Don't miss the PML Fall Festival THIS Saturday, October 1st 10am-2pm

We know no one wants to talk about the Red Sox...so we won't even mention them, but this once.

We will say, however, that the Pollard has something that might cheer you up if you need it: our Fall Festival this Saturday October 1st from 10am-2pm. We have a great line up of fun for the whole family, including Elaine Kessler's Fall Program, and facepainting for the kids and a reading of selected short stories by actor Brendan Murphy and others, and afternoon cafe featuring the folk/rock stylings of local legend Dave Norton for the grown ups. Plus a Friends of the Library Bake Sale and your chance to win an original painting by entering our "Food For Art" raffle. Bring nonperishable food items to the library for your chance to win! Proceeds to benefit The Greater Lowell Open Pantry.

Of course we understand if you need to take a drive to leaf peep or something and cool off and realign your jangled nerves, but you'll want to come on back in time for this fun filled fest. And by the way, Lowell Open Studios is also happening this weekend so there's really no reason on earth why you wouldn't be coming to downtown Lowell! We'll see you at the fest!

Create Your Own Comic Contest for Teen Read Week

A reminder to you creative kids out there, the Pollard is hosting a Create Your Own Comic contest in celebration of Teen Read week (October 16-22, 2011). Deadline for entry is Friday October 7th, so get sketching! Full contest details are available on the Pollard Teen Tumblr page!

LFD Winter Coat & Blankets Drive

The Lowell Fire Department is holding a Winter Coat & Blankets Drive. So, please take the time to look through your closets. There is a real need of winter coats and blankets this year. All items can be dropped off at the JFK Fire House any time before October 29th. If you have any questions you can contact Larry Finn, Lowell Fire Department lfinn@lowellma.gov.

Library eBooks now available on the Kindle

You can now borrow library eBooks to read on the Amazon Kindle. As the video above shows, you'll have to first search for and "check out" the eBook you want from the MVLC's Digital Downloads Page. Then you'll have to go to Amazon to log into or create your Amazon account to prompt it to release your book. More information is available on Overdrive's blog.

Independent Film Night Thursday, October 13th @ 6:30 - The Colors of the Mounatin

Join us October 13th at 6:30PM for the next installment of our Film Movement Independent Film night (the 2nd Thursday of every month). October's film is The Colors of the Mountain by Carlos César Arbeláez. Winner of the San Sebastian International Film Festival, the film chronicles the small desires of the smallest citizens of a mountainside Colombian village being torn asunder by gorilla warfare. A group of school children kick their soccer ball into what turns out to be a minefield and they scheme to get it back. While to the adults around them (their parents and teacher) struggle to maintain a sense of order amidst chaos. As the director said in a statement:

I didn’t direct a film that claims to explain the complex Columbian armed conflict or the political reality of my country. I focused, above all, on the drama of the civilian population. The film is more human and, in a way, destined for a more universal audience. In The Colors of the Mountain, it doesn’t really matter what one armed group or another does in the “La Pradera” district, as the focus is on the secret psychological drama that the main characters undergo...no matter how tragic the reality of the children, they’re always ready to defend games and laughter as fundamental parts of their lives.

The Pollard Library Independent Film night occurs on the 2nd Thursday of every month. The events are free and open to the public. Please note: These Independent films are not rated by the MPAA and should be considered for mature audiences. Made possible by the Friends of the Library.

Banned Books Week Begins Tomorrow

The time has come. The time of year to remove window a/c units, replace screens with storm windows, watch the Red Sox struggle down the home stretch, and celebrate your freedom to read. That's right, the last week of September begins tomorrow and that means it's the beginning of Banned Books Week which runs September 24th - October 1st. Come check out our display on the first floor featuring a some books that have been banned or challenged sometime in their lives. Some of the titles might surprise you.

And don't miss our Selected Shorts segment of the Fall Festival (12:30pm, October 1st) where Community Planning Librarian, Sean Thibodeau will read a selection or two from a banned or challenged book.

Good News from Acton

The Discovery Museums in Acton recently announced the success of their participation in the Highland Foundation's Free Fun Fridays program. Many photos of the events are posted on their facebook page.

But what's even better news (especially for the children of the Acre) is that they received from the Institute for Museum and Library Services which will strengthen their relationship with the Acre Family Child Care in Lowell and the expansion of their Open Door Connections program. Their full press release is pasted below:

Part of our Open Door Connections efforts are focused on intensive programs that expand to other places the type of hands-on learning that occurs at the Museums. Through our work with Acre Family Child Care (AFCC) in Lowell, staff from the Museums have been training family daycare providers to bring these learning techniques to low-income families in Lowell. We are very pleased to announce that we recently received a highly-competitive national grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) of $134,000 to support our efforts for the next two years! With this grant, we will expand our partnership with Acre Family Child Care to better engage under-represented local immigrant communities. Playing Together: Using Museum Fun to Better Engage Immigrant Communities will offer a seasonal calendar of events that will more than double the number of programs available to AFCC's providers and families. The project will also produce four science-themed workshop curricula designed for family daycare providers; a lending library of 18 science-themed kits with curricula translated in to Khmer, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Portuguese; and a model for a community preschool science fair. This project will increase the role of curiosity, science, and play in the lives of young children in Lowell.

Fluff Fest In Somerville this weekend featuring Lowell native Astronaut Richard Linnehan

This Saturday September 24th from 3pm-7pm, Union Square Main Streets in Somerville is holding their annual Fluff Festival. This year Lowell-born NASA Astronaut, Richard Linnehan will sit in as a judge on their cooking competition. In 2008, he brought a fluffernutter on board with him on the Endeavor mission. And if that's not enough for you, Susan Olsen a.k.a. Cindy Brady will be at the festival to showcase digital artwork she's created that was inspired by Fluff.

Parker Tonight - Literacy & Laughter Saturday

Just wanted to quickly remind you of the highly anticipated talk tonight by Chaim Roseberg on his new book The Life and Times of Francis Cabot Lowell, 1775-1815. The talk begins at 7PM in the Ground Floor Community Room and is free and open to the public thanks to the good folks at the Moses Greeley Parker Lecture Series.

We also wanted to tell you there is still time to sign up for the UFund Literacy program for kids aged 3-6 happening this Saturday at 10AM in the Ground Floor Community Room. This is a really fun program that encourages literacy and laughter by bringing in a costumed character to act out a story. Participants also receive a book to take home with them. You can stop by the Children's Desk or call 978-970-4122 to sign up. Sponsored by the UFund College Savings Plan.

Fall Fest is coming up

The Fall Festival is fast approaching. We hope you are getting excited to join us on Saturday, October 1st from 10am-2pm for some fun kids and adult events including a bake sale, a childrens performer, face painting, and an acoustic cafe. Full details available on our website.

We just wanted to remind you to bring in a non-perishable food item to get your tickets for the Food for Art Raffle (one ticket per item donated*). We'll be raffling of an original painting (shown above) of a plane trailing a "READ" advertisement as it flies over the Pollard. This piece was painted by our reference librarian Monica McDermott. You also visit the painting at any time between now and the festival in the display case on the Ground Floor of the library. All proceeds of the Food for Art raffle will be donated to the Open Pantry of Greater Lowell.

*You can also enter the raffle by checking out library materials (one raffle ticket per checkout) but we really would like to collect as much foodstuffs as we can for the good folks at Open Pantry.

Parker at the Pollard - Chaim Rosenberg "Life and Times of Francis Cabot Lowell" next Thursday, 9/22 @7PM

As part of the Moses Greeley Parker Lecture Series, the Pollard Library is pleased to welcome next Thursday, September 22nd Chaim Rosenberg to give a talk about his recently published biography, The Life and Times of Francis Cabot Lowell, 1775-1817. Though there have been many biographies written over the years of famous Lowellians, this is the first biography of Lowell's namesake. He was an instrumental character in the burgeoning industrial revolution though he died before ever seeing the town that bears his name. As local historian and blogger Richard Howe Jr. noted, this is going to be a special event for those interested in Lowell history so don't miss it if you number yourself among the ranks of Lowell's history buffs. This event is sponsored by the Moses Greeley Parker Lecture Series and is free and open to the public. For more information please contact the Community Planning Department at 978-970-4118.

Casablanca this Saturday 9/17 @ 1PM

You must remember this...

This coming Saturday, September 17th at 1PM, we're showing one of the most loved movies of all time. #2 on the AFC's 100 Years 100 Movies List. That's right—Casablanca. Free and open to the public. This film is unrated and the running time is 102 minutes. This screening is made possible by the Friends of the Pollard Library.

Local Poet Kate Hanson Foster reads from Mid Drift, Thursday September 15th @ 7PM

The Pollard is pleased to welcome Kate Hanson Foster Thursday, September 15^th at 7PM to read from her newly published collection of poetry Mid Drift (Loom Press 2011).

From Loom Press’s website:

Set in post-industrial Lowell, Massachusetts, Mid Drift contains a speaker who is seduced by the "ugliness" of the city including prostitution, alcoholism, homelessness, and infidelity. Many poems also explore themes of family, religion and spirituality, and loss of self. Poet and writer, Amy Gerstler writes of Mid Drift: "Hanson Foster captures the arresting sense of how loss scrapes away layers of one's personhood exposing a quiet resilience, maybe even a rising faith, that glimmers dimly underneath abiding grief like some kind of ore."

Since it's publication in May 2011, Doug Holder, editor of the Ibbetson Street Press has written a review of Mid Drift on his blog Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene. New Pages has also written a short but glowing review.

Ms. Foster maintains a blog of her own and has recently posted about the unexpectedly trying experience of publishing a book of poems. You might also enjoy her photographic essay of Kerouac's homes in Lowell which recently appeared in Writers' Houses.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information please contact the Community Planning Department, 978-970-4118.

2011 PML Fall Festival - Save the Date - October 1, 2011 from 10am-2pm

We know many of you are lamenting the end of summer...but don't look so glum chum...autumn can be fun too! To that end, the Pollard Library is pleased to announce our 2011 Fall Festival will be held Saturday, October 1st from 10am-2pm.

This exciting event will feature something for everyone! For the little ones, we'll have children's performer Elaine Kessler and craft and face painting workshops led by a local troop of Girl Scouts. And for the grown-ups we'll have a reading of selected short stories by actor Brendan Murphy and others, and an afternoon cafe featuring the rock/folk stylings of Dave Norton.

There will also be a special food for art raffle where we'll be raffling off an original piece of art by our resident reference librarian/artist Monica McDermott. You can get your raffle ticket one of two ways—by bringing in a non perishable food item (one ticket per item donated—proceeds will be delivered to Open Pantry of Greater Lowell) or by checking out materials (you get one ticket per checkout).

Stop by the library for a brochure listing the complete schedule of events! All Free! All for you!

Non-Fiction Book Club: The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains by Nicholas Carr, Thursday, October 6, 2011 @ 6:30PM

Thank you book clubbers for last week's timely discussion of Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 by R.A. Scotti. We knew when we picked it we'd be reading it during hurricane season but we had no idea the region would still be reeling from Irene. That certainly made for some interesting conversation. It is time once again to reserve your copy of the next book up for discussion and this one looks really interesting: The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr. Thursday, October 6th @ 6:30PM. A few years ago, Carr made a splash with his Atlantic cover story, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" and he's back to try to answer that question with this timely discourse on the effects the internet has had on how we think. From the jacket:

Building on insights from Plato to McLuhan, Carr makes a convincing case that every information technology carries an intellectual ethic--a set of assumptions about the nature of knowledge and intelligence. He explains how the printed book served to focus our attention, promoting deep and creative thought. In stark contrast, the Internet encourages the rapid, distracted sampling of small bits of information from many sources. Its ethic is that of the industrialist, an ethic of speed and efficiency, of optimized production and consumption--and now the Net is remaking us in its own image. We are becoming ever more adept at scanning and skimming, but what we are losing is our capacity for concentration, contemplation, and reflection.

Aren't you glad we have this book club to spend some time in thoughtful discussion over the loss of thoughtful contemplation? Now get offline, find a quiet place and see if you can finish this book.

Another tidbit before you go: Don't forget our Independent Film Series continues this week with A Screaming Man, 2010 Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize Winner.