 Classical & Jazz Concert, 3pm	21	22 Shakespeare Talk, 7pm _____ Big Brother/Big Sister Talk, 7:30pm	23 Waban book group, 10:30am _______ _______ Children's Book Writers Group, 7pm	24 Pianist Bill Green, 7pm	25 Newton Corner book group, 10:30am	26
27 NEOC program, 2pm _______ Please note: Library will be closed SUNDAYS in July & August	28	29 Author Nancy Clark talk, 7:30pm	30

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

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

New Wrinkle: Contemporary Fabric Artists Inspired Stitches
June 2 - 29 , 2004

These are not your grandmother’s bed quilts! The five quilters who make up New Wrinkle: Pam Goody, Susan McCraw, Gladys Perkins, Susan Polansky and Ferne Weissman have developed their art in new creative directions. “Limited only by [their]…imaginations,” as they say, the artists have “distinct styles of self-expression and a common love of fabric: the bold and subtle colors, variety of patterns, rich textures and tactile quality.” Some of the quilts are a response to personal concerns or to contemporary social issues such as “Composition: My Reaction to School Violence,” an exploding blood-red flower over the words Thou shall not kill on a blackboard. Some are based on Persian tribal rug patterns or Matisse wood block prints; some have a primal feel or an intricate, flowing look. Often, a combination of hand and machine sewing is used and the surface may be embellished with paint, foil, photo transfers, beads or embroidery.
The artists, who live in Newton and surrounding towns, have been meeting monthly for five years and find that their critiques “enable us to clarify our visions and promote our artistic development,” they say. They have exhibited at the Landau Gallery at Belmont Hill School and participated individually in many invitational or juried shows such as a New England Quilt Museum exhibit, Cambridge Art Association show, the touring International Quilt Festival, exhibits at the Sedgewick in Philadelphia and the American Museum of Quilts and Textiles in California.

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M A I N H A L L

Harry Lockwood
Portfolio in Black & White
June 2 - 29, 2004

"Sisters" by Harry Lockwood

There is something about the black & white print medium that distills a scene to its essence, and in its starkness or simplicity seems to say something more clearly than an overly stimulating color work. In Lockwood’s case, his photos contain a silence that lets us “see” a person or people in a particular space.
“It has been remarked that my images often have a lonely quality to them,” Lockwood says. “I prefer to think that there is instead a quality of ‘aloneness.’” His photos range from a woman in deep shadow, engrossed in a book she is reading to a lone kayaker on a sparkling sea to the viewers of the World Trade Center in “December-Still Burning” alone with their individual thoughts. Perhaps the most compelling is “Past & Future” where a young boy stares at an ancient bust in a museum, one face regarding the other. What is he thinking? What can each tell the other?
Preservation of artistic works is something that interests this photographer. Over the past few years he has been developing his skill in archival printing using carbon-based (rather than dye-based) inks. The expected life of the carbon-on-cotton paper prints is much greater than that of standard silver-based photographic prints; in fact, carbon pigment writing inks have been found that are more than 3000 years old and images using carbon pigments were found in a Paleolithic cave in France.
Perhaps Lockwood gets his interest in chemical composition from his “day job” as a physicist. Self-taught as a photographer, (although he has a background taking micrographs of small objects with a high-powered microscope), he studied and exhibited with an Advanced Photography class at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.

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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: June 16: Cry, the Beloved Country, a novel by Alan Paton from South Africa. For further information, call 617-527-1072.
	Children's Book Writers Group
	Meetings are held on the first Monday or on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 7:00PM in Meeting Room A. 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, June 7 or Wednesday, June 23.
	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 Date: June 2: Dancer by Colum McCann. 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: June 8: “On Happiness” by Aristotle.
	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
	Group will meet again in September. See www.newtoncameraclub.org for more information.
	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: June 9. .
	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: 781-647-7246. The group meets the first Tuesday of the month, in Meeting Room A, 7:00PM. Meeting Date: June 1. Please bring 5 copies of work to the meeting. Coordinator is John Good.
	Short Story Discussion Group
	Meetings are held on the second Monday of the month at 7:30PM in Meeting Room A. Group co-leaders are Mary Lanigan and Barbara McGinley. For further information, call 527-1505. Meeting Date: June 14: Louise Erdrich, “The Butcher’s Wife” and Isaac B. Singer “The Spinoza of Market Street.”
	Singing Group
	This group is for singers of all levels who enjoy singing classical and popular music. Led by librarian Nien Lung Tai, it meets monthly on Saturday afternoons, Noon – 1:30PM in Druker Auditorium. Meeting Date: June 12. Call coordinator Miriam Simen at 617-244-6705 for more information.
	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: June 19.
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All concerts are free and open to the public. For directions to the Library, please click here.

“The Hidden Meanings in Negro Spirituals from Slave Times”

The Newton Human Rights Commission is giving a multi-media presentation with live music on “The Hidden Meanings in Negro Spirituals from Slave Times” at the Library on Thursday, June 17, at 7:00PM.
Reverend Dr. Celestine Reid along with the LoveTones, a local group of prominent singers associated with the Myrtle Baptist Church, will illustrate how music and narrative can give voice to Black History. The program will use visual images of the slave trade, poetry, narrative and song.
The structure of the spirituals, and the way in which they were created, provided the flexibility the slaves needed to use music as a way to communicate with one another in secret. The moving melodies and harmonies become even more powerful when the inner meaning of the songs is known.
Reid is the associate minister of the Belmont Street African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Worcester.
She believes that music is an excellent vehicle for transmitting history from generation to generation. “Hidden Meanings” is the culmination of seven years of research.
The LoveTones have been singing together for thirteen years and often accompany this program. They have recently recorded a CD, “Jubilee.”

Pianist Bill Green Returns with Concert of Jazz & Show Music

Pianist Bill Green of the long-time hit WHDH “Ken and Bill Show” will return to the Library on Thursday, June 24, at 7:00PM. His program of music by Richard Rodgers, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Charlie Chaplin and French songs is sure to please as he intersperses his performance with anecdotes about the music and composers.
Green’s radio show ran for 19 years; he led a jazz quartet on a daily show hosted by Jess Cain on Channel 5 for 11 years. He was also pianist for the Ruby Newman Society Orchestra for several years.

Boston Symphony Orchestra violist Edward Gazouleas

Boston Symphony Orchestra violist Edward Gazouleas returns to the Library on Sunday, June 6, 2:00PM, with pianist Pei-shan Lee for a concert of sonatas by Bach, Bax and Hindemith. A version of this program was recently reviewed in the Berkshire Eagle praising the high quality of musicianship exhibited: “Gazouleas… brought deep sympathy to the music, employing a full, rich tone.”
Gazouleas appears regularly with the Boston Conservatory Chamber Players, the new music group Collage and in solo recitals, in addition to his performances with the BSO. Assistant Principal of the Boston Pops, he was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony and currently teaches at Boston Conservatory and New England Conservatory.
Lee has won many competitions, including the 2001 Rosa Lobe Memorial Award which recognizes the highest level of artistic achievement in collaborative piano. She has performed in such venues as Jordan Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Taiwan’s National Concert Hall. Currently a faculty member at the Chautauqua School of Music, she is a doctoral candidate at New England Conservatory.

Music of Great American Songbook with Beth Purcell & Roy Gould

Vocalist Beth Purcell and pianist Roy Gould will present a concert of music from the Great American Songbook and Beyond at the Library, Thursday, June 10 at 7:30PM. The program will range from standards by Gershwin and others to show music and pieces by contemporary local composers.
Purcell has a background in musical theatre and sings as a cantorial soloist at Temple Beth Shalom in Melrose. She works as Public Relations and Programming Director at the Library. Gould has a rich background in classical, jazz and show music. He is director of the NASA-Smithsonian Education Forum on the Universe at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and spoke previously on astronomy at the Library. They have performed at various venues as a duo the last three years.

Concert of Latin and Spanish Music

Rescheduled from the winter, mezzo soprano Ana Maria Ugarte and pianist Scott Nicholas will now bring a concert of Spanish and Latin American jewels combined with the sophisticated music of classical cabaret to the Library on Sunday, June 13, 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.
Ugarte’s rich and deep tones are brilliantly combined with an innate dramatic ability. As a soloist she has performed in many of the great oratorio and orchestral works by Vivaldi, Handel and others. As a 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 recently returned from concertizing in San Salvador where she was invited to perform by the First Lady of El Salvador. She has played leading roles in operas by Puccini, Mozart and others.
Nicholas has collaborated in recitals throughout Europe, Central

Jazz and Classical Concert with Maxim Lubarsky & Group

Pianist Maxim Lubarsky will present a concert of jazz standards and original compositions as well as classical music by Scarlatti, Rachmaninov, Schumann and Gershwin at the Library on Sunday, June 20, at 3:00PM. He will be joined by vocalist Angela Rossi, bass player Oleg Osenkov and drummer Denis Frehse for the jazz pieces.
Lubarsky has performed in concerts, toured and recorded both as a solo artist and with his group since his immigration from Ukraine in 2001. Venues include the Natick Center for the Arts, Berklee Performance Center and regularly at the Encore Lounge at the Wyndham-Tremont Hotel with the Maggie Rose Quartet. In Ukraine, he won several jazz competitions and led the Art Session Jazz Ensemble, played in concert with the Odessa State Sym-phony Orchestra and performed weekly at the Ragtime Jazz Club. He toured and recorded with a classical sextet in Israel, France, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Greece and the U.S.

N. E. Opera Club Presents “Madama Butterfly at 100”

The New England Opera Club will present an audio/visual lecture on “Madama Butterfly at 100” at the Library, Sunday, June 27, at 2:00PM.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most beloved and frequently performed works in the operatic canon, Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” Surprisingly, the opera was a total fiasco at its premiere in Milan on February 17, 1904. It boasted an all-star cast, sets and costumes designed in Paris and all the resources of the House of Ricordi and La Scala. What went wrong and how did Puccini make his little butterfly “fly again”? Hear John Tischio, President of the NEOC, recount the colorful history of the opera at this afternoon presentation.
Tischio has lectured several times at the Library. In addition to local and regional speaking engagements, he leads opera tours in this country and abroad.

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Author Talk on the Fate of Russia's Amber Room

Co-authors Catherine Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy will speak on The Amber Room: The Fate of the World’s Greatest Lost Treasure at the Library on Wednesday, June 16, at 7:30PM.
Of all the missing treasures sought today, none compare in majesty, myth and sheer value with the great Amber Room of Russia. Famous throughout Europe as “the eighth wonder of the world,” its vast and intricately worked amber panels were sent in 1717 by Frederick I of Prussia as a gift to Peter the Great of Russia. Erected some years later, they quickly became a symbol of Russia’s imperial might. For more than two hundred years the Amber Room remained in Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg, but when the Nazi army invaded Russia, the panels were wrenched from the walls, packed into crates and disappeared from view, never to be seen again.
Dozens of people have tried to trace the whereabouts of the Amber Room, and several of them have died in mysterious circumstances. Now a pair of award-winning journalists have capped a two-year investigation by revealing the room’s ultimate fate – an incredible tale of Nazi greed, Cold War intrigue and Russian cover-up. Their search catapulted them across eastern Europe and into the menacing world of espionage and counterespionage that still surrounds Russia and the former Soviet bloc. In archives in St. Petersburg and Berlin, amid boxes of hitherto unseen diaries, letters and classified reports, they have uncovered for the first time an astounding conspiracy to hide the truth.
Scott-Clark and Levy are internationally renowned investigative journalists for the Guardian in London and have been nominated three times for the British Press Awards. The authors of The Stone of Heaven: Unearthing the Secret History of Imperial Green Jade, they live in London and Thailand.

“The Ins and Outs of Consulting”

Employment and Training Resources continues its Job Search Series in cooperation with the Library on Wednesday, June 16, 9:30AM with a program on Consulting. Independent consultant John Demambro’s presentation will give an in-depth understanding of the consulting field and project management.
Demambro brings more than 20 years of senior project management, information technology and business development experience to his work. Clients have included the New York Times, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Cascade Communications, Sprint PCS and Federal Express. His methodologies cross all disciplines.
To register for the free program, call the Employment and Training Resources Career Center at 617-928-0530. Drop-ins are also welcome.

Nancy Clark Speaks on Sports Nutrition

Sports nutritionist and author Nancy Clark will speak on “Nutrition for Exercise: Eating for Sports and Life” at the Library on Tuesday, June 29, 7:30PM. Topics will include: how to eat the right foods at the right times to enhance and maintain energy for sports and other activities, how to eat for optimal recovery, how to get the right balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat and how to lose weight and have energy to exercise.
Clark, MS, RD, is Senior Sports Nutritionist at Healthworks in Chestnut Hill. An internationally known sports nutritionist, she specializes in nutrition for exercise, wellness, and the management of eating disorders. She is nutrition consultant to the Boston College athletes and the Red Sox and has written the best-sellers Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook and Nancy Clark’s Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions. Clark also writes a monthly nutrition column, “The Athlete’s Kitchen,” which appears regularly in over 100 sports and health publications. A Newton resident, she is a regular bicycle commuter and runner and has completed several marathons.

We Want Your Input!

You're invited to an Open Forum at the Library on Monday, June 7, at 7:30PM in the Trustees Room on the second floor. We want to hear your ideas for improving Library services in the coming years. Make your voice heard!

"Taming of the Shrew" Talk with Film Clips

Now that the weather’s warmer and “a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love,” what better time to examine Shakespeare’s classic battle of the sexes comedy, “The Taming of the Shrew”? Dr. Charles Berney often com-pares video versions of Shakespeare’s plays in his column for the Shakespeare Fellowship’s newsletter. In his studies, he has been intrigued by the contrasting film styles used: realistic vs. theatrical, where we are encouraged to recognize the actors as actors rather than as the characters they portray.
On Tuesday, June 22, at 7:00PM at the Library, Berney will introduce "The Taming of the Shrew," discuss the two approaches, show extended clips from two hilarious productions and invite discussion from the audience.
In a 1980 BBC production, Monty Python alumnus John Cleese plays Petruchio, the man who tames the fiery Kate. All the characters in this production are portrayed in a completely believable way. A contrasting version is filmed from a stage production by San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre. This is explicitly based on the Italian commedia dell’ arte tradition, a broad and bawdy comedic style with mannered slapstick and sexual innuendo worked into every scene.
This event is cosponsored by the Library and the Shakespeare Fellowship, an international society devoted to studying the works of Shakespeare from a non-traditional point of view. Berney is president emeritus of the organization. His studies of Shakespeare’s identity have been reported at conferences and published in The Oxfordian and the Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter. He last spoke at the Library on “Who’s Who in ‘Hamlet.’”

Booksale

Get ready for summer with great books for vacation reading! Come to the Friends Book Sale at the Auburndale branch to browse the extensive collection of books for adults, young adults and children - all at bargain prices. The sale will be held on Saturday, June 5, 10AM - 3PM and Sunday, June 6, Noon - 3PM. All proceeds benefit the Library.

Take an Elderhostel Trip

Elderhostel is the largest educational travel organization for adults 55+ in the world. The non-profit group provides learning adventures in over 100 countries. Programs range from short term American trips to active outdoor adventures to hands-on service programs and intergenera-tional travel experiences.
To learn more, join Elderhostel Ambassador Rochelle Kruger at an informational session at the Library on Tuesday, June 15, 7:30PM.

Environmental Comedy

The Green Decade Coalition will present Evi Seidman, standup environmentalist, on Monday, June 14, 7:00PM at the Library. Seidman raises environmental awareness through performance art, comedy, rap and poetry. Her satiric act will be followed by Green Decade's annual Environmental Leadership Awards. Festive refreshments will be served.

Young Adult Photo- Collage Workshop

If you'll be entering 6th - 12th grades, come to a Photo-Montage Collage Workshop on Thursday, June 3, from 4 - 5:30PM. Ann McCrea of Newburyport will lead a workshop in this expressive and fun art form. Each collage will be personal and unique.
If possible, bring some magazine pictures of people doing active, interesting things to use and share. Other materials supplied. Enrollment limited to 20. To sign up, call 617-796-1380 or come to the
main Reference Desk on the first floor.

Big Brother/Big Sister Informational Eve

Have fun befriending a child. The Jewish Big Brother & Big Sister Association is looking for volunteers interested in sharing time with a child, 2 - 4 times/month. Children come from diverse backgrounds all over the Greater Boston area and are matched with volunteers who live nearby. To learn more, come to Meeting Room A at the Library on Tuesday, June 22, 7:30PM. You may RSVP Jenn at 617-558-6535 or just drop in.

Understanding Adult ADD

Attention Deficit Disorder specialist Carol Gignoux will speak at the Library on “The Many Faces of Adult ADD” on Monday, June 7, at 7:30PM. Adult Attention Deficit Disorder affects a large part of the population and the symptoms of those who have it can also impact co-workers, friends and loved ones at work and at home. This program is for adults who have trouble focusing, understanding things, are forgetful and often feel overwhelmed as well as those who are close to them. Gignoux will identify common ADD symptoms and issues, as well as strategies and resources for coping with the disability.
A veteran educator and school administrator, Gignoux has spent more than 30 years helping adults and adolescents with ADD/ADHD. She is the founder and President of ADD Insights. Her speeches and workshops are in wide demand among New England corporate managers. She has worked extensively with ADD/ADHD expert Dr. Edward Hallowell.

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MORNING PROGRAMS AT THE LIBRARY
	Joe Blanchard will present an informal piano concert at the Main Library on Thursday, June 17, from 10:30AM - Noon. Feel free to drop in and bring a book or knitting or even chat with a friend. Light refreshments will be served. Blanchard plays peaceful, original piano compositions with a classical influence, inspired by the music of the 19th century masters. He performs in hotels and country inns throughout New England, such as the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Four Seasons Hotel, Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge and at Elderhostels and hotels in New Hampshire.
	Newton Corner's The Newton Corner book group will discuss The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield at Evans Park at Newton Corner on Friday, June 25 at 10:30AM. All are welcome.
	At the Waban branch, At the Waban branch, the book group will discuss Gringos by Charles Portis on Wednesday, June 30, 10:30AM. All are welcome.

TO OUR CONCERT GOERS:

Please be considerate of the performer today as well as your fellow audience members and refrain from leaving the auditorium during a piece of music. If you have small children with you, please sit in the back rows. If you leave the auditorium between pieces, please close the door quietly behind you and wait to re-enter after a musical piece. Also, if you have a cellphone, please shut if off. Thank you.

MLA Honors Library Employee Mary Cicciu

Recently, Mary Cicciu, our Page Supervisor, was nominated for Outstanding Paraprofessional of the Year, an award given by the Massachusetts Library Association. The award honors the paraprofessional who has made the most significant contribution through his/her excellence in service, positive attitude and pride in library work. We are very proud of Mary!

Volunteer Appreciation

The Library thanks its volunteers (more than 425 now, with the hours they donate equalling 10 full time employees). At a recent Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast, Mayor David Cohen, Library Director Kathy Glick-Weil, Trustees President Albert Costa and Volunteer Coordinator/Friends' V.P. Beverly Spencer expressed their gratitude to those that serve in so many ways. Breakfast co-chairs Spencer and Joan Tepper organized a delicious festive event, sponsored by the Trustees and the Friends of the Library.
In recognition of volunteer contributions, the Library annually recognizes each one by personalizing a new book with a bookplate, inscribed with the volunteer's name.

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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