Off the Shelf
May 2016
Issue No.5
In This Issue
STAFF
Nanci M. Hill,
Library Director

Diane Annunziato,
Assistant Director / Reference

Carole Hamilton,
Office Manager

Ellie Szafran,
Circulation Librarian

Cheryl Salem,
Assistant Circulation Librarian

Penny Berube,
Children's Librarian

Amber Bouchard,
Assistant Children's Librarian

Deric Wilson,
Technical Services Librarian

Cathy Bence,
Reference Librarian | Web Site

Ned Toomey,
Young Adult Librarian

David Lamoreaux,
Maintenance

Christine Guile, Colette Marion, Roger Schwitalla, Robin Gadue, Laura Sanscartier, Amy Spence, Melissa Ryan, Mridula Lumb, Michael Salem

Trustees

Dr. Linda Trouville, Chair
Vacant
John Dyer
Jim Nolan
Eric Jackson 

FromtheDirector
From the Desk of the Director
 
The grass is turning green, tulips have begun to sprout and pretty soon, summer (and summer reading) will be upon us.  Here at the Library, we are busy preparing. Miss Penny is booking programs that as usual, are sure to delight.  She is currently accepting applications for volunteers entering grades 9 through 12 to help run the summer reading program and help out in the Children's Room. Volunteering is a great way to rack up those community service hours, while simultaneously having fun and helping out the little ones. Many of our paid, student Pages were formally volunteers in the Children's Room.  Pick up your application soon.   You don't want to miss out.

There's something exciting in store for teens this summer as well.  From May 5th through August 17th, teens age 13 and up, will have access to two free audiobook downloads per week.  These audiobooks are being offered via SYNC.  SYNC is a free summer audiobook program for teens. Starting May 5th 2016, SYNC will give away two complete audiobook downloads a week - pairs of high interest titles, based on weekly themes. Sign up for email or text alerts and be first to know when new titles are available to download at www.audiobooksync.com .  This is a great way to get your summer reading done. Participating is easy.  
  • Visit www.audiobooksSYNC.com from May 5 - August 17, 2016
  • Select available audiobooks to download as mp3s.
  • Sign up for alerts for the next titles.
  • Share comments with other listeners, narrators, and authors.

The following is a list of titles that will be available:

 

  • Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle
  • The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial by Peter Goodchild
  • The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
  • Divine Collision: An African Boy, an American Lawyer, and their Remarkable Battle for Freedom, by Jim Gash
  • 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith
  • This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolfe
  • Every Last Word by Tamera Ireland Stone
  • Egg & Spoon, by Gregory Maguire
  • Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy
  • The Boy Born Dead: a Story of Friendship, Courage, and Triumph by David Ring
  • Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts
  • I'll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson
  • How It Went Down, by Kekla Magoon
  • The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson
  • Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan
  • Donny's Brain by Rona Munro
  • The Omnivore's Dilemma: the Secret Behind What You Eat, by Michael Pollan
  • Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
  • The Young World by Chris Weltz
  • Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson
  • Fat Angie by e.E. Charlton-Trijullo
  • On the Jellico Road by Melina Marchetta
  • Mandela: an Audio History by Nelson Mandela
  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
  • Juba! by Walter Dean Myers
  • Pennies for Hitler by Jackie French
  • The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez
  • Most Dangerous by Steve Sheinkin
  • Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
  • Classic American Short Stories by Jack London, Ambrose Bierce, Stephen Crane, Kate Chopin, James Fenimore Cooper, Mark Twain, and O'Henry.

Keep a look out on our website for school summer reading lists and assignments, children's and teen programming, and adult summer reading incentives.   

 

As always, I am available to meet and talk with you.  This is your library and we want to hear what you think!

 
AnniversaryCelebrationAnniversary Celebration
May 7th marks the 10 year anniversary of the opening of the building. On May 9th, from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm, we will be celebrating with cake and coffee in the Circulation area of the Library.  We invite you to join us for this special occasion.  
CakePanCollectionCake Pan Collection
Graduation season is here.  Why spend money on a cake pan when you can borrow one of ours?

The library owns an assorted variety of cake pans for check-out. The Library owns over 80 different pans that you can check-out for one week at a time. Some of the pans we own include:
  • Tractor
  • Heart
  • Train
  • Bear
  • Skull
  • Winnie-the-Pooh
  • Airplane
  • Big Bird
  • Batman

Check out our collection of: 

  

Wilton 3-D Pans 

Nordic Ware Procast Bakeware 

Wilton Cake Pans 

 
HelpWantedHelp Wanted
Cataloger/Head of Technical Services
Full-Time, 35-hours per week

Duties/Description:
The Cataloger/Head of Technical Services is responsible for cataloging, classifying and preparing library materials for circulation, including books, periodicals, and non-print
materials. Orders materials from vendors, verifies orders, and assists with collection development. Performs various administrative duties. Performs additional functions, including circulation and reference duties. Periodically responsible for opening and closing the building. Oversees the work of volunteers. Assumes additional responsibilities in the absence of other staff.

Qualifications:
Bachelor's Degree; Master in Library Science preferred. Two years of professional library experience, including
cataloging, or an equivalent combination of education and
experience.

Knowledge and principles of professional library work, including cataloging, automated systems and information technology, and administrative functions; working knowledge of computer systems. Experience with Evergreen preferred.

Must possess excellent communication skills, interpersonal skills, planning and organization.

Ability to work accurately with detailed information; ability to work independently; ability to interact with and provide assistance to patrons with a wide variety of needs and abilities.

Salary: $34,561.80 - $49,194.60 in 10 steps.  

Instructions:
The hiring for the M. G. Parker Memorial Library is coordinated through the Dracut Town Hall.

To apply for all library jobs you must download and fill out an application for employment.
  
Please fill out and email your application, cover letter, resume, and 3 references to:

Mary Hamilton
Human Resources Coordinator
Town of Dracut
62 Arlington Street
Dracut, MA 01826
or email her 

The M. G. Parker Memorial Library is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer, committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. 
 
NewTrusteeMeet Our New Trustee
Meet the newest member of our Board of Library Trustees, Monique Virville. 
Monique has been a 7th grade mathematics teacher at the Richardson Middle School for the past ten years. She reports that her classroom is equipped with its own mini library of books and lots of minions. She says that she finds teaching one of the most gratifying jobs and could not picture herself doing anything else.

Monique currently holds a Master's Degree in Mathematics Education from Leslie University. She is a happy wife and mother of two boys, Cole (5) and Liam (4), who love to visit the library to sit with the hamster and check out books to read. Monique spends her free time doing crafts and playing games with her boys, watching New England sports with her husband and friends. Whenever she gets a chance for some alone time, she spends it reading books recommended by her students, as well as books in the mystery and magical genres.  She also enjoys watching movies and listening to music.

Some of Monique's favorite authors are Mary Higgins Clark, Steve Berry, and Gwendoline Butler. Some of her favorite movies are Star Wars, Disney movies, and Minions. She listens to all types of music.  Some of her favorite artists are Adam Levine, Bruno Mars, Adele, Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley. She is looking forward to supporting the Dracut community in her new role as Library Trustee.

Welcome Monique.  We're thrilled to have you.

CommonGoodReadsCommon Good Reads : Competing Notions for a Common Good
   
Join us for our last discussion on competing notions for a common good. Led by Jill Silos-Rooney, Ph.D, we have read three texts so far. We have asked, To what extend we are responsible for each other? What do we owe each other as members of the same nation? To what extent do we take responsibility for what happens in the country at large? The world? On May 9th at 6:30 pm, we will discuss Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. This graphic novel collects a groundbreaking memoir, in which the great-granddaughter of Iran's last emperor and the daughter of ardent Marxists describes growing up in Tehran, a country plagued by political upheaval and vast contradictions between public and private life.
You need not have attended the previous discussions in order to participate.

 
Copies of the book are available at the Circulation Desk.  Please ask for the Common Good Reads program. 

This program is supported through a grant from the Massachusetts Humanities, who supports thought, conversation, and action in Massachusetts: masshumanities.org

AuthorVisit
The Conversation Continues ..
If You Liked Defending Jacob...
You'll Love Boy with a Knife



Jean Trounstine
Monday, May 23rd
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Nearly a quarter of a million youth are tried, sentenced, or imprisoned as adults every year across the United States. On any given day, ten thousand youth are detained or incarcerated in adult jails and prisons.

Putting a human face to these sobering statistics, Boy With A Knife tells the story of Karter Kane Reed, who, at the age of sixteen, was sentenced to life in an adult prison for a murder he committed in 1993 in a high school classroom. Twenty years later, in 2013, he became one of the few men in Massachusetts to sue the Parole Board and win his freedom.

The emotional and devastating narrative takes us step by step through Karter's crime, trial, punishment, and survival in prison, as well as his readjustment into regular society. In addition to being a powerful portrayal of one boy trying to come to terms with the consequences of his tragic actions, Boy With A Knife is also a searing critique of the practice of sentencing youth to adult prisons, providing a wake-up call on how we must change the laws in this country that allow children to be sentenced as adults.

Jean Trounstine is the author of the highly praised Shakespeare Behind Bars: The Power of Drama in Women's Prison about her decade directing plays and teaching at Framingham Women's Prison in Massachusetts. She has written numerous articles on prison issues for publications including Boston magazine, the Boston Globe, Working Woman magazine, the Women's Review of Books, and Truthout.
Register here.

SchindlersList
Schindler's List Survivor Visits
the Parker Library


THURSDAY, MAY 26th 
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM


Mark your calendars for this exciting, after-hours event that you won't want to miss!

As one of the last Holocaust survivor's employed by Oskar Schindler during World War II, Rena Finder will tell her compelling story starting as a child in Poland, the Krakow ghetto, life in the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz, and ultimately, her story of survival as a child in Oskar Schindler's factory. This story, immortalized in the film Schindler's List, as told by Rena's own experience is a rare opportunity to hear an incredible story of courage, faith and hope first-hand.

"As a survivor of the Holocaust, I am an eyewitness to some of the most horrible murders committed against innocent people, but as a survivor on Schindler's list, I am also an eyewitness to what can happen when people make a difference, when people get involved." - Rena Finder. 

Space is limited, so register soon.

Co-sponsored by the Richardson Middle School and the Parker Library.

We will be showing the film Schindler's List on Saturday, May 22nd from 1:00 pm to 4:15 pm.  The movie is rated R.  Please register by clicking here. 


AnnualBookSaleFriends of the Library Annual Book Sale



The Friends of the Library will be holding their Annual Book Sale on Friday and Saturday, May 20th and 21st.  Come by for a great selection of titles at a fraction of their original cost. New This Year: Used Jewelry Sale!

Hours:

Friday, May 20th - 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Saturday, May 21st - 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
($5.00 per bag from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM on Saturday)

The Friends are now accepting donations of jewelry and books for the sale.  They do not accept VHS tapes, audiotapes, encyclopedias, magazines, or text books.  Please be sure that all donations are free of mold and stains and ready for sale. The deadline for dropping off donations is May 1st.

For more information, contact John Hassan, President of the Friends of Dracut Library.  


May2016NewFictionMay 2016 - New Adult Fiction Titles


Clicking on any title should bring you into the
Dracut Library catalog, where you can read
a summary, check availability and place a hold.

Fantasy 

General Fiction 


Graphic Novels 
Historical
Horror
Mystery
Romance
Science Fiction
Short Stories
Suspense
 
May2016NewNonfictionMay 2016 - New Adult Nonfiction

 

Clicking on any title should bring you into the  
Dracut Library catalog, where you can read a summary, check availability and place a hold.

Art

Autobiography & Biography

Cooking Education Essays & Narratives History

Performance Arts

Psychology

Self-Help

Sports

Travel

True Crime

     


 May2016NewLargePrintMay 2016 New Large Print



Clicking on any title should bring you into the Dracut Library catalog, where you can read a summary, check availability and place a hold.
 
Fiction
Nonfiction
May2016NewAudiobooksMay 2016 New Audiobooks



Clicking on any title should bring you into the Dracut Library catalog, where you can read a summary, check availability and place a hold.

Books on CD - Fiction 
 

Books on CD - Nonfiction

Playaways - Fiction 

 
ImportantDates Important Dates


Monthly Meeting of the Board of Trustees  Wednesday, May 25th at 4:30 pm.  Director's Office.

Friends of the Library Annual Book Sale 
Friday, May 20th from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm
Saturday, May 21st from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

Last Saturday Open The Library is closed on Saturdays during the summer months.  Our last Saturday open will be May 21st.

Holiday Closing Memorial Day - Monday, May 30th  
 
M.G. Parker Memorial Library
28 Arlington Street | Dracut, Massachusetts 01826 | 978-454-5474
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